Over the snit and back to the knit

After two solid days of running diagnostics and cleaning up the hard drive and registry, I am back to rocking on the computer.

Yay!

I had thought my AVG had let me down and allowed malicious spyware and adware onto my computer, but a $30 download of Ad-aware showed that was not the case.

It just required a little love and attention, as well as the deletion of quite a few old files and broken exec links.

Now, onto the more interesting stuff.

The sleeves are well in hand, so to speak, as I am closing in on the final shaping and bind-offs. I will not be able to seam it together until the weekend, but it will be wonderful to have it off the needles.

Next up: A sleeveless pullover for Mom in 100% cotton.

As mentioned in a previous post, Mom liked a sweater vest I had made for Sweet One; however, when she tried it on, some adjustments were obvious.

Here is a shot of mom in the vest. As her hair was a mess and she was not fully made up, I acquiesced and lopped off her head:



Of course, she wants it about three inches longer. Instead of knitting this flat, I will alter the pattern to knit in the round. I will add an inch more of ribbing and two inches more of the stockinette so that the line where the ribbing meets the stockinette will fall just below her bust line. She will still get the length she desires, as well as a better fit.

The yarn is Peru Naturtex Partners Pakucho Organic Cotton I bought from Elann ages ago.



The color is supposed to be Sage Green, but I just do not see it. I knit a swatch to wash and dry twice. It is incredibly soft. I am just not a huge fan of knitting with cotton. It is hard on the hands, but my mother LOVES it!

There are only three yarns in my stash that are actually cotton. The Pakucho above, some Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran, and some Organic Cotton/Bamboo (51% organic cotton/49% bamboo)I had specially dyed for me from Blarney Yarns last year.

The Debbie Bliss Aran Denim looks like this:



Wee One fell in love the Debbie Bliss and asked me to make this short-sleeved hoodie from the Fall 2009 Issue of KnitScene (scroll down, it is the Heather Hoodie):



Unfortunately, the pattern calls for bulky weight yarn and the Aran Debbie Bliss is just not working out to gauge.

Instead, with the Aran Denim I will knit the ubiquitous Central Park Hoodie for her from the Fall 2006 Issue of KnitScene.



Now begins the stealth knitting for Christmas. I have decided there are four sweaters in my future that will be unveiled Christmas morning.

Wee One will receive the short-sleeved hoodie from above that she originally wanted in the Debbie Bliss; however, it will actually be knit up in Cascade 128 bulky:



That means, naturally, Wee One will get two hoodies, but the long-sleeved version will be in the cotton denim that is easy to wash and dry and not quite as warm as wool. Perfect for our climate. The short-sleeved one will be done in bulky wool and, hopefully, prove to be a quick knit. Yes, I know, I have said that before.

The cotton will not be a stealth knit, just her bright blue wool one.

Moving along, Sweet One is extremely picky about what she wears, but she indicated several months ago she liked this Scabbard pattern from Stitch Diva (if you follow that link, you will see a long-sleeved version, as well):



For this, I will use the Blarney Organic cotton/bamboo. This yarn is so incredibly soft and wonderful!! I cannot wait to get it on the needles.



As mentioned before, the husband is getting Norah Gaughan's Devon, yarn to be decided...

Mom is slated for another sweater. For almost a year I have queued up a Mr. Greenjeans for her in this lovely Dream in Color Classy yarn in the colorway of In Vino Veritas:





However, I made something similar in a dark black/brown colorway last year. In addition, I came across someone's project on Ravelry that converted this to a pullover, rather than a cardigan.



Last year it took me a week to knit the Something Red pattern in Dream in Color Classy Black Parade:



Ambitious, I know, but there you have it, my Christmas knitting plans...

There are only two I need to keep under wraps, the husband's Devon and Wee One's bright blue short-sleeved hoodie. Mom is in Louisiana and Sweet One will be away at college.

So, does anyone else have Holiday gift-giving knitting plans they would care to share?

Comments

LauraB said…
You shame me and my slow fingers. LOL Still, I love your selections!!

I am thinking of some lace bookmarkers for many people - I have to get beads which will be a singular delight.

All the guys love hubs' camo socks so far. I suspect a lot of "baklava's" pending. And I think I might try the Twilight Bella mittens for stepdaughter in CO.

I just knit SO SLOWLY!! I have to go with small items...which reminds me that many pals like the idea of the not-a-swiffer pad. Must add those, too...
Lolly said…
Ambitious for you...impossible for me! :) I actually emailed my sister this morning, to see if she had found the Knitters magazine I left at her house and said she should look in it to see if there's anything she'd like me to make for her. I didn't mention anything about WHEN I would get it made, though. I hope I could just maybe get some socks made for my sisters. Some mitts for their husbands. We'll see.
I feel like I should finish MY sweater first, of course, before I attempt one for anyone else. And so far, I'm very pleased with my sweater! to be continued...
Oh, I have plans . . . just no skills! ;) I love all the patterns. All of them.

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