Proof of Life

I have been dutifully knitting away these days. Can't believe we are in November already and Christmas will be here in 7 weeks. Those of you who know me are aware that I generally knit my Christmas gifts. This year is no exception. While juggling Christmas projects, I have also been working on a sweater for my DB. I'd like to say right here that if anyone mentions the "Sweater Curse" I will send them a cyber smack. ;-) So onward with my current projects.

I found the perfect yarn at Rhinebeck for my Darling Boyfriend Sweater. I couldn't wait to get started. After discussing with DB his likes and dislikes on his favorite sweater, I decided the best route to take on the sweater was to create one of my own design, with guidance from "The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns" by Ann Budd. After 4 attempts of getting the right number of stitches for cast-on on the back, things have progressed rather nicely.

The Back.

The Front.

The 1st Sleeve Attempt. The needle in the middle shows that I was getting ready to rip back 24 rows because I wasn't happy with the width.

The sleeve as it stands now.

I am truly enjoying knitting this sweater. It has required me to think, focus and come up with a way to get the desired outcome I am looking for. I am looking forward to having it complete and show pictures of DB modeling it.

There have also been some FO's in my house. Well 1 completed FO and 1 Half FO.

The Half FO is my Froot Loop Sock. I grafted the toe closed on Sock #1 yesterday. I started this sock back in June and procrastinated on getting it done. I had a couple of motivating factors recently to get this sock off the needles. 1) I purchased Cookie A's sock book last month and have drooled over several of the patterns I want to knit up right now (but won't until Froot Loop is done) and 2) I need the needles to knit up some socks that will be a Christmas gift. Until the gifts socks are done, we will just be looking at Froot Loop Single Sock.

The completed FO is, of course, a Christmas Gift. One of my nephews has wanted a scarf for a good bit now so I decided that I would oblige and give him one this Christmas.

Pattern: Men's "Merino Silk" Scarf (Last Minute Knitted Gifts)
Yarn: Manos Silk Blend (2 skeins; Colorway 3104)
Needles: Knit Picks Options Size 6
Started: October 20, 2009
Finished: November 4, 2009
Mods: The original pattern called for a worsted yarn. Since I used a DK yarn I casted on 31 stitches instead of 21. I also knitted until I ran out of yarn. The finished dimensions are 5" wide and 63" long.

Something else on the needles is this little black lacy number. My niece requested a thin black scarf for Christmas. My sis passed this info on to me along with the pattern to be used. I am knitting the "Lacy Accent Scarf" from Glam Knits using Zephyr yarn. I currently have only 5" of the required 72". I move a bit slower on this knit because of the delicate lace yarn (it's really like thread). However, I know that somehow I'll get it done.