WIP Report

It must be Thursday because I’m a day late with my WIP Report. Thanks for hanging around to read this. I’m still in the midst of my holiday gift knitting but I have been making progress. I finished two You Don’t Know Our Women Hats, the first complete with pom-pom, my very first one, and the Noro Striped Scarf. I’ll include links to the pictures on my Ravelry page, so it doesn’t spoil the surprise for some who might be reading. The first Women hat and the scarf have been mailed off and are now winging their way across the continental US to the East Coast for that branch of the Sweetie Family.

I also finished another Swirl Pool cap as a teacher gift, and while putting some yarn back into the overflowing basket, found the pair of blue koigu wristwarmers that I had finished over the summer and tucked away as a gift for a rainy day. w00t! w00t! (BTW, did you know this is the newest word to make it into Webster’s dictionary?) Well, it happens to be raining in these parts, and I really needed the extra bit of breathing room. So, the babysitter has received the blue koigu wristwarmers and both of us are happy.

Of course, since I was feeling so confident about my holiday knitting, I decided to add another teacher hat. This one will be for Sweetie Boy’s 4th grade teacher from last year who did such a tremendous job. Last year, I didn’t do any handknit gifts for teachers, so this year is making up for it. I decided on the Helping Hat by CanKnitian. Of course, I found it on Ravelry, the best thing since sliced bread. Um, did I mention that I’m planning to cast on for the hat right after I post this, and tomorrow is the last day of school before the holiday? Right. Call me Cleopatra, Queen of Denial. I just really want to make her a hat to express my gratitude, so if she gets it after Christmas, no big deal.

After that, the plan is to make the Swell hat for my brother using the wonderful Bruin colors of blue and gold. I’m thinking of making it an EZ Very Warm Hat and putting the design on the blue side. That’ll mark the official end of the holiday knitting… to be gifted at Christmastime. I gave my sister and BIL “I owe you’s” for their gifts. Can’t say what they’re going to be of course because it’ll ruin the surprise. Once I have the projects cast on, I’ll link to Ravelry. I love this sneaky sh*t, posting so people can see on Ravelry but they can’t. Just call me Grinch.

So, once I'm done, done, and done with the holiday knitting, what am I going to cast on? Why, a hat of course! I've been jonesing for a hat for myself, so I'm thinking of making a Le Slouch out of Patons SWS in a great cranberry red color. I just have to decide on whether to make it seed stitch or stockinette. Does anybody who has made one have any thoughts to share?

If I don’t talk to you before Christmas, have a wonderful holiday season and may it be filled with warmth, laughter and love!

The Post I’m Supposed To Do on Wednesday

Here it is, the late one again. I’m still in the midst of Christmas knitting paralysis, and am continuing to slog through my projects. Woefully sad, but I’ll still disclose. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Underwhelming.

I started the Fake Isle hat and was enjoying the fair isle part and the color changes. Then the scratchy Noro Kureyon was rubbing my finger raw and I got derailed. I convinced myself that I didn’t have to finish this one off because it got moved to my non-essential holiday knitting column, i.e., surprise holiday gifts to people who aren’t expecting anything from me. Here’s where I left off.



Slogging along on the Noro Striped Scarf. It has gotten to the point where it’s long enough to get twisted up in the yarn and bug the crap out of me. My solution? Sweetie Girl’s pony tail holder bundles it all up and keeps it out of the way.



That helped for quite a few more rows, until I came across this snafu. A knot in the Silk Garden. Doh!



So now I have to spit splice it together before I can crank more of this puppy out. Here’s how she’s looking so far.



My reward after working as long as I can on the mind-numbing Noro Striped Scarf is the You Don’t Know Our Women Hat by Bobbi, the Kelly-Green Rogue. I showed my niece the picture, and she thought it’d be cute in white and white a pom-pom on top. I remembered and dug out the Lamb’s Pride Chunky yarn I have and cast on. Ahhhhhh, a hat fix.



I’m still wanting to knit hats, hats and more hats. So much so that I was spied buying Patons SWS yarn at Michael’s for a Le Slouch. Shhhhhh... I'll never admit it if you ask me. Let’s see if I actually getting around to making it. The big question is seed or stockinette? I’m sure I won’t finish my knits before Christmas but I’ll do my darnedest. Good luck on your holiday knitting, especially if you’re in the same boat as I… up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Wednesday WIP Report

So it’s December 5th, and last night as I was replying to Michelle’s comment, I realized that I have a ton of stuff I want to make as holiday gifts but am strangely unmoved to light the fire under me. Here’s what the list looks like:

2 more felted slippers
2 scarves
3 hats
2 wristwarmers

So, I’m plugging away on one of the three hats, and not really thinking ahead of which scarf, hat or wristwarmer to start. They’re all simple projects; I just gotta dig down deep and find some excitement. So, without further ado, here are the latest goings on at Chez Dim Sum.



Project: Single Cable Ribbed Wristwarmers (munchkin-sized) by Love is All You Need
Yarn: Noro Kureyon color #157, less than 1 skein, leftovers from my pair
Needles: Addi Turbos, US size 6 for the body, Knit Picks Options size 4 for the ribbing
Start: end of November
Finish: beginning of December


(This picture doesn't show the wristwarmers entirely, but it was a less Stepford Child looking, so I wanted to post it.)

Thoughts: I used leftovers from the Single Cable Ribbed Wristwarmers for me. To make it smaller, I cast on 32 stitches and omitted the first and last 4 stitches of each row (k3s and one purl at the beginning and end of the first row). I finished the first but the ribbing was too stretched out, so I ripped it. I reknit the ribbing on size 4s, and it came out nice and tight. Did the same on the second and love how the colors are slightly different. They’re done just in time for Sweetie Girl to wear in the Holiday Parade she’s marching in tomorrow evening with her Brownie Troop.

Sweetie Boy’s Woody Sweater has a back now, and this weekend, I did a three needle bind off at the shoulders. I also picked up the stitches for the neck, but did twice as many rows, so the neck would curl more and hide the holes where I picked up stitches. Isn't it interesting how the colors are so different, even from the same dye lot? I alternated between two different skeins for the back, and got such a consistent stripey effect all over. Even with the alternating yarn, that light patch of pooling emerged at the bottom of the back. So interesting on how this happens so randomly. Just gotta make the sleeves, but that’ll probably happen after holiday knitting. I'm not sure how I want to handle the variation in color, since I only have one skein of the darker colors, and lots of lighter. We'll have to see how it knits up before I make a decision.


front and back

Speaking of holiday knitting, here’s one almost FO. It’s the Very Warm Hat from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Around. Instructions can also be found on Knitting Without Tears. I’m using Patons Classic Wool Merino and it’s surprisingly soft. I haven’t decided if this hat is going to the Connecticut Clan or Sweetie Boy’s teacher who is a snowboarder. I'll finish this tonight and then have to decide whether to start a Fake Isle Hat or a 1x1 rib Noro Stripey Scarf.


First side done before adding the second color



What else have I been working on? Check out this new addition to my kitchen. There was an office armoire here previously, and my desk, computer and work area have been relocated to make room for this beauty. I haven't broken it out and done a full meal, but have already used it and it cooks beautifully!



That’s all for now. Have a great week!