Of course most of it was because of the annual 'can't blog; knitting for Christmas' stuff. Since it tends to be only my family who reads my blog I can't post much about what I did.
And then, the other part of the not blogging was simple laziness. I admit it.
Anyhoo, I have been knitting like a fiend, and actually managed to get my Christmas knitting done well in advance, so much of the knitting of late has actually been for myself! And, as usual, I have about 4 projects on the go.
Finished Object #1 - Tiny Antler Hat. Isn't this the freaking cutest thing you've ever seen?? It's CUTENESS EXPLOSION!!
Then I created a cowl to match. My vintage wool winter coat has a very annoying neck. The zipper closes & hits a spot on my neck that is very annoying, especially when it's cold. It's a metal zipper! So I whipped up a quick cowl. I call it 'Latte', because it's not quite vanilla. But close enough.
I am the toastiest wee reindeer in Muskoka!
Also on the needles are (still) the Moose Vest, the Honeycomb Vest and a new pair of mittens.
And - excitement of excitement - I did a knitting workshop with The Yarn Harlot!! OMG that woman is hilarious. I don't know why I was so surprised; after all, her blog makes me snort out loud. But she had us in stitches all day. In the morning she talked about knitting history and showed us pictures of things. Hilarious classic portraits of people 'knitting' with 3 needles, or something that looked like it was supposed to be knitting in the round but was on straights, stuff like that. She taught us throwers how to pick, and the pickers how to throw, and how to do a very convoluted purl when picking called the Norwegian Purl.
In the afternoon she taught us 'lever knitting', which is a style of knitting that is much more natural for the body, is faster (once you get familiar with it!) and will let you knit for much longer of your lifetime because there is less chance of repetitive stress injury. It wasn't hard to get the hang of it, but it will take lots of practice. I tried doing the Latte cowl with it, but because it makes my tension all wonky I gave up. She suggested doing 'homework' of a simple 1x1 rib scarf every night before doing our on the needles projects. I'll dig in my stash to find something for that. It won't be a scarf I'll wear, because it will start with really tight tension and loosen up as I get more comfortable.
And, of course, seeing as the workshop was held at the wonderful Little Red Mitten, on the lunch break I did some shopping. I picked up some Harrisville Shetland for my new mittens and some red Cascade 220 for another pair of armwarmers.
Oh! And here is the finished coatdress & cape from Fairy Tale Knits for the nieceypoo. I just have to whip up the muff to go along with it. I can't wait to see it on her.
