I can post pictures of at least one knitted Christmas prezzie…my mum’s neck warmer (modelled here by Kathleen):

The yarn is hand spun and hand dyed wool; I think the herringbone stitch pattern really shows off the yarn’s beauty. The pattern is from LoopKnits: Herringbone Neck Warmer.

Yesterday, I finished up a pair of ankle socks for my mum. These aren’t a late Christmas present; they’re just because:

The yarn is a self-striping sock yarn from JoAnn (Sole Sensations) and the pattern is a cobbling together of stitches from various sources. I used a 3×1 rib for the cuff; the leg and instep were knit using the Ringwood stitch pattern from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. The toe is a variation on the wide toe instructions from the same book; the decreases are separated by 4 stitches (2 on each needle) and the socks are bound off using Knitting Daily’s three needle Kitchener stitch.

You find that you dropped a stitch back when you started the toe decreases and your beautiful new handknit socks are unravelling.

Needless to say, they are hidden away in my bedroom while I ponder the greater significance of the error (did you know this is the first item I’ve knit for myself?) and wonder how I’m going to fix them without ripping out half the sock.

In the meantime, I’ve got Christmas knitting to finish (only one more item to finish up!). Last night, I also knitted a swatch for another pair of socks…these ones for my mum. They will be based on a pattern for a pair of socks which appeared in an 1899 volume of Weldon’s Practical Needlework (via a modern pattern book, Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush). I’m just using the stitch pattern, not the sock pattern, though.

I tried to get a photo of the stitch pattern but my camera just isn’t up to the task. You’ll have to take my word for it that it is really, really cool.

Perhaps the coolness of these new socks will take my mind off that dropped stitch for a while…

I made a trip to my local yarn shop yesterday, fully intending to spend nothing. Really. I was just going to show my friend, Cheryl, where it was.

Alas, some sale priced alpaca cried out to me from the back corner of the shop…

The yarn is Classic Elite’s Inca Marl and, at 20% off, it was a steal!

My plan is to make the Aleita Shell from the Spring 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. Of course, I have to finish my socks first…

For those who didn’t know, my mum has been visiting since before (American) Thanksgiving. W took her to the airport this morning for her trip home.

What we’ve been cooking/eating

Besides the usual Thanksgiving fare, we had a goose last week, smoked in the electric smoker. Yum! Another memorable meal was had at the Anatolian Table out in Rocklin.

What I’ve been knitting

While continuing on with various Christmas gifts, I’ve been working on my Stockings with Clocks from Nancy Bush’s book, Folk Solks. One is finished and the second has about three inches done on it (photos to follow when both are done). Quick knits have been a pair of slippers for Mum from Interweave Knits’ Holiday 2008 magazine, a pair of guest socks (pattern by Raggi), and muffs for the tile guy’s headphones.

Yes, you read that correctly. Wayde was making jokes about my knitting and the young guy’s headphones and so I rose to the challenge, knitting up a pair of muffs for the headphones. His earphones (and hopefully ears!) will stay nice and warm now.

The big problem is that you often have to rip out knitting. Inches and inches of knitting. Tiny stitches done with tiny needles, all gone.

Sigh.