Christmas Wish List

Am I hard to shop for? I think when you have an obvious hobby, like knitting or deer hunting, that makes it easy to shop for someone. On the other hand, you can go overboard. Just because someone loves to golf doesn't mean they would love to have a gold-plated gold ball. Wish lists become almost more necessary as you get older. My pre-schooler is happy with a $.50 can of Play-doh, while my husband requires very sophisticated gadgets and tools to have a merry Christmas. I know that someday, Marty will be as hard to please as Rob is.

Anyway, here's my holiday wish list:

Gift certificates for Stitch in Time in Howell, Threadbear in Lansing, or yarnmarket.com.

Emeril non-stick pots and pans (they have them at Bed Bath and Beyond).

I had a beautiful baking dish that I loved. It was a splurge when I bought it, but I've always wanted the other pieces that match. The other night, I dropped the dish and it broke! I got mine at La Bella Vita in downtown Brighton and would love a replacement and any matching pieces. It's the Emile Henry Artisonal Collection of baking dishes, in a brown and cream color - although I like all the colors La Bella Vita carries. You can see what they look like on my amazon.com wish list, too.

My amazon.com wish list is here, with books and music and stuff.

Iron Gate candle holder from Pottery Barn, set of 2

Zoe console table from Pottery Barn, in black, plus the square utility baskets to go with the table.

Cute knitting warning

Sometimes it seems so insane to be knitting for my kid. He's as likely to throw it on the floor as he is to embrace it as a beloved item. And the next day may warrant a completely opposite response. Still, these were too adorable to not knit again in the next size up, and this time I've made the matching mittems. (They were finished before Halloween, just to show how behind I am in blogging.) And yes, I have picked them up off the garage floor and other assorted dirty places.



The pattern is from Fiber Arts, one of those you buy in a plastic sheet with 3 holes along the side. I recently organized all those sheets and put them in separate binders - Costco had a sale on a set of 6, and I used my label maker to get really anal about the whole thing. I love that all my patterns are now put away and easy to find!

I've recently finished another item for Marty, a sweater with a very cute reindeer, tree, and snowflake pattern. It was good chart practice for me, and fun to knit. The pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Little Cherubs. The downside was stranding colors on the purl side; I'd have preferred steeks and sewing for better results, but it turned out ok. Just as well since the kid is probably going to get ice cream or something all over it. We are going to use it for our Christmas card picture (is that too self-serving, to force your kid to model your hand knits under the preface of spreading holiday cheer? I hope not, because you know this new baby is going to be wearing a hand-knit sweater on his birth announcement!). The yarn I used was lovely, and truly not appropriate for this garment, but I loved it and wanted to work with it and I can always get more. I must make an adult sweater from it, to be sure. It's Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, a 35% silk, 65% wool blend for my 2 1/2 year-old child. But the colors were perfect and there's just the hint of tweediness to it. Here's how it turned out:



You'd think I might be done with knitting for Marty, but I recently cast on something very cute from the Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits for Kids. There is a pattern in there that uses Manos, my big weakness, and it has sizes for newborn to 3 years, so I'll be making one for the new baby to match Marty's, and doesn't that sound like a photo op to you?

I am so looking forward to the holidays and all the get togethers, though at 8 months pregnant it's hard to find something great to wear. The thought of buying maternity clothes for festive occasions was hard to swallow - I only have a few weeks left in my pregnancy, how can I justify buying something new to wear once or twice? (haha ask me to justify the yarn purchases I make!) Of course the solution was to buy yarn instead. I loaded up on various novelty yarns and designed a pattern. I wanted something drapey and sparkley that I could wrap around my arms to wear with a tank. I used Berroco Quest in silver, Berroco Plume FX in black metallic, and SRK Ranee in black. 3 strands held together on size 19 needles, and I had a wrap in 2 nights that I can continue to wear after I have this baby. The photo is not great, but I'll share it now anyway and hopefully will get a shot of me wearing it one of these December nights:

You could sell these!

