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Actually, this stocking is a wedding gift that Al made. She is busy making the other stocking today. Recognize the pattern? Same one she put on Zach's hat. I love the yarn she is using: Cascade Pastaza. It is a wool/llama blend and gives it a bit of fuzz but not too much. The pattern was actually in an old Country Living magazine. She learned toe-up technique and after thought heel making these. Alyssa of wordsnwool.blogspot.com, (I think) gives a great tutorial on how to do these heels. Her current post goes over it really nicely. Bears madness continues......... Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Zach complied. New hat for him made/designed by Al. I want him to remember that when he lived here, he had homemade bread for dinner, routinely AND could mention he wanted a new hat and have it knit up to his specifications in a night by his sister. It is so cold in our house these days that we do wear our handknits include hats, and fingerless gloves much of the day. We haven't gotten to the Margie level yet. You know, Margie in Fargo wears her hats and wool sweaters to bed...and she's pregnant to boot. ( a time when most women are warm to begin with!) I keep my less than proud knitting for just such cold days. I don't mind wearing a less than perfect handknit if I 'm staying in. Besides, I can't bear to think I wasted the money on something I'll never wear! Next post: This passion is costly. How I plan to keep the costs down this year...... Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

This is a new Berrocco spring bag that Lynnette at our LYS Three Bags Full just has to put the handles on. It is a long way to spring, but just seeing the fun bright colors she choose is a treat. Someone asked about finding the Ruffle Scarf yarn a few posts back. It sold out fast at our LYS. You could call your LYS and ask for help finding it. It is very light, so if you have to order it, the shipping would be minimal. Finally, Al rewrote the vest pattern for me. It was so nice of a friend of a friend to offer to do so. Thanks Cindy, can I take a raincheck? Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

My fingerless are finished. Somewhat Bears blue don't you think? In preparation for the upcoming SuperBowl game I'll be including some knitting tips. You may want to visit FuzzyMabel.com and order some White Bear comfort cuffs if your wrists/joints are sore. They also carry Bearfoot, Mountain Colors yarn. My favorite Bears are the Blue Sky Alpaca's Bobby Bear and the one seam Bear from Blah, Blah, Blahhhg blog, posted last February.(free pattern, easy, even I could do it!) Stay tuned. More Bear hype to come. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Don't you just hate it when the sock laundry builds up? :) I'm finishing a quick pair of fingerless gloves. I only have one pair from a few years ago and I need a pair to match my winter jacket. The Oat Couture Vest is on hold......thanking for you waiting. I'm very stuck at the left front. Help is on the way however! My friend Diane has a sister in law Cindy, who is going to read the pattern for me and rewrite the fronts instructions line by line for me. I'm thoroughly confused at this point. AT THE SAME TIME instructions that involve three things going on at once, is too confusing for me. I admit it. I'm just not that kind of knitter. I like super wordy, overexplained patterns. I don't care if they a pages and pages long. That's my dirty laundry. I can't do AT THE SAME TIME instructions very well. Maybe that's why I love socks.... Do you know of any patterns that are ridiculously wordy? I also dread, the instructions that involve r...

I haven't posted for ages----let's see if it works! These are the RPM Socks from Knitty: Summer 2006 . The yarn is Socks That Rock (the older version) in Cobblestone Canyon. I'm a slow sock knitter, so it took me a long time to finish them. I really like them and have been wearing them a lot in our colder Chicagoland weather. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

The Knitting Calendar was a thoughtful gift Al received. I found a pattern in JUNE, because I had to flip through the whole thing right away, that I need. My neice has asked me to knit her wedding garter. I said sure before finding this pattern. phew. I think I'll knit it in something wonderful for her, like angora. The pattern calls for fixation. What do you think? Kim asked for the Ruffled Roses Scarf pattern. If you go to anniemodesitt.com she will point you towards a knit shop where you can purchase the pattern. She's promoting knitters get out to their LYS and show support. I am having some template issues right now. Sorry the sidebar isn't showing. I hope to fix this soon. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Today's guest blogger image is courtesy of the nice guy who got our popcorn at the theatre today. I told him I wouldn't use his name. The line was long and he just complied so nicely. I only got one shot, in order to prevent the mob behind me from becoming vocal. Not bad for one shot. Looking closely you'll see some Berroco alpaca that I mentioned using for fingerless gloves. I didn't knit at the movie. Al dragged me to see The Painted Veil. Very good. Sometimes I need to be dragged out in the dreary of January. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

