FO's - a sweater, a scarf, and a hat.

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The recent realization that Christmas is just around the corner has had me knitting and sewing and crocheting somewhat maniacally for the past couple of weeks.

Of course, I can't show you what I've been making since they are supposed to be a surprise. So you'll just have to wait.

In the meantime, I'll show you some of the things I finished before the "Oh, crap, it's November!" thought occurred.

This is Shalom. For a girl who's been spending a good portion of her time studying all things Biblical and Jewish, finding a pattern called Shalom seemed... well, I was going to say coincidental. Heh. Anyway, I'm not sure if I made Shalom because I really liked the pattern, or if I just liked the name. Now that it's finished, I'm not sure if I keep wearing it because I really like it, or if I still just like the name.


Knit on size 10 1/2 needles and bulky yarn, it's a fairly quick knit. The fact that I hate (hate) to purl made the yoke kind of miserable, but it wasn't difficult. I had to do a bit of resizing, seamed the armholes to make them smaller. There's a lot I don't like about it, but a lot I do like about it, too. It's a free pattern - if you're a knitter, do check out the link.

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This is a pretty little scarf I made a month or two ago. I didn't need another scarf. However, when I was shopping at Ross one day, I discovered a bin of bamboo yarn for $1.99 a ball. I got excited - more at the fact that Ross carried yarn than anything - and I bought three balls in colors that could barely be considered coordinating. And then I brought them home, and wondered for awhile why on earth I'd bought these three balls of yarn. Then I found a crochet pattern for a Wool Bam Boo Scarf (the most generic name in the world) and I decided it looked like a good starting point. This is what I ended up with:

Huge blocks of five colors, alternating in a way that doesn't make sense, with pretty little stripes at the bottom to tie it all together. I'm actually really happy with it. So much so that I bought the lime green sweater so I'd have something to wear the scarf with.

I did use Symphonia for the center white panel and regret it. Never use Symphonia. For anything, really, except maybe in the kitchen for tying cheese cloth or trussing a pork roast.

Pattern: Wool Bam Boo Scarf in Interweave Crochet Fall 2006
Yarn: Queensland Collection Bamboo Cotton (and that wretched Symphonia.)

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And a little beret I made for Littlest One, because I had the yarn in my stash and it matched her pretty little brown sweater (a hand me down from a best friend, and so much beloved.)



It's not the best-looking hat I've ever made. Thankfully Littlest One is pretty cute, and makes just about anything look good.

Pattern: Feather and Fan Slouchy Beret by Violet Green (free pattern)
Yarn: Lion Cotton

And that's all... until I finish some of the several projects I've currently got going.