Just In Time

I promised that this project would be posted before the end of the year and I finally got the camera out to do it!

Project: A Cardigan for Arwen, by Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: US 4 and 6

Notes: I love this sweater! It took me two years to finish, but it was worth it. Okay, it actually only took me about a month of knitting, but it took two years to have the knitting skills to actually complete the sweater. When I started this in 2006 (!), I quickly became frustrated. I couldn't keep track of where I was in the cable diagram and some of the instructions were Greek to me. I set the project aside for a while. When I came back to it, I still had trouble following the diagrams and I was still frustrated. I set the project aside for a bit longer. I finally came back to Arwen in November 2008 and we were ready for each other! I frogged a bit of the first arm because I wasn't satisfied with my earlier knitting. Then the knitting came easily. Oh, it still took a couple of tries to get each cuff kitchnered neatly, but I knew what I wanted and how to get there.

The sweater is warm and soft and wonderful! My only modification was to add some length to the body. Cropped sweaters are just not me. My only complaint is that the yarn loves to pill and my sweater shaver is a little too aggressive. I'll have to be very careful that I don't actually trim the yarn when I try to trim the pills. Still, it's all worth it! I will still try to get one of my guys to get a pic of me in the sweater, but at least I have proof of completion.



Bonus project!

This set was a quickie gift for a friend who needs a hug and is too far away to get one from me in person.

Project: Simple Scarf and Hat Set, by Melissa Leapman, from Cables Untangled

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease

Needles: US 7

Notes: Super simple cable pattern. I will freely admit that I lost my will to live about 3/4 of the way through the scarf. A quick detour to knit the hat got me through! I used a full three skeins of yarn for the set to get the scarf as long as possible.

Happy last day of 2008, everyone!

Another Year Over...

Well, it is almost over. This was the sky on Christmas Eve morning. Christmas Day was a very blustery day. We had rain and wind that made it an excellent day to go no farther than our next door neighbors' house for good company and food (and presents!).

We also brought some presents with us, including these gloves for the mother of our neighbor.

Project: Queen of Diamonds Fingerless Gloves, by Melissa Burt from KnitPicks

Needles: US 0 an 1 dpns

Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Dusk

Notes: This was a pretty easy pattern except that I think there was an error in the instructions for the left glove. When I tried it on after laying out the fingers as suggested, it didn't seem to fit at all. A minor adjustment to where the fingers started and all was well. I also added a little length between the thumb and starting to divide for the other fingers. This worked well for me and I don't think it made the gloves too long for the recipient. I liked the pattern so much that I think I will make a pair for myself!

And I leave you with a shot of our very civilized snow - it stays up on the mountains where it belongs. We can visit it (if we wish) and we can admire it as we drive along on the freeway, but we don't have to shovel it!