fo and more

this is the spring we're experiencing here:

still two months for the real one :-/


monkeys from knitty; just about the last person to knit them;
Lorna's Laces in Neon (401), 215yd/50g (196m)
the socks are for my aunt :-) i hope she likes them and finds them useful. they are already shipped to Poland, together with the shawl for my mum. what Easter gifts my family will have!



...i am still playing with colors:

(i consider it a long project, with the due date in the autumn - just to avoid disappointment ;-))

wow!

THIS sock is absolutely fabulous! next in the queue!

swallowtail

swallowtail knitted in my favourite silk yarn, as before. needles 3.5mm, likewise. seems to be the receipe for the silk shawl that JUST WORKS. :-) for me, anyway.

this one is for my mother. it's smaller than i expected, but cute nonetheless. i really hope she likes it... otherwise, i might take it back ;-)




--
THIS is what i'm working on now. as a part of the olympics project on our shared polish knitting olympics blog.

glove love

pattern: rococo from the great Twist Collective;
yarn: merino 100% by katia, 102m/50g in colour no. 25; a little over 2 balls;
needles: 3mm dpn;

i really like how these have turned out! the cables show beautifully in the 12-ply yarn, the colour is great, and the warmth factor is just appropriate for the recent cold weather! not to mention that i damaged my only pair of winter gloves and had to wear the skiing gloves... not very comfortable around the city ;-)

there is a mistake in the pattern, which i have overlooked, and when i noticed that "something is not just right with the cables", i did not care all that much to correct it. you can see it on the pinky of the left glove. i think the erratum was recently emailed, actually.

a cowl

Jewel Hand Dyed (Cascade Yarns) 100% wool 142 yd/100gr in colour 9947, 2 hanks
6mm needles
100 stitches

very simple!

the last FO of 2009, in fact, knitted mostly during traveling.

i still knit...

all of these were finished before end of January. they need blocking/photoshot, but two of the items (three, really...) are perfectly usable without that. in fact, i was already wearing the cowl during our Christmas trip to Poland, but i changed its border to garter stitch recently. what prevents me from using them now, is the sinusitis that makes going out rather unreasonable. so i can call three FOs! separate posts to follow.

real winter arrived

unedited, fresh shot from Friday morning:



to prove that i really really need warm gloves (as if any proof is needed), a view from the balcony:

mini vest for winter

this one deserves a separate post, and a special comment.


(again, my sister in law did not model it for a lack of time)

this was meant to be this vest (117-17). i bought the recommended yarn and happily started to knit the super-fast chunky piece. after completing the "collar" and making decreases for the sides, i realized that the collar is too high. ripping #1. another attempt to make the decreases earlier and divide the stitches into three decreases instead of one. on almost completing the sides, i realized that they were too narrow. ripping #2. deciding not to take any more chances (the time was short), i knitted on and decided the shaping based on my gut feeling. i never knitted anything for my sister in law, so i wasn't completely sure about the size, yet i turned out very well! drops polaris (5 balls 100g each) on 12mm needles.

hats

1.


cousteau hat knitted with Malabrigo worsted (olive) on 4.5mm needles;

2.



subtle twist hat knitted with Colourscape Chunky by Rowan (Candy Pink) on 6.5mm needles (i think?); i used only 60% of the skein.

in both cases, i tweaked the number of stitches to match hats with heads of the recipients. sadly, there was not enough time and light to convince them to model the hats for me, hence my head is used as a hat model.

presents given

i did not manage to finish only one in time (not shown here, but i *test wear it as i type it). honestly, sometime in mid-december, i thought the whole idea of gift knitting is a naive self-deception. despite all modifications, lousily written patterns and distractions, i manage to gift these little things.