Hellooooooooooooooooo…just want you to know I’m still alive. I’m back at home now, and I’ve brought a wicked cold with me. I was actually planning on coming into work yesterday, but then I woke up feeling like roasted balls of shit, so I just stayed in bed for a bit. Then I attempted to clean up my trashed house (Christmas detritus + the blub home alone for a week + cats home alone for three days = unholy mess). I didn’t get very far. I ended up just reading my new knitting books on the couch for a couple of hours with a nice cup of tea and some HOMEMADE FUDGE, but that has to wait until later. Right now we are talking FO’s. And here they are!

foliage hat

Foliage hat!
Pattern by Emilee Mooney
Yarn: Malabrigo chunky, olive, 1 skein (leftover from my Lace Leaf pullover)
Needles: KP nickel dpns, sz US 10 (6.0 mm)
Started and finished: December 18th, 2007. All told, it took me about three hours.
Recipient: my friend Jolene, but I haven’t sent it yet. Maybe I should take a better picture.

Sorry for the suckage photo. Bizarre, but the times I wanted to do photo shoots seemed like when all seven adults in the house decided to take a nap. So I was on my own. Hard to tell from my lovely picture, but this hat is really cute. And it was so quick! And so soft and nice! I hope it stays that way, but I know it won’t. My Lace Leaf pullover is Pilli-Vanilli now. Every time I put it on, it starts singing “Blame it on the rain,” which is rather annoying. I need to shave it to shut the frigging thing up. ANYway, love the hat. Moving on.

HG's mittens

Little girlie mittens!
Pattern: kind of, but not really. I sort of used this one from Spunky Eclectic, but it was more of a guideline. A jumping off point, if you will.
Yarn: some leftover Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Sherbert. I made HG some socks from it a loooong time ago, that never fit her anyway. Sniff. But now she has happy pink mittens, which she really likes. Unfortunately, she likes looking at them, not wearing them. Ah well.
Needles: KP nickel dpns, 3.0 mm (one of the size 2’s)
Started: December 19th
Finished: December 21st
Receipent: HG, age 4

I actually knitted three mittens, but the first one was kind of screwy. I ended up frogging it to finish the thumb on the last one anyway. Ran out of yarn. Now I have half a mitten left. Can someone please tell me what to do with half of a pink kid mitten?

J's mittens

The mittens of Baby J
Pattern: I made it up. I didn’t even have a guideline. I’m living on the edge here. Wahoo!
Yarn: STR mediumweight, henpecked. This was left over from my Thuja-inspired fingerless gloves. I still have tons left, so I’m making a matching hat. Yay for STR.
Needles: KP nickel dpns, 2.5 mm (one of the 1’s. Bloody US sizing…)
Started: December 22nd
Finished: December 23rd
Recipient: Baby J, 1

Like I said, I’m making a matching hat. This one. It’s hella cute, dudes. (Look at me! I’m talking like a Californian! Huan-Hua, are you so proud or what?) I’m kind of bummed I didn’t finish it before we all went home, but I’ll just mail it to them when it’s done. Baby J isn’t in dire need of a hat, plus they’re in Virginia now where it doesn’t get THAT cold. Not like the Arctic Tundra of the greater Chicago area. Brrr!

So what’s the Knitting Wars tally now? Let’s see…I think it’s 10. Right? I may be forgetting something. I actually have two more almost finished things (have to sew on buttons–that’s it) and a half-finished baby hat. After that…um. Can I knit Christmas gifts for myself? Will that count? Cuz I’m fresh out of gifts to knit, and I really need some mittens for me. I was going to make my Christmas stocking, but I decided that I want different colors which need to be ordered, and there’s no effing way they’ll be here before my deadline of Dec 31st. So Knitting Ruler? What say you?

Next time—Christmas gifts! My recipients’ reactions to their knitted presents, and the knitting-ish ones I got, including some FABULOUS yarn from the coolest girl ever. Yes Jesh, I’m talking about you! Smile for the cameras.