Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Christmas Completions!

Well, the holiday has come and gone - and I'm now "fixing" the gifts that didn't fit quite right, or didn't quite get finished.

Two of the gifts were perfect - the shawl for my mother was beautiful, and she absolutely loved it. And the sweater for my grandson fit perfectly, and was a hit with everyone.

But the sweater for my granddaughter needs to be lengthened, and the last two fingers of the second Norwegian-patterned glove for a friend need to be completed. Those should take me through this weekend, and let me start the new year with new projects!

Planning new projects is always such fun. There are so many choices! Two months ago I bought some Shetland lamb in three colors - white, black and red-brown - that is luscious. I could spin it very fine for a tri-color shawl, or sport-weight for a sweater and socks. Or do some of both, since I went a little crazy and bought quite a bit of it! Then there is the silk waste I started spinning for a summer sweater, and would really like to finish up and start knitting, so that I might have the finished sweater for this year. And the cardigan I'd like to do for myself before too much longer from some pretty, Easter-egg dyed medium roving. And the wool-silk singles that are 3/4 spun for a sweater in heathered shades of purple...I could finish that up in a weekend, easily, since there's less than 4 ounces of singles left to spin, and then everything just needs to be plyed. That's probably what I'll work on first, if only to free up the bobbins for other projects!

There are also socks for me on the needles now, and I need to do some for my DH and my sons. While the idea of knitting plain Navy blue socks isn't that exciting, the son who's reporting to basic in June might appreciate them next winter at Great Lakes. And the other son might like a pair of black and orange for band this fall, or just a wildly-colored pattern to wear with his jeans.

So many possibilities and so much excitement, but so little time!

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Projects Completed!

Let's see...I've finished up several things since my last post, and started others. The scarf from the handspun Finn in the cellular lace pattern is finished off with a crocheted scalloped edge. The ear-warmer for a jogging friend is also finished, and the Shetland-style rectangular shawl for my mother is nearly done. Except I've decided to make it just a bit longer, so I'm spinning a little more yarn for that. But I'll finish it up before next week.

I've also started a pair of colorwork gloves for a younger friend from the same handspun Finn in white with a very dark brown shetland cross blend. I'm using the snowflake flove pattern found in Handspun, Handknit. They're going to be lovely when finished, although they may be a little late for Christmas - color knitting is much slower for me than lace!