Ho, ho, ho....

Sorry but I couldn't resist taking a picture of this current WIP against some pine. I guess you could say I'm getting into the holiday spirit around here, in spite of myself.



This is the first of a pair of gloves for my sister. I am using the Fetching pattern for fingerless gloves from Knitty, but I plan to make them with fingers using the Handy Book of Patterns as my guide (hoping and praying I'll be able to figure this out). As a knitter, I love fingerless gloves because they are cool and easier to make, but since these are a gift I want to make sure the recipient's extremities stay warm. That's the longwinded explanation for why I am willing to put myself through the ordeal of knitting up those little fingers.

This pattern is great fun, by the way. I have only tried cables for swatches, so this is my first attempt incorporating them into a real piece, and so far so good. I can't say I really enjoy doing them, especially when I'm working with dpn's, but the effect is so pretty and the cable rows so few, I've decided it's worth the effort. Also loving the the 4X1 rib pattern.

Materials:
Plymouth's Suri Merino (red) and size 5 dpn's (went down a needle size to make the fit a little smaller for my sister's hands)

To be continued....

Little Gifts

A few days later, here's the Ballband Dishcloth in its finished form:



After looking at some comments on the Mason Dixon KAL, I've decided that these could be used as washcloths too, so I'm going to knit up a few more for holiday gifts and wrap them around luxurious bars of soap. Yesterday I went to Michael's and enhanced my Sugar and Cream stash, so now I have many color combination possibilities. I also got some colored pencils so I can plan out my designs on graph paper.

The latest WIP is Elsa's holiday present: a little white bunny (knit with a double strand of Blue Sky Alpaca DK White) with pink angora ears. The pattern is from Hoverson's book (again!), and it's been really fun to watch it take shape. I am changing the pattern a bit and knitting with DPN's rather than two circular needles, as she suggests. This allowed me to knit more pieces in the round, so there will be fewer seams at the end. The only snag I came across was the transition from the two legs (knit separately) to the body. I was able to solve the problem by knitting the last round of each leg as if they were on straight needles to open up the circle. Then I was able to join both legs together on dpn's and close up the circle again, but it did leave a gap in the crotch area, which I sewed together this morning.

I also hit a small snag when I shaped the shoulders because it was my first time doing an ssk (a left slanting decrease)combined with a k2tog (right slanting decrease). It took me a while to figure out how the pattern was working, but with this handy visual aid I was able to pull it off:

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/decrease.php

Here's an unintentionally eerie picture of the bunny in progress:



I decided to stuff the legs and belly this morning before I get too far along on the head. Oh boy, that was fun...and now it's really starting to look and feel like a toy. Can't wait to give this to Elsa.