Cutest Pants EVER!

The Eden longies are done and oh my... are they not the cutest pants EVER?! I am in love. I followed her all around the house trying to get some really good pictures of them.

Pattern: My Own - soon to be released!
Yarn: Rambouillet Worsted in Eden by ...a time to dye
Needles: US 7, US 4

The Recieving

You've seen all the giving, now it's time for the recieving. Miss T was curious what Hub would pick out. He did a VERY good job. All things I wanted the most! He even found a couple hanks of sock yarn still at Holy Threads. He said he only had two hanks of each type to choose from. They will sadly be out of business very very soon. The baskets, Niddy Noddy and soap came from Paradise Fibers. The man at the store assured him the soap would be a great stocking stuffer. And it was! There was a pair of wool socks in there too, but my feet were cold.

Though we've had plenty of snow already this year, it alwasy seems to be followed by a thaw. But, Christmas night we got our white Christmas... and this morning... Hub had some work to do. He and Miss N have been playing in the snow most of the day and have big plans to go find a good sled hill when she's done with her nap.


I just got done doing one of my new workout videos... whew! I felt like a slug with all the eating going on! Bob and Jillian kicked my butt! I'm off to the showers!

Merry Christmas!

Here at the Itchy household there has been much hustle and bustle...

Cookie Baking...

In case you ever wondered... a Dove dark chocolate piece is pretty much to die for on these in place of the kiss. I ran out of kisses and ooohhh... yum!

Sprinkle eating...


This picture cracked me up so bad I had to share. The look of desperation to eat some of the sugar before her was too much!

And even a wee bit 'o knitting.


Next up, turkey baking, a call to my sister to wish her a Happy 18th Birthday, and present wrapping. Hub's off to the airport with Miss N to pick up Uncle J!

Merry Christmas!

Free at last!

The last pair of mittens for someone else! Done! They went really fast plus, I could just feel the end and I love rushing to a finish line. These are for a friend of my MIL. My MIL keeps showing off her mitts to everyone she knows and now she's been requesting them for a couple of them. One here and there I don't mind, but it was becoming a bit too much. Hub put a stop to the requests. Good man.

Pattern: My Own
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8, Black

I bought this yarn to try because CrazyDaisy was talking about how much she loved it recently. I'd never even seen it in person. The really funny thing is we go to the same LYS. But I never realized they had it! Sadly, they are going out of business. As the shelves have cleared in the past month I keep finding yarns I didn't realized were tucked away in there. I feel like a dork. But a happy one, because I get to try them now when they're being cleared out at 30% off. ha ha. I also picked up a couple of balls to make Hub a Koolhaas hat. Being the dork that he is, Hub thought it would be "cool" if I made a second one for his best friend back in Seattle... a designer who would love something Seattle-ish and designer-y. And they'd "match". Not sure how "cool" that would be, but I think it's pretty funny. We shall see!

I started trying to work on the mitt's for myself. I have some from last year, but I got a new coat and between the coat and last years mitt's, I look a bit like a clown. The coat is a plumish herringbone pattern and the mitt's... well you can see. I could not resist some Melange. Once I saw it in person... and FELT it. Oh my. I had thought I would make the Huckleberry Ascot from Holiday IK. But I need mitt's more than a scarf. A set would be nice... so I bought 3 skeins. Such a treat! However, I am realizing, this yarn is going to be tough to make mitt's out of. It's so drapey. No bounce at all. I tried a garter stitch mitt. Which you saw here... It was ok. The garter stitchiness was great. The fit of the thumb, not so much. It felt annoying so I ripped it out. If I could figure out how to put an actual thumb on it, I'd probably like that. But I haven't figured that out.

So... I cast on Fetching last night. I thought the cables would help hold it together. I'm not sure it's going to work. Even down on size 4's I think it's too big. It's hard to describe the qualities of the yarn. But if you've worked with something similar you know what I mean. I think it would be ok if I maybe took it down to 3's. But... now I'm thinking I'm going to use way more than one skein of the yarn and not have enough for my scarf. I knew when I bought it I would probably need 4, but was trying not to spend that money. Not sure what to do! Maybe I should use something else for the mitt's??? I can't make a decision to save my life.

So... any suggestions out there? Ideas?

I suppose this gives me time to get my house clean and presents wrapped and cookies baked... you know... things I SHOULD be doing instead of knitting! ha!

Wild Birch Mittens

Mittens for yet another brother. This hereby completes the Christmas knitting! Yahoo!

Pattern: My Own
Yarn: The Great Adriondack Yarn Company, Superwash Merino, Wild Birch

I've run out of witty things to say about mittens. So here ya go. Pretty pictures. I cast on yet another pair today that were requested by my MIL. Then I actually need a pair myself. Can you believe I've been knitting these and running around with freezing hands?!

I am going to be writing up these patterns and posting them here soon. I want to do it in PDF format, and I think I've figured out how. Hub will be taking some extra time off soon so I should get some extra time to get it all figured out. I'm going to release the longies pattern too! Stay tuned!

Christmas Socks and Snowmen

Hub's stocking stockings are complete. They are a sport weight verging on DK, so they were pretty fast. They turned out well I think. I made him an 8" cuff which I think he'll like. On me they go up really far! I'm the one modeling. Hub and I have opposite builds with socks. He has skinny calves and bigger, wider feet. Mine, skinny feet and ah... sturdy legs. ;) I didn't really plan for this to be a Christmas gift, it just turned out that way, and the green was coincidence too. Too bad they don't really fit me. Hubs working and I've got a driveway full of snow!

