Christmas Knits

It seems that I'm cruising right along with my Christmas Knits. I'm still a little concerned about getting a few projects done on time, but hopefully I'll get it all done. I have a lot of knits to be shipped out to loved ones who live out of state, and this year I've just given myself permission to finish those and ship them out after Christmas. This usually happens anyway, and giving myself permission to do so has relieved a LOT of my holiday stress. I do have several things finished...

The Concord Socks:

• Concord Socks
• Pattern - I didn't really used one, though I based them on the Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe.
• Yarn - Lamb's Pride in Iris
• Needles - Size 1 circs.
• Other info - I'm happy with these socks. They are a gift for someone & I am confident they will fit perfectly. I tricked her into trying on the first sock when it was almost done... she thinks they are for someone else!

I also got one washcloth finished:

• Lace Washcloth
• Pattern - I just used the "Light Tulle" stitch I found in my handy-dandy stitch dictionary
• Yarn - Sugar & Cream in Ecru
• Needles - Size 8 straights
• Comments - This is the first of several that will eventually be shipped out of state. The stitch pattern was really simple, but turned out to be a bit time consuming. It's really pretty, but I'm not sure I'd do anything larger with it. Oh, and speaking of size, it got seriously shorter as soon as I bound off. I think the weigh of the piece hanging off the needles while I was working on it gave it a bit more length.
  

I have also almost completed 2 of 4 felted bracelet purses I'm knitting for the holidays.

I won't share all the specs yet, since they aren't finished yet, but I will say that I got the pattern from Crazy Aunt Purl's book, and I love it. I knitted each of these in a couple of hours over a few days. The one on the left still has to be felted; the one on the left, obviously, has already been felted. I just LOVE felting... don't you?

So, what's on the agenda next? I balled this up last night (while watching House on the DVR):

It's getting turned into some socks. I'm casting on tonight. This is the only project that really has me worried. The recipient lives here in St. Louis, and I will be seeing her at some point during the holidays. I really want to get them done, but I have only a month... The Concord Socks took me 6 weeks to finish... I don't have 6 weeks until Christmas... so wish me luck on this one.

In other news, I got a little yard work done today. It was sunny and almost warm, so I took advantage of a cancellation in my schedule and got the porch looking a little prettier. It was seriously sad looking since I had not yet removed all the dead vines and plants. I also raked the leaves and trimmed the irises down to the ground.

This was all just prep-work for tomorrow, though. It's supposed to be cold and rainy (with a possible wintry mix) all weekend, so I will be spending the better part of my morning tomorrow putting up the outside Christmas lights on the house. Yay!

I am SO READY for CHRISTMAS this year!!!!!