Round Peg In a Square Hole-crafts

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Supporting Our Troops

O.K., I left a few provocative comments here and there in recent posts, and promised to tell the tale, so here it is:

Once upon a time on Ravelry, a knitter, who is married to a Marine stationed in Iraq, told the story of the beanie she knitted for her husband. One of his buddies ribbed him mercilessly about said beanie, and eventually confessed that he was jealous, and wanted a beanie, too. So, she agreed to make him one BUT since he had been mean to her hubby, she made it in pink. With little piggy ears. He was not fazed by this; I believe he is quoted as saying, "I'd f*ing rock a pink beanie!" when he was told. And so, to prove this, they sent a picture of the husband and the friend in their beanies, which the knitter posted to a thread on Ravelry.

And here we come to a point that many men don't know: when women are in a predominantly female environment (and yes, I know there are lots of men on Ravelry, but the overwhelming majority of the beta testers are female) they act differently than when the numbers are more equal. Not all, but some. And so, we got to talking, like you do, and admiring, like you do, and someone said she'd happily knit a beanie for any one of those guys IF she could knit a matching man-thong and get a picture of him wearing them--and nothing else.

I imagine there was much coffee and tea spit on computer screens that day. However, the idea began to take hold, particularly when we were assured by the original poster that the individual in question had no shame and would probably gladly model such. And all this time, she is forwarding the choicest comments to hubby, who is sharing them with his friends. And that is how we ended up with an order for FOUR man-thongs, along with the measurements needed to make sure they fit.

The response was immediate; I imagine they could hear the squeeing all the way from here to Iraq. So, several of us signed up to knit for soldiers (I had been meaning to do socks or balaclavas, but how could I resist?), me partly because I knew I already had a skein of the cotton and elastic yarn that was needed for the pattern and because we were assured that we would not have to work on them until after Christmas.

Come Christmas and the Great Christmas Flu, and man-thongs went right out of my head. Fortunately, the original poster, who was organizing this, emailed everyone early in January, to remind us. I then proceeded to tear the house apart looking for the yarn. And not finding it. Now it is really getting late, and I need to get started on this thing to get it to her by the deadline. So, I'm frantically searching the internet for a local yarn store that stocks it, since I know I can't get it in the mail in time. The Hubster asks and I foolishly tell him all about it--and he stuns me by saying he wants one, too. After a pause for blinking and rearranging my internal world to incorporate this new data, I suggest that maybe I could make the one for the Marine first, and then work on Hubster's, and he agrees.

I finally find a store that is "local" by the Los Angeles definition of the word, but know I won't get a chance to get down there before the weekend. This is when Hubster stuns me again, saying that he's willing to drive to the store and pick up the yarn; that way he can pick out his at the same time. He does and I get started and rapidly finish the man-thong, entertaining the WeHoS&B enormously in the process, then pop it in the mail.

Ha, ha! But then, one of the other ladies had a serious attack of life, and was unable to finish hers. I found this out on the day we were supposed to have them to the organizer, and I waited to see if anyone else would volunteer. Crickets chirping. Sigh. I know I have the second skein that Hubster bought, so I say that if she can wait until the following week, so I have the weekend to work on it, I'll step in. So, for a second week, I'm knitting a man-thong at WeHoS&B, and those who weren't there the previous week get to join in the merriment. So, I finish this one and boil it in coffee (it was stark white and I thought ecru would be more attractive) and send it along, with notes to the recipients of both, to sort of personalize it. (As a friend said, "Yeah, 'cause a hand-knitted man-thong is such an impersonal, generic gift....")

Oh, and did I mention the photos? We, of course, all wanted to show off our work, but also wanted to avoid controversy. The first woman who finished photographed hers on a stuffed unicorn. I was fortunate enough to have a LARGE bear (he is seated, and is still about 20" tall) on whom to photograph these items (though, of course, since the bear was anatomically incorrect, stuffing was required).

And so, I give you Thong 1:
Bear-thong
And Thong 2:
Bear Thong II

So, there you have it. The story of how I came to support our troops.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Jane Austen 2009

Just wanted to post a few pix of the Jane Austen Ball. Unfortunately, my friend Molly was sick and so didn't attend, so you'll just get pix of me:

Regency ladies

That's me on the left, in gold; the other two are my friends Corinne and Cat, fellow costumers. (Sorry, Corinne, not the best shot of you.)

