Holiday knitting

I have given away all the necklaces. Here are the ones I made for my co-workers.


They seemed to like them. I also gave the teachers theirs and they seem to have been appreciated. Then I went and bought some new beads.

But, beaded crochet isn't a good "travel" project. I put travel in quotes because travel projects are good if you are traveling a long way or just down the street for holiday stuff. I always think it is good to have a small easily memorizable patterned thing when visiting with people. And the week after christmas is going to be big on this knit and chat type project, so I was trying to finish up a few things so I could get well and easily started on my "talking" or "traveling" or whatever you would call it knitting.

So I finished my leftover socks. I didn't know if I would have enough yarn. I didn't but was only 4 rounds away, so I just made the second sock a little shorter. (Would have stunk to have run out of yarn in the middle of the post turkey talk!)


This way I can wear them over the holidays.

I also want to finish my shawl before Christmas--and get something new started, for my talking knitting. It has about 4 maybe 5 more rows left.

Instead of baking this year, I seem to be doing all this knitting. It is kind of too bad because I have a few things I love to make at Christmas, and this year I skipped them to make socks. Ah well, probably better for my waistline to be making socks than spiced pecans.

back to knitting

It isn't all beaded crochet around here.  Although I did see a website for bead weaving and that looked cool, and so I don't think my beading days are over.

But I need to get back to my knitting.

I am having a problem with a pair of socks. see I decided to make a pair of short socks from some yarn I dyed last year... well leftover yarn.  And as you might imagine, I don't have quite enough.  So, of course being hand dyed yarn there is NOTHING that I can do about it


Wellt he only thing I can do about it is to use a different yarn to finish the second sock. So that should be entertaining. I just need to decide what I have that will work.

In the meantime, I finally decided what to do with some yarn my MIL brought me from Ireland


I don't have a tag, so I don't know the brand or the color-way or anything really. I know it is wool, has an interesting texture, and is a little difficult to work with. I decided to just make a garter stitch shawl using an old dishcloth pattern. You cast on 3, knit 1 yo knit to the end, every row until it gets big enough, then I can't remember the decreases to make it a dishcloth. Instead I'll just bind off when it gets big enough.




I don't know if it will work, but it has been fun.

twelve

I have made 12 beaded crochet necklaces.  That's 36 strands and roughly 1000 beads.  I only really started feeling a slowdown around eleven and I think that's because my bead supply is dwindling.  I'm entirely out of white beads, running low on purple and blue and clear but have a ton more green and black.  I got the green and black at Joann's and I think if I do this again (who am I kidding when I do this again) I'll get the beads there because for $4 I got a ton.

What am I doing with all these necklaces? Well, I'm giving them ALL away.  So far I've given away two.  One to my best friend and one to my hair um artist her card says.  Of course I started with one for the teacher and one for the teacher's aide.  (that's 4 in case you lost count) I made one for each of my daughters (6) and one for each of the six people in my department (12).

Initially, number 12 was going to be for me.  I made it the day my book club was going out for Christmas dinner and wore it.  Then I started on number 13 and realized that with the limited beads I have left that it looks very much like one I already made.  So, I decided to be THAT person and give away the one I wore. I also hope I'm right in the number of people in my department, I feel like I'm missing someone.  So. I'll be boxing those up early so I can have time to think.

Then I'll have to think about what to make for myself.