SomerKnits

Blocking the Bohemian Tunic on the guest bed.  The alpaca yarn was so incredibly wonderful to work with.   Not the best picture of me or of the tunic, but you get the idea I have to lose some weight, definitely not photographing well these days.  I didn't block the arms quite long enough, but there is a lot of stretch in them, so next time I was it I will do a better job of measuring the arms when I lay it out to dry. I wore the tunic to work and then to knitting, tried to get some better pictures of it.  This one without flash helps to show how deep the color really is.  I love the heathered color.  Ember was a perfect name for this color. The pattern was super simple to follow, ragland sleeves are now my absolute favoritest kind of sleeves.  I hate sewing, so I love that this whole tunic is made in the round and the only seems are a few under arm stitches.  Once I got back to work on it after its one year stint in hibernation the whole thing went really fast.  I would definitely ...

taylor's christmas Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy Yep, still got some Christmas stuff to go. I made my sister 5 washcloths, 3 coasters / scrubbers and got her a bottle of fancy-ass dish soap. The colors are all to match her new dishes / kitchen stuff. Three of the washcloths have cherry designs on them. One has 1, the second has 2, the third has 3. And then there is the garter ridges in turquoise and yellow and a grandmothers favorite in all three colors. Anyway, I think she really liked them and i hope she's using them. I'm going to wear the Bohemian Tunic today!!!!!! Some preliminary pictures are on ravelry, but the only picture of me wearing it doesn't do it (or me) justice, so I will get more pictures and post them here soon!

DSCF3759 Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy As a gift to myself I began this awesome pony tail hat the day after christmas. I had been waiting a while to find the perfect pattern for the yarn that Shelley brought me back from Alaska what feels like a hundred years ago but was really less than 2. I was amazed how quickly this hat went and if I hadn't ripped back because I failed to pay attention to the instructions, I would have finished it that night. But instead I finished it the next morning and then just happened to have some buttons laying around that looked great with the yarn so I even made myself sit down and do the finishing work right then. (Go me! I am terrible about putting off finishing work) I've worn it many times already and I LOVE it. And I think I have enough yarn left over for a calorimetry, so I am planning to make myself one of those also. I think my sister wears the one I gave her. I got a hat book for christmas and she earmarked more than half a dozen ha...

felted slippers Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy Still on the christmas stuff, maybe by the end of January I'll have it all blogged. So these are the felted slippers i made for Heather's boyfriend Justin, since he was so envious of the crochet knee high sock boots I made Heather years ago. Luckily, Justin and Ben have approximately the same size feet so I measured Ben's foot to calculate the size I would have to knit and then kept making him try them on as I felted them. I used SWS on the top to add some fuzzy and some interest, but the rest of it was just Patons Classic wool. Maybe I'll make myself a pair of these sometime. That would be super quick since my foot is so much smaller. They do feel like they would be super slick on tile or other smooth flooring, so I wouldn't make them for kids who might try and run in them unless you wanted to sew soles to the bottom of them. Anyhow, I think he really liked them. I'll have to ask Heather if he's w...

alpaca scarf Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy This is the last item in the Ben's Knitted Christmas series. The alpaca scarf is super soft and was quick and easy to make. It matches the alpaca hat. Although the color doesn't read very well in this picutre, its a very pretty shade of medium grey-blue. The pattern is from Last minute knitted gifts and I think its called the Men's Cashmere Scarf, but the pattern only calls for it to be a yard long and I wanted it to be a longer, wrap-around type scarf, so I knit until it hung mid-hip on both sides of me, hopefully that equates to just about waist length on Ben. Both sides of the pattern look nice, the other side is more like a broken rib, so it can be worn with either side out. He seems to really like it, but it hasn't been uber cold yet and we haven't been out anytime when he could have worn it. Maybe someday I'll get pictures of him in all of these things.

alpaca hat Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy I still have a so-so opinion of this hat, maybe thats because I haven't seen him wear it yet. I will reserve final judgement until I see what it looks like on. Probably the only reason I went ahead and gave him this one is because it matches the scarf I made him. And I even started another hat out of the same yarn, in case he dislikes this hat. I know I didn't get gauge, but I did the math to make it still fit, I just wasn't too fond of the shaping. It is super soft though and I do love the color. The stitch in the body of the hat comes pretty close to matching the pattern in the scarf, which was a totally easy pattern that made a nice, non-frilly scarf. Guy patterns can be hard to find sometimes. I will say this though, the hat did knit up very quickly. Next up, a close up of the scarf.

basket weave hat Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy Pattern: Brother-in-Law basket weave hat. Found it on Ravelry. Yarn: Berroco Pure Merino Nuance. Super wonderfully soft and easy to work with. LOVE it. He's worn it a couple times now. Seems to like it. Its a little looser than the angora hat and if I was to make it over again I would either go down a needle size (no gauge was given in the pattern) or I would start decreasing a few rows earlier. All in all I was very happy with this one. :-)

angora hat Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy Pattern: One Skein Wonders Ribbed Cap Needles: 7 or 8, I already forgot Added stripes for interest. This is the one he wears the most so far.

blocking Originally uploaded by moonlightpixy I guess I need to pick up the pace on posting about all the Christmas stuff, before it has completely lost its relevance. I made Ben 3 hats and a scarf for Christmas, all of it while on the family ski trip. The black and white hat is angora, the blue hat and scarf are alpaca, and the grey hat is a lovely merino wool. All three were super soft and wonderful to work with. So far I have seen him wear the angora beanie the most, but he says that because its the one he happens to have out, not because it is any better than the others. We'll see if he swaps out for a different one any time soon. :-) The alpaca hat I was unsure of for a while. It was originally more of a beanie pattern and I messed with it and hated it for a while and started another blue alpaca hat to put with the scarf instead, but one I decided that the hat just needed to have a brim rather than try to be a beanie, all was better. Since the other blue alapaca hat i...