I'm Back

Yes, we were away for a few days. We drove up to Prince George to attend the funeral of old family friends of John's. I didn't get a chance to do any taking of pictures or blogging before we left, so today's post could be on the long side (space-wise, hopefully not too wordy).

First of all, I've got a finished object. It was finished on January 3, the first FO of 2006. (Incidentally, I'm going to set up a separate web page with little pictures of all my finished objects of 2006... just cuz I can. The link will be in my sidebar when I have it up and running.)

The object, you ask? The Bernat Soft Boucle shawl. I didn't use a pattern for this one, just started it at the neck, the way the Kiri shawl is done, and then just knit the right side and purl the wrong side. And when I forgot what I was doing and knit on the wrong side, I just made it a design feature and did a few more reverse rows on purpose.

And one picture taken a little closer in so you can see the true colour. This ended up being a nice cozy shawl, perfect for wrapping around your shoulders while you're watching TV or sitting around doing nothing but knitting. It took two balls of the Bernat Soft Boucle; total cost for this shawl is under $10 cdn.

So, that's the first FO of 2006. Then, while we were on the road, I finished this little project. I had started it before we went to PG, had one done, finished the second on the way home yesterday. I love them!

The pattern is Mrs. Beeton, from Knitty.com. I was a little leery about knitting these at first, but I shouldn't doubt my knitting skills, for one thing, and for another, the pattern is clearly written. I wouldn't recommend it for an absolute beginner, but an intermediate knitter shouldn't have any problems with this project.

Just a couple more shots of Mrs. Beeton. Did I mention that I love these? I think I'll even wear them to work this afternoon.

They're just so feminine!

I did one in purple, too; still have to do the second one. Depending on what's happening at work this afternoon, I just may cast on for it today. Incidentally, I did put the beads on the green pair, but not on the purple pair.

The yarns used in the green pair are Atacama 100% alpaca and Rowan Kid Silk Haze, 2 strands in the ruffle, 1 strand with the alpaca for the cuff. In the purple one, I used the Atacama alpaca and 2 strands of Allessandra Kid Silk (I think that's what it's called... the ball bands are still at the store) in plum and light purple. I found that using 2 strands of the kid mohair with the alpaca made it a little too fuzzy for my liking. That's why I used a single strand with the alpaca in the green pair.

Then, on the drive up to PG, I cast on 56 stitches with Sirdar's Country Style dk. By the following evening, I had this......

I've got the second one cast on, but haven't done anything with it yet. They're for John, of course. Personally, I don't really like dk weight socks except for wearing in my slippers around the house. He, on the other hand, doesn't mind the heavier weight of socks and I don't mind making them in the dk weight; they knit up a LOT faster than the fingering weight yarn.

There, now you're all caught up and it's almost time for my shower. Two FO's and the year's just ten days old. Not bad!