Pattern: Basic Recipe
Yarn: Farmhouse Yarns, Bo Peep's Sock Yarn, Olive
Needles: US2, 2.75mm

Gorgeous wall of snowmen don't you think?

Recipe:

• One mother cooped up with a house full of sick kids and husband escapes to buy more cold medicine and finds herself oddly unwilling to leave drugstore and head home. "Brilliant" idea ensues and big bag of cotton balls come home with her.

• One obsessive compulsive bored four year old cooped up in the house sick for a week watching it snow outside, but unable to go enjoy it.
  

• Blend wits and will. Result = lots of snowmen that bring glee to a child, and occupy them for the better part of two hours. Which brings glee to the mother.
  

Mittens, Mittens Everywhere!

They're done! I made it! I had them done by my deadline, Sunday night. Then they all took a nice bath and sat out by the heat register to dry. Today they are ready to be packed up and sent off to Alaska. (You'll notice the striped ones that I finished this summer... those were the PLANNED ones. The rest... done in last minute budget panic! Good reasoning for stash!)

First up, my favorite... Moms Cabled Mitt's. I made up this pattern myself. I'm a liiiiitle bit proud. Mom is a wee bit of a thing, so these are a little small on me, but should fit her well. The prototype actually fits me. I need to knit it a mate and then Mom and I can match.

Pattern: My own!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherds Worsted, Red Rover (Mom and I share our love of RED!)

Next up... Dad's Dashing Mitt's. These are as you can see, huge on me. But my Dad is a big guy. I get my own big hands and feet and bones etc... all straight from him!

Pattern: Dashing Mittens, size Large
Needles: US size 6
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, Walnut Heather
Mod's: I shortened the cuff a bit and lengthened the hand. Hoping it fits!

And last, but certainly not least... the Viking Mittens! Inspired by my state champion basketball playing brothers. :) One of those brothers is also headed for state next weekend for wrestling! Then it's on to defend the basketball title. The last time our town won the championship was when my Moms Grandpa 'Swede' was on the team. It was pretty special for her to have her sons on the team.

Pattern: My Own!
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash

You might have noticed here that all the yarns are superwash. That's for good reason. My mother... she does not get along with wool. One would think a lifelong Alaskan would be friendly with it. Alas, she has a history of felting clothing. My Dad hides his wool from her. I had a conversation with him yesterday that went something like this... "I got some new merino long underwear. I better be careful to keep them away from the laundry room this time. Your mother... (sighing, head shaking) I don't want them to fit your brothers this time. " Yes, several years ago I was there to witness my mother felting my Dad's long underwear. Merino long underwear are not inexpensive. And I have to say... I'm not sure I've ever seen my Dad so upset with her. SO... this will also be included in Mom's gift.

Sudz 'n Dudz is my favorite wool wash. It's yummy beyond belief and organic to boot! I'm sending mom some Liquid wash in Lemongrass. Yum!

So now I'm left with 15 days until Christmas. I have Hub's socks to finish. I have another brother who will be at my home for the holiday. I have yet to decide what to make for him. And there are a few other things I had thought of doing as well, but we'll see. For my last brother, well, he falls under the "has children" rule... my niece is getting some Curious George books. :) So yes, if you are counting, I am one of 7 children. And all 4 of my brothers are twins. How's that for crazy?! And my sisters are both adopted. Different races even. So we... are quite a big crazy happy patchwork!

For this afternoon, I will be wrapping and packing and making a trip to the post office. 14 days for the gifts to arrive. They just might have a chance. You see, the town my parents live in gets their mail via two airplanes a day. And in winter... if the weather is bad, they can go a week or more without a plane, or mail... and things get just a bit backed up. Here's hoping for good weather!

A mitten a day...

...helps keep panic at bay. That was my plan for this week. A mitten a day and I'd be done and could pack them all up and send them away.


Three down, three to go! I finished up a pair of dashing. I need to get Hub to help me out with some proper photos. And one mitt for one of my brothers. I made three failed attempts at other patterns... then I got smart. I made up my own. It's perfect. So I just need to pump out three more of those! (for two brothers)

And no, today's is not started, but it's Wednesday... and that means knit night! Woo Hoo! Mama needs a night off! lol!

I would be done at this point, but then I realized... I made mittens for all but one member of the household. The baby of the family. Seems rude to leave her out. So I may have one more to do.
I have been working a bit on other things to keep my sanity. Hub's socks...



I was trying to be sneaky with these, but it didn't work. I thought that maybe I could just hide them from Hub. That he'd think I'd ripped them out or was just too busy making things for other people and then he'd be surprised. Well, last night I made the mistake of asking him what color he'd like for his next pair... and he asked about these. I am not a good hider. So instead I yelled at him for wrecking his own surprise. He says just because he sees me knit them does not mean they can't be a gift. So... they'll still stuff his stocking, but I can be done with all this hiding! Which is hard to do!

By the way... Hub's response to my question about his next pair was this "Something that I can wear with shorts." Decipher that.

And I actually got Miss E's Eden pants going. They are going to be super cute and so very practical in that she can dirty as many shirts in a day as she wants. Whatever I pull out of the closet next will always match!


And the pretty red monkey sock... is oh SO pretty. I didn't get a picture of that though. It's just yummy. No, I do not have ADD.