cables

- saffronknits 1 Comment

lot’s o’ knitting goin’ on

I finally finished this hat. It was sitting on the needles for way too long and last month, I finally sat down and finished it in one sitting.

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda
Size: Regular (I did the slouchy last time)
Yarn: Kraemer Yarns Summit Hill in colorway Aquamarine, not a whole skein
Needles: US 7
Started: December 15 2008
Completed: May 17 2009

I love this pattern. Well worth knitting again. This will make a nice gift for a dear friend. It’s nice to have a Christmas gift done so early. :)

…aaand… this past weekend, I was knitting like a fiend and finished the heels on my Monkey-ish socks so I just need to do the legs and the cuffs. I don’t have a lot of knitting time during the week ’cause I usually only have enough mental power for spinning at the end of the day so this part might take a while, but I love knitting these socks – a combo of my creativity with that of the Cookie A. Lots ‘o fun, in my opinion. :) (The yarn is Dream in Color: Some Summer Sky … perfect for this time of year, wouldn’t you say? :D )

This is the Sherman short row heel, great for someone who doesn’t like to deal with wrapping stitches.

I decided not the carry the pattern all the way around the leg. I really like how it looks.

and I got a new knitting book!

and I know what I’m going to knit next … Oh… the anticipation. ;)

- saffronknits 1 Comment

labor of love and lots of cables

On the day that I took my spinning lesson, I sat with a knitting group while waiting for my class to begin and woman was knitting a sweater out of alapca and she let a few of us touch it.

Oh. My. Gawd! I was not expecting such softness. I wanted more of that softness.

So what did I do the next weekend (November 29th)? I bought some alapaca yarn, an alpaca/silk blend to be exact – Plymouth Earth Mainland in #4 colorway.

That same day I used it to start the Gretel hat.

I’d been admiring it for a while so I just took the plunge and started it knitting. I learned the long tail tubular cast-on from a video on the designer’s website and after that I was off and running. I knit fast and furious on this hat. It has been great knit therapy when the stress and/or melancholy of the holiday season get to me.

This hat is definitely a labor of love. I love the yarn. I love the pattern. I love the person for whom this hat is for.