Hey, Knitting!

So, I wasn't just neglecting this blog over the past months--I didn't do much knitting at all until around September of this year, and even then it was only a little baby hat for a coworker that I gave away before gathering pictorial evidence.  

Finally though, the cool weather set down in the East Bay, and found my knitting mojo again.  

First up was a hugely belated mother's day gift that became a Christmas present.

 

Ishbel for Mom

I forgot to take pictures of the finished product in action, but this little Ishbel in The Plucky Knitter Silk Merino (Nora Charles colorway) made me pretty happy.  It blocked BEAUTIFULLY, all pointy-edged, and without blocking wires (as I'd waited till the day before Christmas Eve to finally finish this up.)

Next on the knitting list aren't really a project I can claim for myself, but I do want to show them off. HEB and I bought this yarn at a random store in this fake Scandinavian town in southern CA a couple of years back (it matched our nail polish!) and I finally convinced her to at least send me my pair.  She made me promise to block them, which I did, and then proceeded to wear them around.  SO CUTE.

Socks from HEB

 Also on the list of projects started long ago that I finally finished? These awesome awesome fingerless gloves.

Awesome Transition Gloves

I really love them. I managed to mess up and add too many or too few repeats to one, but I can't even deal with the thought of living without them for long enough to fix it.  It only really bothers me when I'm sitting on the train staring at them, and that happens so rarely, it's hardly worth taking them apart. 

Quite honestly, I think part of my constant frustration with the lack of cold in the Bay Area this winter is because I want to wear these all of the time, and really, it has to be pretty cold, because these babies are WARM.  I have been appreciating the beauty of the quarter length sleeve, as demonstrated above, and how the combination is comfy and chic. (Ha, probably not, but I so don't care!  Love!)

There is one more little thing that's helped to bring back the love of knitting most recently. 

Pretty SHELTER yarn.

I suppose if any designer was going to create a new yarn, Brooklyn Tweed would be the one to do a wooly, tweedy yarn that makes me want to knit with it all day long.  I knit myself a Turn a Square Hat with "Nest" and "Long John" colorways, and then knit my brother a semi-matching one. 

Tire swings are never not fun.

This picture shows his off a little better. 

Baby the goat in the background.

 

Instead of alternating 2 rows of the red with 3 rows of the grey, I did 3 rows grey, 2 rows red, 3 rows grey, 4 rows red (I know, WILD).  I really really like how his came out, even more than mine.  I also steam-blocked for the first time (I was a little worried about the yarn growing too much) and it worked wonders.  The wool seriously relaxed in front of my eyes, and became a little softer and far more flexible.  And that, in turn, let me wax poetic to my family about the wonders of wool.  Aren't they lucky?

 But two hats was not enough.

Actually a dark, dark brown (Pumpernickel!). Photographing this may be challenging.

This is the first (and not yet complete) of at least two more hats I'm making with this yarn.  More updates as they happen. One of many NYE resolutions is going to be posting to this blog.  Maybe one of those posts will include some lingering holiday gifts as well, but no promises. 

*wink*