once upon a time . . .

Once upon a time (this December, to be exact) I made my first foray into the world of beaded knitwear. I made a beaded Annis, which I then was too lazy to take pictures of before I gave it away.

It turned out really really well, and was loved by all those who saw it, and all those who were in possession of it. (It changed hands a good three times at a holiday party.)

So then I was like OMG BEADED KNITTING IS AWESOME I MUST DO MORE, so I bought some beads:



And then it turned out that, though I thought the last beads I'd had were 8/0, maybe they weren't, because my teeny tiny ancient crochet hook, though teeny tiny by most standards, is way too big to fit through these beads.

Poop.

So now I have to buy an even teenier crochet hook, and I'm currently caught in the dilemma of Do I Buy Just The Crochet Hook And Pay Twice As Much For Shipping As I Pay For The Hook, or Do I Buy Some Yarn, Too? (I know. First world problems much?) I really should just buy the hook, but it hurts my soul a bit to pay four bucks of shipping on a two-dollar item.

But I really want to start slapping some beads on some laceweight, so . . . argh, I don't know. I mean, it's not like the world will end if I don't buy the hook soon, or anything, but then if the world does go and end in December, it would be nice to have used some of my beads first.

sock photos!

And a week later, we have pictures.



I won't lie, I've been busy with some other stuff and the socks are still not much longer than this. A little bit, but not much.



I'm really very pleased with them--I just hope my notes are clear enough that I can make a second one that matches.

knee socks!

I was going to do an awesome post about the fact that I have finally gotten around to starting the knee socks I've been wanting forever, but blogger won't upload my pictures. This post will therefore be distinctly less than awesome.

The socks are still pretty great. I'm doing them in a nice blue/teal heather Cascade 220 Superwash, in the hopes that I will then be able to wear them in my brown boots without any nasty felting happening.

I'm probably about halfway done with the leg. There's an awesome big cable at the top, and it narrows to a smaller, much less fancy cable that's going to go the whole way down the leg. There may be more fanciness at the ankle, but the jury is still out on that one. I'll decide when I get there. All I know is that these are going to be awesomely warm, and I might have to go out and buy a pair of some kind of shoe that's a size bigger than I usually wear, just so I can show them off properly. I'm pretty sure they'll fit in my boots. If they don't, oh well, I'll just have to wear them around the house. Or borrow my mom's shoes. I think she's a size bigger.

Pictures to come! (So annoying.)

grandma mitts

I finished the two thumbs in plenty of time for everyone to have a Merry Christmas!



I have no idea if my grandma will actually wear them, but they were my dad's idea, so she could have something to keep her hands warm while she does her crossword puzzles. My grandma and I are always cold.



It feels so weird now, to have nothing I have to knit. And all the audiobooks I had on request at the library showed up this week, so I had better find something to knit on while I listen to them. I think I want to do another beaded thing, so I ordered a bunch of beads this morning. Which means I have to wait until they show up. What to do until then?

it's like Santa's workshop in here!

I'm finishing stuff left and right, y'all. I have about four rows left on a hat (I have to switch to double-points, that's why it's not finished,) an inch and a half of a fingerless mitt (ok, and two thumbs) and the foot of a worsted weight sock to do. HA. TOTALLY POSSIBLE. And the socks don't even really have to be finished, so whatever.

Anyway, look how the lace blob turned out! I like it, even if it is the second leafy thing I've made my mother this year. Oh well. She likes nature.



And this is a beaded Annis that's going in the handmade swap thingie. It's blocking even as we speak. It turned out really well, even if I'm not entirely sure I like the color of the beads with the yarn. Whatever. It's done, and people will like it. Ok, now I have to go unpin it so I can go to bed.

a couple more gifts . . .

First up, a sock for my grandma. I have one sock finished for one grandma and one mitt finished for the other grandma. If we are lucky, they will each get a pair of items for Christmas. This is just an improvised slipper sock on size 7 needles in some extremely washable Vanna's Choice.



Next, this lovely black blob of recycled sweater will hopefully block out nicely enough to be a shawl for my mom. More details later, when I'm not so hungry. I only have three rows left, but they're rather long rows. I should know if it's any good tomorrow or the next day!

HO. HO. HO.

Time to get festive with the potholders! If I could just somehow convince myself to make random holiday potholders (and not just Christmas, all the holidays) throughout the year, my life would be so much easier.

Anyway, here we have a couple of DROPS patterns. This first one is actually a pattern for a potholder, not one of my usual hacked together jobs. It's a good pattern, just at my gauge it's maybe a little big knit in dishcloth cotton on size 3 needles. Pretty, though!



I used a reindeer chart from a sock pattern for this one. I think I should probably have used size 4 needles instead of size 5, but oh well. It'll do. And it may shrink a bit in the wash, so that's fine.



I have a plethora of other items on the go, so maybe there will be pictures of them soon. Oh, Christmas. You are such a mess.