Laurabelle's Blog

I have a ton of catching up to do on this blog. I'll start out of order, with Christmas.

I spent the fall in a frenzy of gift-knitting. This was part of the reason for my hiatus from blogging; I felt I couldn't blog these projects for fear of giving away the secret. Not that most of the recipients read my blog, but one never knows.

The first-finished (way back in August) was a lace shawl for my sister-in-law. Jeff helped me pick out the yarn, a nice peachy-pink alpaca. The pattern is Miss Lambert's Shetland Pattern for a Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I dropped one stitch in the whole shawl, but I picked it back up later and sewed it in. I can find the mistake, but I bet no one else will see it even if they're looking for it.

My mother got a wool-and-angora cabled sweater; the pattern is Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Sweater from Fitted Knits. I was not entirely happy with the fitted-ness; much of that is my fault for neglecting to, um, fit. But I do find the pattern a bit strange in that it adds cables (which pull a garment in) around the hips, which are wider than the waist on most women. If I did this again, I think I would add more stitches for the waist cable portion.

Jeff and I visited his family in Ohio in early December (more about that later), so I knit two nearly-identical pairs of Father and Son Socks (from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits) for his father and grandfather. His grandmother got Beaded Rib Socks by Diane Mulholland.

I finished a baby sweater for my cousin's new baby, Jayden, born prematurely just before Thanksgiving. His middle name was mine (before I married and changed it) and my grandfather's and his mother's maiden name; it's nice to share a family name with this new baby boy. The pattern is Ripples in Time from Inspired Cable Knits; I made the smallest size and still it is way too big for him! But he is growing fast; it might be the right size by now.

I had all sorts of plans for felted potholders; I was going to knit lots and distribute them to the whole family. That didn't happen; in the end I only managed one. It was two or three times as big as I intended; it could be a reasonable napkin if it weren't so thick and woolly. Woops. My cousin Adam was the lucky winner; he said its generous size would come in handy for large catering pots. If that doesn't work out, I suppose he can try it as a lap blanket.

Last but certainly not least, I finished kilt socks for Jeff (using the Highland Schottische Kilt Hose pattern from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush). I managed to have them ready for Jeff to wear to the Christmas Eve service.

And there you have Christmas!