Next things

Thank you all so much for your wonderful compliments on my vest!! I have to confess that I’ve taken to wearing it over my jim-jams on chilly mornings and evenings. It’s a funny combo, but it provides just the right amount of warmth without being bulky and is therefore irresistible. I feel like the crazy old lady on the corner when I’m dressed up that way, though.

After a bigger project, it’s so nice to move on the smaller projects! I am almost done with holiday knitting with my progress this weekend (please don’t curse me).

Also from the Debbie Bliss magazine, for my sis I worked up the slouchy cable beret…

I subbed the yarn, using just shy of 2.5 skeins of DB cashmerino aran in color 300612 – a true plum purple. It’s not quite as “primary” as in the picture, it has slightly more blue for a more plum color. But it is a lovely vibrant purple and pretty much my sis’s favorite color. I used US5 and US8 needles, per the pattern. This yarn has the same ballband gauge as the pattern yarn and the hat came out right to size.

I wish I had a way to blog about the handle of this yarn after a steam blocking. It feels almost like water, it’s so soft and flowing. This sis has a lot of hair – and I hope will be well served by a big woolen slouch hat!

This week I also revisited a project I had started, and then set down, several weeks bag – Quinn. While this is a gorgeous bag pattern and is exceptionally well-written, I quickly discovered that working the cables on the body of the bag would be brutal on the hands in this yarn, Cotton Ease. But I really liked the cable band. As I was working on the vest, which is in seed stitch, it occurred to me that the body of the bag might be nice in seed stitch too!

Saved! I worked the handle as written, except for working it as a 3-strand braid instead of a 4-strand. What you can’t tell in this picture is that because the body of the bag is less stiff, it needs more structure to look OK hanging from the handle. I’m going to put a magnet closure in the center and see if that does it. I considered putting a fabric lining in, but I’ve never done this and my handsewing skills do not make me confident enough to experiment on a gift!

The last smallish giftie to make was a request from my niece – I love that! She saw a pair of black and white striped fingerless mitts at a store, and kindly thought I could make them much better. Apparently flattery goes a long way with me – because I’m all on board with making specific knitwear for my fam. She also coveted the chunky lace-up fingerless mitts I made her mum a couple christmases ago. So, with this in mind, a-yarn hunting I went.

I was in Burbank (at IKEA, which even on Friday is like an Ironman for the domestically inclined) so I popped into Unwind. It’s harder than you might think to find a yarn you want for a certain project that also has both black and ivory/white colors in stock. Thankfully, Stephanie had just the right thing:

Berroco Cuzco, a chunky alpaca/wool blend. I love that the “black” is actually a heathered charcoal and the “white” is a warm ivory, plus it has a little texture due to the alpaca. I am going to wing this, starting with the lace-up mitt pattern from alterknits as a start. We’ll see how that goes.

After the mitts, I have only the tunisian crochet blanket to do, which I hope to complete over the thanksgiving weekend. Only a 3-day week next week! Hooray!

I’m sure you’ve all seen it, but the winter Knotions is up! Jody had serious technical difficulties to overcome, but everything looks great! A new issue of Knit on the Net is up too. Great patterns in both, especially accessories.

Something I’m excited about is the Fall/Winter issue of Knit.1 magazine. They’ve gathered several designer/bloggers to provide a design for this issue as well as a story on each person. I think the preview is supposed to go live tomorrow!