And the Hubster got a good candid shot of the back of the gown:

Gold Regency gown

The amusing thing about this gown is that it was all done from stash! The fabric (lovely golden silk) was bought for a science fiction costume for Nasfic in 1999, but the woman who was to wear it couldn't make the event, so the outfit was never made. The trim was all bought (and the wide stuff beaded) for our Chess costumes, but was leftover. The underdress was made from bits and pieces of white poly-satin that I had left over from other things (the word "remnant" takes on a whole new meaning when you're making Victorian gowns, which run to 8+ yards for just a plain skirt). That's why the sleeves have those little puffs on them; I had to piece the sleeves, and thought I'd make it look "on purpose" by putting in the sheer ruched piece. And the turban was one scrap and one shawl, twisted and safety-pinned together with more of the leftover Chess trim and a Christmas-decoration-clearance-sale beaded tassel. (Thanks, Kate! You threw that together 4 or 5 years ago, and it's still going strong.....) All in all, not too bad for being sourced from my sewing room.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Status

Realized that, though I've been updating stuff on Ravelry, I haven't posted a Project Status here in a while, so here we go:

Things recently finished:
  • Man Thong for an Unknown Marine: Oh, yeah! That'll be getting it's own post here, shortly. Especially since I agreed to do a second one for another unknown Marine AND my husband asked for one. Weird.
  • Barbie's Christmas dress: This was supposed to be done (as the name suggests) by Christmas, but I didn't even finish it for New Years. But it's done now, and my daughter was thrilled with it.
  • The Curly Scarf and the Curly Lacey Scarf, which you saw yesterday.
  • San Diego Chargers Scarf for my brother. Bought nice, expensive, custom-dyed yarn for this--then couldn't find a scarf pattern that played nice with it. May use that yarn for a hat, though I'm now leaning towards a pair of socks. Started again with a basic bi-color brioche stitch, with Vanna's Choice--and finished it just as the Chargers ended their season AND the cold weather went away. Sigh. Will ship it off to him anyway, just as soon as it comes out of the laundry.
  • Cheshire Cat Tea Cozy: (face; side) the Hubster specifically asked for this for Christmas. Because of the Great Christmas Flu, I didn't finish it for the day, but got it done on New Year's Day. Not happy with the smile; have, in fact, taken that one off and am making one that is skinnier, pointier, and curvier. We'll see how I like that. I like the fact that I made the head removable; originally, it was so that the cozy itself could be washed w/o destroying the felt eyes and smile, but I also realize it makes for some great practical jokes.....
  • Another silly tea cozy: was going to try to sell the pattern for this, but it didn't come out nearly as cute as I wanted. I finally realized that the same proportion disconnect that made the tail on the Cheshire Cat look wrong was at the heart of my unhappiness with this one, as well. Have had some other ideas, so I may end up posting a picture of this one, since I don't think it would sell well.
  • Not a knitting thing, but I finally got a graphic made for things that I can't yet post pictures of, because I'm selling or entering the pattern in contests. This is to distinguish them from those projects where I simply forget to take a picture. (Why is this an important distinction? Dunno.)
Things recently (or very soon to be) started:
  • The second Man Thong: this one is being knitted in white, and I will cook it in coffee so that it comes out beige or khaki. However, if it is for the hottie with the pink piggie beanie, I'm definitely dying it pink! Just cast on today, but they don't take very long...
  • A sweater to match the Muppet that I knit for my daughter for Christmas. The new one is for the American Girl doll Santa brought her. Am about 70% done with it, and I like how it's coming out.
  • Finally got both the yarn and the go-ahead on the pattern for the hat-and-scarf combo I'm making for my friend's daughter's school's auction basket. (I'm definitely saying "NO!" next year; but, that's what I said last year.....) It's supposed be to the school by Feb. 1, so that means it has to be to her before that, which means it has to be done before that. Yipe. I'm a little concerned, because it takes a lot of knitting, and it is slow knitting (like lots of ribbing) as it is reversible cables. Fleet be my fingers!
  • Chris' German Stockings: Lovely Cookie A pattern that I'm itching to get into; kind of on the back burner, because I've missed so many (self-imposed) deadlines for it. Hope to finish these before Sock Madness starts, or possibly while waiting for Round 1 to end and Round 2 to begin. (We all went a little nuts at that point last year, as I recall.) I'm doing them in Knit Picks Bare Fingering weight Superwash Merino, and I think they will be lovely. (Also have two more pair of these to do, one in Knit Picks Bare Fingering weight silk and merino, the other in the same Superwash Merino, this time dyed, purple, probably. But the Lady only knows when those will get started.)
O.K., now that I've scared myself, I think I'll stop......

