New Years Eve in Florida

New Years, FL
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

We've been in Florida since December 26. The weather has been unseasonably warm and we've done lots of biking and nature walks. It's such a pleasure to be in this climate in the winter time. We spent the first few days of our stay with my cousin in Holiday, near Tampa, and are now in Crystal River, further north, with Dick's cousin. The photo was taken at a New Years Eve party at the home of a friend of our relatives. We had a lovely time, good food, good company and we made our usual early exit--by 11 PM we were home and in bed. I've never liked New Years Eve and only consent to attend parties when I don't have to stay until midnight and I don't have to kiss a bunch of strangers. Fortunately our cousins are in agreement on this arrangement.

We're told the weather will turn cold tomorrow (a hard freeze is forecast). We biked 20 miles today on the Withlacoochie Trail and will be content to stay in tomorrow if the weather calls for it. The coldest day in Florida is still warmer than the weather in NJ.

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.

Wavy from Knitty

Wavy #1
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

My major project at the moment is a top-down turtleneck sweater for DH using Berroco Ultra Alpaca. The yarn is soft and lovely to work with but the miles of stockinette stitch is really getting to me. I decided I needed an alternate project with a pattern to break up the monotony. I had some Reynolds Signature in my stash and decided to use it to make a scarf using Sarah Smith's Wavy from the Winter 2004 issue of Knitty. It's just knit and purl, but it's such an ingenious design. You can see how the pattern is developing after just 18 rows. It's really important to keep track of which row you are knitting and a row counter is recommended. I don't own one so I am making hatch marks on a 3 X 5 card. I can see it's going to be hard to go back to Dick's sweater!

Molly in Monica

molly in Monica
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

Here's a photo of my beautiful granddaughter, Molly, modeling Monica by knitty. This picture was taken earlier this month. It shows what a warm autumn we've been having in New Jersey that she can be outdoors this late in the year in this outfit. I'm very pleased with the way this project turned out. I made some modifications, knitting it in the round and using a heavier gauge yarn, Caron Simply Soft, from my stash. I'll probably make more of these next spring for my three younger granddaughters.