Kiss My Knits!

It was a productive long weekend! Not as productive as I thought it’d be, since I wound up having to drive instead of the hubby, and he has this wacky insistence on me not knitting while I drive. Sheesh.

I did reach completion on 13 Jayne hats. Only 11 are pictured here, as I didn’t take a pic tonight. I’ll need 20 to fill the order I’m working on.

There’s a 14th done except for its pompom, but I had to stop working on them because I was using the yarn for something else. Namely, teaching others to knit! This is my sister-in-law and my niece, both happily knitting away. I didn’t realize I’d be doing this, so I didn’t have the proper needles. They’re both using double-pointed needles with rubber bands wrapped around the bottoms to prevent the yarn from sliding off.

The niece has the normal “my swatch is getting wider and wider” thing going on, as she tends to yarn over without realizing she’s done it. However, she was still very excited, and kept saying, “My mom is not going to be-LIEVE that I learned how to knit.” The sister-in-law is naturally crafty, and took to it like a duck to water. She’s already knitting and purling and asking about increases and decreases, and was very excited about going to her local Wal-Mart to get supplies for herself. They have no LYS in her town. If she really loves it, she can make the trek to Bella Filati in Southern Pines.

The niece’s local yarn situation is even more dire, so I’m going to send her some needles and yarn, so that if she chooses to keep going with it, she’ll be able to. Do y’all have suggestions for a good kids’ beginner book?

While they practiced, I worked on Tyrathia’s scarf. It’s a soysilk scarf from a pattern in the Little Box of Scarves, with Tyrathia providing both yarn and pattern. It was a little difficult to keep working on it, as I had to stop every row for “Aunt Heather, is this right?” It usually was. 🙂

So to go with something more mindless, I cast on for my first pair of socks, using supplies from my Secret Pal’s gift. Thanks again, Secret Pal, I’m totally psyched about this. (Secret Pal 5 info here.)

So, summing up: Two new knitters, some progress made on UFOs, and a new project started. Add hand-churned ice cream and you’ve got a great holiday! Happy days!

ETA: houseofdanie dyed the sleeveless t-shirt in the above picture without ever having seen the skirt. Is she crazy-talented or what?

(crossposted to tvini and knitting)