Ho, Ho, Ho

Christmas in August. This is my first attempt at a Christmas Stocking. I used this fabulous pattern by Nancy Lindberg that makes it very easy to design and create your own stocking. The possibilities are unlimited. Of course mine is gianormous! Knitted in Encore yarn it is about 25% bigger than it is supposed to be. So my next go round I am going down 3 sizes in needles and knit it on a 6 instead of a 9. It will be more dense, which I think will work better because this one is very stretchy. I am usually a very tight knitter but when I am carrying yarn and changing colors, I loosen up a lot. But now is the time to get those little Christmas projects started.

Puppy Booties

Every puppy needs a good pair of booties. Not really, these booties are for "people puppies". Aren't they cute. And pretty quick and easy. Which is my mantra these days. Not for long though, I just got the yarn for a fabulous shrug in the current Interweave magazine.

Anyhow, I got this great puppy pattern from the knit baby Heads & Toes book. I used Cascade 220 on the puppy part and Encore Worsted Weight for the cuffs. Wonder which little people puppy I will have to give these to? Hmmmmmmmm.

Husky Hats

Aren't they cute!!! These little hats both came from the knit baby Heads & Toes book. I knitted them for a niece and her due in September sibling. Can you tell who Mom and Dad root for during Apple Cup?

The stocking cap is fun to knit, but not fun when it comes to weaving in all of the ends, which there are a bunch of. So I am taking a break from baby hats & moving on. Not back to the sweater, I'm gonna let that chill a bit more. Stay tuned if you want to see what's coming next.

It's the Yarn Harlot!!!!

In Seattle, of all places. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, is on her 4 month book tour (or as she puts it "Yarn Crawl, funded by her publisher"). Her book, At Knits End, is hysterical and speaks to knitters worldwide. It is a tribute to all of our little quirks and ideocincracies that make us appear strange to non-knitters, but make perfect sense to us. She is even more funny in person. What a great, honest sense of humor. She would be a hoot to travel with. I am really looking forward to her next book, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter, which will be out this fall.

Keep on Knittin'!