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Curly Scarf Patterns

Not being very good at crochet (I always say I need a weapon in each hand), I've been meaning to work out a knitted pattern for those lovely curly scarves that are so easy to make in crochet. I actually found a free pattern on Ravelry (where else?), but didn't like how it was working up, so I went ahead and made up a pattern on my own. Then I made up a different one. (That's just how I roll, I guess.) So, I thought I would make them available to others; no need for others to re-invent the wheel. They knit up pretty quickly; about 3 hours, I'd say.

Curly Scarf
Curly scarf

Materials:
Lion Homespun (less than one skein; I haven't tested this, but you can probably make two scarves out of one skein)
size 11 36" circular needle
size 17 needle for bind off
yarn needle for threading in ends

Terminology:
kf&b: knit front and back

Finished measurements:
about 60" long and 4" wide

Note: this is NOT how I made the scarf in the picture; this is how I would make it, were I to make it again.

With size 11 needle, cast on 110 sts, placing stitch markers every 10 sts.
Row 1, 3,5,7: k
Row 2: *kf&b, k4; repeat from * across (132 sts)
Row 4: *kf&b, k2; repeat from * across (176 sts)
Row 6: *kf&b, k; repeat from * across (264 sts)
Row 8: kf&b across (528 sts)
Row 9: bind off, using size 17 needle

Curly Lacey Scarf
Curly lacey scarf

Materials:
Lion Homespun (less than one skein; I haven't tested this, but you can probably make two scarves out of one skein)
size 11 36" circular needle
size 17 needle for bind off
yarn needle for threading in ends

Terminology:
yo: yarn over

Finished measurements:
about 60" long and 4" wide

With size 11 needle, cast on 110 sts, placing stitch markers every 10 sts.
Row 1: k
Row 2: k1, yo, *k5, yo; repeat from * to last 4 st; k4 (132 sts)
Row 3: k
Row 4: k1, yo, *k3, yo; repeat from * across to last 2 st; k2 (176 sts)
Row 5: *k3, yo, k1, yo; repeat from * across to last 3 st; k3 (264 sts)
Row 6: k
Row 7: k1, *yo, k2; repeat from * across to last (396 sts)
Row 8: *k1, yo; repeat from * across to last st, k1 (791 sts)
Row 9: bind off with size 17 needle

Other variations I haven't had the time to try, yet:
  1. fun fur held double with the base yarn on the last row
  2. increasing the size of the needle every row or every other row
  3. another novelty yarn, such as a metallic, on the last row, in place of the base yarn
Other suggestions?

(BTW, for those of you who are nerds like me, the whole point of the stitch markers is error detection: after finishing a row, there should be the same number of stitches in each segment marked off by the markers. Also, it helps in error prevention, since you will be doing your increases in the same spot in each segment, thus allowing you to catch errors as you make them. It also helps speed things up, if you don't have to count from one every time, when casting on a bazillion stitches.)

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Oh, And Did I Mention?.....

...that I finished cleaning out the sewing room? No? Well, I did.

Over four months ago. And I'm only now posting? How did that happen?

I'm not quite sure. I was determined to get the sewing room cleaned out before my daughter went back to school BUT I also wanted it to be early enough so my husband could get his stuff moved out of her room and into The Secret Lair, as we are now calling it. So, late in August, I took time off work and set to it. (I have a vague memory that I was ill, too, but that may just be from being sick at Christmas and remembering just how exhausted I was when I finished cleaning out the room.) I managed to pack the last boxes I took from the sewing room into every nook and cranny of the house: in the garage, under the bed, under the bedside table, stacked in my closet, behind the couch in the living room, even stacked on a dolly in the one remaining spot in the storage unit. Still have not found a place for my two dress forms, nor a storage spot for my sewing machine and serger, nor for my tool box; those all still live in the middle of our bedroom floor. However, the point was that I was able to clean everything that the Hubster was not using (I left him a book shelf, a TV and VCR, a table and a trash can, all at his request; I had intended to dump or donate them.) out of the room, and vacuum the floor, the walls, the louvered doors to the laundry room, and the window, window sill, and vertical blinds. Them as has visited the former sewing room, even in its best days, would be astonished by this feat.

