Friday, December 30, 2011

Final FOs of 2011

The year is almost out the door and I've managed to get a couple more projects off the needles before it left.

First up - 198 yards of HeavenAs I mentioned - this one is for my coworker - but after seeing how well it goes with my coat, it's really hard to give up.

I had one skein of Tosh Merino left over from my Tea Leaves Cardigan and this was the perfect use for it.
I love single-ply yarns, but they do have a tendency to pill badly under pressure. A low-traffic garment like a shawl is the ideal use, and I'd really like to knit one of these in Aristocat.Since I had 210 yards, plus a small part ball, I bumped my needle size up to 6.5 to coax every inch out of this one. I still only ended up using 199 yards, and the finished size is 41" wide by 19" deep - a decent size to wear as a scarf.

That said, if you have the yarn, it's pretty easy to adjust the pattern to make it larger - and I may just do that someday... and add some beads!

My other FO is also for my coworker
Yep - I finally finished her Christmas socks last night. Dave went to bed early, and I watched the first few episodes of the second season of Rome and got them off the needles.

Since my coworker is a knit-sock virgin, I chose Barn Cat for the yarn. Sturdy but soft, and 100% washable!
The colour is Grapelicious, and the pattern is Nutkin. As mentioned, I modified the pattern by mirroring the charts (which I always do with Nutkin) and this time I added a rest row between the patterns rows, which draws the final motif out longer - I quite like the effect. This is my third time knitting Nutkin, and mods like this keep me from getting bored.

So - now I can fully turn my attention towards my Surmount goals. After I clean the house of course - when are these cats going to learn to sweep up their own cat fur?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love those purples, especially the shawl. Truly awesome!

Monika said...

Both FO's are quite lovely.

Sue said...

What a gorgeous shawl and I love those Nutkin socks too. Hope you and your family have a fantastic 2012!

Knatolee said...

The shawl is exquisite and I love the socks. Your co-workers are so lucky!

Minding My Own Stitches said...

Cute socks, and that shawl is just gorgeous! Even if my cat could sweep up her fur, she wouldn't. She prefers it when her little cat bed is completely furred in.

Araignee said...

That shawl is perfect! I have so many big ones that are pretty but hard to wear. I am queuing that up right now!