The secret pal begins!

Good stuff in the mails. A new knitting magazine - no, hadn't even seen that one before, so completely new to me. I'm still trying to figure out why it has crochet patterns in there, though. And why the things I like best are crocheted...

A very cool bag that had lovely notecards in it. The cards were promptly removed and my knitting widgets moved from one bag to the new one. The new one is a see through mesh like bag, so I can see my things in it, instead of digging around blindly. It is, indeed, a fine bag for knitting widgets. Love the cards, too! And I adore stitch markers. Just love them.

Thank you, SP7!

In other knitting news, I have been busily knitting away, just not writing about it, as I should. In January, I knit the following:

The Cheshire Kitty hat, which was a gift.

A Spacious Show n Tell Moebius bag from Second Treasury of Magical Knitting by Cat Bohdri. I knit it in Knitpicks Merino Style, which felted MUCH better than I expected it to (but what a joy to knit with - soft and springy yarn). The bag itself isn't so spacious due to the aggressive felting, and the strap was much too short. After doing some math, I figured out how much more strap to knit and did so, then cut the ends and sewed it all together. I love the bag, but don't consider it giftworthy. So I am keeping it. Tuesday I got some Paton's Classic Wool, another merino, to make another bag, as I still want to give it as a gift. I love the strap on the bag, and how it sits so comfortably on my shoulder. It holds my wallet, phone and iPod perfectly, with room for some knitting, so it's a good size for me.

A black kitty hat for ME

Finished Coronet from Knitty.com. I had knit the cabled band in November, I think, but didn't have a set of either #8 DPNs (took care of that Tuesday with a visit to an actual Yarn Store - oh the joy!) nor a 16" circular #8. That got taken care of with Christmas and the acquisition of my Denise interchangeables. I love those needles. I love the hat, too, which I knit in Manos in a blend of browns. Also for me, as wool hats are a necessity here.

2 squares of the afghan I began quite some time ago. Only 20 more to knit. Sigh. This is for David, for the truck.

2 pairs of Lace Up Armwarmers from Alterknit. My last secret pal gifted me with this amazingly lush Artfibers yarn called Kantuta, which is 100% baby alpaca. I had just enough to make both pair of armwarmers. The lacing was to be a bias cut silk ribbon, but at $3 a yard, I chose another route. I found a silky scarf (may be silk, may be polyester - not sure) at the Salvation Army for 50 cents. The colors match perfectly and it has an interesting dotted center with a paisley like border. Cut on the bias, it made lovely ribbon. I tried a regular satiny ribbon, but it was too stiff. It does need the bias cut silkiness to hang correctly. These are very warm and soft, and I love them. I kept one pair and gifted the other.

A pair of thrummed mittens. I was gifted at Christmas with some Cascade 220 in a deep bluish red that matches my winter coat very well. I used alpaca roving for the thrums, making these the warmest ever mittens. I couldn't conceive of wearing such mittens in California, or even in Washington. But here in Michigan, they are PERFECT. After I finished, I still had a bit of yarn so I made a small felted bag to keep my iPod in, along with the FM transmitter I have for it. Both of these are for me. I did so much knitting for others at Christmas, I feel it's my turn. But I am nearing a knitting saturation point.

I also started the Tri-angle Aran wrap from knitty.com. I finished one repeat of the seven required. There are a couple errors I've made (I'm having problems with the purl to knit yarnover, so one side isn't always getting an eyelet) but I don't feel like frogging it for that. It's mainly to wrap around me at home, so I think I'll live with errors at the bottom. It's turning out quite lovely in spite of that - I like cables!

That's it for my knitting creations for January. I will, once I get them uploaded, add some pictures...