Happy Holidays

Happy holidays to all you gentle readers out in the blogosphere, and I hope that 2010 will be a great year for you.

This photo was used as our holiday photo greeting card this year. Large Dog is wearing the same cowl that I used in the yarn bombing escapade. I first yarn bombed the dog, took the photos, then dressed the statue.

For those of you who are curious, the knitwear stayed on the statue for just over three weeks. We think it might have gotten removed when additional street decorations were added to the downtown area.

FO gift and a WIP

I finished this vest as an Xmas gift for my mother. For some reason, knits for others always seem to take longer than I'd like, probably because it's not for me, me, me! This is a variation on the diamond quilted vest pattern (ravelry link). The yarn is Valley Yarns Amherst. I decided to do buttons instead of a zipper, and I used seed stitch for the bands and bottom. The neckline came out too wide for a standing collar, so I just made a tapered one by using gradually smaller sized needles. The overall color and style of this vest is too subdued for my own taste, but I do like the faux-quilted stitch pattern. I can see using a different yarn and a different treatment for collar and bands to knit a more modern look for myself.

Since I finished the vest, I can get back to knitting for me, me, me. This is a self-designed top-down raglan pullover. It will have short puffed sleeves that will be brought in with pleats at the cuff. The yarn is Mirasol Tupa, a merino/silk blend. The neckline will be finished with a narrow attached scarf knit with the Mini Mochi. I've always liked the Mini Mochi, but I don't like scarves wrapped closely around my neck because it's just too warm. Also, I just don't like dealing with loose scarves. A narrow attached scarf on a wider neckline would be a fun way for me to use this yarn. I'd show a sketch of my planned sweater, but I'm afraid my sketches are undecipherable to anyone but me.

Shawl pins

Thanks for all the nice comments about my kimono vest. I thought I'd post something about that shawl pin, which some of you seemed to like. I actually have 2 of these in different sizes. I bought the smaller one at Stitches West this year, and the larger one from an LYS. The interesting thing about these pins is that they were originally marketed as hair ornaments, and you can buy them online here. The interesting about them is that they are flexible, and they have no sharp points. The bars are curved and stay attached to the ornamental figure 8. I found that with the larger one, it's best to actually bend the figure 8 a bit or else the bar tends to separate.