Wishing for the White Christmas

The Christmas stocking is finally done and I cannot express how happy I am, no I am ecstatic, I am over the moon!!!
This has been the most challenging knit for me, since the pattern has so many discrepancies and mistakes. Basically I have knitted it form the picture.
It is not a small sock, it is absolutely massive, just to prove it, I’ve taken a picture with the CD; thank God it is a swap present, there is no mantle piece in my humble flat.

Name: Christmas stocking
Pattern: VK Holidays 2006
Material: exactly 3 balls of RCY Cashsoft DK
Tools: Inox bamboo 5 DPN 3.5mm
Alterations: uncountable

Close up

Front

Back

Poster!

My whole week went fast under the pursuit of my very own scientific poster, which I will present on Tuesday. I took me enormously long to do coz I’ve never actually done one in PowerPoint before. Next time I will go for Publisher as pictures turned out washy and had to be altered into higher pixel content at the print shop, and it did cost me big time. Just thinking about how much yarn I could have bought with all that money makes me want to cry.

As I wrote in the previous post I decided to re-knit the Stocking in RYC. And I have to say it: it is bloody addictive. I could not stop knitting it and had to lock it, so I could concentrate on the poster.
So far I’ve knitted it up to foot and I already encountered 6 mistakes in the pattern!!! This is not common for VK; anyway I knitted from picture using common sense and ignoring 2 sentences of the actual pattern, and then pattern went on stitch-to-stitch with what I was knitting! Hurray!

The colour bright white, as at the first picture, taken on Thursday.

Guilty Pleasures

I think there is something completely wrong with me as I cannot stand synthetic yarn. It is ridiculous; I can even detect the 15% mix. So, my hands were absolutely killing me and I had to frog Christmas Stocking. I decided to go to Robert Sayles (John Lewis) today in search of something alternative, at least that was the plan. Ha, yeah right, alternative came in the form of something expensive: RCY. So far I only got 2 balls and then will buy more as I come along.



I also became tempted by the Rowan Studio first issue, so here it comes and the model which I want but not sure will fit me.



The mail order came in today with my long waited and anticipated alpaca (my future VK beret). And I absolutely love it, so gorgeous and soft. Plus it smells fantastic! Now I have to wait for 9mm DPN, and it will take another 2 weeks as retailed run out of stock.




(The colour is teal. So I guess the second picture is closer to real yarn, however not exactly. My camera hates me)

And another thing, I had such a stressful week last week that I just wanted a relaxing knit, without row counting, stitches counting, something I could do from the top of my head. I read Eunny blog and the idea struck me: I have long wanted this Gedifra Highlights 42 sweater and I had the yarn for it at the bottom of the stash: so here it comes, first rows revealed.

Christmas Stocking

Should I really knit yet another project, well... I can think about it later and for now I just went with a flow and started a swap Christmas project. I am doing it for a girl from another knitting blog, as it is a secret swap she has no idea I am making it for her and I will probably get my present form a completely different person of the swap group. I find this fascinating... the intrigue of missing identity I mean.
After a long time spend considering what I actually should knit, I saw this Christmas stocking at the latest VK and the issue solved itself. Christmas is a special time after all and this project does capture the meaning and spirit of the game.

I am knitting with a really strange yarn I got at a car boot sale last year for 50pence. It is a giant ball of 100% polyacrylic. I know it is cheap... but cheerful! The girl will not wear the sock, so who cares if it is soft or not. I will put a mystery personal item inside knitted from natural luxurious yarn.

My progress so far (36 rows)