Scary Gingerbread Cookies

Seth wanted desperately to cut out the gingerbread cookies. So I let him. Scary, I tell you. First, he decided he would cut out shapes using a paring knife....which was taking FOREVER. So, I made him use the cookie cutters, and he decided to improvise a little.

A turkey. We have a flock of about a half a dozen. Very festive according to Seth.

"Nearly Headless Nick" from Harry Potter.

Gingerbread man with hole. There are several of these. I was informed that when they are decorated he will have blood dripping from his wound. Again, very festive.

You might wonder what this is. I kept seeing weird shapes like this and then realized that Seth was just taking the scraps and throwing them on the baking sheet.

An ice climber. Obviously. 

An elf with a club. 

I'll be sure to post pictures after they are decorated! 

I'm very close to having my Christmas knitting done and I have a couple more projects I can share! 

Seth's office does secret santa each Christmas and he had one of the other doctors this year. She wrote on her little questionnaire that she loved scarves, and clearly a store bought one just would not do. 

Pattern: Circle & Stripe Scarf by Leigh Radford from the book More Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: MadelineTosh Vintage in Dahlia 

Modifications: None. I used exactly 2 skeins of the Vintage and the scarf ended up about 60 inches long before blocking. 

All the employees at the office have stockings and they do smaller gifts throughout the week and the big gift at the Christmas party. Since tea was also on the list of "likes", we bought a ceramic travel mug and I knit a cup cozy for it.

For the cup cozy I cast on 32 sts, joined to work in the round, and knit 2x2 rib until I was happy with the length. I used some MadelineTosh Rustication Worsted. 

I also finished a couple of skeins of handspun yarn...both from the roving from my last post.

Enchanted on Merino/Cashmere/Nylon spun from Two if By Hand roving.

Miss Granger on Shetland also from Two if By Hand roving.

Well...I have 2 more gifts that still need to be knit up! Yikes. Back to the needles....

Love,

liz :)

Sample Knitting and Baby Hats...

Since last week was mostly spent making Seth's Halloween costume, I don't have anything too impressive to share. But I do have a few small things...

The shop my Mom helps out at, Knit Wit Kreations, just got a new yarn line in and I offered to whip up a sample that they could hang with the yarn. The yarn is KFI Sweetness, a cotton, merino, nylon blend (50/40/10) that is great for kids knits since it is both machine washable and strong (due to the nylon content). The yarn doesn't have a lot of "give" to it, but it was nice to work with and created a soft but durable fabric.

Pattern: Baby Bolero from KFI Sweetness booklet (no ravelry link)

Yarn: KFI Sweetness (dk weight, 136 yards/ball) - 2 skeins

Modifications: None. However, if I were to knit another bolero, I'd probably pick a seamless pattern. There was quite a lot of seaming, which could be easily avoided by doing raglan sleeves instead of set-in sleeves. The pattern was fairly straight-forward, though and it was an easy knit. 

Apparently, it's been a week of baby knits. A friend from college is due for her baby this week, and she adores knit and crocheted baby hats. I whipped up a newborn size hat (which looks ridiculously small) and two 3-6 month sized hats. 

Pattern(s): Pink hat- Simple Baby Hat by Debbie Bliss (from "Baby Knits for Beginners"), Purple hats- Quick and Easy Baby Hat by Emma Waller (in 2 different sizes)

Yarn: Pink hat- Three Irish Girls Springvale Super Merino is Elsbeth, Purple hats- MadelineTosh DK in Nostalgia 

Modifications: None. I still need to add ribbon in the eyelet holes on the purple hats, but that requires a trip to Jo-Ann's. I'll hopefully add those today and be able to send them out this afternoon or tomorrow.

I also finished a Liesel scarf for Judy, the woman who watched Sailor while we were gone. But the weather was so dark and dreary that I wasn't able to get a good picture of it before Seth brought it to her. 

OH! I also have a brand new sewing machine, a Christmas gift from my Mom (that arrived in a box with SINGER written all over it!)! I'll have to do a post about it once I try it out and figure out all the cool things it can do! 

Love,

liz :)

To frog or not to frog....

Before I  tell you about the weekend, I need some advice. I ordered some MadelineTosh Merino Light from the etsy site a while back and started a Lightweight Pullover. The problem is that the 3 skeins I have are all different from one another. Someone suggested starting with the lightest skein at the neck and have it progressively get darker. Well, I alternated skeins with the 2 lightest skeins until I separated the sleeves. Then I started alternating the 2 darkest skeins. This resulted in a dark line right across my chest:

I can't decide if I should just frog the whole thing and do some smaller projects with the skeins since they don't match, or if it isn't all that offensive looking. I could restart the sweater with the yarn I got in the yarn club. It pains me to think about all the hours of knitting I put into it....

On a happier knitting note, I'm making some progress with the new KAL at Purl Diva, the Wood Hollow Vest by Kristen Kapur, whose patterns I LOVE. She has an adorable cardigan that is in the new issue of Knitty.

(and yes, my grass is really that green)

The pattern is a little slow going because of all the cables, but it's fairly easy to memorize.

Seth and I drove to Smith Rock State Park on Saturday and did a little bit of rock climbing. The weather was gorgeous and the views of all the snow-capped mountains on the way were breathtaking.

The park is in the desert and I think the canyons really hold in the heat. It must have been about 80 when we were climbing. The park was packed full of climbers and hikers. And I don't think I've ever seen so many people with dogs all in one place! Sailor was sooooo excited, but eventually calmed down and hung out while we were climbing.

Seth took a 30 mile run on Sunday, and the weather was much cooler. It was only about 40 when he started his run and got up to the mid 50s, but was pretty breezy. I headed down to Bend with Sailor and did a little shopping and took Sailor for a walk. Then I hung out at Smith Rock and took some photos while I was waiting for Seth to finish his run.

Seth is headed to Vegas tomorrow to go climbing with his dad. I'm going to drop him at the airport and then hit a couple of yarn shops on the way home. And maybe IKEA. :) 

Hope you had a great weekend!

Love,

Liz

New Handspun, A Finished Project, and A New Project...

Are you feeling any better?? At least you aren't too sick to knit :)

I finished my Snapdragon Tam hat the other day and I blocked it yesterday. The brim stretched out a little, so it's not quite as snug as I'd like, but I might run a narrow piece of elastic around the brim. I did throw it in the dryer and it helped a little bit. I knit it in MadelineTosh DK in Lichen (green with little bits of purple...possibly my favorite colorway by MadelineTosh).

It's been quite rainy and windy here the last few days and it had me wanting a cushy, instant gratification project and my MadelineTosh Bulky (a test base for them, so far) arrived in the mail on Wednesday...and it was begging to be knit up. I cast on for the Oatmeal Pullover by Jane Richmond on Wednesday night, and am almost done with the body (yay for bulky yarn and size 11 needles!). I've had to make a few modifications. It is written with 3 inches of negative ease, and I didn't think a skin-tight sweater would be  too awfully flattering. So I added an extra increase round which gave me an extra inch and a half or so. I've tried it on a couple of times and it seems to fit pretty well. Doesn't this yarn just scream bulky, squishy sweater???

And lastly, I finished spinning up some Blue Faced Leicester today. I got about 300 yards of sportweight yarn. It still needs a yarny bath before I can knit it up.

Well, that's it for now....time to make some asian pork kebabs (minus the actual skewers) and mashed potatoes!

Feel better!

love,

liz