Holiday Knitting

I suspect that at this time of year, I am not alone in frantically trying to whip out some Holiday gift knitting. Monday morning, long before the crack of dawn, I dropped my husband off at the airport so that he could fly to Sacramento for a week for training on his new job. When I got home, as soon as it got light out (I hate turning on lights in the morning - if it is too dark out to see, then by God, maybe I should still be in bed asleep!) I cast on for a pair of socks as one of his Christmas gifts. Mind you, my husband doesn't celebrate Christmas, but I do, and for me, that is enough to qualify a loved one for a gift.

It is my fond hope to get these socks finished before he comes home so that he won't even have a clue what I have been up to. I'll have to really work at it, but I should be okay.... Hopefully I'll finish the first sock tonight.


The yarn is Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn in Master Grey, and the pattern, called 'Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks', and is designed by Ann Budd. The pattern can be found in 'Favorite Socks, 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave'. I have found the stitch pattern very easy to work and just as easy to remember, they are going fast!

This means, however, that I have put the socks for my middle sister on hold in the meantime. The 'Snicket Socks' pattern is on the website Magknits, at http://magknits.com/Sept06/patterns/snicket.htm and were designed by Sabine Riefler. I'm using Regia 4-fadig Tweed in color #52. I have fallen in love with this yarn, it is delightfully soft to knit with, and let me just admit right here, I am a fool for tweed yarns. I found this pattern a little harder to 'get' at the beginning, but once I caught on to what was happening, it has been a piece of cake. Word to the wise, when she tells you that you can opt to work the short-row heel she describes, or work a favorite short-row heel of your own preference, go for hers! I tried two different favorite short-row heels that I have had GREAT success with in the past - three times each! Then figured, Oh, what the heck! and tried her method, and it worked like a charm. I'm now on the second sock, and whipping right through it.



Over the summer I made a lace shawl for my Mom, using Merino Oro laceweight and the pattern 'Scheherezade' by Melanie Gibbons of Pink Lemon Twist. http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/2005/02/pink-lemon-twist-patterns.html I think she is going to be nicely surprised. Now I have to be sure she doesn't try to wash it in a machine!



Finally, well, I did knit something for my oldest sister, too. And after much thought, I have decided to go ahead and include a picture of it here. You have to understand that my sister reads all of my blogs faithfully, and last year I mistakenly included a whole blog entry about making her gift. Totally blew it! She then had the nerve to leave a comment on my blog that she liked her gift - a whole month before Christmas. This year when I emailed the fam and mentioned that I had finished her gift and was ready to mail it out, she replied that she would probably open it before Christmas. But what the heck, here is a picture of it for you all... Sis, don't peek!
















Gotcha, Sis!