IS #79: Worsted Weight Wonders

Posted on October 25, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

It has been quite a while since my last Inspiration Saturday post, but it’s also been some time since I’ve had a chance to really sink my teeth into a pattern search. Many of these posts are born of a burning need to find just the right pattern for just the right yarn and lately I haven’t had any pattern-matching conundrums. However, I’ve just discovered that The Verdant Gryphon has brought back one of my favorite yarn bases (Zaftig Bugga, a worsted weight MCN blend) and well, I had to know how many skeins to buy for my next project, didn’t I? Let the luxurious, worsted-weight-accessory-pattern curating commence!

The Millwater cowl by Beth Kling is one I’ve had queued for Zaftig for quite some time.

I knit this pattern out of Malabrigo Twist a while back and really enjoyed it. The knitting is simple and soothing, just garter stitch with a ribbed cable that is knit flat and then seamed. I think the finished piece is striking and versatile and looks lovely in semi-solids and variegated yarns.

Another simple-but-striking cabled pattern is the Tidal Flats hat by Melissa Thomson.

This hat is part of the Cascadia collection, which contains many lovely accessory and sweater patterns. This hat would work best in a semi-solid, so as not to obscure all that smooth reverse stockinette.

I’ve been enamored with this Bosc scarf by Robin Ulrich for ages:

It’s just so dang elegant, and knit in worsted weight it would be cozy, beautiful, and fairly quick to knit.

This Fission mitts by Annika Barranti would be quite cushy in Zaftig.

I love the laced-up i-cord details, the cables, and the twisted stitches. You need a yarn with good stitch definition to really make these pop. The style is a little bit similar to my Berriboned Wrists pattern (lacing-wise, anyway):

The wristwarmers were initially designed with Zaftig, and are quite cozy as all get-out in the heavier weight yarn. (I’m wearing them as I type, in fact!)

To up the elegance ante, we have the Juneberry Shawl designed by Jared Flood.

I’ve adored this shawl for quite some time, but have been having internal debates over whether I want to knit it out of Zaftig or something a bit drapier with some silk content, like Codex or Mondegreen.

Lastly, and the pattern I will most likely knit first, is the Lucy Hat by Carina Spencer.

I think the plump, tightly-twisted texture of Zaftig will lend great stability to this striking, structured cloche. I love the stitch definition in the photo, the possibility of amazing color combination, and that jaunty flipped brim. This hat needs to be rocked so hard, and I plan to rock it well.

Have you been inspired by anything in particular lately? What’s your favorite use for worsted weight yarn? Let us know in the comments below!

IS #77: Seafoam Inspired

Posted on July 12, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

My sweet and wonderful FiascoHubs (do we like the new nickname? he will forever be a Fiasco… but now that he’s a husband rather than a fiance I’m wondering if it needs the ‘Hubs’ addition?) surprised me with ‘souvenir yarn’ over our wedding weekend.

He apparently went into the local yarn store and said something along the lines of “she likes crazy fiber, wild stuff like ox and quiviut, and she loves blues and seafoam greens” and he left with three skeins of that gorgeousness above. The yarn is a laceweight 50/50 yak/silk blend and it is divine. My fella did very well, but now what to make?

The first thing that jumped to mind was The Mermaid’s Gift shawl designed by Tori Gurbisz. I’ve had this one queued for quite a while and I think the whole look and feel of this pattern would be perfect with the seafoam color of the yarn. My only reservation is that it would only use up a mere 400 yards while I have over 1200 yards of the yarn, but it would certainly be a great use of a single skein of luxurious laceweight you might have hanging around.

The next beauty that jumped to mind was the Seascape Stole designed by Kieran Foley. I’ve long admired the sinuous shifting lines of this stole, and it’s a free pattern on Knitty so that’s always a plus. My big reservation with this one is that the charts are rather large and unwieldy and I had hoped to take this project along on our honeymoon as travel knitting, so it might not be the best choice.

Interestingly, the same designer has another sea-inspired stole that I greatly admire: High Seas. It sounds like this one has wrong side patterning and it on the trickier side, so it also might not make great travel knitting (though it is lovely).

Moving on from the sea theme, we have the Echo Flower Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen which is based on the Laminaria shawl designed by Elizabeth Freeman. This shawl is chock full of complex Estonian stitches but it is really, truly gorgeous. I imagine in my silky seafoam yarn it would be pretty incredible.

