4 Ply Katie Knits: Wrapping up 2007

Before I post anything else, let me assure anyone who has been following the news out of Kenya that Sparky and I are fine. We're both going a bit stir-crazy. We haven't really been out of the apartment since Saturday (except for a couple quick and necessary food runs to the shops up the street). It's just a real shame that the election ended like this. I was out in Western Kenya to observe election day and it was really inspiring. People waited patiently in line for hours for their opportunity to vote.

If you're brave, check out Sparky's pictures of the mob in front of our apartment on Saturday.

I have a bunch of final finished projects with which to close out 2007. I have New Year's knitting resolutions, but I think that I'll post them tomorrow.

Christmas Scarves

Project: Christmas Scarves
Pattern: Using size 15 needles, cast on 30 stitches. Knit every row until almost out of yarn. Cast off. (yes, it is exactly that easy)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Grace in (from left to right) Glenwood, Aslan, Sandridge, and Georgetown.
Yardage: 2 Skeins per scarf (240 Yards)
Started: From left to right, October 24, 2007; October 26, 2007; April 26, 2007 (oops), October 26, 2007
Finished: From left to right, October 25, 2007; October 26, 2007; October 22, 2007; October 28, 2007
Yarn Source: Knit Happens
Needles: 10 mm (US 15)
Gauge: Who cares?

These scarves are copies of a basic pattern that Courtney developed for Knit Happens,ages ago. I cast on the first on in April, thinking that I could get ahead on my Christmas knitting. Then I promptly got distracted and buried it in a knitting bag. Once I picked them up again, each scarf absolutely flew off the needles. Grace is a heavier boucle mohair and working on the size 15 needles was annoying. I finally got it together and knit them. Then I forgot to post them. They're intended as belated Christmas presents for some of my cousins. I just hope that they will be useful when I finally get to gift them in March!

Cable Scarf

Project: Practice Makes Perfect Scarf
Pattern: Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis
Yarn: Classic Elite Wings
Yardage: 4 Skeins (436 Yards)
Started: October 28, 2007
Finished: December 6, 2007
Yarn Source: Stash (I can't remember before that!)
Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7)
Gauge: 4.75 stitches to the inch
Modifications: I ended up doing a modification of the scarf, as I misplaced my copy of the pattern about halfway through my Germany trip and so I sort of made it up as I went along! I also had to shorten it a bit, because the was a misprint in the book and the pattern really called for 5 skeins and I only had 4.

This scarf is another Christmas scarf, intended for a friend in the US. As I explained above, I rather heavily modified the pattern as I was both short of yarn and had mislaid my pattern part way ! Still it was a nice, relatively fast gift, once I picked it up after a long hiatus. Not much else to say about it, except that I thought that the hat in the same pattern was a bit juvenile, but the scarf is lovely. Just check the errata before beginning any of the patterns in this book!

Cindy Baby Sweater

Project: Cindy Baby Sweater
Pattern: From Rowan babies by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Cork (now discontinued) by Rowan
Yardage: 3.5 Balls (420 Yards)
Started: November 18, 2007
Finished: December 16, 2007
Yarn Source: Stash (can't remember where from!)
Needles: 7 mm (US 10.75)
Gauge: 3.5 stitches to the inch

This sweater is one of many baby sweaters that will need to come off my needles in the next few months! I have many friends and co-workers expecting babies in the next few months and I need to get cracking! I knit this one in the 1-2 year size. The smaller sizes looked much too small and with the bulky yarn, it seemed too small to be comfortable or to get a wiggling baby into! The edging is all crocheted and that was really annoying. The edging ate up about the same amount of yarn as the entire rest of the sweater! Still, it looks really cute!

December Socks

Project: December Socks
Pattern: Wendy's Toe-up Pattern
Yarn: Sport Color Sock yarn from Wolle Rodel
Yardage: 2 Balls (328 Yards)
Started: December 18, 2007
Finished: December 30, 2007
Yarn Source: Wolle Rodel store in Heidelberg, Germany
Needles: 3 mm (US 2.5)
Gauge: 7 stitches to the inch

These socks are the final pair of socks in my 2007 year of socks. They are intended as a gift (but not for Sparky, he refuses to let me knit for him, but he did offer to model them!) and are an easy conclusion to the year of socks. They were easy and straightforward. They were exactly what was needed in an incredibly busy and distracted month. I plan on doing the "12 months, 12 pairs of socks" challenge again next year.

Sparky kindly volunteered to model my socks!