Nerdy Knitter

Free time--what a concept!

I have so many things to write about, but for now, I have 20 minutes before I have to go to work. I've been looking at the unused photos in my flickr account, and realized I haven't posted about so many fun things.

Thing 1:
I participated in the Knitters Review Christmas/New Year swap, and had a fun pairing with Melanie. She sent lots of fun stuff, including a sock-knitting book, and 2 handknit wash cloths. My favorite cloth is red and white:



Thing 2:
My overseas friend, Nic, sent a fabulous batch of Christmas presents, including a one-of-a-kind felted purse:




Oh, and a "minor" bit of news from Nic: she's pregnant!!!! YAHOO!

Thing 3:
I've been knitting, honest. I have done a bunch of things I've forgotten to photograph, including baby booties from Nerdy Hubby's chiropractor's new baby boy, and for colleague of mine who's due any day now. Booties are so cute and little and fast--I love that!

I made a top-secret gift that has to remain secret for a while longer...that took a lot of my time, so I don't have a lot to show right now.

The biggest news in my knitting world is that I'm knitting a vest for Nerdy Hubby...from scratch, without a net. Well, okay, so I have the Ann Budd book to help me with basics, but I just started with a yarn he likes, and knit a swatch to get gauge, then knit a few mini-swatches to find a ribbing stitch variation he likes (k6/p1 was the winner), and then took a whole bunch of measurements to get it to fit the way it should.

I'm still not sure how it will look ON him, but the back is almost complete, and the fabric is really nice. The yarn is Rowan Luxury Tweed in a nice cream/blue-gray combination. It's wool/alpaca, so it has a bit of a fuzz to it that blends beautifully with Henry's fur. What a great bonus!

I think the most frustrating thing about making this pattern up is the fact that I don't know how it will work and won't know until can sew 2 pieces together. So I have to knit the whole thing before I find out whether my shaping decisions were the right ones. That's scary!

At least I have the live model living in my home so I can test the length on him before I finish each piece. For a little while, I thought I was going to run out of yarn, which was really freaky since I have almost 1200 yards of yarn, but now it looks like I'm going to make it. I tell you--designing/knitting for a tall, wide-shouldered man is a learning experience!

I think that's the complete update on my knitting life.

Hopefully soon I'll update you on my successful walking regiment and my super-fun visit with my friend, John.

I have some lovely photos from our trek yesterday (to a park called Crabtree Falls, where there's a--no surprise here--waterfall). I didn't bring my files to work, though, so those will have to wait for another bit of free time.

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 11:07 AM