And the Hubster, Lady bless him, stepped up to the plate: he moved all of his stuff out of Sam's room before school started, despite having Sam available to help him, and me being back at work. We even managed to get all of her furniture re-arranged, and the new furniture bought, though I admit she didn't get the desk until just after school started. I was so happy! I really wanted her to have her own space, and she's been much more interested in having things neat and clean, now that that's more doable.

The bad news is, of course, that it is extremely hard to sew, now. I managed to make a camp shirt for my BIL, and the nightshirts for Sam and my mom and me, but at the cost of having the dining room table laid waste to for several days. Got to find a better way to do things.

And in better news, the closet in Sam's bedroom that did not get cleaned out earlier got (mostly) cleaned out this weekend! Sam was able to hang all her clothes, even some of her costumes, in the closet, as well as storing boxes of toys in there. She was so happy! The only thing left is the shelves at the top of the closet, on which I would like to keep her linens; Bruce still needs to organize stuff in his Lair to find space for the stuff still on the shelves. But it's such a big improvement!

So, there you have it folks! One huge task, that has been hanging over my head for literally years, and when I finally complete it, it drops off the radar so fast, I forget to even post about it. Weird, I tell you.

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Friday, January 09, 2009

Heather's-Mittens-to-Socks Conversion Kit

In the Little Needle Lovers group on Ravelry, someone suggested a KAL for Heather’s Mittens (about halfway down on the right). Since I’m not particularly fond of mittens, and I live in Southern California, so don’t need them very often, but LOVED the color pattern, I decided to convert the mittens to a sock pattern. Other folks expressed interest, so I promised I would make it available and here it is. I have made several options available, since that will allow people to do whatever they’re most comfortable with, and I am nothing if not accommodating and complete! ☺

So! The variations will be as follows:

gauge: 10 st/in or 7.5 st/in
toe-up or top-down
short-row vs afterthought vs forethought (a la Charlene Schurch) heel

Terms:
wrap next stitch (purling): bring yarn to back, slip next stitch from left needle to right, bring yarn to front, slip stitch back to left needle

wrap next stitch (knitting): bring yarn to front, slip next stitch from left needle to right, bring yarn to back, slip stitch back to left needle

w&t: wrap and turn

kfb: knit in front and back

ktbl: knit through the back loop

Notes:
Just a few hints that may help:

-When doing the short-rowed heel, you can place a stitch marker each time you slip the wrapped stitch back to the left needle; this makes it easier to see where the next wrap should go. This uses a blurt-load of stitch markers, but it’s a lifesaver, if you have to put your work down in the middle of the heel! When working the wrapped stitches, take the stitch markers out only after the stitch and its wraps have been knit; slip the marker and the stitch when you do the second wrap, then slip both back.

-A very useful way to hide the wraps on short rows is shown in two Cat Bordhi YouTube videos:
Part 1:
Part 2:

Toe-up, 10 st/in:
Using a figure 8 cast on, a Magic cast on , or your preferred method, cast on 20 stitches. Knit one round, making sure to k tbl on the twisted stitches, if you used the figure 8 cast on.
Round 2: (kfb of first stitch, k8, kfb in next stitch) twice
Round 3: (kfb, k10, kfb) twice
Round 4: (kfb, p12, kfb) twice
Round 5: k

Repeat rounds 4 and 5, increasing the number of stitches between the kfbs by two each increase round (so round 6 would have k14 between them) until there are a total of 80 sts.

Begin Chart B from Heather’s mittens and continue following the chart until work measures 2” less than final desired length.

Toe-up, 7.5 sts/in:
Using a figure 8 cast on, a Magic cast on, or your preferred method, cast on 16 stitches. Knit one round, making sure to k tbl on the twisted stitches, if you used the figure 8 cast on.
Round 2: (kfb of first stitch, k6, kfb in next stitch) twice
Round 3: (kfb, k8, kfb) twice
Round 4: (kfb, p10, kfb) twice
Round 5: k

Repeat rounds 4 and 5, increasing the number of stitches between the kfbs by two each increase round (so round 6 would have k12 between them) until there are a total of 60 sts.

Begin Chart B from Heather’s mittens and continue following the chart until work measures 2” less than final desired length. NOTE: you will only work needles 1 through 3 of the chart.

