I based these socks on the “Upstream” sock architecture from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters. The yarn is lachesis sock, hand-dyed by Three Fates Yarns (a friend in Salem.) It’s listed as 100% merino, but I could swear it has bamboo in it. It’s silky-smooth and very soft. I finished these during our trip to Lassen and they kept my feet cozy in the evenings.

Ravelry link

My friend JI gave me a purse some years ago, brown faux suede with embroidered flowers. It was one of my favorite purses ever and I’ve been meaning to try creating a pattern from it for a simple lined cotton version.

I had to carefully think through the order of sewing the seams – it’s necessary to leave the seam at the top of the handle for last, because joining the lining along both long curved edges of the strap would leave no way to turn the project inside out if the straps were already joined. Luckily this occurred to me before I actually tried it, and after confirming the topological nuances with my husband, I successfully joined the purse to the lining, turning it through an opening in the bottom of the lining.

I also added a pocket to the inside, and a magnetic snap.

Pretty good for a couple of evenings’ work! I love sewing, I really do – but knitting is so much easier to just pick up and work on. I need to keep in mind that sewing projects go faster. I have a nice little sewing corner now that our spare bedroom is cleared out, so I’m going to try to do more sewing this summer.

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf on Knitty.com
Yarn: Wolf Creek Wools Panda (a wool/bamboo blend)
Project Details (Ravelry Link)

I bought this yarn at Black Sheep Gathering last summer, assuming I’d use it for socks. My friend A from my knit group had a skein that she was using for a lace project and she mused aloud how glad she was to not be knitting socks with it. That gave me the idea to look for a lace project to use for my skein. The colors are too pretty to hide inside shoes anyway – a mix of greens from yellowy spring to bluey turquoise, accented with bits of coppery brown. I never got bored of knitting this. The pattern is just complex enough to hold my interest but not require too much concentration. This was my on-the-go project, I just kept it in my purse and worked on it in spare moments as I was out and about. The finished scarf is lovely, and very soft around my neck (usually even the softest merino gives me slight itch. Maybe the key here is that it’s superwash…)

Based on Otto by Ysolda Teague

After I decided to make a stuffed animal for the boy, I was reminded of how much fun my brother and I had as children, playing with our cherished stuffed animals. We would spend hours, each with our favorite “character,” pretending wild adventures in the backyard. I hope GJ has just as much fun with his puppy pal.

Ravelry link

Finally posting photos of my newest finished knit. Last month the sale yarn at the Knit Shop was Louisa Harding Kashmir DK, a super-squishy merino/microfiber blend with a touch of cashmere. I bought 2 skeins to make CO some mitts for her birthday, but only used a tiny bit of the second skein, so I went back and snapped up a 3rd to make a floppy beret. I’d been seeing these hats around and decided I had to have one. Bonus: this yarn is my very favorite color – a rich, teal-blue.

I looked on Ravelry for free patterns and there were a lot but none of them were for DK weight yarn. I decided to just make up my own, since I have big head and I wanted the hat to really be floppy. I had a bit of trial and error to make it tall enough before decreasing, but once I got started on the final version I finished it off within a week. This is my first new hat in years – and I love it.

Ravelry link

This year I was in charge of organizing the food. That was a really fun task, especially because everyone (there were about 22 of us) outdid themselves in bringing plenty of yummy food and all were appreciative of the meals that I planned. On Friday night we had 4 different soups with cornbread, biscuits, and spinach/pear salad. Saturday breakfast was bagels, muffins, and fruit; then we had lasagna, garlic bread and salad bar for lunch.

We had a wonderful time of sisterly sharing, prayer, and just hanging out. On Saturday night, some ladies had gone home but 12 of us stayed and had a fun, silly game night playing Catchphrase and Salad Bowl – both word-guessing games with verbal clues and charades. It’s hard to gain points for one’s team when one is laughing too hard to speak!

My friend EL brought her jewelry design supplies and I made a pair of earrings. I already knew she was a wire-wrapping genius, but I have even more respect for her mad skills now that I tried a wire-wrapping project. It came out well but I’m going to have to practice some more!

Pearl Bubble Earrings

I’m so glad I decided to unravel and re-design/re-knit. This sweater is so warm – I wore it all weekend with just a long-sleeved t-shirt and didn’t even need to wear a jacket over it. Super-cozy!

Before

After

Ravelry link: Before, After

SS, super-creative crafty mama, gave GC a handmade owl pillow and and assortment of other sleepy-time themed goodies.

GC gave HN an awesome hi-tech camera, to fuel the passion of our budding photographer. It was quite a surprise because GC hid it inside of a large box.

Baby J got many presents, of course, from his adoring aunties and uncles. He especially liked the book about the lost mitten. It was delicious.

GC gave RC a jello fishbowl that she had made, with blue jello and gummy candy fish.

BN made a clever photo holder for HN. After shopping around Santa Cruz, he couldn’t find anything like what he was looking for so he decided to make it himself.

And… MA knit me an afghan!!!!!! Tears came to my eyes as I was opening it because as a knitter, I know that afghans are like the marathon of knitting. She drew my name last year in our exchange and she worked on it all year, for me. It’s beautiful – lofty, squishy, and warm. Definitely one of the most special gifts I’ve ever received.

I did quite a bit of knitting for Christmas gifts, myself. I knitted a February Lady Sweater for SS: (Ravelry Link)

A pair of socks for BN: (Ravelry Link)

And baby socks for the babies: My brother’s son, expected in February; JWS, currently the most-photographed-baby on my side of the family; and our little princess EAA (she hates socks, unfortunately.) (Ravelry Link)

Actual size: about 4″ long.

I used craft wire to make a little hanger for it. I duplicate-stitched their last name initial (no, the R is not for Ron Weasley.) I will probably write up a pattern for this, when I’m home from Christmas vacation.

Ravelry link

Hot, hot, hot!

The first pair of socks I knit were for BN. He picked out a lovely reddish-orange yarn and I designed a simple-but-interesting chain/rib pattern for the cuff. They were fun to knit, and came out very nice if I do say so myself. But, I ran out of yarn right before the toe on the second sock! I had to go buy an additional skein just to get those 20 or so yards I needed to finish the project. The leftovers were plenty to make myself a pair and I found the perfect pattern – “Tiger Eyes” by Margaret K. K. Radcliffe from Socks, Socks, Socks. The intricate, swirling pattern that runs up the front is so exotic and appealing – this project caused a stir in my knitting group. This is one of the first really detailed lace projects that I’ve done – I had to pay attention closely to the chart. This project followed my 3 rules for successful socks:

1. Knit them toe-up. Not that my first sock-knitting project scarred me or anything! Seriously, though, toe-up prevents the dreaded run-out-of-yarn problem and I love long socks so if I knit them toe-up I can make them as long as the yarn lasts.

2. Must contain ribbing. They will certainly sag, bag, and bunch around the ankles otherwise. It’s best to make at least part of the sock leg ribbed so that it has a chance to stay up… I’ve knit several pairs now where the details and beauty are on the front and the back is ribbed. In this case, a pretty mock-cable rib keeps it un-boring and more in key with the complexity of the tiger-eye motif on the front.

3. Repeat after me: Cat Bordhi rules! Her “new pathways for sock knitters” allows me to take any sock design or stitch pattern and adapt it to my size. In this case I used the “riverbed” architecture.

Ravelry link