Even though the sample for Morgain by Stefanie Bolf is all ‘dark and moody’ I can’t help but picture it in my yarn and think it would be glorious. I love the way the lace patterning grows in length and width as it cascades across the shawl.

This is a gorgeous variation (drapier yarn, larger needles, beads instead of nupps) of the Shallow Waters shawl designed by Mia Rinde. I imagine my version would look much like this one. The more I look at photos of this shawl, the higher it is creeping up my list! It incorporates the undulating lines I like so much with the almost gothic, peaked edging that I find very pretty on triangular shawls.

What would you knit with up to 1200 yards of yak/silk lusciousness? Do you have a favorite sea-inspired pattern? Please share in the comments below!

IS #74: Handspun Dreams

Posted on June 7, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Audry asked an excellent question in the comments of my last post about what my handspun yarn will grow up to be. It appears that I tend to spin like I knit: in fits and starts, with many, many works-in-progress, that take quite a while to come to fruition. I have been spinning since January 2012 and over the last 2.5 years I’ve completely finished spinning 17 full skeins of yarn (one skein = 2-6 oz, depending on project) and 14 little ‘test’ or sample skeins (10 from my spinner’s study and 4 from trying out new tools or experimenting).

Some of my more recent finished skeins (since October 2013).

And then, of course, I have 12 spinning WIPs (eek). One on each of my spindles, two that are resting off of my spindles, and the remaining are wheel projects in various stages of completion (why yes, I am out of bobbins, how did you guess?). The things I could accomplish with just a little more follow-through would be pretty amazing, amIright?!

All of my handspun projects to date!

Of my 17 full-size finished skeins, I have (at least partially) knit up 10 of them, have a hibernating WIP with the 11th, and gave 2 of them away as gifts. That leaves me with 4 unaccounted-for skeins.

Four skeins of handspun waiting to be knit…

In the top left, we have the lovely skein of alpaca/silk I carded on a rented drum carder and finished spinning in April. It will most likely grow up to become a Morning Surf Scarf, when I get a chance to knit more regularly (read: post-wedding).

The two skeins in the top right were from a spin-along last quarter. They are a generous 550 yards of 2-ply BFL wool destined to become a shawl. I’ve been eyeing up Joji’s The Way From Brighton, what do you think?

The skein on the bottom left is some more BFL, this time around 170 yards of DK-weight chain-plied yarn. I was thinking of some sort of hat, perhaps a Jango designed by Svetlana Volkova. I’d use it for the main color and then alternate some scraps for the contrast colors. Not sure yet, though. I like the neutral used in the pattern photo and I might want to pair my skein with a calmer color and knit a two-color shawl or cowl instead.

The final skein pictured is the last skein that I knit into a finished object way back in October 2013 (siiiiigh). I knit that fluffy little 4-ply Merino skein into a pretty fabulous hat. What are your favorite handspun projects? I’d love to see what you’ve made with yours or what you’ve been dreaming of making. Share a link or leave a comment below!

WIPWed #52: Limping Along

Posted on March 26, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Due to the hectic weekend, my still-not-quite-right-wrist, and working like crazy to finally get my lotion bar Etsy shop up and running (soon, I promise!) my knitting feels like it has been barely progressing. I’ve only managed a few rows here and there, really, but I suppose it all adds up.

Stitch Block Blues:

Quince & Co. Osprey. Click for project page.

This cowl is one of those projects that I really want to own but don’t necessarily want to be making anymore. The yarn is a delight and I adore the color combinations, but the stitches themselves are somewhat tedious and fiddly because they involve a lot of knitting into the row below. The finished fabric is worth it, but it isn’t my favorite thing to knit.

November Melody:

The Verdant Gryphon Mithril. Click for project page.

This scarf, on the other hand, is about as simple and painless to knit as can be. I truly love working with Mithril. It’s a laceweight yarn but it’s a beefy one — multiple plies, nice grabby wool, nothing slipping and sliding unnecessarily out of place. It’s not like knitting with cat whiskers or air, as some laceweights feel like. (No cats were harmed in the making of this analogy.)

Fiasco – Deconstructed:

BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight. Click for pattern page.

My not-really-Fiasco socks are progressing nicely. I’m still loving the way the yarn is striping in the simple stockinette and garter stitch combination. This colorway, Sigur Ros, has such a primary feel to it — all those royal blues and brick reds and yellows. You wouldn’t think those colors would mix well with the aqua, lavender, sandy tan, and acid green in there, but they somehow do.

Raven Loch:

Squoosh Fiber Arts Rapture. Click for project page.

