Blogging the Past

I need to play catch up on documenting my knitting projects. I realized that I hadn't finished my 2011 project posts, and I really need to get on that before I can blog 2012.

2011 was a long time ago, and as someone who sometimes can't remember what she had for dinner the night before, I will be sketchy on the details here.

Retro Redux Shrug.

The only photo I have of this is a semi-crappy cell phone photo that I took the first day I wore it, to my step-daughter's wedding.

It's from the great book Lace Style. I used Rowan Calmer, which is my favorite discontinued yarn. I always balked at the price of Calmer -- seriously, $13 for a cotton/acrylic blend? -- but knitting with it is always so pleasant, and it holds up to washing well (as Mike's favorite hats that were made with calmer show).

Dad's Christmas Socks.

I cast these on last year while my dad wasn't feeling well (complications from knee surgery; last summer was a very scary time for me) and gave them to him for Christmas. I didn't really use a pattern as they were just plain and simple socks. I used some KnitPicks Stroll that I had purchased a few years ago.

Soaring Heart Mitts.

I made these for my boss's wife, who always gives me beautiful things at Christmas. She's a quilter, and runs her own quilting finishing business. I wasn't sure how warm her workspace was in the winter, and thought some fingerless gloves would work well for her (if not for that, just for general driving and things). I put two photos because one shows the pattern better (it's a free pattern, too!) and the other shows the yarn color better. The yarn is Karabella Marble, which I purchased from Newbury Yarns near my work.

BFF Socks.

These were a Christmas gift for my mom. I love the pattern (I love knitting cables, anyway) from Cookie A, and I love the yarn (Regia Silk 4-ply; that shit is like crack to knit with). I know she wears these around the house, and I've seen them drying in the bathroom so it appears she handwashes them.

Oktoberfest Socks.

This was one of those projects that took much longer than it should have, because I decided to knit some Christmas presents last year and reluctantly put these aside because they were for me. I had purchased them as a kit at Rhinebeck, from the Tsock Tsarina, a few years ago and finally got around to knitting them. They may have been my favorite pair of socks to wear this year.

That wraps up things that I finished in 2011. 2012 may be coming up one of these days as well!

Angry Scotsman

My friends Kate and Snag converted a room in their basement to a bar, which they call The Angry Scotsman. It's a helluva great place to hang out, watch some movies, and drink.

During the fall, we were there with our friends Lisa and Lou, and I was wearing an old pair of fingerless gloves that I had made years ago with my first handspun. Lou thought they were the coolest thing EVER, and I made a mental note.

Lou's birthday was at the beginning of February. Guess what he got?





The pattern is called Manhandlers (blog link) and the Ravelry link is here. The yarn is the now-discontinued Filature Di Crosa 127 Print, which I've had in my stash for a few years. The pattern was super-simple, and the yarn awesome to work with. I'd probably buy more if it weren't, you know, discontinued.

When I gave them to Lou he got really excited and said, "BEST FINGERLESS MITTS EVER!!!!" If you knew Lou, you would laugh, because it is so what he would say.