It’s almost too late to think about knitting people Christmas presents. But here I go.

I am definitely going to buy the felted llama pattern and make one for Ashley. We watched The Emperor’s New Groove the other night and it was the greatest thing. I thought all Disney’s new animations were getting worse and worse, but this one was great. So she’ll get a llama in this colourway.

I’m not sure if I’ll knit mum and dad gifts. Probably not. I couldn’t see dad wearing anything I knit. It’d be too bulky and not right on him. Mum might get a scarf, although she has millions already.
I’m going to try to have lots of little scarves on hand just for various people. And maybe some to give to the homeless. And not forgetting the ones I’m going to sell at the craft fair. I better sign out and get knitting.

There’s always a craft fair at my university sometime in late October/November, and as I have no job, I’ve decided to aim for that. I’m going to make furry scarves and wristwarmers. I think the wristwarmers will sell best, but the scarves are fastest. Almost one a day, if I try and have nothing else to do. I’ve made a few so far:

One is a ‘bowtie’ scarf in Bernat Boa, and the other three are short (3 1/2′), non-slit scarves in Patons ChaCha.

The ChaCha scarves.

The Boa bowtie.

Mum bought those three balls of ChaCha last year, and stopped knitting partway through the first one because she decided the colours were ugly. I knit up the three balls, and with each one, she said ‘ooh, that’s pretty, is that what you bought?’ and she looks surprised when I tell her they’re hers. I also bought myself some more furry stuff at Michaels. I had to buy the ball of Bernat Boa in DooDoo Bird. I’m framing that label, I swear.

The poncho is coming along, I got up to the middle band of novelty yarn tonight. I did 4 rounds instead of 3, because it wasn’t looking very fluffy. Still, most of the fur ended up on the inside. I’ll pick it out when I’m done.
Mum says the neck looks too small for my head, but I thought that halter I made looked too small, and it is almost too big.
The thing I find with this pattern is that at the increases, because you increase twice in one stitch, the stitches are so tight, it is almost impossible to slide them down the needle. Mum said it looked more like a martial art than something relaxing.

I thought I’d better gather up all the projects I want to do into one, easy to read (yeah right) list. It at least gives me something to do while I load my CDs into iTunes (if I get a job, I’m getting myself an iPod).

-The skirt from the Heatery Duo in the Fall 2004 Interweave Knits (I’ve got the yarn already, just need to start).
-Moorish Patterned Pullover, Interweave Knits (can’t remember the issue off the top of my head). I love this design. Absolutely gorgeous. My very next sweater, for sure this time.
-Sam the Ram (and also possibly Sue the Ewe). This pattern is just too cute.
-Flirty Skirty and Blue Sky Organic Cotton Tank I like shirts that come to a point like that. They make me feel elven.
-Cape Mod from SnB
-Felted flowers, like the Gap ones
-Cabled Gauntlet Gloves from the Fall 2004 IK. I can’t afford the cashmere, but I really want those gloves.
-Skinny knitted (felted?) belt
-Lace-edged skirt from Vogue Knitting (Summer 03?)
-Pattern from Phildar Ete 2004. 34/36 size, using Phil Ruban in Cuivre (cardie with leafy collar). I saw this on someone’s blog, and only copied the info, not the address of that entry with the pretty picture. It is a very nice cardie though.
-Felted Llamas!. Too cute.
-Phildar Tendances Winter 2004/2005. There are so many beautiful patterns in here, it makes me want to take up French again. Or I could just use this glossary.
-Celtic Knot Afgan. The afgan to end all afgans.
-Angelina Flattering, lacy cardie from White Lies Designs. They use it in most of their magazine ads, which is where I saw it. A great site if you’re full-figured, but as I’m not, sometimes the patterns don’t go small enough. Most do though.
-Blaze. A nice, cabled T-shirt, from the Fall 2004 Knitty.
-Cheesy Love. I think this would be a good way to learn fair isle. It is nice and simple.
-Tasha. A cabled shoulder bag. I love purses. I also love cables. ’nuff said.
-plus gifts for various people ie: scarves, socks (when I learn) etc.

What better way to open my knitting blog than with a whole slew of pictures?

Trumpets sound! Rogue is done at last! The sweater I started in April! I love it so much. I did the seaming while watching the Olympics. The Canadian men not winning their 4 race is forever in the right shoulder. Classic Elite Waterspun. The gauge for Waterspun was off for the pattern, so I did some math, and figured out that making the 37″ would make a sweater that fits my almost-34″ self perfectly.

This is from the winter 2003/2004 Vogue knitting. They knit it in orange, I had this wool from the first scarf I made, Berrocco’s Hip Hop (thick/thin variagated wool). That was plain garter and ended up being over 8 feet long. As I’m 5′3″, I eventually decided to frog it, and find a different pattern, preferably wider. This one is about 6′ long, I think (actually haven’t measured). It was 2/3rds done when I brought it to Banff as my backup project. I really didn’t think I’d finish Rogue.
I was working in Banff for the summer, when I finished these two, and I wanted to go for a hike, and I wanted to take pictures of my FOs, so I decided to combine the two. I tried to do it when no one was around, but I chose a high-traffic path, so I got a few weird looks. And it was so cold at the top, I needed the scarf!

I came home to find this waiting for me from Elann.com:

The brown Waterspun is for the skirt from the ‘Heathery Duo’ in the Fall 04 Interweave Knits.
The White Buffalo is for the Cape Mod poncho from Stitch n’ Bitch, or as I am calling it, the Cape Cowichan poncho. It is the stuff they make Cowichan sweaters out of, after all. And living so close to Cowichan, I should remember that.
The day after I got home, I went to my LYS and bought:

I’m using one strand of the Shine (right) and one strand of the Pompon (middle) for the stripes in the poncho. The stuff on the left I couldn’t resist for some reason. I decided against using it in the poncho because the tufty bits are similar in colour and texture to the White Buffalo, and I thought it would look more like I’d snagged the wool, and less like trim.
This is the fabric I’m getting so far for the poncho:

Perfect for me, I didn’t want the stripes too bold and furry.
The poncho is an adventure, because with the White Buffalo, you’re knitting with 6 strands. Add in the trim, and you’re knitting with 8. I love the way it is knitting up though, good and warm, less scratchy than I remember my dad’s old Cowichan sweater being (although I was about 6 at the time I would hide behind it in the coat closet). It is a bit weird using such big needles after knitting Rogue.

In sadder news, the Michaels I worked at last Christmas did most of their seasonal hiring while I was being a housekeeper in Banff, so I’ll have to find employment elsewhere. No nice discount on all things crafty.