12/12/12 Carefree KAL - December

Wow, I'm feeling good! I finished the year with a few hours to spare. Annetrelac pattern by Sandy Beadle from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007 (also available through Ravelry). I used Trekking XXL in colorway 108. I saw this yarn with this pattern in Ravelry and since it was in my stash I knew it was a must. I love the way they turned out. Used size 1 dpn.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!

aren't you lucky cpy cleaned out closet drawing!

susan has cleaned out the closets at the cpy warehouse and found some unlabeled lab dips. there is nothing wrong with the yarn. they just don't have the official labels. she has 8 packages of 2-3 skeins already packed and ready to go to some lucky people.

leave me a comment and tell me something. i will draw winners on tuesday, december 21st. how much easier can it get? you must be a member of the carefree kal blog.

ps. there is one package of panda cotton, so please let me know if you don't want a wool blend.

eta: extending deadline to december 31st.

welcome more new members!

a warm carefree kal welcome to:

carol (bustapurl) who has been kal'ing on 50 socks

tracy (tvanwormer)

denise (lost city denise)

mel

suzieQ

leslie (soxnitter)

judyG

becki (cre8ing gospol links)

jennieblue

nancy (knitwitz)

melanie (la dolce knita)

kateC (glumnmum)

sage71

ps. just a reminder that you have to accept the invitation to join the carefree blog before you are an official member.

December Project Take 2

Hat WIP Pic

Hat finished. 1st mitten started.

Hat and 1st mitten finished. About to CO for mitten #2.

So, I thought I had finished my december project, but I was mistaken about the yardage. Sooooo, the only thing on my needles was a hat. Decided quickley that I would finishe hat and make matching mittens in 24 hours to finish on time. It is the Amanda Hat in Malabrigo worsted and mittens (improvised by me) to match. It is 9am and I am finished Hat and Mitten #1. The hat weighs 65gms and the mitten 48 gm, so if my calculations are correct, byt the time the second finished mitten is done, the total weight will be 160gm, which is just over 300yrds. I'll have sore fingers and wrists, ut I'll finish the KAL and have a beautiful Hat and mitts to show for it!

Off to knit......

Jill (jaerrt)

12 months/12 projects/12 balls of yarn kal!

well, i can't believe 2010 is almost over! you have 2 more days to finish up your december projects! and have until january 4th to get them posted here for credit.

thank you for a wonderful year of knitting and sharing! congratulations to all of you who managed to finish a project every month. i bow to your awesomeness. (total slacker here!)

here's to a wonderful 2011! and to some "prime time" knitting!!!!

december

i did finish a scarf! it was a pretty quick knit.

progress

done!

the galway seaman's scarf
designed by meagheen ryan

the color in real life is closer to the progress picture. i made the ribbing section longer than the pattern as the giftee has a hefty neck. LOL! i used close to 350 yds.

and here is an official photo of the socks i posted for the holiday or not kal.

llama, llama, duck
designed by moi for a sock club

see!!! i can knit socks in pairs!!!! sometimes. i did give my mom a mismatched pair of socks and told her there was another set just like it coming in the future.

i am almost done with one more project! just 4 more rows....

Something other than socks

See? I do knit something other than socks:The pattern is Knotty, and this is my first attempt at knitting gloves. I started on Christmas Eve and haven't had a lot of time to knit (and the first glove has been finished since I took this picture), so since I have this week off I think I have a reasonable chance of finishing the pair in the next couple of days. I'm enjoying having a bit more time to knit.

December 12m/12p/12boy Finished....whew!

WIP Pic

I finished this little Shrug on Christmas Eve, just in time for my daughter to wear it with her Holiday dress on Christmas Day. It is the Little Girl's Shrug from Knitting Pure & Simple with mods to make long sleeves. I doubled the yarn and did the 18 month size to make it fit a 3 year old. It was a bit snug, but worked fine. I also made long sleeves and tapered them to the wrist, then did the lace pattern which made a bit of a flare. I used Bernat Baby Coordinated yarn and used nearly all of the skein so, well over 400yrds. It was white with a shiny thread which made it "sparkly" as per my daughter. Not my favorite yarn or FO for sure, but she loves it!