A very fast scarf, says Al. Not actually knit but you do use knitting needles. Very pretty in dreary grey chicago. We are exhausted from the Bears game. I managed the new project dance while holding my breath during the game. This involves, finding the needles, finding the needle checker, knitting for gauge. Measuring (still holding my breath, because I always do when it comes time to get the gauge gadget out) and finally casting on . I am currently motivated to try the zip vest in Baby Alpaca Chunky again. Pattern and yarn purchased ....last summer on vacation. I'll keep you....posted Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

In keeping with my promise to show socks flummoxed, I planned to post SOCKS WITH HAM HOCKS. The Christmas ham was made into ham and bean soup this week, and I had a perfect ham hock. I washed it off, left it out to dry and was told by others who live with me, that this would make a disgusting image. Because the sock yarn was lovingly given me by Al, and I tangled so much of it, I thought better of socks with ham hocks. So here you have it: socks on a box. Boring! But I love the way the Anne in Schaefer striped out. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Al is using Rowan 4 ply to make the Donna Druchunas stole featured in this Winter issue of Interweave. I'm in awe. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Thanks for everyone's very sweet words of encouragment. Birdsong, even offered to untangle the Schaefer yarn from a few posts ago. What an amazing offer. It is great to be doing some blogging again. The other incredibly simple knit is this baby poncho. Al and I came up with our own little version of the basic two rectangle poncho. I used some Karaoke in raspberry. I made gauge with US 7's . 4.5 sts = 1 inch. Casted on 27 stitches and knitted in a moss stitch for 16 inches. Al tells me that standard ponchos are 10 inches longer than the width. (6 inches in this case) Made the other rectangle the exact same way. Joined in the two rectangle poncho way. Crocheted picot edging along the bottom. Slip stitch edging at the neck. I think it is cute. Finished in time for the baby shower Monday. Baby ponchos. I'm going to be making more I'm sure. A pair of moss stitch booties would have really finished it off. Oh well, maybe next time. And you are the nicest ...

I couldn't attempt anything the least bit tricky or new lately. I just needed safe, easy knitting. Anyone who reads this blog, knows that I am not the technical knitter in the family. Thank goodness for Al. :) So this is the Mobius I made by knitting a strip, twisting it and having Al finish the one measley seam this requires. I used a loop mohair from Knit Together in My Mother's Womb Lynne's swap, and another complimentary fingering weight. This gave it a soft fuzziness that makes trying to find the seam, pretty tricky. It is nice to wear on these useasonably warm Chicago days. When the wind picks up I just pull it to the top of my head. Someday I'll learn to make the Mobius the intended way. For now, I just needed to keep knitting. What's up next? Another simple simple knit. Embarassingly simple. Comfort knitting, for me. Please leave me your email or blog so I can thank you for your comment.

Here's the Schaefer Anne yarn that Allison gave me for Christmas. I just love the colors. I also love that it is washable wool. This First sock is at the round toe stage. I was trying to tell Lynn that it was multi reds and greens but that just sounded like Christmas. So here's the yarn, a little out of focus, but the truest color without a flash. The tangle also visible is a heartbreak. Thankfully there is enough yarn wound to make a full pair. I wanted to cry as the tangle got to that beyond hope part. My lesson: I will always have the yarn shop wind my yarn. Breaks my heart that she spent her money as a poor college student on this incredible yarn and I wasted some of it. My friend Diane comforted me by saying some yarn cannot be wound without tangling. Isn't that a dear thing to say to someone? I'm interrupting the start of the second sock to start a baby gift that needs to be finished by Sunday. I have some new pony point pearls to work with, so I...