Short-rowed heel, 10st/in:
(done with MC only)
(worked back and forth over half the stitches)
Round 1: Work following chart for 40(note row number of chart); k 39, w&t
Row 2: p38, w&t
Row 3: k37, w&t

Repeat rows 2 and 3, decreasing the number of stitches worked before the wrap by 1 on each row until there are 10 stitches left unwrapped, ending with a wrong side row.
Row 4: k10, knit next stitch along with its wrap, wrap next stitch (there are now two wraps on this stitch), turn
Row 5: p11, purl next stitch along with its wrap, w&t
Row 6: k12, knit next stitch with both its wraps, w&t
Row 7: p13, purl next stitch with both its wraps, w&t

Repeat rows 6 and 7, increasing the number of stitches worked before the wrap by 1 on each row, until all heel stitches and wraps have been worked, ending with a wrong side row and turning, then knitting across the heel to the start of the round.

Short-rowed heel, 7.5 st/in:
(done with MC only)
(worked back and forth over half the stitches)
Round 1: Work following chart for 30(note row number of chart); k 29, w&t
Row 2: p28, w&t
Row 3: k27, w&t

Repeat rows 2 and 3, decreasing the number of stitches worked before the wrap by 1 on each row until there are 8 stitches left unwrapped, ending with a wrong side row.
Row 4: k8, knit next stitch along with its wrap, wrap next stitch (there are now two wraps on this stitch), turn
Row 5: p9, purl next stitch along with its wrap, w&t
Row 6: k10, knit next stitch with both its wraps, w&t
Row 7: p11, purl next stitch with both its wraps, w&t

Repeat rows 6 and 7, increasing the number of stitches worked before the wrap by 1 on each row, until all heel stitches and wraps have been worked, ending with a wrong side row and turning, then knitting across the heel to the start of the round.

Forethought heel, 10 st/in:
Note the last row worked on chart. With MC, k40st. With waste yarn, do a provisional cast on of 40 st, then k across these sts with MC. Follow directions for Top-down toe, 10 st/in.

Unpick provisional cast on, placing live stitches back on the needle. Continue on foot, starting with the row of the chart following the row noted when you started the heel, and ending when foot length is 2” shorter than final desired length.

Forethought heel, 7.5 st/in:
Note the last row worked on chart. With MC, k30st. With waste yarn, do a provisional cast on of 30 st, then k across these sts with MC. Follow directions for Top-down toe, 7.5 st/in.

Unpick provisional cast on, placing live stitches back on the needle. Continue on foot, starting with the row of the chart following the row noted when you started the heel, and ending when foot length is 2” shorter than final desired length.

Toe-up Leg(either gauge):
Return to working chart B on the row following the row you noted when you started the heel. Work until leg is 1” shorter than final desired length. NOTE: you will only work needles 1 through 3 of the chart for the 7.5 st/in gauge.

Toe-up Cuff(either gauge):
With MC, (Ktbl, p) to the end of the round. Continue until ribbing measures 1”. Bind off loosely.

Top-down Cuff, 10 st/in:
With MC, cast on 80 sts. Work in (Ktbl, p) to the end of the round. Continue until ribbing measures 1”.

Top-down Cuff, 7.5 st/in:
With MC, cast on 60 sts. Work in (Ktbl, p) to the end of the round. Continue until ribbing measures 1”.

Top-down Leg(either gauge):
Begin Chart B from Heather’s mittens and continue following the chart until work equals the final desired leg length. NOTE: you will only work needles 1 through 3 of the chart for the 7.5 st/in gauge.

Top-down foot(either gauge):
Return to working chart B on the row following the row you noted when you started the heel. Work until foot is 2” shorter than final desired length. NOTE: you will only work needles 1 through 3 of the chart for the 7.5 st/in gauge sock.

Top-down toe, 10 st/in:
Using only MC,
Round 1: (k1, ssk, k34, k2tog, k1) twice.
Round 2: k to end of round.

Repeat these two rounds eleven more times, ending with 36 st. Repeat Round 1 only four more times. (20 st.) Kitchner stitch remaining stitches together.

Top-down toe, 7.5 st/in:
Using only MC,
Round 1: (k1, ssk, k24, k2tog, k1) twice.
Round 2: k to end of round.

Repeat these two rounds eight more times, ending with 28 st. Repeat Round 1 only three more times. (16 st.) Kitchner stitch remaining stitches together.


