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In lieu of some new projects, I give you a couple pictures* of past projects. It's so exciting to see the knits I give away being worn, especially by this little cutie::


Top - Sweet Pea Sweater by Kate Gilbert
Bottom - Shedir Hat, in the Knitty Archives

I grabbed these from Nik's flickr site ~ thanks!

No pictures, but

I have a new {old} Singer Sewing machine. I've searched Craigslist high and low for a quality machine, and finally found one - metal gears and all. I tried it out this afternoon and it's perfect.

Let the sewing begin!

I'll give you some pictures once I've sewing something with it!

Fingers Crossed

I'm really hoping that I have a new crafting machine to share with you by the end of the day. I'm so excited, I just hope the deal goes down. Think good thoughts!

End of January

January is passing in a flash. I'm back in Boston, where the weather can be anything from freezing and overcast, to mid-40s and sunny. So, I've tailored my knitting to be ready for anything that Boston throws at me.

For those frigid days we have a pair of thrummed mittens::

Do the blue thumbs make you think of a particular story?...

Details::
Pattern ~ from Interweave Knits Winter '06
Yarn and Wool for Thrums ~ purchases made at Rhinebeck, but I can't find the vendor details

Notes for next time ~ I definitely have to work on keeping the thrums even, and knitting them into the mitten so that their ends are fairly even. Unfortunately, I wasn't very careful with this pair, and so I have some longer thrums inside that don't seem to be felting into the other thrums very smoothly. I'm hoping it's something that will get worked out with wear.

And for those sunny, warmer days, the Tree Jacket from Zephyr Style::
I've just started this one and so far so good! I'm using Cotton Ease, and it seems like a great yarn for this sweater ~ nice drape for the cowl neck, soft, and with a little give that is nice for a sweater.


And, I'll finally finish all of the holiday talk with a note of things received. This holiday definitely fell under the themes of homemade and crafty. Whether it was the gifts that were made, or the all of the fun gifts that were received. For me it was a pile of new yarns {many that I've never used before and am very excited about}, or the new books {for knitting and sewing! ~ as I've mentioned}::


A new jar of buttons! I'm even more excited by the jar than the buttons, but both will come in handy*::

A from gift I'm affectionately calling the "Sigg Sack". Keeping my banged and bruised Sigg safe. Who ever said bottles in bags aren't classy?::



Now back to the mittens ~ does little Jack Horner Ring a bell?

The Last of the Holiday Goodies

The last of the gifts have been opened, so I can share them with you! This was such a fun and diverse crafting season ~ cookbooks were made, there was plenty of knitting, and some very successful sewing. Here we go::

Toe-up Jaywalkers for Nik::
Yarn ~ Regia Crazy Color
Needles ~ size 2 addi turbos

Uni-color Pinwheel for Soph::
Yarn ~ Knit Picks CotLin (about 2.5 balls)
Needles ~ 4mm

Cotlin is a GREAT baby yarn! Soft, light, and machine washable. There is some shrinkage when washed the first time, but not much. Doing a couple sample swatches, I noticed that Cotlin shows a cable really well, so I might use it for a more detailed cable project next.

A Mobius Scarf birthday gift for Nik::
**I have to thank Calder for being a great photographer ~ these were taken while we waited out the storm/blizzard in Tahoe. Lots of snow and little electricity make for loads of fun and game playing!

Pattern ~ Sage Rhythm Wrap from A Treasury of Magical Knitting by Cat Bordhi
Yarn ~ Blue Sky Suri Merino (just over 2 skeins)
Needles ~ Size 10

I love, love, love this project! I liked being about to wrap the scarf twice around my neck. I also like the change of not having long scarf ends hanging down. And this yarn is so soft around the neck. Although, I could see it being a little bit hairy and getting in your mouth nose, but all in all, not too bad.

And here's Nik modeling her knits::

And the last of the season's sewing::
A couple more pairs of pj pants for C. This second round of pants is improved by the suggestions I received after giving the first pair on Christmas (elastic in the waist, reinforcing some seams, etc).

I'm so excited about the sewing and know I'll do quite a bit more this year, because for Christmas I received Bend-the-rules Sewing and Sew What! Skirts !! I'm one happy camper. While knitting is great, sewing provides such instant gratification... and I've gotten over my fear of sewing through my fingers. sewfingerphobia.

I got to spend a few days at home, where the cats napped and the babies sat in pots.



Luckily we rescued her before she became fish stew.

Ice and Snow

Some pictures from our travels over the past couple of weeks ~ from Cali to Colorado and back to Cali in time for the big storm near Tahoe {we heard about the approach of the storm, so we rushed back to California just in time for the fun!}. The large, steaming swimming pool below is in Glenwood Springs, CO ~ we stopped there for a quick dip on our way to CA::