Beginning to think about holiday knitting

October has barely begun, the trees are just starting to turn, and I'm realizing that there's something like 2-1/2 months until Christmas. And I'm panicking a little. You see, I had the ridiculous idea that it would be nice if I knit up some cute little owls as stocking stuffers for my nieces and nephews. I'm using the Big, Snowy Owl pattern from the Purl Bee, but I'm doing it in fingering-weight yarn. I don't think it will take too long to finish each owl, but however long it takes, I hope to finish 24 of them in time for Christmas.

I've also been making progress with the Scylla socks for my husband. This has been a nice, simple knit, perfect for my morning commute. I started the gussets this afternoon, so at this pace, I hope to finish these socks by the middle of next week or so. Once the yarn for my father-in-law's socks arrives, I'll get going on those.

The Columbines needlepoint is coming along nicely. I've finished all the foreground stitching and just have the miles of background stitches and the border stitching to do. There's no hurry on this project, so if I have to, I can set it aside. It's been a nice change of pace from all the knitting I've been doing, but I'm definitely a better knitter than I am a needlepointer. Maybe after Christmas I can focus on getting better at needlepoint?

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. Until next time, Friends.

So, I started a pair of socks.

Like that's a surprise to anyone. After finishing my mother-in-law's Veil of Rosebuds, I was looking for another good commuting project. Since I didn't have the yarn to make Salted Caramels for my father-in-law, I decided to start some socks for my husband. He's been getting a lot of wear out of the Milo socks I made for him almost two years ago (!), so I thought it was high time he got another.

When we were looking through my stash for yarn for his dad's socks, he remarked that he liked the skein of Miss Babs' Windsor Sock yarn that I'd bought last year at Sock Summit. It's a good thing I bought that with him in mind! The colorway is called "Frankensock," which has a lot of lovely greens and blues and black. It's definitely a high-contrast hand-dyed yarn, so I was pretty careful about which pattern I was going to use with it.

After considering lots of patterns, I ended up deciding on Scylla by Fiona Lucas. It's a nice slipped-stitch pattern, with a little bit of texture thrown in to keep it interesting. It's knitting up pretty quickly, which will come in handy as it starts getting closer to Christmas and the panic knitting starts. The slipped stitches are a nice contrast to how the yarn is striping, and I love that I'm getting to do some toe-up socks for the first time in a long while. I'm hoping to finish them pretty quickly, so husbeast can wear them soon, and so I can get started on his dad's socks.

Well, Friends, that's all I have for tonight. Maybe next time I'll have an update on the Columbine needlepoint.

Where Are They Now?

It looks like it's going to be a short post for Day Four of Knit & Crochet Blog Week (2KCBWDAY4). I worked all day, then went to Knit Night at my LYS and have only just gotten home, with 2.5 hours left in the day.

As I was thinking about today's post, I was thinking about all the projects I've given away over the years and if the people who have them now are knit-worthy or not. I have to admit that a good number of things I've knit have gone to people who really didn't care and who didn't even bother to send me picture of them in the item before they forgot about it. I'm not naming names, but you'd better believe they're getting gift cards from now on.

On a happier note, there are many items I've given as gifts that the recipients have been kind enough to gush over and even show off to people who don't even know me. This makes me supremely happy! I love making things for people who get excited about having a hand-knit, custom-made, one-of-a-kind gift. These people will always get handknits from me, for as long as they want them.

I've also donated a few items to charities, for their auctions. In the case of two items, I know the people who had the winning bid. Both were genuinely excited to have them, and actually told me that they're so special, they only wear them when they can show them off. The person who bought my Bex Socks only wears them at home when she's curled up on the sofa. The person who bought the hat & scarf set thinks they're so nice, she only wears them with her "nice" coat. Of course I wish they felt like they could wear them more casually, but I'm definitely glad to know how much they value them.

So, there we go. Short and sweet. Until next time, then.