My recent Inspiration Saturday post about lightweight, spring-appropriate hats motivated me to get back to the Loch hat I’ve had hibernating for a while (another great spring hat pattern). This one’s so close to done I can taste it, I’m on the decreases! Which is nice, I’m in need of a knitting win.

CTA SAL Pigeonroof BFL:

Frabjous Fibers Sparkly BFL. Click for handspun project page.

I finished the Pigeonroof Fibers BFL single from 2 weeks ago and am now about 2/3 of the way through the Frabjous Fibers single which will constitute the second ply in the CTA spin-along I’m trying to finish by the end of the month (yes, this month). I have a blissfully uncommitted weekend coming up so I’m still thinking I can finish this in time… especially since spinning is less painful for my wrist than knitting is at the moment. (When will this thing heal already?!?!? Sigh.)

That’s all I have going on this week! How are your weeks going? Any hurdles you’ve been trying to overcome? Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.

WIPWed #50: What A Week

Posted on March 12, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

This week is totally walloping by. I’ve written what feels like half a dozen blog posts in my head, but have lacked both the time and the energy to actually type them out by the time I sit down in the evening. For instance, yesterday I didn’t get to eat dinner until 9:30 p.m. NOT HEALTHY. My wrist, however, has thankfully recovered. I didn’t knit a single stitch for 3 entire days to give it time to heal (though I caved and spun a bit on the second day – I’m not superhuman). It’s still a little twinge-y from time to time, I had really done a number on it, but I’m back to normal amounts of knitting now. To the WIPs!

Stitch Block Blues:

This one looks just like last week except the piece is now 20″ long and I’m ready to begin the second stitch. Huzzah! (Sorry for the lack of photo. See above, re: busy week.)

November Melody:

Verdant Gryphon Mithril, colorway November Moonlight. Click for project page.

I decided to add a bead row to jazz up this basic scarf and I’m really loving it so far. I worked a k1, *(YO, k2tog)*, k1 row and then on the next row used a crochet hook to thread beads onto the k2tog stitches. I love the sparkly effect. I plan to add two more evenly-spaced rows. Hopefully counting rows and weighing the remaining yarn will help me space them out properly, otherwise my OCD side will get twitchy.

Fiasco – Deconstructed:

These were regular Fiasco socks:

BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight, colorway Sigur Ros.

But the square, metal Kollage needles were really hurting my hands for some reason and I realized what I actually needed was a simpler pair of socks. I frogged and restarted a couple of times before I finally accepted that a plain stockinette sock was all I wanted.

Desk shot! Click for project page.

I’m keeping the garter stitch cuff, heel, and toe of the original pattern and just doing stockinette for the leg and foot. I really like the multidirectional striping effect I’m getting with the highly-variegated yarn. I also quit the Kollage needles and am using size 0 Carbonz needles instead and I love them. They might be my new favorite needles, ever.

CTA SAL Pigeonroof BFL:

Pigeonroof Studios BFL, colorway Filigree. Click for handspun project page.

When I saw the gorgeous colorways being dyed by Pigeonroof Fibers for this quarter’s Completely Twisted and Arbitrary spin-a-long, I couldn’t resist the blues and purples in Filigree. I have a perfectly coordinating braid of sparkly blue BFL that I plan to ply with this single. I’m nearly finished spinning this first single but it will still be quite a rush to finish by the end of the month. (I’m sure you are all on the edges of your seats, aren’t you?)

I have more spinning-related things to blab about but they’ll have to wait until another day — I’m beat! Hope you all are having less hectic weeks. Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.

WIPWed #49: Ground to a Halt

Posted on March 5, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

I have become afflicted with one of a knitter’s worst fears: wrist pain (second in awfulness only to wool moths, probably). I woke up yesterday with little twinges in my wrist that grew to full-on, need-a-brace-because-I-can’t-even-type-at-work pain. It feels better so far today but I’m not going to chance any knitting or spinning for another day or so at least. (Siiiiiigh.) I think this was the cause:

Flick carding Southdown fleece, before and after.

I spent about an hour flick carding my Southdown fleece to see if I could get more of the VM out before attempting to drum card it again. I didn’t notice any pain at the time but those locks are quite short (~2″) and a bit sticky (gummed-on lanolin, likely) so they weren’t the easiest things to flick open, and it was my first time trying so I’m sure my ergonomics were off. Anyway, the flicking process was super effective at getting the VM out, so I do hope I can attempt it again one day without hurting myself. I didn’t get around to drum carding the flicked locks yet but I did spin a little sample directly from the locks and it was much nicer than my drum carded sample with all the VM stuck in it.