Afterthought heel, 10 st/in:
Work following the next row of the chart for 40 sts. With waste yarn, knit across 40 sts. Go back to beginning of waste yarn, and work across those same stitches, following the remainder of the chart row. Continue on to foot and toe.

To insert heel, carefully unpick waste yarn, putting each stitch on a needle as it is freed. Rearrange sts for knitting in the round, attach MC and follow directions for Top-down toe, 10 st/in.


Afterthought heel, 7.5 st/in:
Work following the next row of the chart for 30 st. With waste yarn, knit across 30 sts. Go back to beginning of waste yarn, and work across those same stitches, following the remainder of the chart row. Continue on to foot and toe.

To insert heel, carefully unpick waste yarn, putting each stitch on a needle as it is freed. rearrange sts for knitting in the round, attach MC and follow directions for Top-down toe, 7.5 st/in.

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Thursday, January 01, 2009

The Pledge

O.K., I said I'd do it, so here it is:

FIVE THINGS I WILL FINISH IN 2009

  1. The bleeping sweater coat! Thanks to Ravelry, I may have found enough of the 20 year old yarn to finish the sucker. If not, I've thought of a few ways I can rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak; it should be enough. There isn't really all that much left to do on it, but the lack of yarn and the bulkiness of the front pieces meant I had to put it on the back burner for a while.
  2. Linda's table cloth. I've talked about this before, as well. (I'll put the links in later.) I've almost finished one corner, which means that most of the design decisions have been made, so it should go faster from here on.
  3. Samantha's space quilt. Really feel bad about this one; it was supposed to be for her 1st birthday, and she turns 8 this month and it's still not done. cringe This will involve some re-work, as it is no longer big enough, but mostly I just have to figure out when and where I can work on it, without rubbing off all the chalk lines for the hand-quilting. (You can see why it didn't get done, perhaps....)
  4. Samantha's Disney Princess quilt. I've had all the Princess squares crosstitched for more than 4 years, and have not yet put the thing together. I think I even have all the fabric, including the batting, and this one will be machine-quilted, so there really is no excuse.
  5. I've been a little stuck on what I should do for item 5. I owe my step-great-neice a pair of leg warmers from last Christmas which will only take about 3 hours to finish, if I can just get the darn yarn to stop bleeding OR find a good source of superwash DK weight yarn in a good, primary red that looks the same as Knitpick's Bare, so it will blend with the other colors. However, I since that one is not yet quite a year overdue, I think I'll go with the black beaded purse I started for Kate, lo these many years ago, when I was making period purses for the sewing circle. I don't know why it is taking so long; I used the same smocking technique on the sleeves for Sarah's wedding dress, and those went quite quickly. I guess it's because I'm smocking and beading at the same time; maybe if I separate the two steps it will go faster? Hard to say; in any case, since that is nearly 8 years overdue, I think that will have to take slot #5.

So that's it; these are the things that I want most to finish this year. I will be working on these while I am also working on the following:

  • scarf and hat for a friend's daughter's school's auction (I know; she really should be some sort of professional donation-gatherer. Her talents are wasted on the homefront!)
  • grocery bags for my daughter's school's auction. Already have the organic cotton, just have to decide which pattern to use
  • belated Christmas presents
  • -scarf for my brother; need the yarn
  • -socks for my mom, and three friends; have the yarn, and have even started two of the pairs
  • -slippers for my sister and brother-in-law; have the yarn
  • -Barbie's holiday dress; didn't get finished, due to the Great Christmas Flu, but should be able to finish it in the next day or so
  • 6 freakin' corsets for sale
  • Mini-Muppet sweater for Samantha's American Girl doll Samantha
  • a camp shirt for the Hubster (fortunately, his birthday is a few months after Christmas, so things that don't get done for Christmas just slop over)

This does not include socks remaining from last year's Sock Madness, nor those I'll get for this year's round, though I'm really hoping both my designs get into the contest this year.


And just so I don't get totally discouraged, things I've finished since my last update post: two tea cozies (neither came out nearly as cute as I wanted them to, due to proportion issues; will post a pic of the Cheshire Cat soon); camp shirt for my brother-in-law (of which, once again, I did not take a picture; I blame the Great Christmas Flu); two more sleepshirts (one for my daughter and one for me); and a knitted version of the ruffled scarf (I tried a free pattern, and didn't like how it was coming out, so I made up my own).

So that's where the Queue stands, as of January 1. Pretty daunting! Wish me luck!

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