Monday, December 08, 2008

holiday??

I'm back. I was sort of a good holiday - I was out of the office, and out of the snow, so there's two points in favour. However, my son was a bit sick - nothing major, but an upset stomach can really put a damper on things. We ended up staying pretty close to home, but did make it out to the beach a few times.

At least I got a tan, and for a Canadian in December, that's a good thing.

But spending a whole week with my Mom? Oy. I love her to death, but Oy. Enough is enough. She talks way too much in the morning before coffee. Then when I say anything, she apologizes, over and over. Next year - 4 days max.



Here are the trekking socks I finished before I left - these are going to my husband for Christmas - for once he will get a finished pair, instead of a ball of yarn and a promise.
Then the handwarmers - the striped ones were the ribbed pattern - no thumb gusset, takes about a minute and a half to make. (And yes, I had to get a palm tree and hibiscus flower in the pictures!)
The charcoal and the blue are chunky alpaca, knit on 4mm, using the Maine Morning Mitt pattern from The Knitters Book of Yarn. Great pattern, and the best thumb gusset anywhere! Seriously, Google this, the pattern in available for free (too tired to find the link...) and it's wonderful. Because of the small needle size, these are firm, and luscious due to the Alpaca, and now I have to decide who to give them to...
Socks - two pairs of bamboo socks - and two completely different bamboo yarns. The grey is Kertzer On Your Toes bamboo, and the stripe is Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes. Both are incredibly soft and delicious, but the Kertzer is more substantial, and makes a noticeably thicker sock. The Mary Maxim, although really nice, probably could have been worked on a thinner needle (I used a 2.25mm), but the sock is nice enough. I just wonder how it will hold up to wear and tear. We'll see...
The socks are artfully draped in my Mom's grapefruit tree - you really didn't think I would go to Florida and take pictures inside, did you?

5 comments:

Saren Johnson said...

Lovely FO's and WIP's. I'm somewhat jealous of the warm weather.

Anonymous said...

Lookit them fruits!

CatBookMom said...

Glad the visit was good overall, and that you got a lot of knitting done (a LOT! smokin' needles!). I'm currently on the 4th pair of Maine Morning Mitts, and I completely agree about the outstanding thumb gusset. Keep warm!

Wish I could send you some of the huge limes off our backyard tree; across the alley one neighbor has grapefruits and oranges, another has figs and avocados. Talk about eating locally!!

Carol said...

Ah yes, the dreaded morning person. I once travelled with a morning person. I had to lay down rules or else I think something nasty would have happened.....

TracyKM said...

No thumb gusset on the ribbed ones? Really? I love making ribbed fingerless or tipless gloves, but I do a thumb gusset. I'd love to not do one....I just can't vision how you do it without one.
I printed off the MMM pattern a few days ago, but I had already started this pair as K1P1 and didn't want to rip; but next pair I will definately try her way!
I also HATE having to be social before coffee. That was the one thing I really hated on our cruise. My husband said he'd get my coffee for me so I didn't have to leave the cabin before breakfast, but he never did :(