Last of the Holiday Knits

Since my husband is online a lot and knows about my online haunts I kept any identifiable information about his knitted Christmas present offline. And even though I wisely started his gift in November to give myself extra time, I still didn't quite get it off the needles in time for Christmas. It was just a scarf, which didn't seem too daunting, but it took even longer than I anticipated when I had to be prepared to hide it every time he might come into the room. But, he actually wanted it to be a bit longer than I might have expected so it all worked out for the best anyway. Knowing that he's very picky about itchy things and wants comfortable clothes, I used the famously soft Malabrigo worsted in a flashy blue with a simple textured scarf pattern. I love how it came out and he's worn it a few times and says he likes it, so it counts as a success.

Pattern: His (Birthday) Scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted - Buscando Azul
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm metal straights
Completed: December 30, 2009

That was the last of the Christmas gift items, but not the last of my knitting over the Holiday break. Part of my Christmas present from my Mr. Wonderful was a beautiful set of 5 Stiletto-tip Signature Arts DPNs -- luxury needles! I had to try them, so I cast on for my first Socks That Rock socks.The combination of amazing needles and fun yarn grabbed me and although it's a somewhat involved pattern with a lot of texture stitches, I finished the first sock before New Year's Eve. I love the way the pattern mixed the colors so nicely!

Of course that meant that the New Year was upon us and a new Oz kit was due on my doorstep any day. So before I had to go back to work I had my Cowardly Lion socks finished and off the needles.I love the yarn, but the socks themselves are a bit slouchy on me. I did deviate from the pattern a bit and reduce the feet to fewer stitches which is probably why they're comfortable and the slouching hasn't been bothering me much when I wear them. They definitely reminded me that I haven't done socks with much plain stockinette stitch in a long time! I guess I'm drawn to patterns and textures for my knitting.

But now I'm back to work and my knitting progress has slowed. I have even more yarn and still not enough time to knit it all, but I'm working on slowing the rate at which new yarn comes in. Xandermommy is already talking about the upcoming Stitches Midwest, but I've said we're not allowed to go unless we knit at least one thing from the previous Stitches Midwest haul, so look for a post on a Stitches project (or the post on why I have to stay home) in the next few months!