Three For Me

I've been a selfish crafter recently. All my knits are for me! I started knitting the Hylestad pattern. I only had to rip once to switch from a grey to a white. The grey didn't give me the contrast I needed. Luckily I still have a pile of whites to choose from after the whole Sheep May Safely Graze debacle.

My Joyeux Noel socks are coming along great too. Have I mentioned recently how much I love Stray Cat Socks' yarn? Yes? Well, I'll say it again. It is vibrant and wonderful to knit with.

This week I also cast on the most anticipated knit of this year, my Arrowhead Cardigan. I've been talking about this one for ages. So much so that Connor started asking when I was going to cast on. It is an oversized cardigan (the smallest size is 49.5 inches/ 126cm) that I am resizing to be a more reasonable size. Rather than have a cardigan that has 14 inches/ 36cm of ease, I'm going for 6 inches/ 15cm of ease. After talking to my friend Carol, who is an excellent tailor, I'm also adding side vents to help me move more freely. I was really inspired by Rachel's version of the cardigan, so I also am also going to add closures to mine. I really hope I can be wearing it by Christmas, but I've never knit a sweater so fast. We shall see.

I'm also proud to show off what should have been the last of this year's gift weaves. Of course now I've thought of more people who need to be covered in wool, so I might make a few more. 

But back to the gifts at hand. These scarves are made out of yarn I've been hoarding for 5 years now. It took me all this time to find a way to show off the yarn in a way to convey the subtle color changes in the ocean around Big Sur. I even had to learn a new-to-me skill! Weaving. The warp is the beautiful yarn from Anna Gratton, but I ended up using yarn from Lost City Knits for the weft. 

Is anyone else making gifts this year? Wha kinds of things are you making?

Glorious

I have a new pair of socks! My very first hand knit present! Aren't they glorious?

I'm sure you are all wondering what I could have done in order to get such a lovely pair of socks. Well, to be honest, I whinged a bit about not ever having gotten a gift knit. It wasn't a hint or anything. But I may have mentioned that it was close to my birthday. (This was back in early February). When I got to work the next day Carol presented me with this skein that I had been eyeing, Tosh Sock in Vintage Apron.

It doesn't look like it in this photo, but Carol is very sneaky. She had tricked convinced Tyler into knitting a pair of socks out of the skein. My choice of sock pattern.

Here is the proof that it was Tyler knitting the socks and not a robot or something. 

I got them on Thursday and wore them on Friday. It didn't matter that it was over 80 degrees out. I was going to wear those socks. 

Thanks for my socks Carol and Tyler! I will cherish them in only a way a knitter can. I will wear them constantly until they are unrepairable.

And for those who may wish to know, the pattern is Skew.
Does anyone else have a favorite knit they were gifted?