little black journal

This knitted hat for Elise was the last of my handmade Christmas gifts.  This project took a couple of tries.  My first attempt at a baby hat ended up looking more like a baby yamika – it was much smaller than anticipated and would never had stayed on a busy, moving baby like Elise.  I erred in the other direction with try number two and the hat actually ended up being quite a bit bigger than planned, but she’ll grow into it.

For now, if nothing else, she has plenty of fun trying it on and pulling it off and tugging on it every which way.  Pretty adorable.

Made with a really soft, washable acrylic-wool blend; pattern found in Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas.

This is the first year that I’m trying my hand at some handmade Christmas presents.  We exchanged gifts with Shane’s family on Thanksgiving, and it was nice to watch people unwrap things that I had made specially for them.

Slippers for Shane’s mom: Made with a soft, washable cotton blend yarn.  I made a pair of these for myself a few months ago (pattern found here), and I can tell you that they are guaranteed to keep your feet toasty.

Scarf was for Shane’s sister:  Made a super-soft silvery bamboo blend yarn, paired with a bronze ribbon that was used as a second strand.  Cozy, pretty, and hopefully perfect for those Minnesota winters…

I took another licensing exam on Wednesday night, which meant that my weekends and evenings prior to that were filled with studying.  Many nights, I fell asleep with my flashcards in my hands or my study guide propped up on my chest.  Notes and books were strewn about the living room.  From the minute I schedule an exam, it becomes a constant, nagging weight on my shoulders.  What a relief to have another test over with and to be able to put that stuff away for a little while!  Thursday night, I reveled in the bliss of an obligation-free evening and spent some time knitting, baking, and returning a couple of overdue phone calls.  Made a batch of peanut brittle and finished up a knitted Christmas gift.  Called my best friend and chatted with her for nearly an hour.  That’s the upside of all these tests and all this studying – when I do have free time, I tend to want to make the most of it.  I don’t spend too many nights just vegging out in front of the TV anymore (although there certainly are times when vegging is completely necessary and acceptable).  It feels good to get back into my neglected hobbies, even if this break may be short-lived.

This was a really simple project, but something new for me – I had never made (or worn) a cowl before.  I’m pleased with the results, though it did end up being a little more “drapy” than I’d planned – I was hoping for something that would have a little more stiffness.  Next time I’ll use a chunkier yarn that will hold its shape more.  Nonetheless, it’s cute and super-soft.  I wore it to work yesterday and received a couple of pride-inducing compliments on it, although one of my coworkers did refer to it as a “dickie” (those weird half-shirt things that people would wear under sweaters or blazers – think 80’s news reporter with big hair and shoulder-pads).  I was quick to correct him.

Excuse the pics – I was not in the mood for playing model today, and so I draped the cowl around my favorite vase rather than my neck for the photo shoot.  You get the idea…

Details:  Pattern found in Joelle Hoverson’s Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.   Knitted using size 6 circular needles and a fingering weight baby alpaca yarn (so soft!).

I’ve been on kind of a knitting binge lately and finally finished up this scarf.  This was my first attempt at a “lacy” pattern, and once I got into the groove of it, it was surprisingly simple.  Check out the pattern here (I used size 10.5 needles and a regular worsted yarn instead).

Seriously, how cute are these?  Just finished these little booties for a certain little someone and am starting pair #2 for another special little girl.  Knitted with a super-soft cotton/cashmere/angora blend, weight 50g, pattern found here.

I finished these up just in time to slip them on as the cold, gray wind and rain overtook Seattle. A fun little knitting project – it’s good to have something to entertain myself while Shane watches the History Channel (what is it with men and the History Channel, anyway?).

details: size 9 needles, double-strand of regular worsted yarn, pattern posted here.

It’s nice to have a comfy new scarf to protect me from this biting Seattle cold we’re feeling these days…

details: garter stitch (16 across), size 15 needles, double strand (one skein solid blue wool blend, one skein variegated blue and brown boucle).

I’m about “scarfed out” now (the scarf rack in the corner of our bedroom is becoming overgrown and resembles a sasquatch when the light are out), so my next project will have to be something new. Maybe get a head start on a Christmas sweater for Shane? I thought he would look super-hot in this one: