Because it's Russian Christmas today...

Jean Greenhowe's nativity (from 28-Page Christmas Special), given to my husband's grandparents. That's as far as I got -- they'll have to wait until next year to get the magi and shepherds, although I did make about half a sheep.

Yes, Joseph looks like a terrorist. It's not his fault. Although I've also been told he looks like Hagrid, and I like that much better :)

A note on Christmas: I actually celebrate it December 25th, as does my church, but in Russia, the church calendar is 13 days behind the regular calendar. Russia's regular calendar and church calendar used to be synchronized (and 13 days behind the rest of the world), but the real calendar changed at some point around the revolution (I think). The church stuck with theirs. So Russia and Serbia and a few others have the old calendar, while Greece and the OCA go by the new.

That, by the way, is NOT why Orthodox Easter is on a different calendar! That has another explanation to which I can't do justice.

You know it's cold when...

...you step outside and see this:



Penguin invasions are always a problem this time of year. You know, they only LOOK cute, but stay away if you value your fingers.

(Pattern by none other than Jean Greenhowe, from Knitted Animals. I think there are only 2-3 patterns from that booklet I haven't done already. It's just packed with cuteness. And the little "trees" are Habu stainless steel wool, sent to me by a friend. Don't they look like little Christmas trees, though?)

Hi there!

Well, I'm definitely out of my knitting slump and knitting up a storm! I've finished all the baby items for Twig's non-grandkids, but I'm not showing these quite yet (although I've made no effort to hide them, either). I don't think it's giving too much away, though, to say that each kid will get a sweater, a hat, and a pair of booties. So that was kind of alot of knitting all in about a week.

I'm back, baby!

Then I got an accusatory phonecall from my mom:

Mom: So I've been scouring stores looking for warm sweaters for your nieces. Where am I supposed to find wool sweaters in Georgia?? And it's not like they have an aunt who knits or anything!

Me: Ok, casting on a sweater right now!

So I did:



It's just a basic percentagey bottom-up raglan cardigan. The yarn is Paton's Classic Merino in Royal. A friend gave me three skeins of it for Christmas, and while the colorway is gorgeous, and so rich, I just couldn't figure out what to do with it. Not enough for a sweater. I don't need a hat or scarf, and don't know anyone who does AND who would wear such bright colors. For a while, I was going to combine this yarn with the same yarn in Petal Pink, of which I also have 3 skeins, to make the Rambling Rose cardigan (scroll down), but that was a fiasco. So it's just sat, and glared at me accusingly. (My stash in general has gotten rather oppressive, and I've been trying very hard to work from it, successfully.) And so when my mom called, I figured this would make a nice toddler sweater!

The only thing is, the fabric is pretty thick. I mean, it's worsted weight (size 7 needles). It's fine for an outer sweater, but she'll be wearing it under her jacket. Hopefully it's flexy enough. I think it is. I just really didn't want to go out and buy lighter weight yarn without destashing some.

I think the Petal Pink Classic Merino will, too, become a toddler sweater. My baby niece, who can still be swaddled and who has inherited all the wool sweaters I made for Big Niece, will get a sweater, too, and it might just be leftovers from the pink and Royal yarns. They'd be nice striped together in a simple raglan.

Of course, I have an ambitious Christmas knitting list, but more about that later. I've already mentioned the Jean Greenhowe Nativity set, though, and I've been plogging along with it:



Get your minds out of the gutter, people! That's Joseph! Obviously, much work remains for him. And then there are all the other figures to make. But I figure I have Mary and Baby Jesus already, so with Joseph (and a manger), that's a complete nativity, and if I never get around to the Wise Men and Shepherds, I can make them for Christmases to come to be added to the scene. In fact, I might do just that.

Faceless

But otherwise completed:



Here's Mary holding baby Jesus. The way I caught her sleeve on her gown, she can't actually hold him, but he'll be in a manger anyway (which is what I'm knitting now).

I think I'll be ok for finishing the nativities. These two figures only took a couple of hours, and they really don't have that many pieces. Mary consisted of the body and head, which I knit in one piece; two sleeves; two hands; and the headpiece. So a total of six pieces, and making her up was record-fast -- maybe half an hour. The Baby was a body and head knitted in one piece, and the headdress (those are not arms. That's just the headdress.). As always, everything I can knit in the round, I do. You have no idea how much seaming that saves!

I need to find my black yarn and embroider the faces, obviously.

I've also been busy baking:



Deliciously sandy sugar cookies decorated with colored sugars by me and a friend. The recipe is pretty basic, but I got it from Mary Engelbreit's Cookie Recipes, which I can't seem to find a link to. This weekend, I'm takling almond-chocolate sandwich cookies from the same book.

There once was a Mary

Who looked like a shoe:



This is how far I got with the Nativity scene I'm making for the in-laws. I figured I'd start with Mary, just in case I only get that far. Oddly enough, she's halfway done here! Only the Baby/manger, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, and sheep to go! And the Husband says that his grandparents will want one, too. Oh well. I still have time before December!

