Emptyknitster

Adult Sweaters; 2 Socks: 37 pairs Slippers: 7 pairs Baby Sweaters: 4 Baby Quilts: 7 Toys: 1 Christmas Sweater Ornaments: 9 Hats: 5   Preemie hats: 69 Cowls: 1 Scarves: 2 Mittens: 3 Cat Beds: 21 Grand Total of knitting in 2017: 161 items Favorite items: So proud to have protesters in the family! Favorite photo prop for knitted item: Knitting on our trip to China 2017 Craziest thing knit this year: Favorite hand dyed item: Only hand dyed item I knit this year Dumbest mistake: Starting and ripping out 3 sweaters. ( So bad there are no photos!)

The Chick came home a few days before Christmas and told me she had a friend who was going to have twin boys and surprise! They were born a bit early, the Wednesday before Christmas.   Pattern: Five Pound Baby Cardigan by Carole Barenys Yarn: BernatSoftee Baby Solids Colorway: Blue Needle Size: US Size 3 and 5 I love knitting quick, impromptu, projects over the holidays and so was more than happy to knit up these little sweaters for the new babies. The projects aren't finished, finished, finished…I still have to find 10 little buttons sew on the two sweaters but I’m currently snowed in and do not mind staying home one little a bit!

Another wonderful Christmas is in the books. We missed the California Family this year but the ballerina was busy performing in not one but two Nutcracker ballets. She was Mother Ginger in her school's performance and King Mouse with the Oakland Ballet Company. She spent several days  including Christmas Eve dancing. The Chick came into town on Wednesday and we planned out meals and did the shopping. (What a great help) I was pleased when she wanted to get yarn to knit a baby sweater. There isn't a more satisfying way to spend a snowy holiday than to cuddle up and work on knitting. The NorDak Family arrive Friday and we decided with all the decorating I had done around the house previously, we could forgo having a tree this year in order to have kittens who didn't electrocute themselves! I was relieved to have SadieLou around to make Chex Mix and decorate cookies.   We enjoyed putting puzzles together, playing cards and renew an interest in Mexican Train Domino...

We were going to renew a tradition and meet the WyomingCowboy Family to go skiing on Christmas Eve. There would be a new generation going for the first time and when we planned it, the trip sounded like a great idea. The youngest member of the WyomingCowboy Family, little Kynlee, was visiting from Reno and I thought she could use an Elf hat to keep her warm on the slopes. My best stranded knitting yet! Pattern: Norwegian Star Earflap Hat by Tiennie Yarn: Cascade Yarns, Pacific Colorway: Red and Cream Needle Size: US 8 But alas, plans fell through - the weather was just to cold for this family to brave a day of skiing. The WyomingCowboy Family went without us and were quite proud of themselves. Despite the weather they skied for an hour and a half.  Polly thought the pompom was pretty special, grrrr!

I've been wanting to sew another baby quilt for a few months. There was a mess in the fiber room and I've had a busy fall coming and going visiting the girls, so I put any thought of a quilt on the back burner. But this week with all the Christmas gifts wrapped and goodies baked I decided to kick back and enjoy the season by following my bliss. I thought I had enough scraps from previous quilts to make another quilt and was quite happy I had taken the advice of another quilter by pre-cutting all the extra quilt fabric into 7", 5", 3.5", 2.5" and 1.5"strips. I even had leftover binding cut and ironed, ready to be sewn on.  All I had to do was thread the sewing machine and get to sewing! I'm beginning to understand why a quilter has a stash just like knitters. While I was sewing this quilt I ran out of green, yellow and orange material making a to run to the store for several half yarn pieces necessary. Once again I have extras of these colors an...

 I’m already thinking of Christmas 2018. For Christmas’ 2015 - 2017 I’ve knit the Bunco Gals little ornaments, Christmas stockings, hat and mittens, and a sweater for their trees. They seem to love them and I'd like to continue the tradition but I've knit all the usual tree ornaments and I’m not sure what to knit for next Christmas. I thought maybe a gnome could be cute and found this pattern. It’s crocheted so the gnomes would make up quickly. But in the end, although the little gnome is cute, he’s to big to hang on a tree.  Pattern: Christmas Gnome by Liesbeth Braam Yarn: Rauma Finuligarn Colorways: Dark Olive and Burgundy Needle Size: D I’ll continue my search for that perfect little gnome, I do have a year!

