I had a really fun Christmas this year. And I got lots of great stuff including some new yarn!

To see more, visit Koenig Farm.

There is just enough of it to make this!

As a little tip to everyone, when you drive between locations late in the day on Christmas Eve, don’t expect anything to be open. Gas station pizza is what we had for dinner. Blech-o. It was worth it to be at the Farm Christmas morning. The other good news is that since I am using my Denise Interchangeables to make the fluffy sweater, I was able to finish the other sleeve in the car:

I’ve been so busy!

Since everyone (Great Gran, my mom, my cousins across the street) is out of town for a week or so skiing in Colorado, M and I have been spending a lot of time at the new house unpacking stuff. Which is like Christmas all over again because I haven’t seen my things in so long I have forgotten what we own! In addition, we got Mario-Kart DoubleDash for Christmas and have been playing WAY too much of that! All that to say that I haven’t been knitting on my sweater all that much this week. I am sure that all this will change tomorrow night with the staying up ’til midnight thing. There will probably be sweater progress to report soon.

The sample card I ordered from Oze Yarn came in the mail today – boy is it yummy stuff.

Delish!

I will definitly be ordering from them in the near future. The Heirloom Cotton looks particularly lush and the Heirloom Alpaca wants to become a vest for M. I can tell. It whispered to me. Oze Yarn is in Australia, so as a bonus gift, I received this very cool stamp.

We are in Atlanta visiting Michael’s mom for the first bit of Christmas. After his family’s Christmas on the 24th, we’ll be driving back home to Bay Minette to celebrate with my family on the 25th. We actually got here last night and have been able to spend all day hanging out and baking. Jennifer (M’s sister who is 14) and I made Brownie Disasters. This is actually a very easy recipe:

1. Make brownie mix according to instructions on the box.
2. Spread the bottoms of greased muffin tins with half the batter.
3. Add a layer of melted caramel to the muffin tins and cover with the rest of the batter.
4. Bake until brownies are cemented into the muffin tins.
5. Attempt to pry brownies out of muffin holes via cleaver (Jennifer’s idea), nearly stabbing Emily through the heart when knife slips.
6. Soak muffin tins until Michael’s Mom gets home and decides that there is no hope and throws them in the garbage with the stand mixer that almost caught on fire earlier that day.

After this little episode, Jennifer retired to her room and I to the couch to knit.

That’s Rosie sitting next to me on the couch. On the other side is a very, very large Snoopy PEZ dispenser. It plays music and was a gift from M’s Mom.

I finished the first sleeve and after taking a scientific poll of which piece to knit next, started on the other sleeve. The cuff looks better on the new sleeve, but not enough better to frog the other one and start over. It is all going to end up so fuzzy when I am finished that no one will notice anyway.

I am really enjoying the kid soft! It doesn’t appear to be shedding everywhere which is quite a relief and it is so soft and nice that it is pleasant to work with. I may have to pony-up the money for more Rowan yarns if they are all this nice to work with.

Today the camera was charged, Michael was in his vest and the sun was out so I took a few pictures. This one is his favorite.

For the real gallery pictures take a look here.

I also got him to take a couple of me in the purple sweater (also located in the gallery). They are taken indoors, it is too cold outside for short sleeves.

I haven’t gotten to work on the Fluffy Sweater today (boo!). It has been another Crazy Baking Day here at the farm. May I just say that two ovens in one kitchen ROCK. Whoever designed Great Gran’s kitchen was a genius. I am going to run back inside now and make some peppermint bark because Aunt Patti loves it so. I think I will treat myself to a few rows of fluffy tranquility before bed as a reward for all of my hard work.

I finished all of my ornaments today – I’d show you a picture but I don’t know which family members are regular readers and I don’t want to spoil the surprise! As a reward for all of my hard work I knit a little.

I am at about eight inches; it moves along pretty quickly. You really can’t tell that it’s coming along because there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to knit lately – what with all the Christmas Procrastination going on. I haven’t had time to really read all the blogs I usually do much less post to my own. Blah. But Laurin over at Supurlfluous has started a Tyrolean Cardigan knit-a-long. I was sad that I had already made one and couldn’t participate, so she has changed it to a Vintage Knits-a-long so I can be part of it. My very first knit-a-long! I am quite excited.

