An odd thing happened here, all of a sudden. In the middle of a series of escapades that felt to me like they would never end at all (and indeed, I’d rather accepted that there would be no end at all) it all came to a peaceful and thorough end. My goal for the Christmas knitting (which I had fallen rather behind on) was to finish it all by 12th night… and I did. Tuppers socks are done and will be off to him in the mail in short order.

The pattern is from Classics in Kroy (Patons #922) , a wonderful booklet that I’ve had for years. My copy is seriously ratted up, but my google-fu failed to find anywhere that this was still available. Anybody know?

The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy (and it really is smooshy) and there was some serious competition for this colourway, particularly amongst the men in the family who think it’s tremendously masculine. (I can’t wait to tell them it’s called “Cocoa Kiss“.)

While I was on a roll I finished Susan’s scarf…

Another beautiful Just Enough Ruffles, and I think that this time I found the perfect yarn, in Blue Moon’s “Luscious Single Silk“. (This colourway is, most appropriately, Winter Solstice.) It’s soft and drapey and I am struggling with the fact that I’m putting it in the mail, but I am.

A scarf for Kelly got finished. This is alternating 1X1 rows of Blue Moon’s Labrador in “Jewel of the Nile”, and Silk Loops in “Bejewelled” and the colour is more accurate in the top picture. (Tina says she’s replacing Labrador with another yarn she likes better called “ThickieThin”. Tina also tells me that these yarns aren’t on the website right now (which would be why I couldn’t find them again) but will be on Monday.

I finished at night, about 20 minutes before I gave it away, and so the colour is wildly off in this last one.

I did 1X1 stripes by using 10mm Swing Needles (there’s a “how to use them” tutorial there), but you could do it with ginormous dpn’s or even a circular needle, where you pushed the work from one end to the other. It’s a fun trick to do with two wildly different yarns. When I learned it, I immediately figured out what most of the novelty yarns in my stash were for.

I finished the last (for now) of the Noro two row stripe scarves, this one for my mum.

(Noro Silk Garden, #’s 284 and 47)

Then, using cashmere to cope with disaster, I knit a wee and very, very pretty cowl, but I’m going to show you that tomorrow because all this doneness in one day is too overwhelming- because also?

The plumbing is done, the drywall repairs are done and (finally) I can use the new washer again, as it was so cruelly removed from my grasp by the great soil pipe disaster of ’09. It’s great having a new soil pipe, but I think that I’d love it if the next renovation on this house was a) voluntary b) less pricey, and c) VISIBLE.

Still. I’m not complaining. There’s a lot to be said for being able to flush at will.