Catching up on Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I promised in my previous post.

Mom's Christmas present Fetching:

A rusty red shade of Misty Alpaca worsted weight, knit on size 6. I adjusted the pattern to be a bit smaller - I worked 8 rib repeats around instead of 9, and the thumb has a few fewer stitches. I skipped the picot bind-off. She'll be wearing them at work to type all the time, and it seemed like that might get in her way.
Toys:
Loch Ness Monster for Nephew S.

This is knit on size 5 needles in Encore worsted colors 1604 (upper body) and 555 (belly) and snippets of brown for the eyes. He loves dinosaurs so this seemed perfect. The pattern is in the book Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. A great book!

Nursery Balls for Nephew R. and Niece S.

You can't really see in these pictures, but on the blue and white ball the white sections have two pink hearts on them. These were made from my stash of leftover baby yarns. The pattern is in a knitted toys book that seems to have wandered away from me just now. The pattern calls for making each section separately and then seaming them together. I did that for the white & blue one, but I made the green and yellow one in one piece using intarsia. It worked fairly well once I got it started, but I wouldn't try to do that with striped sections or anything.

There will be more pictures of toys to come, and now I'm working away on MANY fingerless mitts, so there will be lots of that in the near future.

Christmas Reprise or the Return of the Camera

My goodness, but I've been having a hard time blogging without my camera. It's been returned now and appears to be working.

Review of Christmas knitting:

The major secret project for this year was a vest for my dad. Diamonds for Him, Plymouth Encore Worsted in 0668, a great heathered green. He loves the vest, was totally surprised, and it is in exactly his style. I took measurements for it from a vest he already has, so there was some estimation, and the yarn stretched more than I expected in the blocking - so it did turn out a bit too big. I'm going to sew the seams again so it is a bit smaller around. Pictures to come when it fits just right.

For my mom (who got her sweater last year), I made Fetching in Misty Alpaca, a rusty red color. (This picture is in her camera and will be added later)

For my two new nieces I made Mary Maxim Candy Cane Christmas stockings - here's one:

I also made toys for the other nieces and nephews, and one for my little brother. Those pictures are also in Mom's camera and will be added soon.

For nearly everyone else I know, I made washcloths:

I believe the final tally was about 27. Pictures of each will be uploaded to my Ravelry account soon.

My first finished object of the New Year was a pair of Fetching for myself, already done except for weaving in the ends. I am now embarking on a sweater for myself - a large cabled coat-type cardigan being done as a class at my LYS. I do love gift knitting, but I'm also greatly loving knitting for myself for awhile.