Christmas socks – finally finished! Waiting at Bill’s third dental appointment yesterday – this one with an oral surgeon – brought the socks to the home-stretch. Likewise, the two ounces of Shetland/Alpaca wool became fingerless mitts and a neck cosy. Also shown – three of five hats discovered unfinished in a brief clean-up binge.
Here’s the pattern for the neck cosy, knitted with a scant 21 grams of fine wool – because why waste even a small amount of fine handspun? I knitted it on size 9 needles to get the fully lacy effect.
Neck cosy: Cast on 20 stitches. ** Knit 2 rows (garter stitch). On third row, (K3, YO, K2 tog) THREE times, K5. Repeat from ** for length needed. If possible, try to end the scarf with a knit row. Unstretched, the knitting should be at least 20 inches long. I turned the bound-off edge before sewing to the cast-on edge, to make a sort of moebius twist. When finished, I had eight inches of spun yarn left over. I think this would be a quick, easy and slightly unusual winter present to make and give when one is needed. It stretches to fit over the head and sits nicely, like a cowl, around the neck.
And now the effort moves to two sweaters – one begun last year (and re-started yesterday); the other also begun last year, to keep a knitting student company – meaning we’d encourage each other. These could be long-running projects – they do NOT, either of them, use large needles - though at least one uses part of the stash. And of course, I’ve got a few littler projects to keep them company. More on those soon.
If the groundhog failed to see his shadow yesterday, does that mean spring is coming sooner?
