Spoolin' around

I found another use for a spool of Lion Brand cotton yarn: to hold embroidery thread as I wind it on plastic spools! Very fast and handy. Newly groomed Dodger is an aluring background to yarn.



Here's a peek at my snazzy canvas shopping bag project:

California hat

I knit most of this hat on the four-hour flight to Los Angeles around Christmas. While I was there, a Californian asked me if we needed winter hats in Tennessee. Yes, it gets cold.

I knit an all-ribbed hat in this yarn for a Christmas present for my sister Anna, and learned the lesson that one ball of yarn is not always enough for a hat. There was a four-inch gap at the top of the unfinished hat. I had to go to multiple Joann's to track down the yarn again. I think it was a seasonal yarn, Reminiscence by Debbie Mumm in the color Carnival. It has dull colors in the wool (50%) and bright, shiny colors in acrylic (50%).

I have a knack for knitting hats a little big, and I did it again. Whoops.

January Knitting

I've got a couple of WIPs, a hat and the Chevron Hand Towel. I would like to knit Paul a hat to match his gray scarf, but the caculations have made me procrastinate so far.

More secret projects in the works, and I bought yarn at Michael's yesterday. This is Tweedle Dee by Moda Dea in the color Surf and Turf.

Sock elephant

I was not going to knit or make any gifts for Christmas, but then my sister Anna requested a sock elephant, and Anna means business. She even gave me a package of Original Rockford Red Heel Socks (sock monkey and elephant instructions always included), and specified that although she would not mind an Indian-decorated elephant, under no condition was I to make a cruel, circus-decorated elephant.

I bought a Indian-looking napkin at Target and made the blanket and headdress. I made the tassel out of gold jeans thread, and used ribbon in my stash to tie on the outfit. When I started making the sock elephant it looked extremely odd to me, like a bizarre sock monkey, but I think it turned out alright in the end! Anna was pleased.