Hi Annie!

I have been working on a cardigan and have the body done the the sleeves started. But, I have set it aside the past two weeks to hand quilt a baby quilt and then decided to hand quilt another ufo. It's turned off cold this week and I just want to snuggle under a quilt! After this one is done, I will probably go back to the sleeves and finish them up. I have some socks and a scarf that I want to make, but none for gifts (for myself, if that counts :).

Rebecca

Here is a link that might be useful: Cardigan in cape cod blue

It's definitely turned into quilting and knitting weather hasn't it? It's really chilly here today--only about 40 and breezy. We've had to keep the woodstove stoked all day.

Annie

I'll be making family names that I'll crochet & my husband will make the frames for them. I've found that solid colored quilted placemats make a nice background for them. GOT TO GO GET BUSY NOW!!

I just finished and mailed off 4 Special Olympic scarves.

Now I'm making bears for the Mother Bear project. If you want the pattern, it's available free through the DIY network (search for Mother Bear pattern).

I'm also crocheting an afghan for my yet-to-be-born grandson (first one!!!).

Have to sew up the toe on one sock. The first one is done.

Also have another afghan to finish, one I don't like much, so I work on it occasionally.

I have never in my life had multiple projects going like this. But I'm keeping things under control and ALWAYS finish what I start.

So much to do, so little time.

Susan

It depends on which room I'm in. I have different projects on the go in different rooms. I think I'm losing it!
I have been knitting hats from "Woodsmoke Woolworks".
They are the most adorable hats. Each hat has a pattern. For example: bunnies and then knitted carrots hang from the top of the hat. Water lillies and frogs. Apples and apple cores. Squirrels and nuts.
The ladies name is Barbara Telford.

Sue

Suebdoo--that different projects in different rooms really rang a bell with me! I have my upstairs quilting project (queen-sized Jacob's Ladder for a nephew), my downstairs quilting project (hand applique), my traveling knitting bucket (socks) and my TV knitting project (shrug). The downstairs quilting project is on hold while get my holiday knitting done, because I usually work on that in the evenings. As Socks says, " So much to do, so little time!"

Annie

Rebecca;

The cardigan you are knitting will look very nice in cape cod blue! Especially with those kimono sleeves.

Happy knitting,
Jane2 here (Janey elsewhere)

Last year I made knitted washcloths. This year I'm doing Mary Jane Slippers.

I am not knitting any Christmas gifts this year. But babies are coming, so I keep on crocheting and knitting for them. Lots of booties as nothing stays on as well as knit or chocheted booties. I like to give several colors for stylish babies. Then I like to edge printed diapers or even white ones with cotton thread in crochet for great burp cloths. I also knit sweaters and hats and crochet baby afghans.

I completed a dozen mittens for adults who live at the homeless shelter. Hopefully I will find a pattern to do the same for the children. Nothing is worse than being cold.

Puzzlefan--What a wonderful project for you to pursue!

Annie

I'm working on felted eyeglass cases adorned with felted flowers for family members. A few ipod cases as well.

Oh, the eyeglass cases sound so pretty! I wish I was in your family! Can you post some pictures?

Annie

I just have to stitch on a flower and the leaves and then I'll post a pic.

Great! They sound lovely.

Annie

Here's the felted eyeglass case, the case is knit in garter stitch and the flower and leaves are crocheted:

And I'm so proud of myself, I just taught myself to knit with double pointed needles and made my first sock. The pattern called for it to be a lot longer but I like them short and slouchy so I altered it a bit. Now I just have to make the other one!

Thanks for looking!
Robin

Oh Robin, I love the eyeglass case! Great job on the socks. I wear them that length in the summer but knit knee-hi's for the winter. I've got a big cozy pair on the needles right now for my daughter who works in a stable and leads out winter trail rides. She needs really warm socks to wear in her boots, so I'm using Brown Sheep "Lamb's Pride" worsted weight.

Annie

Thank you Annie.

I was curious about the yarn you mentioned and checked it out online, looks nice and cozy. I wish we had a good yarn shop around here but the closest store that carries that yarn is over an hour away. So I'm pretty limited to what I can find in Michael's or AC Moore. I don't like to buy yarn online unless it's something I've used before. I've been thinking about ordering some more of the alpaca yarn that I bought at an alpaca farm (I made a scarf with it) I stayed at in October and making socks with that. But it's a bulky yarn. Can I adjust a sock pattern for a bulky yarn or does anyone have a good sock pattern for a bulky weight yarn they could share? I think the same yarn was available in a worsted weight but I really loved the loftiness of the bulky. I think I could easily become addicted to sock making!

Robin

I knit my own socks from the toes down and fit them as a I go, so it's pretty easy for me to adjust for different yarn and needle sizes. I have a sock "recipe" form that I fill in as I go, so that I know how to knit the second sock to match the first.

