3 For 1

Voila! Here are three recently finished FO's that I have been meaning to post.. but my recent travels got in the way!

For those who are interested: I had a great trip home to Colorado, and as usual, didn't want to leave. It was so nice to see my family and old friends, the mountains, the slopes, dry air.. Ahh, someday I'll move back :) The funniest part of our trip was actually the skiing we did on Tuesday at Loveland (which is a great secret slope to those of you who go skiing there. Its right on the Continental Divide atop the Eisenhower Tunnel and is almost always empty even during peak ski season. Its not the most luxurious place, but its quiet, has great trails, beautiful scenery, and great conditions. For example, we skiing in 2-3 feet of powder on Tuesday.

And back to knitting... Here is the Wavy Bag that I made for my mom. She really loved it, especially the colors. I used a basic chevron stitch pattern, starting from the top, with a three needle bind off on the bottom. I sewed on a twisted cord strap before I felted it, so that the strap would blend in to the bag. Success! It came out as planned! If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know, and I'll post it here :)

Here are some pre-felted, pre-Colorado trip pictures:



And here it is after gifting and after felting:




Pattern: My own pattern
Yarn: Noro Kureyon in unknown color
Measurements: About 23" around and 18" high before felting, and 19" around and 12" high post felting.
Started: November 29, 2005
Finished: December 12, 2005
Other Details: I knit this on Clover 16"/US 9 needles using a basic chevron stitch pattern and a three needle bind-off. It is fun playing with your own pattern since it adds a nice element of surprise at the end.

And now for the Crusoe Socks! I had only knit one sock before we left for Colorado, which left me with lots of knitting to do on the trip. But, I got it done just in time to put these bad-boys all wrapped up IN the felted Wavy Bag to give to my mom. They ended up fitting her perfectly! Phew! For those of who were interested in the pattern, it really is wrong in terms of how many stitches to cast on. I have only seen one person who has managed to slide by with 48 stitches, and those were some tiny, narrow, feet! For a women's US9 with high arches, I cast on 64 sts and did a 2.5" heel flap. I also cut down the length total to 8.5 rather than 9 since more stitches=more decreasing to do. If you have any questions about all of this, feel free to email me :)

Here are some single sock pictures that I took before the trip:




And now, the twins!




Pattern: Crusoe Socks from Knitty.com
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in color #527
Measurements: Made to fit a women's US size 9
Started: November 27, 2005
Finished: December 20, 2005
Other Details: I knit this on Inox US size 2 needles (2.5mm, so inbetween a US1 and US2) using the Magic Loop Method. I did a 2x2 rib rather than the roll top since I didn't like that. The 2x2 rib works nicely with the stranded stitch pattern. I cast on 64 sts rather than the 48 as stated in the pattern. I lengthened the heel flap to 2.5 inches and changed the foot length to 8.5 inches before the toe decreases.

And the third project?! A beautiful scarf for my cousin Rachel using Misti Alpaca Chunky Yarn and their free pattern online. I loved working with this yarn! Its one of my new favorites and I am so happy my store carries it! My cousin loved it and if I get my hands on some pictures of her wearing it, I'll post those later! I also gave her the Rowan Chunky Scarf I made last month and a pair of the wrist warmers :)



Pattern: Misti Alpaca Chunky Diagonal Rib Knit Scarf
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in color #1013
Measurements: About 6.5" wide and 67" long
Started: November 22, 2005
Finished: December 21, 2005
Other Details: I knit this on US10.5 rather than US11's since it came out to loose on 11's. I added a nice fringe and voila!