Well, here's the biggie. Rene, by Anne Hanson
This is, of course, what I spent the last month frantically knitting. It came down to the wire, and I didn't know if I was going to finish it in time, but in the end (with an extra day taken off work to finish a sleeve and seam) it was blocking by the afternoon of the 23rd.
As you can see, it was unwrapped and immediately put on, so I consider that a rousing success. The sleeves are too long, they stretched like mad.
So I'll probably need to cut the sleeves and put a regular ribbing on the bottoms to keep him from having to roll them up, but I did use superwash, so it was a danger.
I used berroco vintage, he tends to be too hot in 100% wool sweaters, so I thought this was a good compromise. The top color is the most accurate, it's a dark reddish/burgundy color.
He opened it, looked at me in amazement and immediately says "but when did you knit this??" and was flabbergasted to realize that I had been knitting it in front him for a month solid. Sweetheart that he is, he immediately felt bad for not noticing what I had been knitting - lol - that's just fine with me - otherwise I would never be able to knit him anything!
I also finished a scarf for my step-mother (it seems so odd to call her that in the sense that most people hear it - she and my father will have been married for 30 years this year!).
(the fireplace takes good pictures)
This is knit in a cashmere silk blend I picked up at School Products in New York. The pattern is some version of feather in fan that I UNvented when I screwed up the original pattern by doing it on a stockinette background.
We will be seeing them tomorrow, but I doubt she'll be on my blog between now & then.
Last but not least, a quilt for my mother.
This was made from a layer cake that I picked up a few years ago, and then I found the fabric I used for the backing on clearance a year or so later, a happy coincidence as they say. I am really, really happy with the way this turned out.
(note the hand knitted socks under the bottom edge of the quilt, my mother knit those for herself - her first finished pair!)
I moved away from spirals for the quilting (tho I really do love doing the spirals, they are fun to sew) and tried these echo stitches and did an "edge to edge" pattern instead of going block by block and doing something different for the borders.
The yarn blends so well I'm not sure if you can really see the quilting, but it's in there, I promise!
On a completely different note, I tried this really fabulous (and amazingly simple) sticky bun ring recipe on Christmas morning, and it was fabulous. In fact I ate so many I gave myself a serious sugar high. I didn't think to take a picture of it, I was too busy enjoying them, but it turned out really pretty as well, I highly recommend it for your next special breakfast treat.
I have some goodies that I got myself that I want to share with you too, but that's for another day.
That sweater is beautiful. And it looks great on your husband too.
Posted by: Connie | December 26, 2011 at 04:00 PM
What wonderful presents! The sweater is a particular triumph - and he looks very handsome in it :)
Posted by: Jocelyn | January 02, 2012 at 10:46 PM