Finished Pic.

A little bit amazed with myself that I completed a project every month. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Jill (jaerrt on ravelry)

New baby knits from prize

Here's what I knit with the yarn I won in helping to name the CPY Purls from the Palace (I wasn't the first to suggest it though)
For my grandson, in Merino 5 this vest.
And the Mini Mochi sweater for my granddaughter. It's the Nadia lace trim pullover.

December Project

These are Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby. Unknown yarn, as it was a kit from some yarn festival that surfaced when starting to clean house. Pattern followed almost exactly, just a little change to the thumb. (Some day I will follow a pattern or recipe exactly, without any tweaking - yeah, sure, uh huh.) Since I was making the large size, I used her suggestion of a provisional cast on and then made the cuffs later, to make sure I had enough yarn.

Also this month, I ripped out the ending of last month's shawl and made the other border. When posting, I discovered that it was 100% merino and realized that neither mother (91 or 86) would want to care for a handwash shawl, so it could be larger. That took almost another ball of yarn.

The double-knit dragon hat was also modified. The top was frogged and reknit to a smoother curve. It could still be better, but not without modifying the dragon. As it came down to my mouth, it then got semifelted. (I know, it's really fulling, but that sure sounds weird.) Warning: KnitPicks BlueJay yarn bleeds. Also, there has to be a better way to do it than sitting in the bathtub and using my head for a mold, with a bucket of cold water beside the tub. When first wet, it came down to my chin - yikes! It now comes to my eyebrows and is quite warm. Works well, as it it is 20 degrees (F) in Milwaukee today.

All this energy (frogging, cleaning, plus cooking and some home repairs) is because I was off work since before Thanksgiving. I'm back to work for three days now, and then off again (burning accumulated vacation time) until I retire officially in January. It's good to be back to work to get a rest - we have a boomerang son at home now and cooking has been a full time job, not to mention the guys are expecting real meals on a regular basis now. Since husband normally works evenings and I worked day shift, we were out of the habit of cooking during the week. I've been doing at least 10 dozen cookies and three dozen muffins at least once a week, plus regular meals. Husband has gained at least 15 pounds, as he and boy seem to be in an eating contest, and boy has taken over the dog walks (three dogs, walked individually, at least an hour each). Sigh. They are upset because I am not cooking this week while working. LOL.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season, and staying healthy and warm. Regards to all, aj

Holiday (or NOT) KAL WINNERS!!!

looks like some of you are already winners having finished much of your holiday knitting. i, unfortunately, do not fall in that category and am still working away on my holiday knits. sigh!

our generous sponsor, susan of crystal palace yarns, has decided to send a prize to everyone who posted a completed project. but wait, there is a deal! we are hosting a rodekool brioche scarf KAL on our sister group over on ravelry. if you choose "door #1" and promise to join the kal, susan will send you a skein of mini mochi or 2 skeins of panda silk for the project. if you choose "door #2," susan will send you 2 balls of sock yarn.

so, angie, bianca, brenda, debi, jardin rouge, jill, jody, kadezmom, lorraine, peacockmom, and yoyosocksister, email me at carefreekal at gmail dot com with your mailing address and whether you want "door #1" or "door #2." if you select "door #1," please let me know whether you want mini mochi (with 3 color choices) or the panda silk (with 3 color combinations). if you select "door #2," please let me know if you want a wool blend or a non-wool blend.

congratulations to all!

December KAL Projects

Here are my projects for December. I did a pair of crocheted mittens, a crocheted Christmas wreath, and three knitted dishcloths. These are all Christmas presents. I had fun doing this KAL this year and look forward to next year.

December FO Posted

I finally finished my December project, without too much time to spare. It is another pair of socks, made with 1 skein (450 yards) of ONline Supersocke 100 Emotion III-Color yarn. I wasn't sure I would get these finished when I lost my knitting mojo after open heart surgery in November, but I was determined to get them done. Happy New Year to everyone!
Deb (GablesDeb)

Merry Christmas too All Dec. Knitting

I can't believe that the year is almost over. It's Christmas Day all ready and I've got knitting to share.