Wee sample, fairly consistent and virtually VM-free!

As far as WIPs go, before my knitting ground to a halt I finished some socks and worked on a few things.

Stitch Block Blues:

Quince & Co. Osprey, colorway Glacier. Click for project page.

I made a good start on my Purl Soho Stitch Block Cowl. I’m really loving the Osprey yarn. It’s substantial, bouncy, and lofty with really great stitch definition. I could see myself making a big cozy sweater out of it someday.

November Melody:

The Verdant Gryphon Mithril, colorway November Moonlight. Click for project page.

I recently resurrected this pre-holiday WIP. It’s going to be terribly boring to photograph until it’s done because it is essentially just a wide stockinette tube all crumpled in on itself, but it’s much nicer in person. When it’s done, the tube will be cut down one side and partially unravelled to make the fringe for a lightweight, flowy scarf. The fabric feels good and there’s even some subtle variegation in the yarn that is creating a neat effect. I’m thinking of adding some beads to add some sparkly vertical lines in the finished scarf, just for a little extra pizazz.

In other news, I’m halfway through the rebranding and reformatting of my pattern line! I’ve realized that if I don’t start prioritizing my design work more, it’ll never get done. Between my day job, publishing a paper, planning a wedding, and keeping up with things around the house, it often gets pushed to the side (when in reality, it’s what I really want to be doing). Now Tuesday and Thursday evenings are going to be dedicated to design work. No housework, no couch-potato time, no wedding planning, just knitting-related work. I’m excited about this plan and it’s proven productive so far. Last night, I finished reformatting both my Huacaya and Beribboned Hat patterns. Both have been streamlined and updated to my new layout. They’ve had metric measurements added and some language cleaned up. I also added crown decrease charts to the Beribboned Hat pattern. If you’ve purchased either of these patterns on Ravelry you should have received an update.

Huacaya and Beribboned Hat

That’s all that’s new with me! Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.

WIPWed #46: Flying By

Posted on January 29, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Man, the weeks feel like they are zooming by. My knits, on the other hand, are not. Except for the hat that I miraculously finished in 5 days, I have very little WIP progress to show this week. That’s partly because I spent most of my time on that hat but it is also because I have a few knitting-related things happening that I can’t share here, so progress on the shareable stuff has been slow. Here it is anyway!

Festooned Joy:

BMFA Socks that Rock LW, colorway Comfort & Joy. Click for project page.

Despite other commitments, I’m still knitting a round or two on my socks every day. I’m really digging the linen stitch toe going on here. It does such fun things with the highly variegated yarn, doesn’t it?

Raven Loch:

Squoosh Fiber Arts Rapture, colorway Raven. Click for project page.

Since my mom’s hat was such a quick success, I figured I’d start one for myself as well. (This is another Loch hat by TinCanKnits.) The yarn is a skein I gave to my mom so she could crochet me a black scarf that would match most of my work clothes. There was a ton of yarn left over (I did not realize the pattern made such a short scarf) so now I will have a coordinating hat, as well!

Pretty scarf, crocheted by my mom. Click for pattern page.

The pattern makes an itty bitty accent scarf, but it looks really cute on and is one of the few crochet stitches that I really like. That’s all I have for WIPs today but I do have some new stash enhancement to share! (And by share I mean visually, because these pretties are mine, mine, mine.)

Jill Draper Makes Stuff Mohonk. Click for shop page.

My dear friend Katy sent me this skein as a birthday present. As you might know, the Yarn Harlot raved about this stuff when she used it for her nephew’s sweater and Cormo is one of my favorite breeds of sheep to spin, so I’m extra excited to knit with this yarn. Anybody have a good neckwear (scarf, cowl, shawlette) or hat pattern suggestion for about 370 yards of bouncy, rustic, sport-weight wool? What would you make with this skein?

The Verdant Gryphon Bugga, colorways Cobalt Blue Tarantula and Oil Beetle. Click for TLE shop page.

And then there was a birthday present… from myself. * Ahem * 🙂 I cannot be blamed. After almost two years, The Loopy Ewe (which has an excellent customer rewards program and great, color-accurate photos of their yarns) finally began to stock Bugga again, in older and hard-to-get VG colors, on my actual birthday. If that’s not a recipe for an impulse buy, I don’t know what is. As we all know, I love Bugga and the Verdant Gryphon but I do not love their website so much, I find shopping during Bugga updates at The Loopy Ewe to be more pleasurable. So color me happy and color my stash ~~blue-green~~ happily enhanced.

