Knitting in pink

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. The food was good, the trees were nicely decorated, the friends were friendly, family was welcoming and fun and the gifts were plentiful.

Here are a few of my favorite gifts:

A 1GB USB key to replace the one I lost a few weeks ago, the SnB calendar for 2007 and 2 CDs to listen to while knitting or working on the computer.



A set for 4 of this Black & White Damask from T*rget from DH. He also got me 4 chargers to go with the set, but the edges were all broken up so I'll be returning them.



A cute sheepy doormat from Lantern Moon.

And last but not least, also from DH:



My newly organized set of Options set from Knit Picks. I look forward to trying them out! DH also got me th 40", 47" and 60" cords. I think that I am pretty much all set in needles now, except maybe for an extra 40" US0 and US3.

Received from Jasmine:

LET ME KNIT
( a.k.a. Let it snow )

Oh the weath - er outside is fright - ful . . .
but the yarn is so de - light - ful.
and since I have a place to sit . . .
Let me knit! Let me knit! Let me knit!

Come on! Go ahead and sing it! I know you want to! : )

Yesterday, at the knitting group, Bethe and Erin and Jasmine and her mom had a surprise for all of us. When I arrived I was handed gift bags. I couldn't wait until I got home to look inside! So after I was done with knitting I peeked!

Here a some pictures of the loveliness received:

On the first picture, pink yarn by Suri Laine to make Cherry Garcia by Knitty given by Erin and my second ever hand knitted item for me, a pair of warm mittens, made by Bethe, for me!

On the second picture are dragonfly stitch markers given by Jasmine and her mom. There are two sets, one for tiny needles, perfect for sock knitting, and one for bigger needles, perfect for everything else!

Thank you very much, Erin, Bethe, Jasmine and Jasmine's mom. Your thoughtfulness was much appreciated.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Last night I finally cast on for something else than socks... Can you believe it? Something else than socks! I have a hard time believing it myself! lol!

I am using the "Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch Hat" pattern from I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can. The cast on suggested is Emily Ockner's with a crochet hook. I printed the instructions with the pictures and it made it easy to understand. I also had to google M1L and M1R increases. After a couples hours of work I'm almost done increasing the top of the hat and will be able to knit even until I get to the ribbing.

The red yarn indicates the beginning of the round, in case you are wondering... I don't own split stitch markers or the kind that open up like a lock so I used what was on hand! *Note to self: must add split stitch markers to my wish list*

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Some people have asked me if I was going to knit the matching sock to DH's Austermann sock and to my Abalone sock. The answer is yes, but not quite yet. I might have cast on for one or the other right away but I am awaiting some yarn to test for the store, so I'm keeping my needles empty for when it arrives.

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For those who really enjoyed my Christmas tree, here is a picture of another of my favorite traditions: the advent calendar



Even though I'm not a little kid anymore, I have to have an Advent Calendar. When I lived in Switzerland I always bought the ones that had the chocolate inside. But now that I am in the US I cant find those anywhere (someone told me yesterday that Starbucks has some. Must find a Starbucks to buy one!) so I've been buying the card sized one when I find them. This one I bought back in August in New Hampshire. I'm glad I bought it then, because I haven't seen any since!

You can't see really well now that so many doors are opened, but the picture shows 1 gnome/dwarf with his axe coming to chop a tree. What you can't see is that the tree he was about to chop is all decorated, certainly by the 2 other gnomes/dwarves hiding and chuckling behind a tree in the forefront. I thought it was cute I had to buy it!

I was going to show you another of my favorite Christmas decorations but the lighting was pretty bad and the picture didn't come out good. So I'll keep it for next time!

This Christmas tree.

And this sock:



The tree is a first on many accounts. First of all, it's a fake tree, we bought it at IKEA for $12 this weekend. I've never put up a fake tree before. But $12 is a lot cheaper than $40, which is what a nice tree costs around here. It was also small enough that we knew it would fit well in our tiny living room!
Second of all, I have never put up a Christmas tree this early. Usually it's 2 weeks before Christmas, never in November!

But the tree is cute, I like how it's decorated: pink, red, purple and orange balls and garlands. And it makes our living room nice and cheery.

As for the sock...

I would probably be done with the first one if I hadn't had to rip 4 inches of the leg. Saturday night I had DH try on the sock again. Shocking! The leg was way too big! DH has wide feet, big ankles, but skinny legs (1/8 of an inch bigger than mine)! So I used another circular needle in the same size as my life line and ripped back to the ankle, decreased a bunch of stitches (I went down from 80 stitches to 64) and started some ribbing. That way I'm sure the leg will fit! Of course, ribbing is taking a lot longer than plain stockinette. I was afraid at first that I wouldn't have quite enough yarn to make a nice long sock. But I think that I will, now. BTW, I get 10.5 stitches to the inch on a US size 2 with Austermann Step. Am I crazy?

I can't wait to be done with these socks, I haven't knit a single other thing than this sock for the last 2 weeks I think, and I probably won't until they are done.

Hopefully Ill be able to post a picture of one finished sock by the end of the week!