The cat’s pajamas

Christmas and the New Year have come and gone, and I’m back to work in Athens. The break was very nice, and exactly what I needed. However, I’m rather happy to be back in Athens, and I think Fatcat is too.

Even though Christmas was weeks ago, my Christmas knitting still isn’t finished. You would think I would have the forethought to plan ahead and finish everything when it needed to be finished, but that wasn't the case. Though, I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten knitted things to anyone on time, so I suppose I’m keeping in trend. I have two more projects to finish, and then I can finally wash my hands of Christmas knitting for this year.

Aside from those two unfinished projects, I did get five hats and one gigantic lace scarf finished that I gave as late Christmas gifts. I think that counts for something, right?

This monster of a project is still giving me hand cramps. It’s the Willow wrap from Nancy Marchant’s book Knitting Fresh Brioche. I used Juniper Moon Farms Findley in the color Fresco, and Mrs. Crosby Reticule in the color French Chambray. I think I did eleven or twelve repeats of the pattern, and by about repeat seven I was ready to throw this project out into the snow, never to be seen again. This pattern wasn’t particularly difficult, but lace yarn on size four needles did not make for the quickest project of the bunch. Honestly, I want to knit this pattern again for myself, but I’m not touching laceweight yarn with a ten foot pole. I’ll stick with fingering or sport weight, thank you very much. Also, if you haven’t checked out Nancy Marchant’s brioche books, I highly recommend them. Her explanations and photographs make getting a handle on any sort of brioche knitting a breeze, and the stitch patterns are lovely and very easy to read.

This is the Father Cables pattern by Veronika Jobe, and the yarn is Malabrigo Rios in Whales Road. The cabling on this particular hat is absolutely gorgeous, and the seed stitch in the middle parts is what initially caught my eye with this pattern. I did omit the twisted stitches, because they slow my knitting down so much. I’m not sure if this particular skein of Whales Road shows off the cables as well as I’d have liked, but the recipient completely loved it, and I’ve seen her wearing it numerous times since I gave it to her (three cheers for people who appreciate handmade gifts!). As a sidenote, those pajama pants have cats drinking wine in footie pjs on them. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want a project bag to match!

This was the most entertaining of the Christmas gifts this year, the Batman fair isle hat. The yarn that I used was Mirasol Tupa in Gold and Black. Unfortunately, no pattern here, unless I choose to publish one! The colorwork here was a complete surprise, since I wasn’t sure if the actual bat would translate well from my scribbled chart to the hat. I’m rather pleased with how it turned out, and the recipient was very happy with it too!

One of the two unfinished Christmas gifts! This is the Tied Knots hat by Justyna Lorkowska, and will be off to Wisconsin to my boyfriend, Brandon, just as soon as it’s finished. He’ll be there for the next eight months for a co-op, and I suspect that the hat will get quite a lot of use up there in the cold! Hopefully I’ll be able to send along a pair of gloves as well, but without his hand as a model, they’re more likely to fit me (I do need a new pair of gloves!). I might have to cajole him into sending a cardboard cutout of his hand, so that all of the fingers will fit correctly. The yarn is Malabrigo Rios (I seriously love that stuff, so squishy!) in the color Tormenta.

When Brandon’s presents are finished, it’s back to being a selfish knitter for me! Though it is sometimes a challenge to fit in knitting time, I still feel at home in this program, and that’s all I could ever want. Until next time, friends.