That all from me this week! Don’t forget, you still have a few days left to receive 29% off any of my Ravelry patterns (through the end of the 31st). And be sure to check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.

Betwixt

Posted on January 16, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

I’m a tad late for WIP Wednesday and a little early for FO Friday, so I’m going to hit you with both at once! (OooOOoOooo!) This week is barreling by and flattening me in the process. Since my energy level is essentially zero, I’m going to keep this short, sweet, and full of pretty knits. Onwards!

Novelty:

Feza Yarns Alp Light. Click for project page. (Terrible mirror selfie? Check!)

I finished my mom’s scarf-that-wouldn’t-end, huzzah! I have to say, the funky-factor was pretty cool after the knitting was finished. It’s not even a little bit my style but my mom will totally rock it. I admit my fingers are grateful to put down the novelty yarns and get back to good ol’ wool, though.

Fiasco’s Mitts:

Feederbrook Farm alpaca/Shetland yarn. Click for project page.

The long-suffering fiance suffers no more! I stayed up working into the wee hours of the morning in a fit of relationship devotion to finish these mitts for him. I am happy I did because 1) they’ were my last holiday gift to finish and 2) nobody appreciates handknit items like my dear Fiasco. He truly loves them, which makes my knitterly heart so happy.

And now for a few WIPs…

Scummy Cedar Grove:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts De-Vine, colorway Pond Scum. Click for project page.

My completely-selfish, couldn’t-wait-another-minute birthday shawl is well underway. Yes, birthday shawl. I’m hoping to have it finished by the 24th of this month. Do you think I can make it? It’s knit with rather bulky yarn on size 11 needles, so I think there’s a decent shot.

Festooned Joy:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR, colorway Comfort and Joy. Click for project page.

And kicking off the Socks with Sarah KAL as well as the Socks That Rawk! Clean Slate KAL is this lovely old WIP begun in 2012. This poor holiday sock has wistfully watched two Christmases pass by without being finished. Since there’s so much pink and red in the yarn, I feel like it can pass for a Valentine’s Day sock easily enough, so V-day is my goal. I’d say it’s doable!

Clearly, I’m feeling optimistic tonight. Do you set yourself goals for completion or do you just knit whatever, whenever? Check out Tamis Amis for some more WIPs and FOs!

WIPWed #43: Still Working On Gifts

Posted on January 8, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Not to be a whiner or anything, but the urge for selfish knitting is getting pretty strong and I’m still working on holiday-leftover-knits-for-other-people. I don’t handle project monogamy well but I’m trying my darnedest to finish things up ASAP because the recipients are wonderful and knitworthy… I just might get a little twitchy in the process.

Awareness:

Malabrigo Twist, colorway Damask Rose. Also, meet Glenda, my new hat model! Click for project page.

First up is actually a FO, my mom’s second of three planned chemo caps. (You can find the first in this post.) This simple pattern of reverse stockinette ridges takes on a very feminine look when you wrap the yarn around a few times and gather the ridges up into a turban-esque shape. I think it would be flattering for many different faces. The pattern is the Purl Knit Turban by Sarah Dudek and it is super yummy knit in the Malabrigo Twist.

Novelty:

Feza Yarns Alp Light. Click for project page.

This yarn is the weirdest stuff I’ve ever worked with. It’s composed of different novelty yarns cut up and knotted together so it forms thick blocks of different colors and textures as you knit. My mom absolutely fell in love with the store sample and this is for her but damn am I looking forward to the end of that freaky ball of yarn. (And not looking forward to trying to block the thing.)

Fiasco’s Mitts:

Feederbrook Farm Alpaca/Shetland. Click for project page.

Poor, poor Fiasco. He always gets knit-shafted. Here is part of his belated xmas present: a pair of mitts made with some delightfully sheep-y wool I picked up at Rhinebeck 2012. Luckily, these mitts knit up fairly quickly so once the Endless Brown Scarf is over he should have these mitts in hand (teehee) lickity-split.

Loop! Bumps 2-ply:

Loop! bullseye bumps in Elf and Kermit Coordinate. Click for handspun project page.