Oh, as a tip if anyone decides to make the Fluffy Sweater, it is easier to make the little cables in the ribs if you slip both stitches off knitwise together onto the right needle, slip them back onto the left needle purlwise and then knit them. You also don’t end up with quite such a long side to your purls. Trust me, I tried this multiple ways and have the wormy cast-on rows to prove it (mohair only frogs so far).

PS I got Michael all dressed in his grey vest and out into the yard this morning to take his picture, only to find that the battery in the camera was dead. He was not a happy guy. We are going to try again tomorrow.

I got up the nerve and swatched.

And the gauge was Spot On. I love it when that happens.

The yarn is actually nice to work with. Light and fluffy, it’s like kniting with clouds. And it pulls out of the middle of the pillow-ball so your knitting with a fuzzy pink doughnut. Whch is kind of fun. And Exotic. I may have a problem though. Take a look at my swatch. Should it be this…lumpy? I guess so since the yarn is all slubby with fuzz. The picture of the sweater in the book looks more smooth and tight than my knitting does. I’ll turn on my comments in case anyone has some insight into this phenomenon.

With one more arm band to go on the Grey Vest, I have turned my attention to my next project (drum roll, please) … The Fluffy Sweater. Vintage Knits, of course. “Will she ever be through making things from this book?” you ask yourself. The Short-Sleeved Striped Cotton Sweater is the only other project from the book that I am Actively Planning at this point (and haven’t bought the yarn yet so “active” is really me just obsessing about it). But there are plenty of others that intrigue me. I will save those for another day but tell you this: half the sweaters in this book were designed for me. And I am going to make them all!

First things first, however.

I have never knitted anything with a fluffy mohair yarn. I am a little bit intimidated by it. The Kid Soft called for in the pattern (which is now discontinued and was discontinued when I was trying to get hold of it in the first place) has been in the chest for over a year because I can’t seem to work up the guts to use it. So to encourage myself to Swatch Without Fear I am doing a little research. Here are some of the things I have found:

How to Knit With Mohair Yarn – a List by Emily

• Fiber Fundamentals by Alison Trembley-Boucher – the part about freezing it before knitting with it is very timely since Great Gran has declared her intent to “put on her garden gloves and clean out the freezer” tomorrow. She has to make room for all of those Christmas casseroles.
• Knitting with Mohair – the emphasis here is on planning. And on no ripping. You see? You see why I am afraid to start this project?
• This little tip makes the previous item somewhat less daunting.

I’ve got a different yarn (Creme Brulee) to seam with. Kid Soft isn’t 100% mohair, or I wouldn’t bother to start. Great Gran is cleaning out the freezer tomorrow. So I should be all set. As ready as I will ever be. Getting ready to swatch.

Well.

It IS close to 11:00pm and I am pretty tired. So I think I’ll start on that swatch tomorrow. You know. When I am all fresh. That’s the ticket.

We’re home! And it was a very nice trip – I like visiting my mom. I did finish the last purple sock in the car on the way home (JOY). And M brought me some cake from his lunch meeting.

Photographic Evidence of the Completion of the Purple Striped Socks.

I would start on a new pair for M, but I need my #1 circulars (well one of them) to put the bands on the Grey Vest. That’s right, thanks to some knitting time at my mom’s house, the front of the vest is completed. Now comes the blocking. And swatching! I think I will make the Fluffy Sweater (Vintage Knits) next, or maybe the brown one for M, or maybe a sweater for which I haven’t even ordered the yarn! I am full of possibilities.

There is another Tyrolean Cardigan in the works: Laurin’s! She’s using Young Touch “Estelle” in a copper color. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I also like the name of her site – supurlfluous – get it? Wah ha!

Did I mention the cake? I am going to eat it while I browse the new Knitty.

Hey…someone else is making the Tyrolean Cardigan from Vintage Knits. I’m glad I am not the only one in the world who is all excited about it. Jade also appears to be a cotton fleece fan – I keep telling you it’s good stuff.

The front of the Gray/Grey Vest is coming along. I did not meet my goal for the day (arm holes) but I am only two inches shy and did finish the second ball of yarn. No pictures though, right now it looks just like the back did when it was this big. You can check the archives and pretend if you really need a visual on this one.

I’ll be out of town for the next couple days. M has a meeting in Atlanta and Great Gran and I are going along to visit my mom. Which means that Dinah, Great Gran’s cat, and Angus, the dog, are going too. Which makes for a crowded car. We will also have to stop for chicken at Guthrie’s in Montgomery (it is a Great Gran rule). I will try to get Great Gran to pose for a picture with the Giant Reindeer.