A great start to his winter wardrobe

The other day I was looking through some dusty boxes of yarn and found a huge pile of unfinished sewing and knitting projects (no big surprise there). One of them was a really nice gray scarf that was about half as long as it needed to be and had been left on the needles for about 2 years. Moses was scurrying around the room while I sorted through things, and looking at his skinny little neck gave me a great idea - I bound off the scarf right then and there, and voila: a kid scarf! Happily, this was knit using a 100% cotton yarn, so he won't complain about it being itchy. It was such a great feeling to finish something that had been collecting dust for years. (And nice to get my hands on a pair of knitting needles, even if it was only for a minute or two...)

Inspiration

Today my friend Deni dropped off a stack of Ladies' Home Journal Needle & Craft magazines from the 70's for me to have. These things are amazing!!! I picked up the first one, opened it at random, and saw my next project:

Isn't that long rug to-die-for?!?! I am determined to make it (of course, I should probably finish the 7 other big projects that are sitting around first to keep my husband from having a panic attack...) It is made using a knitting spool - did you have one of those when you were little? It looks like a mushroom with 4 hooks around a hole in the top, and you basically make a thin knitted cord with it. My mom bought me one when I was in Jr. High (maybe that's one of the reasons I'm drawn to this rug). You make something like 900 lengths of cord, curl them up into round coaster-like "patches," then sew them all together. I adore it! The colors, the texture... everything about it is perfect.

Of course, the magazines are full of awesome and sometimes funny sewing projects. I thought these hikers were pretty hard core. (If I ever wore a bandeau on a hiking trip I'd get poison oak for sure, so this chick impresses the heck out of me.) And this girl just cracks me up with her heart knee socks - so cute!

I'm so glad I wasn't too snobby to assume these magazines would be full of "old fashioned" boring projects. Each one is a treasure and an inspiration. Thanks for thinking of me Deni!

Fingerless Gloves

These guys were a LONG time in coming. I started them last year when I was on bed rest, completed one, and put the yarn and needles away. Moses has been asking me to finish them ever since, and last weekend I FINALLY made the other one. I'm pretty happy with how they came out, but the thumb gusset is a tad sloppy. I just switched from double-pointed needles to straight needles, knit a few rows flat, then rejoined it in the round. It is already getting stretched out and ugly looking. Oh well, I figure it's not too bad for my first try without a pattern.
I'm working on another pair of adult-sized gloves as a Christmas gift and am hoping to get a few thumb-gusset ideas from this awesome pattern. It's wonderful to be knitting again, though I'm also getting antsy to sit at the sewing machine. Not enough time to make stuff!

Friday Find

It's been a while since I posted any etsy finds here, but last night I came across this fabulous hand-knit shawl at one of my favorite shops, Tickled Pink Knits. Isn't this gorgeous?!?!? There are 6 different colors you can choose from when ordering and you only have to wait 21-30 days for it to be made and shipped - that is some seriously fast knitting when making something as intricate as this! I'm totally saving my pennies for one of these.

Preview of Things to Come

In addition to working on this last minute Christmas gift (the lighting made the color look a bit weird, but this yarn is the softest shade of green), I've been making up lots of new things for the shop. Here are a few pictures to tantalize you until Wednesday when I make my next shop update.

And what is this going to be...? I'm still figuring that out, so check the shop to see what I come up with. I hope you are all having a wonderful "Christmas eve eve"!

Just Imagine What You Could Do...

...with a $300 shopping spree to your favorite knitting shop! Knitting Daily is hosting a "Yarn Spree at your Local Yarn Shop" contest, and the first place winner gets a $300 spree to her (or his) favorite shop! The second place winner gets $200 and third place gets $100 - that's still quite a bit of yarn. Just follow this link to enter the random drawing by December 31'st - winners will be announced in January. Good luck! (Oh, and while you're there, check out the site - tons of awesome free knitting patterns and other gems.)