Christmas Tree Baby Hat

Christmas Tree Baby Hat
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

Here is the first of two baby hats I am making for my grandkids in California. I'm racing against the clock to finish and get them in the mail. It will be worth the hurry to see a photo of them wearing the hats on Christmas day.

It's an easy pattern and works up really quickly. I'm using Reynolds Signature and size 4 Addi Turbos, knitting in the round. The little red tree ornaments are satin stitched once the hat is finished and my daughter gave me a lesson in how to make pom-poms. I found the pattern on line at:
http://www.p2designs.com/images/patterns/SetChristmasTree.html

Devo Finished

Devo finished
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

Wow! This is the second item I've finished this week. I pulled this yarn from my stash thinking it would make a nice, cozy scarf for the host we are staying with for the holidays. I've had some people tell me it's too pink for a man to wear, but I see it as a rich wine color. The photo here doesn't really do it justice. It has much more blue in it. Why is it that the same digital camera can take photos of the same object and it comes out a different color every time?

In any event, DH thinks it's a lovely scarf and says he would wear it so I am going ahead with plan A and will wrap it up to give to our friend. By the way, I plan to give Wavy from Knitty to his wife.

Turtleneck Finally Finished

Turtleneck finished 2
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

It's done! I bound off the sleeves and wove in the ends. My DH put it right on and is sitting at the computer wearing it. He is very pleased! And, I feel a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

It's the biggest project I've ever knit and has taken months to complete. It may have a few minor flaws, but all in all, I'm delighted with the finished product.

Now I can embark on new projects without guilt.

Procrastination

Reynolds Baby Cardi Finished
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been busy in California the past two weeks helping with my two new twin grandchildren. I was the laundress and the kitchen cleaner (and crying baby holder) while my daughter-in-law and son did most of the baby care. Twins are a handful.

But, you ask, why is this entry called procrastination? Well, I've been working for months on a sweater for my husband. It's a top down project in ultra alpaca. It's just miles and miles of stockinet stitch and I keep starting new projects to relieve the boredom. In mid-November I made a promise to avoid starting anything new until I finished it, but I broke the promise three times last week.

One of the broken promise projects was this sweater from a Reynolds Baby Cardigan pattern. It was an easy knit and I just used some Caron Simply Soft from my stash (I brought an oversize suitcase loaded with stash yarn to California). The color is not this muted. It's a much brighter green but for some reason this is the way it photographed. I sent it off to my nephew with an eyelet hat. He and his significant other will be having a baby girl in February. It will be a bit big for her at first, but she will grow into it.

To update you on the top down sweater. I nearly finished one sleeve on the way home on the plane and I'm into the second one. I haven't done the ribbing because I want to double check the sleeve length before I complete them. The sweater is soft and lovely and I'm sure DH will enjoy it if I ever get it finished.