Category: Finished Projects

Holiday Knitting

I did actually get some knitting done this weekend.  I finished the orange boa.  The color looks like creamsicle orange to me.  I’m not sure exactly where I’ll wear this, but the deck on a cool May evening sounded good for a start.

And one with Riley:

I think you should learn something from every project, even a garter stitch scarf out of novelty yarn.  So I knit this continental style; I’m normally a “thrower”, so this was a good chance to practice.

I’m also nearly done with John’s sweater.  I have a bit of one sleeve to finish.  I got all the loose ends sewn in this weekend, and have started the blocking process.  I’m using the 3-needle bind off for the shoulders, and wanted to block the front and back pieces before I did this.  Then all I will have left to do is pick up the neck stitches, knit the ribbing around the collar, and seam everything.  I can only fit one side of this on my blocking board, so I’m doing it half at a time.

I actually enjoy the “putting it together” phase.  I don’t mind seaming, or even sewing in ends.  I am a little worried about the seaming on this sweater.  I started this thing so long ago that I was clueless about selvedge stitches.  The pattern stitch goes right up to the edge, and may not be the easiest thing to seam.   If I were to ever be nuts enough to do this pattern again, I would add a plain selvedge stitch on each side.

I forgot to mention one other knitting related purchase I made in Germany.  When we were in the train station in Heidelberg, there was a man selling a variety of implements: scissors, knives, and dental tools.

I bought these:

They are just the right size; a bit bigger than my little embroidery scissors, but still small enough for my gadget bag.

Hope everybody had a good weekend!

Aran Baby Blanket

Knit from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, pattern from “Knit Baby Blankets”, by Gwen Steege.
Finished February 2004 for John’s new grandson, Sam.

Addendum: Since I’ve had several requests to email this pattern, I’m including a link to the Amazon page for this book. It’s under copyright, so I can’t email it to you. The book has several other nice blanket patterns as well.

Baby Bear Sweater

This pattern is so cute that I couldn’t resist it. It’s from the book “Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino”, in yarn of the same name. I learned a couple of important things by making this.
1. Start knitting baby things early. Babies grow quickly.
2. I learned a few new techniques…short row shoulders, buttonholes.
The baby this ended up fitting (John’s grandson, Sam) is so cute that his parents didn’t want his picture on the internet for fear of kidnapping. Thus, the teddy bear. Her name is Sweet Pea, if you’re interested. That’s me in the second picture.

John Deere Socks

This is an old pair of socks I did for John about 3 years ago. They were sort of a joke (I had started calling him John, dear…you had to have been there). They are out of Cleckheaton yarn and are one of his favorite pairs. They rank right behind the ugly brown Woolease socks that he just loves, and has worn so much I’ve had to darn the holes.