stash, knit, repeat

Wow, that was a busy week. Even though I’m home during the day, daylight savings really seems to have cut into my photo time. Or maybe it’s just because Jacob thinks naps are for weenies. :) Either way, I present to you a belated FO roundup:

Pattern: Classic Harry Potter scarf in Gryffindor colors.
Yarn: Cascade 220, scarlet and gold, 2 hanks each.
Modifications: Added 2 purl stitches, see below.

This scarf is knit in a tube to avoid both curling and a wrong side to the work. This results in an extremely warm, thick scarf. I wanted the scarf to stay flat nicely so I changed two of the knit stitches to purls, to help the scarf keep a shape. It seems to have worked, although I haven’t made a totally knit one so who knows?

As you’d expect, this is pretty boring to knit. But, I will say one thing for stockinette in the round: It makes for some truly mindless knitting that you can do anywhere, and hence I got this scarf done in record time. (I think 10 days, including blocking and fringe?) Despite the length. Seriously. It makes a good fence cozy.

FO gallery in the sidebar–you can see all of the nature-tastic pictures I snapped of the scarf while Jacob was playing in our front yard.

*****

I’m zipping right along on my gram’s fir cone lace cardigan, but still no pictures for you. I have to save them out, since even moving along quickly it’s going to take me some time to finish this puppy. My favorite thing about the cardigan so far is the construction. I’ve split for the armholes already, so those loooong rows are behind me and there’s no side-seaming to do! The sleeves will be interesting this way, though, I think.

HP Scarf is finished and happy! FO entry and sidebar updates, etc. later this week for sure. I just haven’t had a solitary few minutes to shoot. (And Jacob, though cute, just isn’t a tall enough model!)

My gram’s cardigan is also well on its way. I chose the Fir Cone Lace Cardigan from Vermont Fiber Designs, and got gauge with the Silky Wool instead of the Cotton Fleece. It’s looking lovely so far. I love the fabric, the color (a vibrant deep blue) is perfect, it’s a neat construction. I tried to take a picture of the swatch for you, but again had too much help.

The cardigan itself pretty much just looks like an enormous ruffle at this point. It’s knit in one looooooooong piece until the armholes, which are then divided. Despite the small gauge, I’m managing to make good time on it.

So why the title of this post? I wrote down a list of all of the holiday knits I’d like to do, and realized I’d have to knit and finish one adult sweater every week. HAH. I may be staying at home, but His Highness sure doesn’t let me get that kind of knitting time! So I suppose it’s time to think about birthdays and what presents I want to knit the most.

Here’s a question for you, regarding that: A very special lady in my life needs a lace shawl. I have some gorgeous Schaeffer handpainted laceweight that I’d love to use, but it’s in a fairly bold colorway. What lace shawl patterns work best with a high-contrast variegated yarn?

Guess what’s almost done?

Almost done in the “just needs fringe” sense. One good thing about all that stockinette is that it sure goes quickly.

Better yet, I think I’ve found the perfect pattern for that Silky Wool I want to use for my gram’s cardigan. This mountain of holiday knitting might just get done after all!

I’ve added the afghan to the FO gallery, and updated my sidebar. It’s official. I’m in Harry Potter land.

This is not, as I’d feared, the most boring thing I’ve ever knit. (That medal still goes to the 1×1 rib scarf in black cashmerino aran for the hubby. I still have nightmares about that thing. And now we live in a place that doesn’t get winter! Ha! Ha ha! *twitch*)

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. The stockinette is dull, but done in the round it’s extremely easy to take anywhere and do any time, for just a few stitches or two stripes’ worth. So I’m moving along on it fairly quickly. Knowing how many stripes there will be is a little freeing, too. No more “Is it long enough yet?” games in my head–I’m halfway there, and that’s that.

I’m excited to get it done, though, for sure. I visited my LYS for the first time since our move the other day and picked up Rowan 40 (so many nice ideas!) and yarn for the last holiday sweater I’d like to knit. It will be good to work on an adult sweater again, I think it’s been over a year, definitely. Adult sweaters feel like fall, to me.

What is your favorite fall project?

That afghan is DONE.

…and I started the HP scarf, after all. It must be done for Hannukkah, and I’m a firm believer in getting the nasty stuff over with as quickly as possible. Plus, the yarn was already wound and the pattern already printed out the other morning when I needed to leave the house in -.02 seconds.

More details on the afghan (including an FO gallery) later. For now, time to go be a vegetable with my miles of golden-and-scarlet stockinette!