Finally - finished knitting pics!

I've finally been able to reconnect with my digital camera and so I can show some FO's from my knitting! I'm so excited! All of these are from weeks ago - the sweaters from back in February...

This first photo is of the sweater that I designed for my sister with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande - slightly less than 2 skeins - in light ice blue. Its incredibly soft!



My sister Jule has a lot of specific things she likes in sweater - I made it hip length, 27 inches long; I made the sleeves long, too, to 3/4 length; I added a little pocket, with a little button, so a card or ticket won't fall out (my sister often doesn't carry a bag). Isn't it a cute little button? I bought it at the Brimfield antique fair with my friend Mark - its a porcelain button with a handpainted rose on it.





The clasp at the neck is a vintage mother-of-pearl clasp that I found at the thrift shop for $5!! what a great find...and my sister loves it. I have a picture of her wearing it, but its in a disposable camera that isn't full yet, so...later.

This second sweater - the raglan T-neck from Magknits - was also for my sister. It was such a fast knit! I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length... It's very flattering - just form-fitting enough without looking too tight.



This last photo shows 3 pairs of socks I made for friends:

The Lavender ones are my own Van Helsing design that I showed you earlier, made with Cascade angora wool with a little nylon for strength. They look so much better on her feet!

The yellow ones are a vintage spiral rib heeless sock. I used the Cascade angora again, and paired it with a cheerful orange nylon reinforcing yarn so the heels and toes wouldn't wear through when Holly wore them. I meant them to be worn with Crocs, but I think they are a bit big for her, so she's wearing them as comfort socks...

The blue ones were knit with 2 skeins of Australian Pear Tree merino wool - so incredibly soft! I loved working with this yarn! I used the leaf lace pattern from Favorite Socks, modified a bit.... This was my first pair of toe-up socks, so I made a little mistake on the first toes, but everything else came out well, I think! These were for Mingbutterfly.




So that's it for now. There are more, but I have to take more pictures!

a cold and sullen winter

Tomorrow is going to be a Big Snow Storm for the whole state. I’ve already stated my intention of staying home from work if the storm is particularly fierce and, in preparation, have been to the yarn store to pick up just one more skein of yarn. It would be very difficult if – in the middle of a Big Snow Storm – I ran out of yarn and I had to wait until Saturday to get it.

I put down my green linen shrug momentarily to start the little Anthropologie-inspired sweater and am now almost finished knitting it. I would be finished, except that I can never leave a good pattern alone and have now decided to make it longer and give it ¾-length sleeves. Its very beautiful, and I think I’ll make another one in Coral. I so wish I could show you a photo…but I probably won’t get my computer fixed until April at least.

It is cold. But why do I call it sullen? Because it hangs around slouchingly with its hands in its pockets and Just. Will. Not. Leave. Even though it's obvious by now that Winter is not at all interested in any kind of fruitful relationship. Winter, take your sullen self off and let Spring make its offers now.