karen-the-great: February 2008

I finally finished my Christmas gifts - and, yes, I do realize that it's now into the month of February. Lucky for me, the recipients of said gifts reside in the far reaches of New England. My Aunt Elaine lives in upstate New York, in Watertown (or thereabouts), and my grandmother lives in VERY upstate New York: Peru. When I heard that my Aunt's region had received more than three feet this winter, I knew I had some time to spare. Technically, I didn't really, since Christmas gifts are usually, that is to say, traditionally given on or at least near Christmas, and I've extended that deadline a little beyond the pale this time around.*

But at least I finished two little projects!

First, a k1p1 rib neckwarmer for my Gramma (modeled here by my lovely colleague-who-must-not-be-named):

And for my Aunt Elaine, who is a snow-mobiler extraordinaire, a warm headscarf/earwarmer thingy from knitty, called "Calorimetry". Two models this time: myself (pic #1) and my reading colleague Joy (#2 & #3):

fig. 1

Typical "headbands" always slide off my big head, so the stretchy rib and wide band of this one is perfect. Yay!

fig. 2 & 3

Doesn't she look ready to brave the winter winds? My favorite part about this headscarf is that if the wearer has short hair, curly or straight, the scarf won't "flatten." Likewise, a long-haired girl like me can wear a pony tail and still keep the old ears warm.

Now, for my dad's deliciously warm (and fast) seed-stitch scarf. Not the greatest pic in the world, but red it weirdly hard to photograph:

Luscious,thick, marvelous "soft chunky" from Twinkle knits. Yum!

And on another, other note...

I also started using DPNs yesterday, for my first pair of socks. No pics yet... not too many rows yet... but I have hopes that my confused fingers will learn to deal with four needles at once.

Bryan wants some warm, soft, bed socks, so I chose a pattern that calls for some baby alpaca. What Bryan wants, Bryan gets. Sometimes. :) I took (dragged?) him to Main Street Yarns last Saturday to pick his yarn, and he chose a very masculine charcoal gray. I'm having the time of my life figuring out sock knitting, and I must send a million thanks to the amazing Amy at KnittingHelp.com. She's outstanding!

Happy Knitting!

~~
*Note: If you visit my blog for the spectacular wordplay and lexical nuance, then today's post will disappoint you. I'm awfully sleepy, but so proud of my finished projects that I had to share anyway, regardless of inept semantics. Or something.