jen_FO

	Brad Pitt Do Me Doggy Style Shawl Pattern: "Lavender Linen Lace Shawl" From Knitted Shawls, Stoles and Scarves by Nancie M. Wiseman Yarn: "San Diego" by Interlacements Why: Christmas Gift (2004) for MIL Notes: Named by Rock Chick, it's a long story. Pattern is not difficult but requires your undivided attention.		"Critter Knitter Coalition Blankets" status: 2 finished, 2 in progress Patterns: black one is garter stitch with crocheted border, red one is from Lion Brand website Notes: part of a knitalong to benefit shelter animals in NYC
	"Miss Bunny Fuzzykeister" status: finished Yarn: Reynold's saucy mercerized cotton for rabbit, Rio for sweater Pattern: "small rabbit with sweater" from Toy Knits by Debbie Bliss Notes: results of a knitalong hosted by Kitten Avec Whip and the Knitlette		"Bottoms Up Bucket-o-Chic" status: finished Pattern: bottoms up bucket o chic, by Bonne Marie Yarn: Reynold's Saucy mercerized cotton Notes: doubled the yarn to get gauge, had to quadruple it for the brim, that much merc. cotton will break your hands! Not completely happy with size and it's a little limp. Also, the decreases on the top don't look very good.
	"My First Socks" status: finished Pattern: from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns" by Ann Budd Yarn: Lana Grossa self striping cotton sock yarn Notes: can't believe these came out so well, I didn't even rip! The pattern was easy to follow and the socks fit. How come all my subsequent socks have sucked?		"Roman Socks" status: finished Pattern: from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns" by Ann Budd Yarn: alpaca 2 ply Notes: for my DH's roman re-enactment. Not happy with the amount of shedding produced by the yarn
	"Christmas 2004 Purse-A-Thon" status: finished, I think Pattern: CO as many stitches as you think you want and knit in a spiral until it's as deep as you want. sew bottom closed, add lining. Yarn: Lilac-Reynold's Saucy Mercerized Cotton; Noro Snot: Noro Gemstones color #8 (snot colored); Koi Purse: mystery sale yarn Notes: These are various gifts for relatives. Lilac was so boring looking I embroidered a flower, Koi is so named because the inside fabric is a lovely japanese koi print.		"Pretty Pretty Pursey" Pattern: "Retro Knitting Bag" by RetroKnits.com Yarn: just can't remember!
	"Renaissance Tunic" status: finished Pattern: Interweave Knits Fall/Winter 2002 issue Designer: Teva Durham Yarn: The Peruvian Collection 100%Alpaca in Bisque Notes: This sweater is not as hard as it looks!! Because of back-burnerizing it took me awhile to finish it. The pattern was easy to follow and mistake-free. Alpaca is probably not the best choice of yarn for this project due to its lack of memory, but it seems like it will hold up fairly well in this case. I hope.		"Salt Peanuts" status: finished (thank god) Pattern: Veronik Avery in the spring '04 Interweave Knits Yarn: Muench Bergamo in Mood Indigo Notes: unnecessarily complex pattern for what should be a simple sweater! See notes here and here. Also, I would recommend a button or some closure other than the ribbon from the pattern, it's hard to line up the holes evenly when you go to tie it.
	"Cotton Candy Shawl" Pattern: "Triangular Shawl" from Spring '04 Family Circle Easy Knitting Yarn: 70% mohair, 30% acrylic, purchased at Stitches West Notes: knitting as part of the Candy Along because it reminds me of cotton candy. This shawl turned out way too big. It also increases in depth much faster than in width. It's soft and snuggly, though. Update: I took about a foot and a half off the top of this shawl (don't try this at home. Mohair is a bitch to remove stitches from.) And turned it into an xmas gift for my husband's Aunt. It was hard to see it go, but I know it will be worn and loved and cared for there.		"Charlotte's Web" Pattern: "Charlotte's Web" from Koigu Yarn: Koigu Kersti (crepe merino) pattern calls for Koigu KPPPM Notes: Because the Kersti is slightly thicker than the KPPPM, I went up in needle size from recommended 6 to size US 8. The darker picture shows good pattern detail.
