Gifts for our girls!
Deja Socks? Regia 6 ply again, this time as knee socks for Lily. If you're not careful, Kiki may dress you in a pair. It seems to be spreading.
Lucy models a prototype of headscarf/head that we think is perfect for ponytail days (it has been sooooo cold here in Phoenix....almost every day lately has been under 70 degrees). It's based on the idea of Shocking Pink Coif from Knitty, but we wanted to change it (of course). Not that Megan Reardon's design left anything lacking at all, but we had different yarn, and Lucy wanted another orange hat. We used some Rowan Biggie Print, some random pieces of my handspun, a little Lopi, and some other scraps to make this, well, quite ridiculous example of headgear (even funnier as a tube top). Back to the drawing board. Or maybe we should break down and follow Ms. Reardon's actual pattern?
This is another re-do for us. I made a scarf out of the wonderful Be Sweet (aka Goat Balls) yarn last year at Thanksgiving. And by that I mean at the actual table while eating Thanksgiving dinner with Steve's family. It was fun, but I never wore it, and it languished as a model at the knitting store for awhile. Finally, I was inspired by the way Illanna used hers in a One-skein Wonder, and added a little of this, a little of that (why, girls, why do we have SO MUCH orange and pink yarn? I did not think we were that type of girl......but the yarn stash tells no lies) to make a super-secret shruggy thingy for Lily Grace's Christmas gift. She loves it and wears it almost every day. It is so funny, with all of those ends hanging out, and with the random knitting that I made up as I went. The arms don't match, and the whole thing keeps stretching uncontrollably, but she is in heaven. It is so nice to still be appreciated as a mom/knitter. Please don't let them become fickle teens.
Close up. See the ends? See the mohair?
See my gorgeous daughter?
And here she is jamming out, on her big holiday gift from Santa......a new electric guitar. You all know what a fan she is of rock and roll in general, and the White Stripes in particular, but you may not know that she has also taken guitar lessons. That was way back in Indy, and in French, and on an acoustic, but she is determined.
And with a strap like this, how can she lose?
Daddy Steve made this out of Cascade "Crappa", he means "Copa" (it's splitty, it's slippery, it's twisty, and it's no Noro "Miho"), and some of Knit Picks "Palette" that he stole from Kiki. He even tried to crochet with the stuff, but with minimal improvement. Some people may love it, and we feel quite blasphemous complaining about Cascade ("220" and "Fixation" are staples in our fiber diet....please don't hate us, Cascade). We know not every yarn company is perfect. Colinette does make "Isis", and Rowan dares to mess with carrying cotton yarns.Enough about that. On to perfect yarns.
Remember the handspun yarn from Stephanie at Half-Baked? Remember, Steve pretended that it was all for him for his birthday, even though it was clearly a housewarming/new year gift for me? Well, he started in on it immediately, and paired it with another one of his new favorites, Louisa Harding's "Kimono Ribbon". Ahhhhh, Louisa, you bring out the little girl in every knitting husband.
The yarns and Stephen's magic conspired to create a perfect wrap for Ms. Lucy Jane. She uses the new brooch from Marissa to close it, and it is her new constant companion. Dad Rocks!!! And he couldn't decide which image to use, so you get to see them both.
Here's a close-up of the "Kimono Ribbon" and the "Supercoiled Razzleberry Pie". Hope that this encourages Stephanie to make more of these one-of-a-kind, plied yarns. Her eye for color is just right in the lusciousgracious universe.
See that headband? Those colors were already in our stash when she brought the "Pie" over to us. And Stephen was already using the ribbon to create a unique headband/belt/scarf for Lucy.
He used Rowan beads and a Rowan stitch idea (from R2 issue 1) to criss-cross dropped stitches. It looks great, and I love this man, who is willing to sit in front of other (non-knitting) men and knit such femme yarns with huge purple needles while discussing photography and life. I am so lucky.
So is he. And he is rewarded with something a little more masculine. I made him these fingerless gloves and fun toboggan for one of his twelve days of Christmas. I combined two or three colors of Lopi Icelandic wool with some wool and mohair that Lisa Takata spun for us a few months back. Now if we only lived somewhere as cold as Iceland, he could wear them. I think they may cause heatstroke out here. You may not even want to look at the photo for long. If you feel faint, have a lie-down in the air-conditioning.
