The View from Cloud Nine

She Likes Ingrid!

I received these sweet pictures from my stepsister yesterday, showing Leonie with her new Ingrid dolly. Apparently, Onie decided right away that Ingrid needed a mommy doll and chose her Po Teletubby for the job.

You know how comedians and actors always talk about the high from being applauded and appreciated? Well, when something I've knitted "works," I am on Cloud Nine.

BTW, is not my niece one of the cutest little kids you've ever seen? 8^)

Better-than-Ribbing Scarf

And a run-down of Christmas gifts I couldn't post here until now.


Now that Christmas has passed, I'm finishing a scarf out of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran and am really pleased with the pattern I came up with. It's essentially a garter stitch with stockinette running up it in narrow strips.

>Better-than-Ribbing Scarf

Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran, 3 skeins

Cast on 25 stitches.

Row 1 (RS): Knit across.

Row 2: K 4 , Purl 1, PM. **P 1, K3, P 1, PM** Repeat between ** two more times. P 1, K 4.

Row 3: Knit across.

Row 4: Knit straight, to one stitch before and after each marker, both of which should be purled. Everything else is knitted.

This sets up a pattern that looks like wide ribbing, except more interesting. Repeat rows 3 and 4 for the rest of the scarf, and then bind off and weave in ends. Wet or steam block, allow to dry, wear (or gift) happily.

This scarf is for DD#1's novio's madre, as DD is headed tomorrow to Chiapas to spend the rest of her break with her beloved and his family.

I made this little hat for Baby Colletti , not as a Christmas gift (he's not due until 1/12/09), but because his daddy's family is quite proud of their Italian heritage. Our school social organization, called "Sunshine," held a baby shower for Monica and Chris just before the vacation, and I knitted this as part of the school gift. (If you are looking for some kickass baby shower gifts that are NOT knitted, check out the etsy merchant, iSew, where I got the bibs that rounded out the gift.)



Here is another smaller hat that I've not actually given his parents yet for him to wear, out of KnitPicks sockweight yarn. I'm getting pretty good at knitting using the Magic Loop method for small things--a great skill for all sorts of reasons!as well as a hat for Big Brother Max, almost matching. Max's is Cashsoft Aran in three colors that I think belong together. I have said before that I LOVE Cashsoft as it is so non-itchy and, well, soft. I think nothing should be worn around ears, necks, and faces that might be itchy. As for the elongated hat, think 2x2 ribbing and the natural stretch it gives. Max does not have a cone head!











And Super Secret Project #2 has been finished and gifted to DS for Christmas--it's a wrap/scarf in Rowan Soft Tweed. It's Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf, easy as pie, and though the color values are too peachy here, and it's more like its color (Bramble), I was really happy with the way it came out, and with DS's pleasure on receiving it.






Here is a little pouch I knitted and felted for my young friend Adele. I experimented with different ways to make the strap, and the best one was two strands of brown and one of beige, braided the old fashioned way, knotted at both ends, and felted. Then I attached the ends to the inside of the purse. I put a few surprises inside it for her. I have that tendency! Here is the hat I knitted last summer and gifted to Adele's DS Luisa, after sewing on some fancy buttons.









And here is a scarf I've worked on here and there for about a month--it's easy, soft, and my favorite color. I think it will be mine. ;^)

Meet Ingrid the Doll

I have been knitting my hands in knots, but I've not gotten anything posted. Here goes!

First, let me introduce you to Ingrid, a "dwarf" from the Waldorf knitted toys collection. The instruction booklet is not available anymore, as far as I can tell, but similar ones are online. Ingrid was fun to make and addicting to accessorize. Here is her knapsack (with a note inside it for introductions when she is received).

I'm especially proud of her hair, which I did in Fur Real Silver Fox. She is a gift for my 3-year-old niece, Leonie, may she love her well. It was actually hard to put her in the box for mailing (Express Mail, yes, I'm right up to the wire, ain't I?) as my inner child wants to keep her and hug her.

But it was also a great experience to embark on because I found that this doll pattern wasn't that hard. I could have done a better job on things, but I still think it came out well. 8^) Here are a few more pics.

Ingrid's ID tag in case she is lost 8^(
and another shot of her in her adorableness:

Can't really say why "Ingrid," but as I was putting the finishing touches on her last night, while crafting with DD#1 (bliss!), I was thinking "Hester," but DD#1 protested that it sounded like Hester Prynne of Scarlet Letter infamy. Not that I think that's a reason to dislike the name, as I love Hester as the protagonist of that novel. But then DD suggested "Ingrid," after I asked her for something Scandinavian sounding, since I think of dwarfs, trolls, and the like as being from that neck of the woods, and she came up with Ingrid.

That ain't the half of it, though. I knitted up a cap for my bro-in-law from lovely Malabrigo that never got photographed, since I made it in a few hours, popped it into the mailing carton, and sent it northward. Maybe DS will take a photo of him in it when he opens it.

I've also done a bunch of other small things this month, but I'll have to catch up later. Friends coming to visit. It's the holidays! Hope you are all enjoying yours, whatever you celebrate.