One of my favorite things about Christmas is that my step-mom totally indulges my yarn habit. She and I have similar tastes, so she always picks out colors and fibers that I love.

The yellow is Euroflax yarn. 100% Wet Spun Linen. I've never knitted anything with linen before...I'm thinking this would make an excellent mesh bag. Or a summer shell. Hmmmm. The balled yarn is Plymouth Tweed and the last 2 skeins are Mountain Colors hand painted yarn. The hand painted colorway is called sandstone. It would make gorgeous, warm socks, but since I'm not much of a sock knitter I'll make a lace scarf with it. Or a cowl with matching fingerless mitts. We'll see.

On the needles right now is a Snuggie for Luke. I don't think I can call it that, though, since "Snuggie" is a trademarked term. So this is a blanket with sleeves. Or it will be. Someday. It's going pretty fast because I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick on size 15 circulars. Right now I'm not sure if I'll do a raglan sleeve or a set in. Can you do a raglan sleeve from the bottom up? Or is it only a top-down technique? You can see I've really thought this project through.

I'm also going to put a pocket or two on it for his iPod and a Transformer or two.


I heard on the news last night that there has only been 12 minutes of sunshine in Chicago since December 17th. No wonder why I've been so glum and tired!!! Today the sun is shining brightly, so I'm going out!! It's only in the single digits right now, but I'm going out anyway! Happy day to all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa!! Can you believe it's going to be 2010 next week?????!!!! I'm excited about the coming new year because I think we are all going to have a very good 2010.

So, here are two new projects...first, this is a hat I knitted for Luke a week or two ago, but haven't shared it yet..

It's the Nottingham Hat, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. Luke picked out the yarn and I was so excited to knit it since it was my first cable project. But, now he won't wear it. He wants a Transformers hat. TRANSFORMERS? He wants a Transformers hat instead of a hand knitted hat from his Mama? Well!

And I finished this scarf this morning...

It's the Road Scarf, also a free pattern available on Ravelry and on the Lion Brand website. This scarf is for my Grampa. It's a very manly scarf even though I draped it quite femininely on my dressform. I wanted to show the patterning on the scarf, so that's why I draped it like that.

Here's another photo of it...

I used Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool and was pretty worried because it's scratchy. Very scratchy. But, before I blocked it I soaked it for 10 minutes in Eucalan and my scratchy wool turned soft. I still wouldn't use Fishermen's Wool for a baby, but the Eucalan softened it up enough for teens and adults.

So, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanakkah, and a Happy Kwanzaa! Stay warm, drive safely, and be merry and bright!

What Do You Get A Teacher For Christmas?

I have to buy a gift for Luke's Greek school teacher, but don't know what to get. Any ideas?? I was thinking I'd buy her a nice ornament.....?????

Here are some of my latest projects...

First up is a stack of hats going to charity. The lovely Sea World Barbie is kind enough to present these....

Since July, I've knitted 22 hats for charity. Hopefully they'll find heads that fit them. Now I need to knit a hat for myself because it's getting COLD out!
Here's another hat that is going to charity...it still needs a button to hold down the flap.

It's the Robin's Egg Blue Hat pattern on Ravelry. I love this pattern and am thinking of knitting myself one of these hats!
I also knitted this scarf to go with it:

This pattern is the Feather Scarf from the book Twinkle's Big City Knits.

These are for ME:

I didn't think I'd like knitted face cloths, but I do! They feel so nice on your skin.

And last, but not least is a baby quilt top. I couldn't get a good photo of it because two little girls I know wouldn't stay off of it long enough for me to snap a decent photo. ;)


See what I mean?

They couldn't resist jumping up and down on it. Little stinkers! I'm going to back the quilt with flannel and do minimal quilting. It measures 36" X 56". I don't have a recipient for this quilt yet, so I'll hang onto it for a while. Or maybe I'll give it to charity. I don't know yet.

So, back to my original question.... What's a good gift for a teacher????