…in which things begin to come together

Like many, I’ve had a lot of irons in the fire lately. It’s December! That means LESS time for knitting than usual. But I’m happy to report that many of my gift knitting projects are coming together.

Exhibit A: The Straightforward Mitts These are for S1’s mom. The pattern is a free download and the mitts are identical – but you get a symmetrical effect on the other hand: The diagonal twisted rib is super stretchy. The mitts look downright deformed when they aren’t on a hand – see?But all that stretch means they really snug up to the hand in a pleasing way. I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff (JSSBO) on the top to preserve that stretch (I find Cat Bordhi’s video instructions even more helpful than the written version in knitty.com). See how much freedom of movement the fingers enjoy? I used the first part of this skein of yarn for my mom’s birthday mitts and was pleased to use the other half for these.

Exhibit B: an earband for my dadMy dad has never asked for anything knitted before, so this request really took me by surprise. He wanted a double thickness earband to keep his ears cozy while golfing (in Texas they golf year round). I wasn’t feeling up to fair isle colorwork, but I’ve used this patent stitch technique (that I learned from Merike Saarniit at a KDO class years ago) on a few hats. This is basically the same, only without a crown decrease.

I used two strands of the gray yarn on both the CO and BO edges to keep up with the double thickness idea. Yellow is dad’s favorite color – I hope he likes this. It’s reversible, see?This is made from Knit Picks Swish (superwash merino) so it’s very soft. Again, I used JSSBO so that the edge would be nice and stretchy.

Exhibit C: more Felici socks I needed a mindless project a few weeks ago when I took the boys to a hockey game (that was a first – AND a last, probably!). I cast on for these first before we left. I worked on them in meetings and such, and now I have yet another pair of Felici socks with an afterthought heel. These are the sportweight ones in color “Too Cool.”  Last night I returned to the Sebastian gloves that have been on hold since these other gift knitting projects intervened, and I’m pleased to report that the glove now has 4 fingers. Tonight I will address the thumb. They are a not-so-secret Christmas gift for S1 so I’ve got to get cracking. Next time, you’ll see photos of that.

I hope your knitting is going well!