(Guess what yarn I'm using. Just guess.)

The Lucky cardigan is progressing nicely. Nothing really to say or show - it basically looks the same. I'm almost up to the sleeve shaping on the back.

And the third clue for the Mystery Stole came out Friday. By 2am Saturday, I was done with it. It's coming out so pretty!



Sadly, no new clue this Friday because of Harry Potter 7! Yes, I am a HP fan, and have the book ordered, so there may or may not be an update next Monday.

Knitting on the road

No, not the book. The ACTION!

What's the best way to clear off the WIPs on your side bar? Well, lock yourself into a car for 14 hours one weekend with nothing but unfinished knitting projects to work on. Voila! Before long, everything is done!

Like the Plymouth Sockotta socks I started a few months ago. I actually completed an entire sock and the cuff of the second one, but stopped when I came to the heel. See, I have flap-and-gusset heels memorized, but not short-row heels, and the self-striping yarn really looks better with those. So I put the socks down until I could sit down long enough to work the heel from instructions. And, of course, once I lost momentum, it took a while to regain it.

In fact, it took a car drive. In the dark. Yes, I knit these in the dark without looking. I mean, they are just stockinette. Although I goofed and made them longer than the first pair and had to go back and fix it.



I like these. I wore them, but just to bed. I can't say I enjoy the feel of Plymouth Sockotta -- it's too...cottony and rough, and not very elastic. But the socks feel nice on. Plus, I shaped them to fit my calves. They're slouchy at the ankles, but don't let that fool you -- they actually DO stay up.

Also, they are not identical. Obviously, the yarn striped differently, especially since my gauge was quite a bit looser for the second sock than for the first -- don't know why -- but I also did the cuffs differently. I don't know why, but the first sock has 2x2 rib and the second 1x1. I just didn't look closely enough or something.

But, yeah, to sum up: Sockotta yarn, size 1 needles. Basic top-down stockinette sock with short-row heel.

And then there's these socks that I started back in July (!!!):



See? These were finished on the road. And modeled on the road. And I still had 4 hours to go, with no more knitting. I somehow survived.



These socks are in Knitpicks now-defunct Sock Garden in Daffodil, and are wonderfully soft and snug, but I'm sure will wear out quickly when I wear them with boots in the winter. They're knit on size 1 needles, top-down, using the Chevron pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks (where else?).

As with the previous pair, I knit the first sock and half of the second one, to the heel. These have "afterthought" heels, and I worked the first one per Charlene Schurch's instructions -- you cast on separately for the heel as you come to it and basically work it like you're doing a toe decrease, then knit the foot of the sock. Well, of course, since this isn't flap-and-gusset, I didn't know how to do this off the top of my head, and lost momentum. As it was, I ended up working the heel of the second one differently -- rather than working the heel immediately, I knit half the stitches on scrap yarn and then continued knitting the foot of the sock as a tube. Then I undid the scrap yarn stitches and decreased the heel after the rest of the sock was done.

I really prefer "forethought" heels to short-row heels. They LOOK nicer, are easier to do, and don't have those holes. I just can't avoid holes along the sides of short-row heels, no matter how hard I try!

Also, for some reason, the second Daffodil sock took alot less yarn than the first. And I have a decent amount left over of the Sockotta. I'm saving my sock yarn scraps so that I can one day make crazy leftover socks, with different-colored heels and toes and stuff.

Finally, the reason we were on the road:



My little brother-in-law graduated from college this weekend. This was one of his gifts. The pattern -- you guessed it -- is a Jean Greenhowe (from Knitted Animals).

Cinderella, dressed in yella...

"I am so unhappy! I am sick of housework!"



"My skirt is so old and worn, I had to patch it. And the patches don't even match!"



"My beauty routine consists of putting my hair in pigtails. Really, people, PIGTAILS?"



"The only nice thing is my cool laced corset..."



"AGGHHH! I'm morphing! AAAGGGHHHHH!!!"



"Ahhh, that's much better, and I am much happier! Look at my lovely dress!"



"Even my hair is done up gorgeously!"



"And the roses trimming my dress all match perfectly! But they had to be knitted and sewn on one by friggin one..."



"Ooooh, look, the prince has noticed me and smiled! Off I go to perpetuate the stereotype that no woman is happy without a man!"

(Jean Greenhowe's topsy-turvy Cinderella, from the 28-page Christmas special. Various acrylics, mostly Caron Simply Soft and Bernat Satin. Took longer to finish than to actually knit, but was great fun. The dressy side will eventually have a bag, and the patched side will have a bucket. More projects eventually coming up.)

What I've been up to

Ever since the knitting frenzy of early September, I really haven't had much time to knit! The shawl and a pair of socks were the only things I finished since then, although I now have stuffing for the elephant. There's no excuse not to finish!

I did, however, start some new things, and I know that you're just DYING to see what they are.

First up, a sweater for J's baby girl (J, if you remember, will be the lucky recepient of these socks. This is the Robin Hood from Adorable Knits for Tots, in Swish superwash merino, Dublin colorway:



(I love it. It's so soft and the cables really pop. However, I don't have enough yarn and will need to get more. Darn.)