I too am yarn shop challenged, so I find myself ordering yarn on-line quite often. It's a bit of a risk, but I can't say that I've ever been disappointed yet. The Lamb's Pride is called a worsted weight, but it's actually a bit heavier than most worsteds I've used in the past. I only needed 40 stitches in the foot on size 4 needles to make a sock that fit my size 7 foot perfectly.

Annie

Where to start? I MADE all of the gifts I am giving out this year. I made 50 mini stockings for the people at work. For my co-worker that loves hot sauce, I made a mexican hat and sirapi, I made ornaments for the people at the bank, for my MIL, I made hot pads for every holiday (12), for my SIL, I made an afghan, for my niece, I made a poncho and clothes for her Webkinz. I also made scarves for the waitresses at the coffee shop I go to. For my BIL, I made a ski mask and scarf for those cold winter days of shoveling snow. I have also made several hats and scarves for our heroes in Iraq. As a member of Soldiers' Angels, I have made walker bags to carry things in for our wounded and have sent 11 afghans to VA hospitals this year.

Sharon: WOW!

Annie

Footwear. all kinds.
Felted slippers knitted from roving (goes super fast, the pattern I use is from Susanne Pufpatt, at Yurtboutique in Michigan). http://yurtboutique.com/order.htm

Also socks and baby booties. I make lots and lots of angora headband earwarmers. Even for men, I sandwhich the angora inside the 2 layers of the headband (I have instructions on my home page. About halfway down - kind of an ugly color to the example, I'll have to post a prettier one.

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I also make baby booties out of my handspun and mill spun angora.

Donna in Indy

Here is a link that might be useful: German Angora Information

Those are gorgeous Donna! Can I be your friend!? ;o)

Sharon, double WOW! have you been working on this stuff all year?

Robin

Donna--Is the bootie pattern your own or did you find it somewhere? I really like it.

Annie

Hi Annie and Robin,
All friends gratefully accepted!

Annie, I used the 1st Sock book from Spinoff (Taunton) as the inspiration for the booties, but I redid it for my yarn which was much finer than the yarn used in the book. I have also done it on the knitting machine. (Using the garter bar). The bottom ridges are done in 5 rows purl, 2 rows knit.

But they don't turn out so fluffy knitting them by machine, even with the teasle brush. The ones pictured were done by hand.

I will have to find the pattern on my computer and I will cheerfully send it to anyone interested, just PM me. (I think I enabled that for this forum.) Or you could email me at apollonia3@gmail.com and I can get it to you that way.

Donna

Donna-I'd love to have the bootie pattern. I'll e-mail you privately.

Annie

Robin, Lion Brand has a sock pattern for worsted weight, maybe for bulky, but I'm not sure.

Sharon, you sure have been busy!

Donna, those booties are beautiful!

I just finished, except for a pom pom, a hat for my DGD for Christmas. I have a shrug and fingerless mitts to make for my mom. She's 72 and freezing with the heat set at 72°! And they heat with fuel oil which is a lot more than what my gas bill is! And a couple of hats and a scarf.

Tami

Here's the first mitten for the pair I'm knitting with Koigu yarn:

I'm pretty pleased with it.

Annie

I am helping my sister make a hat for our seven-year-old cousin, and after that, I'm going to make a yellow and purple striped scarf for my youngest cousin.

I just love the Koygu yarn! It knits beautifully and the colors are wonderful.

Tami

Tami--This is my first experience with Koigu and I'm hooked. Now to just win the lottery so I can afford it!

Annie

Hi all-- I'm kinda new to this board, but couldn't help being a bit nosy (sorry). You all do such beautiful work! Anyway, I noticed that several of you made mittens for various people this year. I crochet, but don't knit, and my kids have been begging me to make them mittens for about year now. Unfortunately, I can't find a pattern that makes sense to me. Does anyone have a crochet pattern that works well they could share, so I could surprise the kids? Thank you so much!

Marcy

First: Sorry about the quilt show picture here--it was a mitten until today. I posted the quilt show picture over at the quilting forum and I have no idea why Garden Web imported it over here, too.

Marcy: Mittens and socks are kinda weird to make the first time. What I tell first-timers is to do EXACTLY what the pattern says to do. Don't analyze it, don't try to make sense of it, just do it--it will turn out in the end!

I found a very basic crocheted mitten and posted the link below. It looks like the trickiest part is the cuff; just remember that the reason the cuff is done sideways to the rest of the mitten is to get the ribbing effect. You could just decrease and make a sc cuff until you have the rest of it figured out. It wouldn't be ribbed but it would still work. Also, I'd finish the thumb before I went on to the cuff if you do opt for the ribbed cuff.

I remember the first time a student of mine tried turning the heel on a knitted sock. She called me in a panic because she couldn't understand how those goofy instructions could possibly work. I just told her to stop thinking and do what they said. An hour later she called back, all excited, "I made a heel! I made a heel!" To this day, I honestly can't figure out how heels work and I think the first person to invent one was an absolute genious.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Basic crocheted mitten