Don't you love it when friends compliment your work by suggesting you sell your hand knit goods? It really is meant as a compliment, and I try so hard to take it that way. I always ask, "Oh? How much would you pay for this hand-knit baby sweater?" The response is usually around $35, which is probably inflated from what they would truly be willing to part with so that they don't hurt any feelings. It's so fun to then clarify that of that $35, $12 of it would cover the yarn (newborn size at least), leaving me $23 pay for 10+ hours of work. Hey $2.30/hour's not bad (in Taiwan)!

I recently attended a purse party where a friend launched her hand-made purse business. She had a beautiful display of hand-knit and hand-made gifts. Such beautiful items! I love the way she's creatively shopped for sweaters that she can recycle into purses - you get a discount if you bring her a 100% wool sweater. She felts them and cuts the fabric, which is then sewn into her own purse designs. I bought myself a very cute black clutch-style purse for the odd occasion when a diaper bag is not needed. The prices here (staying on topic) ranged from $59-$150 - much more on target for what a hand-crafted item warrants. Could I buy something similar at Target? Yes, something similar would be $15, though not one of a kind, and not special, and not recycled!

Knitting Retreat

Finally, I am posting pictures from my incredible knitting retreat. I left on a Thursday morning and returned on Sunday afternoon. That's 3.5 days of absolute freedom to knit, relax, and socialize without interuption - pure bliss!

About 16 knitters drove to Michigan's UP (upper peninsula) and then took a ferry to Bois Blanc Island. We stayed at a resort called the Insel Haus, which was absolutely amazing. Two lovely people ran the inn. Christa designs knitwear, teaches knitting, spins her own yarn from her stock of alpaca, and creates truly amazing handknits. She was about to leave for a fiber arts show and shared her goods-for-sale with us (each priced between $175 and $1500). Oh and before she started knitting, she ran her own film editing studio. So interesting! Anyway, here are some photos, none of which do justice to this amazing woman's work.

Here Christa models a dress she designed, spun, and knit.


Here's a shot of a coat that Christa created. You can't tell from this lousy picture, but the coat is floor length. And the hood converts to a shawl collar.


This jacket, like all Christa's alpaca knits, is so soft and beautiful.

This photo probably shows the best detail of all Christa's knits. These scarves will be sewn into a dress or ruana.

My knitting teacher, Charlene, hates having her picture taken but agreed to try on a few items. Here, she models a vest:


And here we see Shelby, our other host and a fascinating man. Ask to see his Emmy. He's modeling another gorgeous vest:


And finally, I share with you one scene of knitting in a beautiful, remote, amazing place:

That's Lake Michigan in the background. The island is unpaved, undeveloped, and nearly uninhabited (17 year-round residents). It was a beautiful place to visit and I can't wait to go back there.

Christmas in July

Finally, my mom's Christmas ('04) gift! Remember what happened to the first one?



It's the Sleek Ribs Tank from this summer's IK. It was knit from the chained ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns, made from Lempur, in the flax colorway. Clearly, Mom is very happy about it. It fits her perfectly and I am so glad I cast it on 4 times total to get it perfect. Also glad I made the smallest size. Here's a shot of the back:



Merry Christmas Mom!

Lots of knitting with nothing to show for it!

After much searching, I have found a replacement for my mom's unfortunate Christmas gift. I've cast it on 3 times, all 200 stitches of it, and worked 3-4" of it before discovering a misplaced yo 3 times - maddening! So far, all is moving along, but I should be much farther along than I am. As soon as Mom sees it, I'll post pics.

This weekend, I am going to a knitting retreat with friends from my LYS. I am driving 4 hours away to a remote island, where no cars are allowed, to stay in a house with 17 other knitters where we will make meals for each other and relax. The co-owner of the house, Christa, spins alpaca fleece and produces exquisite yarn. Apparently there is a herd of alpaca on the property. This is the first night I will spend away from Marty, not counting his two overnights at my parents, ever. I can't believe I am going and I couldn't be more excited - three days dedicated to knitting, with no dirty diapers and noone else to take care of! Pics and updates after my return. For now I have to decide what projects to work on!

Finally!

My first trimester is over, which means I am no longer constantly exhausted and sick to my stomache. 'Too sick to knit' are words I never thought I'd say, but I said them alot these past few months.

I am finally feeling better and finished baby Gavin's sweater. Welcome to the neighborhood little one!