Speaking of J, I started a topsy-turvy Cinderella doll (by Jean Greenhowe, of course!) for her older daughter. I think she'll get a kick out of it, despite the random colors :) (please excuse them -- I was determined not to buy any more yarn!)



Here are the completed skirts and the almost-completed bodies/heads. The lavender is the dressy skirt, and the yellow is the patched Cinderella outfit. I converted everything to knitting in the round to save time on seaming, and am knitting both bodies in one piece. It's been slow, because I've been getting home at 8 in the evening every night, and then still have chores to do, so I've had no time to knit.

Finally, the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan, which is apparently no longer available on Knitpicks. Boo. It's a very easy, mindless knit, so I usually take it on the train. It's in Shadow, Lost Lake colorway.



I'm about 3-4 inches in so far. It'll take a while. A train ride makes maybe a row, so...

I went to a book fair at University of Chicago last weekend, and got a ton of books, all for $9 total. I got The Once and Future King and the 6th Harry Potter (hardbound, for $2! Brand-new looking, too!), and a bunch of books I would never pay full price for, like a book on taking care of household plants, and one on household tips and hints -- everything from getting out stains to first aid. I also got two sewing books (one from the 60s, one from the 80s), because I'd like to have a reference handy.

And, of course, knitting books! I bought 5 volumes of the 20-volume Stitch by Stitch series, which was put out in the 80s, and contains instructions and patterns for knitting, crochet, and sewing. While the patterns are outdated (although the kids' patterns, blankets, and even some adult wear are still just fine!), they seem to be really outstanding books! They illustrate, step by step (or stitch by stitch!) how to make different stitches and patterns, various techniques, etc. One of the volumes talks about modifying necklines, for example. Another illustrates making cables in crochet. And the illustrations are excellent! And each book contains 20-30 patterns, for everything -- men's and women's clothing, kids and baby clothes and accessories, home stuff, toys...

So I'm very pleased with them, and I went on Amazon to see if I could find more volumes. And I did! I found the whole set for $8 new, including shipping! So...I think I'll get it! Yay!

Oh, I also got my copy of Vogue Knitting, you know, the reference book, and am very happy with it.

She's gone mad.

(Not least because she's talking about herself in the third person.)

I have a grant due tomorrow. And what have I been spending my time on? Knitting baby things so that I can send off a baby care package for my brother by September 12-14ish. A bit of a time crunch, especially since I'd like to send two sweaters, two toys, two pairs of socks/booties, mitts, and a couple of hats. Plus Thujas for my sister-in-law, plus a hat, mitts, and a toy for my other niece. Mad, I tell you.

Or maybe not. Here is toy #1, a Jean Greenhowe duckling, from Knitted Animals:



(All various kinds of acrylic.)

I knit the pieces back in April '05. Yes, that's over 16 months ago. (Note how much looser and more uneven my stitching is.) I was making it as a last-minute gift for a baby shower, and had all the pieces done in a few hours. I even got the body, feet, and wings all sewn together. For some reason, I just didn't finish. I think I got bored. Anyway, I sewed it up last night (took 10 minutes), so it counts as this year's FO :)

As far as baby socks: I have the pair of Mary Janes, and just finished off a pair of baby socks from IK summer '05 issue (these are the XOX socks):

Here they are, standing up. They really need a blocking!



They're done in Knitpicks Palette on size 0 needles. Needles that pointy and yarn that splitty = hated project. That XOX cable sure is cute, though.

A fuzzy size comparison photo. They're actually pretty big, which is good because the babe will wear them awhile, and they can be worn over cotton socks for extra warmth.



Still working on the Trellis (I have the back and one front completed), and have just started a pair of teeny mitts out of the same sky-blue Palette as the socks, with the same XOX pattern. I'm winging it, because how hard could it be to make thumbless mittens? If they turn out ok, I'll post the pattern, such as it is. I'm also thinking of making a matching hat, and the other hat will be made to match the Trellis.

I have no idea what I'm going to make for the second sweater or the second toy, but I do have 12 hours of car-time this weekend, so I'm bringing a bunch of yarn along.

The nominees for toy #2 are:

-Clown fish from World of Knitted Toys
-Frog from Knitted Animals
-Tube doll from a vintage knitting book I have

Sleepy knitty kitty

Aaahh, just napping in the sunshine. I wish I was doing the same.



Pattern: Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Animals
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease scraps
Needles: Boye US3
Start date: May 22, 2006
Completion date: May 22, 2006

She took about two hours to make. Which is good, because that was all the time I had to work on her! I had an oh-crap moment when I realized I'd be seeing my friend on Thursday for the first time since last July, and I had no present for her. Sooo...she's a cat lover, and likes small gifts rather than large ones, so here we are.

I am also most of the way done with Trellis's collar, and I haven't even picked up any of the others. I'm so tired today. Last night, I decided dicking around online was more important than sleeping, so...