	"Christmas Beanies" status: two done, more to come Pattern: none Yarn: Reynold's Odyssey 100% Merino Wool in colors # 476 (blues) and 503 (browns) 1 ball for each hat. Notes: Cranked these both out on a Sunday afternoon/evening when I had no internet access and was climbing the walls. These make good guy presents, so I'll definitely do more.		Charlotte 2 "Lioness" status: done Pattern: Charlotte's Web Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in "Lioness" colorway from Threadbear. Notes: The KPPPM, being smaller of gauge than the Kersti made for a smaller shawl. I like this shawl better for many reasons, but it's not quite big enough to stay on. The main reason I made this was seeing the colorway "lioness" and being a leo and it being so close to my birthday at the time, I figured it was A Sign. I'll be stopping at 2 Charlottes, though.
	"Rhapsody Scarf" Yarn: Plymouth Baby Brush Alpaca Pattern: Center panel of Rhapsody in Tweed Sweater by Kathy Zimmerman from the Fall 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. notes: a Christmas gift for my BIL. This yarn is oh so soft and warm. I feared it might be to fuzzy for a cable pattern, but in the end was extremely pleased with the results. I wanted to keep this one for myself but the recipient loves it too.		"Thrummed Mittens" Yarn: Top photo is Plymouth Baby Brush Alpaca. The thrums are from a roving sampler card. The bottom photo the yarn was an Alpaca of which I cannot remember the brand (purchased from Village Spinning and Weaving, the only place I've seen it) and the thrums are black face Leicester top. Patterns: Top is available here, bottom is a mitten pattern from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Notes: top pair for me, bottom pair for FIL.
	"Seaman's Scarf" Yarn: Jaeger Luxury Tweed in "Fern" Pattern: "Matt", available here. Notes: Jaeger Luxury Tweed isn't as soft knitted as it feels on the ball but it does have very nice drape. The ribbed neck portion is a characteristic of Seaman's scarves, as it is supposed to bunch up small and be more comfortable to wear around the neck. I think this one was designed to hang open as the pattern is quite short, but I added a little length on both the ends and the ribbed portion so it could wrap comfortably since the recipient (SIL's fiancee) lives in the great white north. I love the look of this scarf and maybe someday I'll forget how boring scarf knitting is and make one for me.		"'56 T-Bird Glittens" Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Pattern: None. I kinda made it up as I went along. I wanted convertable gloves but couldn't find a pattern I loved. Notes: I didn't get a good picture of the finished product. There's a lovely snowflake button on the cuff and a loop at the tip of the flap so when you fold it back it won't flop around. Gift for SIL xmas 04. There are more of these in the works .
	"Madli's Shawl" Yarn: Mystery yarn! Thought to be linen/cotton blend. Given to me by someone who'd had it for a long time and finally met a knitter he could offload it onto. Pattern: "Madli's Shawl" by Nancy Bush from Summer 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. Notes: I LOVE this shawl. This is one of my best accomplishments all year. Nancy Bush is an exceptional pattern writer. We have a Knit Along for this shawl and though only a few have completed it thus far, they are all lovely.		"Operation Secret Sweater" aka "OSS" Yarn: Meunch Bergamo in Charcoal Pattern: Raglan from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns Notes: Named because I was making it in secrecy as an xmas gift to my husband. I desperately wanted to do something more interesting ie; cables, but he hates texture, the bastard! He's happy even if it was a boring knit.
	"Sheep Bag" (you wish you'd thought up that clever name, don't you?) Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool, color 014 "brown" Pattern: Fiber Trends Sheep Wool Tote Notes: The pattern calls for chunky wool. I couldn't find any in a color I liked so I doubled the aran weight Araucania. I hand fulled it in my sink, which was very, uh, strenuous. The sheep are needle-felted onto the front pocket. The pattern shows one sheep but after a couple of attempts I finally got a sheep I liked and it turned out to be slightly off-center. I compensated with the baby sheep. Still not sure if it's just a bit too "precious", but it's already in use so I guess it will do.		"Rogue" Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in "rust". Pattern: Rogue by Jenna "The Girl from Auntie" available here. Notes: I was a little unsure about this because the pattern called for advanced cabling and intermediate knitting (or was it the reverse? oh well) but the instructions are so well-written I didn't have a moment's trouble with it even though I consider myself well below that skill set. I still owe closeups of the great cables on this sweater, which is blocking now.