Planning for 2009 - The Year of Gift Knitting

2007 was the Year of Destash - to get rid of bad yarn.
2008 was the Year of Lace - hmmm, not really. But it was a good thought.
2009 is the Year of Gift Knitting - I plan to knit for others.

Knitting chemo caps this year was great. They were so well received, I'm inspired to continue gifting hats. Madonna asked for a lace scarf after seeing my vine lace scarf. Liza asked for a neck warmer. You can't keep it all and I'm still not in the mood for socks, so I'm carrying forward with projects I can give away.

Here is the gift list so far.

A Hulk Hat for Jack
A Calorimetry or Lace Headband for Jack's Sister
Liza's neckwarmer
A hat, bib and booties for Pedro and Margret's baby
A hat, bib and booties for Baby Rogg
A hat, bib and booties for Ricky and Crystal's baby
A lace head band for Brianna Ricky and Crystal's baby's older sister
Madonna's scarf

Because I'm crazed with the felted clogs, I already have a pair in the gift container. Luciano already had a pair. I obviously forgot I made them so the red pair are ready to be gifted to another lucky recipient.

I also plan to turn the linen yarn that's languishing in my stash into a beaded scarf. I have a potential recipient. Julie gave me an unexpected Christmas present. I got her nothing. I need to figure out when her birthday is and see how much time I have. She's very "green" so a linen scarf would be well received, plus we're in TX so a linen scarf is decorative without being too warm.

For me, I'd like to have a walk the dog cowl, but that may have to wait for next winter. I'm also interested in some fair isle. Maybe mittens or the Tapestry Cowl it's colorwork, double knitting and a cowl. Kind of exciting. I really want to give it a try, but for now I have several projects to finish before summer and would probably not be able to give it the time it so deserves. So it will wait.

The stake is in the ground. Let's see how the year falls out. For now I have to finish this year's kntting and that includes the Acero Clapotis scarf for my SIL. Off to knit.

Hit The Sale at the Shabby Sheep Today

I had a blast at the Shabby Sheep sale today. So many times I go in with no plan. I'm unclear what I need, so I don't know what I want and I'm left unfulfilled with my purchases. The yarn stales in my stash for an undetermined amount of time. Not this year.

Thanks to Ravelry I went in with a plan and a shopping list. When news of the sale hit I went to my queue and started to make a list of what I needed for upcoming projects.

First up, a scarf for Madonna. Lace yarn in red, around 400 yds - check. Claudia's Handpainted silk in Rubies Playing. Fun for me to knit and fabulous for Madonna to wear. And at 1,100 yds, this is good for a couple of projects. It was pricey for me even on sale, but oh so yummy.
175yds of sport weight for Liza's neck thing - check. I got a skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in brown. It's actually worsted weight, but it is going to be great.Yarn for baby socks in Texas - check. Panda Soy Sock in Poppy Red to match the onesies I got at the mall. I was going to use this Mountain Colors I got at the SOW Sock Yarn gift exchange, but mohair in TX is overkill. In fact, most of these babies will be born in the summer so it is really out of the question.But it is pretty. Now I'm not sure what I'll do with it but it will come to me. Perhaps mittens.

Speaking of mittens, I've cued a ton of fair isle, I took advantage of today's sale to pick up some funky colors in the Louet Gems sock yarn. This will go with the charcoal I already have and make a nice pair of mittens or a scarf or a cowl. Or maybe more than one of the above.
Now the Malabrigo Sock was pure indulgence. It came from the Knitting Nook a couple of weeks ago. I don't know what it want's to be, but it is so soft, how can I not have a skein aging beautifully in my stash.I'm still on a sock hiatus so this may end of being a scarf or a cowl. I'm on a cowl kick. Not that I've knit a bunch, but they are queued.

Christmas Knitting and More

Once again I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. Good news is I've gotten plenty of knitting done.

I finished a hat for Pat's MIL. It's a chemo cap in the ovarian cancer color.

I'm just almost done with Adrianne's dog walking cowl. I just have the edging to finish. Need to get that done this week.

I finally cast on Robyn's clapotis. I've gone back and forth on whether or not to make it a wrap or a scarf. Right now I'm in the scarf stage. Since it's do or die time on the stitch count, it will most likely be a scarf. The truth is, she probably would never wear a wrap. She'd think she never had the right time and she wouldn't use it everyday. This way, she can use it as an every day scarf. I'm happy with that.

After Christmas knitting includes a Shrek hat for Jack. I can't wait to do that and Jeri gifted me the yarn. How cool is that?

There are also three babies due this spring. I bought red and white onsies. I have 5 skeins of denim yarn that will make really cute hats to round out the outfits. If there's enough yarn, I'll also do a bib or two.

Then my friend Madonna (not THE Madonna) asked for a scarf. She offered to pay me, but...if I work it up as a gift, I can knit what I want to knit with the yarn I want to knit with. I have an idea of what she wants, now to pick out the yarn. I'm thinking something with silk in a jewel tone.