Have you ever spun a Loop! bullseye bump? Spinners on Ravelry raved and raved about them and I just had to try them. They are composed of fiber that has been blended really well, layered in color progressions, and wound so the fiber comes out of the center of the bump in on long, continuous strand. Unlike regular drum-carded batts that are great for woolen spinning, bullseye bumps are made for worsted spinning because they are so smoothly prepared and the fibers are well-aligned. I purchased the Elf bump (on the left) myself, which has a wonderful long color progression from deep teal through olive greens and spring greens to a bright aqua that ends in grey. Then I received the Kermit Coordinate bump as a gift, which transitions through similar color families in much shorter repeats. It’ll be really cool to see what happens when I spin each bump separately and ply the two together. The effect should be something along the same lines as fractal spinning.

One of my goals for the year that I didn’t mention before is to spin a little bit every day. I really enjoyed spinning like crazy for Spinzilla and if I can squeeze in just a minute here or there, I know my handspun output will increase dramatically. Plus, it feels good to ‘zen’ out a little every day. I’m going to post photos of my spinning on my Instagram with the hashtag #dailyspin, if you’d like to join in or follow along.

What are you working on this week? Am I the only one still scrambling to finish up late gifts? Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis and some spinning show & tell at Crafts from the Cwtch.

WIPWed #42: The Rush

Posted on December 11, 2013 by shoelaceswitcher

It’s that time, folks: 14 more days until Christmas! My gift knitting suffered a bit this year while I took time out to knit my mom’s kick-cancer’s-butt shawl and chemo cap so I fell behind more than I thought I would, considering the head start I got with the Malabrigo Stockpile in October. This means that there are no less than 9 projects I am still hoping to finish before Christmas and 4 I’d like to finish shortly thereafter. (Are you laughing yet???) The 9 consist of: 2 pairs of socks, 1 pair of cuffs, 2 hats, 1 headband, 1 pair of mitts, and 2 toddler-sized vests. The 4 shortly-thereafter projects are a scarf, a pair of mitts, and baby-sized hat and mittens. It sounds rather insane but I’m still at the point where I think it is possible, even though I work full time and have a busy weekend coming up. We’ll see! Onto the WIPs of choice this week…

Novelty:

Feza Yarns Alp Light. Click for Ravelry project page.

Only for my mother would I knit with novelty yarn composed entirely of browns and oranges! We saw this crazy yarn at a great yarn store when I was on Long Island (Infinite Yarns) which is basically composed of different novelty yarns knotted together so that when you knit it, you get a really funky scarf. I’m knitting a simple *k3, p1* rib to help combat the curling of plain stockinette. My mom fell in love with the sample and all thoughts of the socks I was knitting her for Christmas flew out the window. A scarf will be much faster, but still she’ll probably get this one half-finished as it was such a late-in-the-game decision.

Little Dyvest:

Malabrigo Rios, colorway Bobby Blue. Click for Ravelry project page.

This sweet little thing will be a vest for my youngest nephew, Logan. I’m planning a matching one for his older brother, too. The pattern is Dyvest by Anjali M and is eligible for the #Giftalong KALs and prizes that are still going on through the end of the month. I really love the cabling on this, simple yet effective.

Simple Seaside Socks:

KnitPicks Felici Sport. Click for Ravelry project page.

This, folks, is one of the oldest WIPs I have! I started these socks three years ago back in 2010. Then I realized that I liked gusset heels and lost the motivation to finish this afterthought heel pair. However, having half-finished pairs of socks lying around is really great come gift-giving time, so these have been resurrected and I’m almost halfway through the second sock. Woohoo!

Icy Adiri:

Bittersweet Woolery Ingenue, colorway Iceling. Click for Ravelry project page.

And another hat FO! This is for a gift, it came out beautifully soft and drapey even though I didn’t really love the yarn while I was knitting it. I worked an extra repeat to get enough length as my gauge must have been tighter with thinner yarn. I’m a bit upset because I noticed this when I was finishing up the hat:

Gasp! A mis-crossed cable! Little bastard…

The third cable from the bottom on the right hand side is crossed the wrong way. Oh well. Here’s hoping that the recipient doesn’t care because I have about a dozen other people waiting for knitted gifts so fiddling around to fix that one little blip is just not a feasible option!

That’s all I have this week! Check out more WIPs and perhaps some more frantic gift-knitting at Tamis Amis.

P.S. The Fiasco and I went to go see Straight No Chaser (an awesome a capella group) perform the other day. Here’s the perfect frantic theme song to accompany hurried holiday knitting: The Christmas Can-Can. Enjoy!