I saw this new heel on The Knit Show which featured a segment on short rows. They used this sock pattern to highlight the technique.  Fish Lips Kiss Heels are my "go to" heel but I was willing to give this new heel a try. They are knit from the toe up and use short rows to make a gusset. Although the pattern calls for a picot edge cuff the yarn was just to sturdy and I chose to knit a regular ribbed cuff. These socks are shorties - just the kind SadieLouWho loves - but could have easily been extended into regular length socks. I'm happy to have this technique in my bag of tricks. I will be listening to the family to hear if any have a bit of difficulty getting them over their "cankles". Pattern: Picot Socks by Lydia Gluck Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Colorway: Winter Eclipse Needle Size: US Size 1

While visiting the family, California Dreamin' Son-in-law asked if there was a way to mend his socks, the balls of both were just about worn through. After a quick disclaimer I  picked up the stitches above the worn areas, cut the worn bits off, and even though they had been toe up socks, I knit down to the toes and Kitchnered the ends together. An easy fix on the socks and a happy son-in-law. Later in the week I was folding clean laundry and saw more almost worn out socks.  This time the worn spots were on the heels of the socks but I thought it would be just an easy fix and I could repair the socks before the son-in-law came home from work. I started ripping the heel, and then ripped some more, and a little more...these socks were just to far gone - and I hadn't asked for permission to operate on them. "No worries," I thought. "I have some more of the exact yarn at home and I'll just knit another pair and pop them in the mail." When I got home...

While visiting the CaliforniaDreamin’ Family I was asked to knit a lined hat called The Frontier Tuque One size fits all 8” crown height 19” opening Inner Layer: 35% Qiviut, 35% Cashmere, 30% Merino Wool Outer Layer: 100% Merino Wool I wanted to do a test knit before I committed to the expensive Qiviut yarn. I found a pattern and decided to use my own handspun yarn for the outer shell but bought some really soft Llama for the inner shell. I followed the pattern exactly on the hat but used a double strand of Llama with the size 8 needles on the inner shell. The pattern will work well for the Son-in-law.  Pattern: On the C Train by Espace Tricot Yarn: Handspun and Illmani Yarn ECO-Llama Colorway: Natural and Bone Needle SIze: US Size 7, and 8 Now, I just have to try to find some Qiviut/Cashmere/Merino yarn!

I was going to an off the grid farm in Oregon to celebrate Thanksgiving this year and I thought slippers for everyone would be fun. To bad I thought of it 5 days before I left! I used 80% Acrylic/20% wool worsted AND sock yarn intertwined so there would be no shrinking of the slippers when washed. Seven pair knit - only photo of one. Pattern: Simple House Slippers by Simone A. Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease, and Leftover colorful sock yarn Colorway: A great stash buster - all yarns were on hand and the sock yarn was just leftover sock yarn added for color and warmth! Needle Size: US Size 6 and 7 In the end I didn’t knit slippers for all just most and they seemed to like them. If I make more for myself I’ll knit them a bis smaller, they seem a bit floppy.

The last pair of sock I knit while on my travels weren't completed until after I arrived home but they did facilitate a lovely conversation with the lady across the aisle on the plane. I seldom talk to anyone while flying but this was such a easy and enjoyable conversation. Her name was Katie and she was the same age as The Chick. She showed me photos of her boyfriend visiting in California while making notes of different places to visit in Montana. She shared with me that her mother's name was Judy and we laughed at the coincidence. Katie met her boyfriend at Salt Lake City for some mountain climbing and hiking and I continued my jaunt home. I think we both thought under different circumstances we would have become friends. Pattern: Vanilla, Fish Lips Kiss Heel Yarn: Carlton Sock Yarn Colorway: Birthday Cake Needle Size: US Size 1

While in California the kiddos introduced me to Stranger Things . The show had caused quite a stir Halloween week when Session 2 was released but I didn't know if it was just in my world or universal. The kiddos assured me it was universal and we started watching one night, "just to see what the big deal was." We couldn't get enough of Will, Eleven, and the rest of the cast and tried to squeeze an extra episode in every night. The last night I was there the California Dreamin' Gal cooked dinner AND did the dishes so the three of us could finish Session 2.  I also knit The Pirate a pair of socks during my visit, finishing them just in time. Pattern: Broken Ribbed Socks Yarn: Carlton Sock Yarn Colorway: The Blues Needles: US Size 1