Snow for Santa

It hardly ever snows in the Seattle area.
Some years, none at all.
This is a treat.

1:23pm

1:45pm

2:12pm

The little kids must have gone out of their
already over-stimulated minds!
How much better does it get than Santa AND snow?

Top-Down Magic

The problem with stripes...

The solution: an evening of weaving in ends.
Pre-blocking
Blocking with Fiesta

FO

Knitter: Rebecca

Pattern: Top-Down Sweater, #6 Unpattern by Karen Alfke. I love this pattern. I've made at least five sweaters with it, all different and all of them fit perfectly. The pattern is designed so well that perfect fit is a given. It's all about gauge. Your vision, your yarn, this pattern = the best sweater, ever. Once in a while I teach a class for the Top-Down Sweater using the #6 Unpattern.
Yarn and needles: Jamieson DK in 5 colors, size 4.5 Inox grey circular needles, G crochet hook.
Project Notes: I started this sweater in September, 2004. I cruised through it until I became hopelessly stumped when trying to figure out the hood ~ I'd never knit one before and had all my 'how to' books out, trying several styles, frogging each in turn, putting it away to think about and losing track of it until a couple weeks ago. This time around the hood just about knit itself and wa-laa, a little crochet chain 3 times around, weave in the endless ends, block and done on December 2nd, 2007. Took me three days. If only I'd known how easy a hood really is...

And now for an 'omg moment': I just realized that I did a really good job matching the repeat from the body to the sleeves! I hadn't noticed this until I looked at the photos of the FO hanging in the Rhody. Just-goes-to-showya ~ step back and admire your work now and then: you may see something different and wonderful.

The Magic Bits

(other sweaters from this pattern)

Sock Monkey Sweater
in Rowan DK Marl

Sock Monkey Suit
in Tweed DK
using the same pattern.

Jamieson DK Henley with
vintage buttons, a little pocket
and side-vents

Koigu V-Neck with short sleeves
(7 skeins)

Koigu Crew Neck with long sleeves

Boyds Bear in worsted weight v-neck

Better late than never

(edited for spelling on 12/17)

Judith MacKenzie was judging fleece at Black Sheep Gathering this year. Sitting in the gallery was like getting a class for free, she was so generous with her comments and knowledge. We spent a total of five hours with her, learning about why one fleece is better than another. She was thrilled with the quality of the fiber this year and mentioned over and over that they were all so clean. She only found need to reject one fleece for dirt and moved several out of certain classes because they were not qualified for that particular class even though they were wonderful. One of those she had a helper put over with the blue ribbon winners as a potential best in show winner.

Here she is unrolling a fleece that she said was perfect.
Unfortunately I didn't write down the fleece type.
It's huge, though, so we know it's not a small breed.

Judith will be teaching at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat again this February in Tacoma at the Hotel Murano (formerly the Sheraton.) She is also the guest speaker at the Banquet on Saturday evening. Her subject will be tracing the story of the American Bison. Fun and well worth the cost of dinner.

Gansey Socks

Back interest

Knitter: Peggy
Pattern: Gansey Socks, designed by Beth Brown-Reinsel in 1995
Yarn and Needles: Alice St*rmore Scottish Fleet in pink; #2.5 2-32" Addi Lace
Project Notes: The project served 4 purposes --

1. Something fairly straightforward to work on at the retreat

2. Refreshing my interest in Gansey knitting

3. Using STASH yarn left over from knitting Jade St*rmore's Beadwork sweater (pattern found in Winter 99/00 Interweave Knits) a few years ago (2004?)

4. And in so doing, giving me socks that match a sweater I love to wear.

My Beadwork