Christmas Gift Shout-Out Part 2

I probably dropped about 10,000 hints that I wanted these for Christmas:


I may have also threatened a major delay in post-Christmas sweater knitting if I did not find them under the tree.

I can be a little overbearing when it comes to Christmas gifts. Eric puts up with a lot.

Whatever bad karma I may have accumulated in the process was totally worth it.


I may have already reached Nirvana anyway.

The Commitment Sweater

There is a somewhat foolish, but well documented, knitting superstition that you should never knit a sweater for your significant other before you are married or you will break up. One can only imagine the pitfalls for knitters in same-sex relationships, though I guess it would be one more argument in favor of legalizing gay marriage-- as if there weren't enough. And of course, we all know that people never break up after they are married.

Ever since I learned to knit, Eric has periodically mentioned his desire for a sweater. In the beginning, fear of such an undertaking caused me to refuse, but in the past couple of years I admit to feigning belief in the infamous Sweater Curse in an attempt to nudge along a marriage proposal. For shame.

So I have the requisite skills. Now I am legally wed. Hence, the Commitment Sweater. I have been planning this magnum opus since I started becoming confident in my knitting skills, but it didn't begin to really take shape until this fall. I have been searching for just the right pattern and just the right yarn. I have done hours of research on Ravelry. Now I'm ready to start!

Eric is probably unusual among husbands in that he actually likes going to yarn stores. We made a couple of trips together so that I could get a feel for his color and texture preferences. We're both excited about this:

Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Mahogony Mix. Yum.

I always planned to make a seamless sweater-- sewing gives me the willies-- and I had initially decided on a pattern for a top-down raglan. With a 50% alpaca content, my yarn of choice does not behave well at 4.5 stitches per inch, the gauge called for in said pattern. Too much drape, too much stretch. I realized I needed a more open-ended pattern.

Early in my knitting career, my mother bought me The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. Again, I don't think I was quite ready for the idea of knitting sweaters. Additionally, the sweaters shown in the book have a distinctly 80s look, which might be cool in 2009, but has never been my cup of tea. Sorry Mom.

Flash forward to 2009. I need a sweater pattern that can be adapted to any yarn and any size. At some point I gave away The Sweater Workshop, which teaches you to make such a sweater (crap crap crap). From somewhere in the depths of my memory, I recall the name Elizabeth Zimmermann. Don't tell any knitters that I may have forgotten her name. She's something of a knitting goddess, or was one. In knitting circles, she goes by EZ.

I checked out Knitting Without Tears from the library. I don't feel I can approach a decent description of how entertaining and useful this book is. Besides, many many many people have already done so. In it, EZ describes five ways to make a seamless sweater, using your own yarn and measurements. I say describes, because they aren't really patterns so much as very chatty formulas. This part scares me a bit, because I like the security of a pattern that tells you exactly what to do. But you trust in EZ kind of like you trust in Jesus.

So I'm going to take the plunge today. I already have my gauge sample:

Washed and blocked-- I'm such a good little knitter

Now to cast on 242 stitches!

Dibs

Christmas Gift Shout-Out

You know, friends can be such jerks sometimes.

Take Sarah (please!), for example. Look what she sends me on, like, December 10th:


Really Sarah, you should try to send your gifts a little earlier next year. You really put the "pro" in procrastination this time. Seriously, if I open my door and find gifts from you after, say, November 30th, there will be consequences. I'm counting on you to set an example for others. Sheesh. And don't think I can be distracted from your extreme tardiness by cute things from Muji. I am not playing around.

Next, from Vickie:


Vickie clearly did not do her homework on this one. The materials from which this book is made are NOT edible. I found that out the hard way. Vickie, next time you send me something I might want to eat, just make cookies, okay? Thanks.

If I was the paranoid type, I would wonder if Emily was stalking either my J.Crew shopping cart or my yarn basket:

Stay tuned for more about the yarn!

I'm sleeping with one eye open, Emily. I don't trust you anymore. By the way, I sent those cupcakes to the FBI for further analysis. Red velvet, eh? Nice try.

Then some crafty bitch named Nicole sent me these:


You know, Nicole, I have feelings. Martha Stewart hurts them enough. I don't need you showing me up all the time. I thought we were friends. Handmade lavender sachets may be very handy for repelling moths from my growing yarn stash, but what about my pride?

(I would like to give a final shout-out to my dear husband Eric for teaching me how to use Photoshop. He may regret it some day.)

Christmas Knitting

I started out with big ambitious plans to make felted slippers for my family and all of my inlaws. I ended up making only three pairs, which I gave to my parents and my brother.

Check out before:

Note that cat is shown for scale purposes only.

She wanted to model, really!

I have very docile cats. Do not try this at home

And after:


It's like shrinky dinks for grown-ups! I admit I had my doubts that they would actually shrink to the correct size, especially since I only have access to a front-loading washer. They are still a tad baggy in the toes-- the red ones are a bit reminiscent of Ronald McDonald. This may be because my family members all wear half sizes. Had I perhaps made the instep 1/2" shorter, they'd probably fit perfectly. For a first felting project, I'm pretty stoked with how they turned out-- and my parents and brother were appropriately baffled when they opened the ginormous socks.

As it turns out, I was unable to resist putting my newly-acquired Continental knitting skills to the test in a little display of newlywed cuteness:

And since we are equal in all things:

Isn't it adorable when stockings cuddle?

WTF

No way

Confession

I bought the boots. Eric gave me permission. They are el-fabuloso. Penance: no "gifts" for myself until January. Or maybe never. We'll see.