How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

Here is our Christmas Tree without a flash and with a flash.












On Thursday, December 21, 2006, my husband, Jim and son, Dan and I drove to Maine to spend Christmas with my family. Thursday night we spent in Portsmouth at the Sheraton. We had dinner at the Portsmouth Brewery and went to the Press Room to listen to music. The next morning we took a walk around town. We went through this gate and into the cemetary. Jim and Dan are standing on an anchor. If you look beyond the pigeon you will see the shipyard.


I worked on another pair of the Lambs Pride green mittens for a friend. The color btw is oregano. I also finished sock #1 of the STR, X-mas Rocks, Cascading Leaves. Somewhere in Portsmouth lay the directions for this sock. I am presently trying to make sock 2 from memory, if not I say the Karma for these socks was bad from the get go. I will again say I do not like the color combination for these socks, not to mention ripping them out 3 times. The only good things are they are 100% wool, warm, and long pants will cover the color.

On Friday, December 22, 2006 we arrived in Maine. We shopped at the Kittery Trading Post for Christmas gifts and went to my mother's house. She had a hot pot of fish chowder waiting for us. After you have my mother's fish chowder you will not be able to eat any other.

Saturday, December 23, 2006 we took a rainy, foggy ride to Portland. There are a couple ships that are docking, can you see the ship on the other side of the big ship? Can you see Portland on the other side of the Lighthouse? We visited the Portland Christmas tree, shopped around the Old Port and tried to go to Seaport Yarn around noon time but they were not open, holiday?

Sunday, Christmas Eve, December 24, 2006. Jim, Dan and I went for a Christmas Eve hike. We drove to Bond Mountain, I think it is in Newfield, and had a wonderful hike to the overlook.

After we hiked on Bond Mt, we took a ride over to Picket Mt. just down and around the corner. We passed by this old mill on the way to Picket Mt. I think it was for lumber.

On Christmas Day we all went to my brothers house to open gifts. There were so many presents it took about 2-3 hours to get them all opened.

On Tuesday I finished the fingerless gloves I have been working on. It is hard to see the pattern on these dark, chocolate brown, "Ultra Alpaca" gloves. I used the "Ribble" pattern from Socks Socks Socks. I bought more of the "Ultra Alpaca" in York, Maine and I am going to make a hat and scarf to match, probably not until next year though.

Getting Down to the Wire

I made this pair of mittens from my own pattern. They are to be a Christmas present for my boss. I used "Lambs Pride" worsted weight yarn that I had left over from my failed felting project, size 4 brittany dp's and 40 stitches. I looked everywhere for the lable and I can not find it. The picture shows the color correctly, a very nice green. I worked on these on Friday night and finished on Saturday.

This hat is part of my daughter's Christmas present. Below you will see the scarf and mittens that will be gifted along with the hat and a pair of socks. The hat pattern is "Bobble-Edge Hat". I found the pattern on Yarn Demon's blog, this will get you to the pattern, http://yarndemon.googlepages.com/bobblehat. The yarn used was Berroco, Ultra Alpaca. Addi turbo size six circular needles. The first row took a very long time, the rest of the hat went along quickly and it was fun as the pattern stitch is always changing. The socks are also made from the Berroco, Ultra Alpaca. I used a pattern from the book "Socks, Socks, Socks". more about these when I finish the pair.

Now here is my dilemma. I am working on these socks, for me of course. I am using "Blue Moon Fiber Arts", "Socks That Rock" lightweight yarn in the colorway "X-mas Rock". I have tried 4 different patterns. This being the 4th. None of the other patterns looked good with this yarn. The pooling is incredible. I tried the "Kew" socks found on the Knitty website and the pooling was actually vertical stripes, yuk. This pattern, "Jeannie Townsend's" "Cascading Leaves" does not seem to be any better. Not really pooling. I guess that I just do not like the colors. The yellow is very yellow and against the pink, well I just do not like it. I can understand how red, green, and yellow relate to Christmas but pink. My daughter thinks that the pink is the inside of the lamb's ear. You know the lamb that was at the manger. My son thinks that the pink is the inside of the donkey's ear. My son's girlfriend thought that the pink is the color the Baby Jesus was when he came into this world. I just do not like it. Good thing it is cold where I live and I can wear these under long pants.

Baby It's Cold Outside

No snow, but holey moley it's cold. I did finish the mittens last night. I have the "What-Knot" scarf done. Tied in all the lose ends this morning. I have not decided whether or not to fringe; pain in the butt and always caught in the zipper. I just need to make the hat and socks to match. Not really to match the pattern, but with the same yarn. This is for my daughter. The yarn I am using is Berroco, "Ultra Alpaca" a blend of alpaca and wool. Oh my it is so soft. I believe it has a high R factor as well. My hands are very warm while I knit with this yarn. I have actually had to stop a few times due to sweaty plams. I have also posted a close up of the What-Knot scarf. This is a very easy 4 row pattern.

Here is the link to the What-Knot Scarf http://ayenforyarn.blogspot.com/2006/10/what-knot-scarf.html

Fancy Chevron Lace Socks

I must say these socks cane out perfect. The pattern is from the knit list, easily found on the internet with a search. The yarn is "Freshisle Fibers" "Suffolk Wool", in the color of "Grapes". I used almost a whole skein for the pair. There might be enough left for a stripe somewhere. I am also showing a close up of the stitching so you can really see the beauty of this yarn.
I was looking around on knitty today and found a wonderful way to improve the look of a kitchener toe. No pointed corners any more. Here is the link to the article http://www.knittyboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=44261 . The mittens that I spoke of yesterday still need thumbs. Did not have time to work on them. I wanted to finish these.

December ALREADY! and November FO"S

November 30th I finished Grandpa's gloves, they are not the ones pictured in November with the finished "Ruby Slippers". I took those apart and started over. I had started them over 3 times due to gauge problems, just could not find the right combination of needles and yarn. 3 times was enough. I used my old stand by, 2 needle pattern and I think these turned ou terrific. I used Jamieson & Smith, Shetland 2 ply, I think color 2. Knit with size 2 clover single point needle. I used all of 2 skeins and needed a little bit of a third skein for 1/2 of the little finger.

The socks are knit for my Nephew Andrew. They are knit with Cascade 220, in Earth. What a beautiful color and the yarn is very soft. I used almost 1 skein for each sock. I may have enough left over for a pair of baby mittens. I used my own made up pattern, 44 stitches, size 5 0r 6 needle, I can't remember, 10 rows k1, p1, ribbing, and stockenette stitch for the rest of the foot.

I am right now working on a pair of mittens made out of "Ultra Alpaca". I really love this yarn. These will be a gift for Christmas to go with the scarf that is in the works here. The scarf is from the "What-Knot Scarf" pattern. I should be able to post both of these as FO's tomorrow. I am also working on a pair of socks using "Fresh Isle Fibers, Suffolk" yarn. The color is "Grapes". I should be able to post these tomorrow also.