yarntherapy

secret santa

Oooh, I got so lucky with Secret Santa at work! I pulled the name of one of our stage managers who is a big knitter! Such fun! But so hard not to give myself away - I was so tempted to just shower her with yarn and gadgets but that would be a dead giveaway that I was her Santa. I'm spreading out the knitting-related gifties - yesterday some knitting note cards that I picked up at Michael's Crafts last year, today a bottle of wine, tomorrow the Stitch 'n Bitch calendar ...... Today I went to Knitty City to pick up her final gift - a very cool needle roll. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow - I might have to get one for myself!

I've received some lovely goodies from my Santa, though none that are related to knitting. However, I did get a cool surprise today when my partner in crime, Chris, decided to give out his gifts early and he surprised me with Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which has totally been on my wishlist forever! Thanks, Chris! His reason for this particular book was that after the never-ending braided scarf for Kate, I might enjoy some small, quick projects. Heh. Ya think?

So. The braided scarf. Is kicking my ass. I though I was doing great until last Friday when I realized it was 10 days until Christmas and I wasn't even halfway done! Eek! So I kicked it into overdrive, and let me tell you - this scarf is NOT difficult, it's not even too boring, but jeez is it time-consuming! I'm finally to the sixth and last tube, and I'm about a third of the way done with that. The tubes go fast at first, but then you start to measure the last 18 inches or so, and you'd swear that the gremlins have been undoing your knitting because that last bit takes FOR-freaking-EVER!

Anyway. I'd better click "post" and go knit like the wind because if I don't finish this damn thing soon I might just hang myself with it.

plea for help!

Thanks for all the kind words about my apron ornaments! I had a blast putting these together, and I will definitely be doing some more in the future.

Knitting-wise, I'm halfway done with the braided scarf (I've done three of the six tubes) but now I'm getting paranoid that it will be too short. I can always add on to each tube, but I just don't want to be scrambling to finish it by Christmas.

Now, the plea for help! I had a last-minute gift request and I need to find a pattern for a hat that resembles this one by Burberry:

I'm finding lots of cabled hats, but nothing with those big chunky cables, which I think is what appealed to the person who wants the hat. The Burberry one is cashmere; I picked up some merino/cashmere blend at School Products yesterday in the requested color (navy.)

The other problem I'm having is that this for a guy with a gigantic head, like 23". I found a pattern that might work at the menknit.net zine (the cabled skullcap) but it's sized for a small-medium head with recommendation to knit at a larger gauge for a larger size, which is a great idea but I have such gauge issues in chunky yarns that I don't know if I can get to 3 stitches an inch without ruining the hand of the piece. And I don't really have the time or patience to fiddle with the pattern itself.

Anyway, if anyone can point me to a pattern that you think might work, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'm off to peruse my back issues of Interweave and Vogue Knitting to see if anything strikes my fancy.

busy hands!

Oooh, have I been a busy bee.

First, I joined the Holiday Ornament Swap and cranked out a dozen of these:

Whew! A lot of fiddly little work but I am SO pleased with the result!

Closeup:

Rear view (because I love big bows!):

I wanted the finishing to be nice on both sides, and I think I did a pretty good job. They measure about 5" long, plus the hanger and loop. I got a couple of packs of charm squares from Fat Quarter Shop - the line is called "Tinsel Time". I bought a million yards of different ribbons and rickracks at Daytona Trims, and I found the doll hangers on eBay.

I've already received a few ornaments (everyone will get nine each in the end) and they're all so unique and creative! I'm so happy I decided to do this - it was a lot of work at a busy time, but totally worth it. Check out the flickr group to see everyone's work!

Speaking of a lot of work:

Snakes on a plane? Nah, the VK Holiday cover scarf I'm making for Kate. I have two of the six long tubes finished. It's going surprisingly quickly, but only because I am knitting in every spare moment. I do a lot on the subway (perfect subway knitting!) (except people look at you really funny when you're knitting unidentifiable objects) and every time Kate is onstage I get in as many rows in as I can, then I hide it behind the couch. Everyone at the theatre knows about my "super secret project." I want the finished scarf to be about a foot shorter than the pattern (Kate's only 5'2", and I'm thinking a six foot long scarf might be a bit much) so I'm making the tubes about 15" shorter than the pattern calls for (if my math is correct! I can always add on.)

The yarn is Knitpicks Andean Silk, and so far I really like it. The color is awesome!

Hey, I got a new camera - check out the macro :-)