I am on a tear of making scarves for eveyrone I know.
I just might try a felted purse for myself, as I haven’t made any scarves for little old me. I’ve got two huge hanks of cascade yarn that I’m …he…itching to use this for.
Doing a bunch of sweaters. Everybody gets polka dots this year.
I crochet, not knit, but I am making Christmas stockings out of granny squares, for the kids in my Sunday School class.
Oh and making myself a randomly striped sweater out of years’ worth of scrap yarn.
Nothing planned. Well, not for anyone I know, at least - I’ll have more charity knitting items done by then.
I’m kind of stalled on Charlotte’s Web. No motivation…it’s been languishing for about a month now. I just had a good 10 hours on a train this past weekend and still never touched it (though I brought it along).
The shawl, Charlotte’s Web. It was supposed to be a birthday gift for my mother at the end of July. HAH! And I’m not going to finish it before Christmas, either, though it’s what I’m working on now (when I’m working on it) and probably will be throughout the season, so I listed it.
Ooh, good timing. I just finished a pair of tiny little mittens, and I’m starting on a hat for my best friend’s daughter. I’m very excited, because my friend had shown me the winter coat she’d gotten for her baby, and said, “I’ll never find a hat and mittens to match, though.” It’s Pooh Bear yellow, with a little embroidered bee with light blue wings, so I did blue mittens, and I’m doing a bee striped hat with a blue pom pom.
After that I have to finish a hat for me to match the one I made for my kid.
I think all my other made gifts will be sewn, so that’s it for now.
(Oh and jayjay, don’t feel bad, a few months ago I finished an afghan I started in 1994!)
My mom and my mother-in-law are getting shawls. Both from Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Shawls, which is a cool book. My MIL’s is all done, and I’m about halfway through my mom’s. After that, it depends on how much time I have and who’s left on the list.
I’m pretty much doing charity knitting. The only exception is I’m knitting myself a pair of double-thick mittens with extra-long cuffs for when I’m outside playing with my dog – keep my wrists and hands warm when I’m picking up that cold Kong to throw it for the hundredth time.
I had to stop knitting for some years because of hand problems, but have been able to get back into it this year. Maybe next year I’ll do shawls for my mom and MIL, too. I’ll have to look for that Folk Shawls book, that sounds fun.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1883010594/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-9555631-2785521?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance
I saw it recommended by…I’m not sure where I saw it. I found it at the library and thought, “Oh, maybe I’ll make something out of it and return it, and I can take it out again if I want to make something else.” Then I paged through it and couldn’t make up my mind which one to start with, and I realized that I was just going to have to break down and buy a copy.
The construction techniques aren’t traditional–the Shetland shawl (Fir Cone Square Shawl in the book) is usually made with lots of grafting, but she does it differently so you don’t have to do as much grafting, for instance. If you’re trying to learn strictly traditional techniques, you’re better off with something like Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls (also a really cool book).
But the end results in Folk Shawls look lovely. And I highly recommend the Faroese shawls just for sheer practicality–the way they’re shaped, they don’t slide off your shoulder all the time. And they look cool.
I want to see this when you complete it.
Out of curiosity, what kind of needles do you prefer?
I have loads of bamboo and I am having problems with circular needles (bamboo and steel) snagging and was wondering about the turbo needles.
Christmas?! I’m working on the sleeves for a baby sweater for a baby who was born on Monday (it’s the pattern I complained about a few weeks ago). My best friend will be getting a pair of knit cuffs, with any luck, which will be my first attempt at stiching and at making button holes. I’ve finished the first one, but haven’t had the courage to cut it yet.
Other projects include a butterfly kimono sweater purely for me, and, once the baby sweater’s finished, a shawl done as part of a shawl ministry for a teenager I know who’s going through a very rough time. There’s also a chenille pillow from Vogue’s book of pillows which is to be a wedding present for some friends.
So, why am I posting when I should be knitting? :eek:
CJ
I have to admit, I’ve only every used regular aluminum needles. Or, okay, I tried teflon needles and they were awful to work with, and on a whim I got some colored translucent plastic needles that aren’t very durable and feel odd, even if they are pretty.
A friend of mine loves wood and bamboo needles.
I’ll pass this pattern along, too, because we’ve all got scrap yarn, and we’ve all got defunct or useless cds–
I loooooooooooooove the Addi Turbos. They are wonderful, and do not snag at all.
There are some projects I use other needles for – I think that once one gets more advanced (I am not there yet!), the material and brand of needles varies more from project to project. In the Knit Picks catalog, and on a knitting message board I’m a member of, people talk about different needles having better points for lace, or better points for this type of yarn. And I have noticed that the Turbos are a little too slick for some projects – I can’t remember which projects now, of course – the yarn slides off a little too easily. But for the most part, I just use what I have – I don’t buy multiple types of needles in the same size, with the possible exception of double-pointed needles (which I hate, except for i-cord), and then only if the recipe requires it.
Oh, my current projects? I’m working on a scarf for myself (the beautiful Dulaan Scarf - yum!), a shawl for the knitting ministry at my church, and a bag my mom commissioned earlier this year. For Christmas, I think I’ll make my mother- and sister-in-law each an Airy Scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. Other than that, I don’t think I’ll knit many gifts this year – my friends’ and family’s tastes and temperatures are too unknown and varied. Maybe a couple of felted bags for the women, but I’m still not sure.
Second the Addi Turbo needles. I managed to whip off a baby hat in one weekend, which is insanely fast for me – I normally knit slower than a turtle in sub-freezing weather could ever knit.
I’m not a huge fan of the bamboo.
I use only circular and double pointed. I like the Inox chrome=style, and I have some plastic ones whose brand I don’t remember that I like a lot.
Unfortunately, almsot alll of my double p;ointed are bamboo; all i can find anymore.
I have a scarf to make for a coworker, and some felted mittens for another friend, and mittens for my daughter that should have been made with her hat and scarf last year. And I made a hat for my daughter’s best friend…checked the gauge and everything, and it came out huge! So I’m going to donate it to a homeless shelter (there is surely some guy with a big head who would like a wool hat) amd make another. I have another purse to finish up and felt…only 20 more rows to go…and then I’m going to make some mini-felted bags for gifts. Oh, and a rabbit from the First Knits book for the new almost-a-grandbaby. 45 days to get it all done. Too bad I can’t type and knit.