I finished my Heart to Heart Shawl by Sivia Harding . I started this pattern once and just didn't understand the pattern and then after doing several lace projects this one was easy and had so much fun knitting it. The yarn is cashmere and so yummy added the beads and had a great time.

I have made 7 hats for quick gifts and a few mitts so that has taken most of my December. This has been a great KAL and has helped me to finish projects each month .

Merry Christmas and Happily knitting.

carefree kal 2011

i am totally on a roll here today! LOL!

i cannot believe that the year is almost over. we need to start thinking about whether to continue our year long kal challenge or not. who is interested? would you like to continue our current format or would you like to move this all over to ravelry?

would you like more mini kals like our ufo or holiday kal? mystery kals?

tell us what you want.

not a member yet? just email me at carefreekal at gmail dot com and i will get an invite to join the blog out to you.

eta: we would love more participation here! so, invite a friend to join and if your friend does, both your names will be entered into a drawing for some cpy yarn. make sure your friend tells us you sent her/him. or if you aren't already a blog member, join now and your name will be entered.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.........

I just happen to know that someone here that designs socks and lets us know when prizes are won...is having a Christmas Eve Birthday. Oh and this person also knits a lot of socks but only single ones.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS A may all your dreams come true. Even if they are that your socks get paired.

Another roo cloth

8 ply cotton from Bendigo Mills in Australia and 3.5mm needles makes a great face cloth. Adrienne helped me add the hearts which represent our roos, peacocks and corgi. :)

I finished something!

I have finally finished something. Yes, it's just a beanie, but I actually got to sit down and knit this month, and finish my one knitted gift before christmas. It's posted too late for the holiday KAL, but it found its new owner's head a whole week before christmas. This is my brother's new beanie. The ribs are coded to spell photographer (his passion) in binary. Hurray for finishing building the hangar, finishing the move to Germany, and finishing the beanie!

12/12/12 assortment

I have knit several items to make the minimum required yardage and have probably knit about 400 yards for this entry. I decided to use the colors and all of one skein to keep track and then went into more for fun. The little avocado dishcloth is for a friend who owns an avocado orchard.

The original December project of socks is still on needles. I'm waiting for new glasses to finish them. Might save them for a Valentine's present for Fred. The night shade color way has red in it so that works, right? :)

More little things on the 4mm needles and I will post as finished and photographed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you and I look forward to another year of sharing knitting with all of you thanks to our generous and valiant leaders. Hugs from way down under--Tunie

PS. Happy Birthday to Adrienne on Christmas Eve! xoox

WINNERS from 12 months/12 projects/12 balls of yarn

first, i am all caught up with the november and december projects; so if i missed giving you an "N" or a "D," please let me know.

winners drawn from pool of everyone who completed a project between january and june:

1. nolaboard

2. yoyosocksister


winner from pool of everyone who completed a project with crystal palace yarns;

aj


and the winner of two skeins of the not yet released "sausalito is:


deb (gablesdeb)

congratulations! winners, please email your mailing addresses to me so i can send them on to susan!

eta: 12/17/10: i need addresses people. if you don't want your yarn, i will have susan send it all to ME!!!

12/20/10: i have only heard from one person. if the winners do not contact me by friday, dec. 24th, i will draw new names.

Sweater finished

One for Wietse this time, in red. He wanted one for Christmas, and I had fun making it. But he has grown rapidly in the past couple of months - I had to use 700 yards to make this sweater...

Started it: Dec 17
Finished Dec 20

More Holiday Knitting

#1 Stocking and Mittens

The stocking is for my great grandson. It's #28 in th4 family series. I used worsted weight acrylic, knit on #5 needles. It used about 185 yards. I also knit 2 pairs of mittens for grandkids, totaling about 150 yds for both pairs. Worsted weight wool knit on #4 needles.

I showed a progress picture for the stocking, The mittens went too fast. Also, it's winter here and the light is not good.
Project #2

I thought I showed progress photos for this one, but here they are. The pattern was an Advent gift by Stephanie van der Linden. It's part of her Advent calendar.

This was my first time doing TAAT. It worked well for the legs, but the feet decrease on the top of the foot, while increasing on the bottom. I finally gave up and used 2 circulars per sock.