Christmas Beanies

I finally finished my Christmas beanies for the kids and my brothers. I tried to pick somewhat "manly" colors, so hopefully they will work out.

Christmas 2014

This year's Christmas socks are warm and woolly.  We're putting gifts in the socks.  (As you can see, my nephew with the size 12 feet has a distinct advantage over his mom and dad.)

 

It seems to me that all I've been doing is knitting socks, but they're so portable, and in just a relatively short amount of time I have something warm and bursting with personality to give.  It has been cold lately (well,...for CA), and who couldn't use a nice pair of comfy, cozy socks?

 

My Christmas cactus hasn't bloomed in years.  I repotted it, gave it new soil and more fresh air.  It surprised us!  The profuse flowers here are white, but although not pictured here, they're turning pinkish (originally, the flowers were a vibrant hot pink/red).  Butchley is something of a ham.  He couldn't resist getting in on the photo shoot.

 

Anyway, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (where did 2014 go?)!!!! 

 

 

Tis the season to knit like CRAZY!!!!

 

I mentioned socks that match but don't quite?  Well, I just recently made a pair from bits and pieces of scrap yarn.  The pattern came from Sock Art by Edelgaard Janssen and Ute Eismann.  They worked it from the leg down, but I worked my own pair 2 at a time from the toes up and I didn't continue the pattern up to the legs.  It was called "Stripes, Lozenges, and Spikes" although my pair is more like "Stripes and Spikes"--no lozenges here.  I really like the spike part.  I even mixed lofts of yarn.  That is, I made sure that I maintained the same gauge/thickness by pairing thicker yarn with thin yarn, etc.  Working with scraps like this also allows me to experiment with colors, and I get a feel for the kinds of colors I gravitate toward.  Sock Art was inspiring:  It seems to me, I need to expand my color choices.