Crazy holidays

Well, I've been on vacation and it's been nice. I got most of my Xmas knitting done. My mothers gift is still in the works but almost done. I modified the "just enough ruffles" pattern by doing 12 short rows instead of 14. I'm thinking it might still be too wide for what I want so next time I might use a size 7 needle instead of 9. I'm also working on my first set of socks using a pattern and video tutorial by Stacy of verypinkknits. Is coming well. Whole I've been here in Iowa I visited a LYS and picked up some really neat yarn. It's called Kiddo by Crystal Palace Yarns. It's a microfiber nylon blend and is sooooo soft. Only problem is that it's a nightmare to knit with lol. I also picked up this awesome scarf kit. Funny...I still don't have a scarf for myself! For Xmas I managed to snag some awesome sock yarn by knitpicks from their Handpainted line and a gift certificate for knitpicks. They're my favorite online yarn store! The sock yarn is Imagination in wicked witch color way. Its gorgeous! All in all I'm having a great time!

Projects

Phew! I got a minute to breath. Not really. I'm still knitting furiously to get all my Xmas projects done. I've been doing nothing in what little spare time I have but knitting. So, so far I was able to complete two scarves I made for my mother to gift to her in-laws. One is made using chunky mochi in intense rainbow and following the free ravelry pattern "chunky ribs and ruffles". I cast on extra stitches to widen it an extra pattern repeat. I like it better this way I think. It's basically an eve's rib or mistake rib pattern with ruffles. It's one of my favorite patterns because it's do quick and easy. It makes a great gift. I used 4 balls of yarn and size 13 needles. I wet blocked it after to stretch it out and make it longer as it was pretty short. I was able to stretch it pretty far and now it's long enough to get a couple wraps in. The second scarf was knit using Llama luxury, a 100% baby llama yarn. The reason for this yarn is cute. My moms mother-in-law has a llama farm! They love llamas. You'd actually be surprised how much llama decor is actually available out there. I used 300 yards/3 skeins and did a simple knit 1 purl 1 slipping the first stitch of each row. I used size 8 needles across 36 sts which is a bit loose for sport weight but it worked out pretty good. I'm happy with both of them. On to the next project!

I win!

I recently won a blog giveaway from knittingknoobie. She sent me an amazing sock package! I'm so excited and I love it! She threw in some awesome extras. Handpainted sock yarns, super soft lace and other beautiful yarns. I can't wait to knit them up :) thanks!