Knitgirl's Stash:

While the end of 2006 has royally sucked for me, it's made for some great knitting time! I've managed to get a few things done - of course they were almost all things that distracted me from the items listed on my sidebar, but whatever. A FO is a FO.

Yes, that would be the completed Endpaper Mitts! I love these things - even if they are tight. Actually, that was a good thing today: I somehow twisted my wrist in my sleep (don't ask, I have no clue how those things happen) and couldn't find a brace for it. So I pulled on a mitt and discovered that it gives the right amount of support to allow me to knit without discomfort. Maybe Eunny should put that on her blog as an alternate use! LOL!

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Koigu KPM (the semi-solids) - just one hank of each color and loads left over!
Cast On: Friday, 17 November (immediately after this post)
Cast Off: Friday, 29 December at about 1.30 in the morning. :)
Needles: Clover US0 & US2 DPNs for part of the first mitt and 2 24" Addi Turbos in US0 & US2 for the rest
Mods: Instead of the Italian Tubular Cast-On recommended, I used a regular Tubular Cast-On on the second mitt. I really needed to see where the waste yarn was to pull it out.
Fun Factor: Oh.My.Gawd.Fun. If I hadn't had to stop in the middle of them to knit some holiday things, I would have had them done in a matter of days, that's how much I loved working on them. Even if mitt #2 misbehaved a bit. And even if mitt #1 has a bit of a mistake in it. Now I want to do more fair isle! Damn that Eunny for getting me hooked on this! ;)

Pattern: Moss Stitch Beanie by Debbie Bliss (in her Pure Cashmere book)
Yarn: 2 hanks of Jade Sapphire 4-ply Cashmere, held doubled
Needles: 24" US7 Addi Turbos
Cast On/Off: Saturday, 23 December
Mods: Well, the yarn was a big one!
Fun Factor: While I wouldn't term it as "fun," it is a quick, easy pattern that requires almost no thought to it. Which is good for a last minute gift for your best friend. I'm just sayin'.

Pattern: My own basic toe-up sock pattern. (I hate provisional cast-ons, so I developed this... I'm sure there are tons of the same pattern out there somewhere.)
Yarn: 1 skein Socks That Rock, Farmhouse colorway.
Cast On: Around 8 December or so - the first sock was done on the 11th in the drs office! I immediately cast on for the second one, so I'd have something to knit on when I went to the movies that night.
Cast Off: Around the 18th of December, I think?
Mods: Well, since it was my own pattern, there were none. :)
Fun Factor: Generally, I hate knitting stockinette in the round. However, these socks kept me enthralled. Mostly, it was the colorway - I loved how the orange seemed to migrate on one side and the green on the other. Plus, the socks almost stripe exactly! I didn't even try. I love it when that happens.
Bonus: I had some yarn left over and didn't know what I'd do with it - there wasn't enough to knit a socklette, so I was stumped. My mother decided to help herself to the leftovers and created a pair of these:

A wrister knit completely in sock yarn. Of her own pattern. (My hand is in there since she didn't want to show hers on the internets, lol.) She rocks. Don't ask for the pattern, though. She never writes anything down and won't let me have them for long enough to try and figure it out. If I can find them, I'll figure it out and post it. :D

Now for some fun stuff

Ann brought in some fab sock yarn from Brooks Farm a couple of Wednesdays ago (which just happened to be Aimee's birthday!) and it immediately got passed around from person to person... Elspeth is just giving it the "cuddle test" - it passed and Ann almost didn't get it back!

Speaking of Ann... I absolutely love her. When she and her hubby decided to go to 'Bama to spend time with his family this Christmas, they asked me to housesit. Which I love to do. When I got there the first night, I was greeted with this:

Fab pressies! 2 yards of 3 different fabrics, a journal and notecards with a Parisian theme... Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Not that I had any excuse to not pull out the sewing machine before, but now I really have no excuse! :)

Just in case you missed getting to the shop to see the fab holiday window designed and executed by none other than Kel, here's a look. Click on it to see the detail. It's freakin' fabulous. Sadly, we took it down Saturday night - while the crowds gathered along Washington Street to see the funeral motorcade for President Ford go by. We had the best view of it all, since we were in the window. We didn't put up the new window that night. Kel went in yesterday to create the New Year's window... she wanted to surprise us. So, I'll be sure to take a picture of that to post!

Michelle knows how much I adore gingerbread. I mean, how could she not, knowing that I get Gingerbread Lattes every morning for as long as they're available?! So, she ordered these to be sent to the shop. Oh.My.Gawd. So.good. They didn't last too long.

Of course I had to include a picture of one of my favorite Christmas babies and me celebrating her birthday last Thursday... (The bunny ears are courtesy of Stick, who drove all the way from Georgia for the festivities... and a few others later that weekend.) There are quite a few more and I will eventually upload them to the other blog. Just because not all of the internets need to see them, just a select few. LOL!!

Now, onto the 2007 knitting! If only my other wrist would cooperate now, I'd be happy. I'll just put the other mitt on... and contemplate winding the yarn I have for Eunny's Anemoi Mitten pattern... and maybe print out another copy...