Christmas Knits

Kristen bought this yarn for me in Dublin Ireland and brought it home for my Christmas gift. It was produced in Ireland--85% wool and 15% angora. It took me a few tries to work out the gauge, but I have started on a pair of mittens to wear in Maine this winter. I actually finished this mitten tonight, and will start mitten #2 tomorrow.

I made Kristen a pair of Fuzzy Feet in lovely Moss Heather color of Patons Classic Wool, and just got them felted in time to put them under the Christmas tree still all damp. But they finally dried, and then we thought about something to make them snug and warmer around the ankles. So I knit a pair of 3" cuffs on 56 stitches (2 x 2 rib) and whip-stitched them in. They are really elfin and cozy now. I might go back and do the same for Sam's pair. And eventually I will have to make a pair for myself, but I'm really tired of knitting them after making 4!

There has been knitting

A wash cloth for Kristen in mercerized cotton, for her new apartment. Probably for use in the shower rather than the kitchen.

Fuzzy feet for Sam. Above you see a before and after shot, and then the pair of them after felting. I used Patons Merino for these as well, and it only takes one skein to make a women's medium pair, which happens to also fit Sam's feet. They take longer than expected to knit, and knitting loosely on size 11's is a pain, but once they felt up, it's so much fun! They're warm and soft and cozy and I hope he will like them. I am considering knitting unfelted 2x2 ribbing cuffs and stitching it inside, if they have a tendency to come off off or leave cold ankles. Now I have to knit a pair for Kristen and me as well!
A sweater for my mother, which may or may not be a little small for her. But I was quite happy with this, knit out of 4 skeins of Patons Merino, using a pattern from Custom Knits called the Round Yoke Cardigan. You knit the entire body, bottom up, then knit two tubes for sleeves, cuff up, adding increases as you go, and then you connect the parts up and knit the shoulder section all in one piece. This was mailed off to Maine this week, with $200 insurance on it!

And my favorite knitting, a pair of socks for myself in Patons Kroy stripes. Note that that stripes do not and can not match, because the stripe sequence is going in opposite directions! Fraternal rather than identical twins. I have enjoyed the first pair of socks I ever made, which used this same brand of yarn and has held up for 2 years, so I think these will be keepers. I liked them so much that I already bought another 2 skeins in a slightly different colorway to make one more pair. This is great yarn!

Attention Shoppers!

I don't participate in Black Friday sales. But I did happen to be at the mall at 9 am on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (I was waiting for the yarn store to open at 10 am). After opening at some ungodly half-past-dark hour on Friday, the mall opened at 8 am on Saturday. But to my surprise, the place was almost deserted. I wandered around, and somehow nothing appealed to me. Today I was at Target on Saturday afternoon, and again it seemed rather quiet.

It struck me that there is a psychology to shopping--that you need to build up a certain kind of energy in order to want to buy things. And while people might actually have less money at the moment, they also lack that energy. Buying things, spending money, suddenly just feels distasteful. The sense of fun is not there. It feels like a burden.