here kitty, kitty, kitty

A stack of cats! These were a Christmas gift for a friend.



Pattern: Stackable cats, from Mochimochi Land
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted in Plum Line and Beet Red, and Patons Classic Merino in Peacock on US 6 needles

Tiny cat



Medium Cat



Big Cat



I am quite enamored of this trio.

off to the Bazaar

For the last few years I've spent an hour in line outside the Cyclorama one Sunday in December waiting for the Bazaar Bizarre to open. This year was no exception. It's an alternative craft fair but, really, there's something for everyone. Here are some of the things I enjoyed looking at this year.

Hedgehog bags from slaPPhaPPie



Matrioshka pillow from Hambone and Jennicakes



Adorable stuffed creatures and hoodies with furry linings and horns from Diane Koss





And this awesome tweed triceratops from MIAOW



I don't know where this lampshade made out of cocktail umbrellas came from, but it was adorable.



And the things that actually came home with me: awesome city prints from JHill Design





(I bought the small prints of Amsterdam and Chester since I've actually been to both, and love the things she chose to iconize them, but I was also tempted by Kiev and Albuquerque. And Champagne. And Malibu. They're all beautiful. I requested that she make a London one, too.)

And this baking print from Flowers in May



Apparently I was very into prints this year. :)

fall festivals

Last weekend we took a road trip out to the inaugural New England Fiber Festival in W. Springfield. It was pretty nice, a lot smaller than Rhinebeck, but all indoors in one large building. That included the sheep and alpacas and even the sheepdog demonstrations. We saw a lot of familiar vendors and pet lots of animals and looked at lots and lots of yarn and fiber. Some pictures:





Herding ducks



A happy Fiber Festival goer

twist and shout

Last year Kate convinced me to do the October Mystery Sock knit-a-long. That sock turned out pretty well, so when she mentioned that it was coming up again I decided to cast on for another mystery sock.



Pattern: Through the Loops Mystery Sock 2010
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Merino/Nylon Fingering (0.8 skeins) dyed with icing colors by me
Notes: Got impatient at the end and didn't wait for the final clue and just did a regular toe.



I'm not as big a fan of this year's sock as last year's, but it fits and I like the colors. Which I should since I did the dyeing. I've named the colorway "Lemon-Lyman" after a particular episode of The West Wing.



The one thing that I did like about the pattern was that it got me to figure out how to do twists and cables without a cable needle! I was going to throw the whole project out the window if I hadn't been able to do that, as it was just too fidgety for me. The way I did it means there are a good number of twisted stitches on the back sides of the cables but they're not visible in the pattern and I can definitely live with that.



Now back to gift-type knitting!

head of the class

I've been knitting hats lately.



Pattern: Picot Cloche, by Carol J. Sulcoski
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica (0.9 skeins) on US 8 needles
Notes: I knit an extra inch before the decreases, and then knit a plain round after each of the first two decrease rounds.



This lavender one is for me, but the second one is for my mom.



Pattern: same
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in glazed carrot (0.62 skeins) on US 8 needles
Notes: same as above



This was actually my first time knitting with Malabrigo, and it was a dream to knit with. Just lovely.

braids

I've gotten a lot of knitting done in the last week, mainly because really thick yarn knits up really quickly!



Pattern: Braided, by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Yukon (2.66 skeins) in a dark purple on US 13 and 15 needles



The pattern was quick and easy. There were lots of ends to weave in, but it wasn't too bad if you did them as you went along. And I love the braids!

And since I had yarn left over, I wanted to make a hat to match, so I tried to find a pattern with a braided cable like the braids in the scarf.



Pattern: his black cabled hat
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Yukon (1.33 skeins) in dark purple on US 13 needles
Notes: I doubled the length of the ribbing so that I could fold over the brim.



And these wintry things are looking very cozy now that it's getting cold outside!

warm toes

There's always more sock yarn waiting to be knit.



Pattern: Uzume, by Monkey Toes
Yarn: Claudia's Hand Painted Fingering in Purple Earth (about 1.5 skeins) on US 1.5 needles



These were actually a pretty fast knit, and even I memorized the pattern before the end of the first sock, which made it even faster.

Here's a detail of the stitch pattern. It would look better in a non variegated yarn, but you can still see the little loops the stitches make.



Even so, I still like these socks, even if I can find the one mistake I made.



And I have no idea what's up next. Hmmm...