The ridiculously late Christmas post

Yeeeeah. I'm a little behind. I really haven't been knitting that much because when I get home from work I either want to just sit on the couch and watch tv or spin and watch tv. Spinning is much more meditative for me than knitting (likely because I knit things that take too much concentration), so I've been making a buttload of yarn that I haven't knit up yet. It's just sitting on my table looking pretty.

Anyway, I promised pictures of Christmas gifts, so here we go.

Mom's Scarf (#63)


Pattern: Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf by Marci Richardson from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Three Irish Girls Wexford Merino Silk (wool/silk), in Donegan; about 1/2 a skein
Needles: US #8 (5mm)
Notes: Because the yarn I used is a lot thicker than what the pattern called for, I didn't increase as many times as the pattern called for (I don't remember what my number was, though). I was determined right after Stitches East to immediately knit with something I bought there, and this yarn is the great colors for my mom. Plus she doesn't like really long scarves, so this worked perfectly.

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Candace's Beaded Scarf (#64)


Pattern: This is based on the pattern used in the knitting with beads class from the Celtic Knot Yarn Shop (which is now closed)
Yarn: South West Trading Company Yin (wool/silk/bamboo), in 824 - Desire; 1.25 skeins
Needles: US #5 (3.75mm)
Notions: Size 8 seed beads--a whole lot of them
Modifications: I made the scarf wider than the original pattern--I think I added 2 or 3 bead sections.
Notes: I made this to go with the chevalier mittens that I also gave Candace for Christmas. Since the scarf is knit in two halves and grafted in the middle, that means I had to figure out how to do kitchener 2x2 ribbing. That was perhaps the most obnoxious knitting thing I've ever had to do.

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I also made mom and Candace necklaces from fantastic beads I bought from the last trunk show at Two Busy Beads. Mom's is the blue/green one (amazonite) and Candace's is the pink one (for the life of me I can't remember what that's called, but it comes dyed in many different colors--I knew Can would love the pink).





I also bought a lot of Christmas presents from various shops on Etsy.com. First, I bought a whole bunch of bath bombs from Moon's Harvest. I split them between mom, Candace, and myself. I used mine up so quickly I had to order another even bigger batch. She makes them to order but her turnaround time is *really* fast! I'm particularly fond of Crushed Orange and Diva (black cherry).

I also bought a ridiculous number of soaps from The Anderson Soap Company. Again, I gave some to mom, some to Candace, and kept a bunch for myself. Here's just a few:


I bought 4 bird prints for my mother-in-law from Mincing Mockingbird. I forgot to take a picture of these, but they were so pretty I think Mike and I might buy some for our apartment. I also have bought a ton of magnets from this shop because I think they're absolutely hilarious. I have a bunch of them at work on my cabinets.

I bought Mike a few prints from Misanthropic Cavalcade: Art by Joe Havasy. If you like hilariously inappropriate but really well done art, this is the place to go. The quality of the prints is fantastic, too. I've decided that Mike needs to hang these in his office when he becomes a professor.



I've been buying a ton of other stuff lately from Etsy (since there's still a lot of money in my PayPal account). I plan on listing more later. Hopefully though there won't be a month-long delay this time.