More mitts. Stephen's beautiful sister Shannon came to visit, and was rewarded with not only the lovely scarf (see some previous post) that Steve designed especially for her, but these kind-of-matching fingerless mittens are for running on cold days, when layers are important. What else do they match? Right! My Best Socks Ever! Still dirty. But maybe just one more wearing before washing......
I also made about ten pair of these for the men on our list. Rowan dk. In that green that I still have 10 skeins of...and I think that rather than using the yarn, I somehow created more. I cannot get rid of the stuff.....what is going on? Is the yarn fairy putting more in my closet? It's not angora, so I can't blame the bunnies. Driver, teacher, uncle, dad, etc......and still more green Rowan. I really wish that it would look good on me as a sweater. That is really saying something, because I will usually wear anything....
But I can't wear these. Notice the pen at the top added for scale. I made each of these little ornaments for Letoya's tree. We didn't have one this year because of the move, so she invited us to share in the decorating and enjoyment of hers. The girls and I had so much fun making things at her house, and I loved the reaction that I got when she opened the pink and green fancy (Target) box that held these tiny garments. Another example of the wonder that is Cascade "Fixation", and the wasteland that is my brain. Don't ask me how I did them. Guess I should have taken notes....but they were done so quickly and I was on to the next one before the thought occurred to me. I used the same techniques for hats, sweaters, and socks that I use on the real things, so if you are interested, read your Elizabeth Zimmermann, people. But make it smaller.
Lily also made some super-cool gifts. For her Secret Pal at school, she created this wristband with his name. Her knitting is always a hit at school, especially now that she taught her teacher to knit! Way to go, Lily!
Remember that awesome Noah's Ark card game for Connor? More examples here.
That monkey cracks me up. So do my monkeys. I end the weekend with a HUGE smile on my face. It could have something to do with the miles and miles of Phildar cashmere that came in the mail to me today from my favorite French/Greek people. Who can tell?
Knit on, and a great week to you all.
kikiluscious
At the first meeting of our International Knit Circle, Arizona Chapter (an extension of our group of knitters and other friendly rejects in Indy who came to our house every Friday night), we were so happy to host some of our favorite Valley Knitters. Now that we no longer live in Los Gatos (whatever that means; well, we know what the translation means, but did we ever live there?) and actually have a semi-clean house, we can go back to being social in our own place. Dear 
Lily picked Jessica as her gift recipient. She made her these delicious felted bags. The big one is a chocolate chip cookie with a couple bites missing. It is made from Brown Sheep. 
The eclair with sprinkles is made from various brownish yarns we had lying around the house.
Here is Jessica & Lily with the scrumptious felted bags.
Sunglasses Case
Needle Case
Sheep/Monkey Change Purse
Just to be fair to the rest of us that Kiki makes look like slackers, the last 2 items were delivered today, not on Saturday.
Lily thought it made a cool hat too.
Here is Lily with Patricia.
Marissa made Lucy this beautiful purse with a gorgeous flower pin. Here are the two ladies showing the gift. It is easy to see why this is Lucy's favorite accessory ever.....all that pink! And a new brooch! She's so happy!
Jessica had my name. She used my favorite Point 5 yarn to make me this book with felted cover and matching felted vessel. The book is titled "felting with hand dyed yarns and other knitting projects for men..." , which is the title of the book that she thinks I should write. You know, encouraging new male knitters to start with high end, luxury yarns and then felt them. Hey, it worked for me! It is full of blank pages (including graph paper) for me to fill up.
Sara made Patricia this lovely pair of "Smittens", mittens for couples. The two on the outside are different sizes, for the man & woman. The one in the middle is made so the couple can hold hands inside. How romantical! Illanna helped Patricia model them below.
Kiki made these fingerless mitts for Kallan, Patricia's daughter. That way she had something when mom came home from the party. The yarn is Optimum, hand-dyed by Queen Illanna.
More Free Stuff Than You Can Shake A Stick At!
