Christmas & a Few FO's!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We sure did! I'll post some photos another day. Matt took most of the pictures on Christmas morning, so they are all in his camera. I do have one photo, though. Just in case you were wondering where Santa hid the presents for the boys... he hid them in the trunk of Matt's Cobra. Since it is tucked away for the winter, it was the perfect hiding place.
What's that? Oh yes. It's a landmark day. For the first time in about 10 months, I have some finished knits to share.

Ahem.

First up, we have the OpArt blanket (AKA "The Black-N-White Blob). I am so, so, SO happy with the way this turned out.
Here are the specs:
Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez
Made for: My baby niece, Claire
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish in Coal & White; Cascade 220 in a bright pink
Needles: 2 Size 7 DPN's
Modifications: I knitted this in stockinette stitch, instead of the recommended garter stitch. I
also omitted the last two color bands (partly because I ran out of time, partly because I
wanted it to be a good "Linus" size), and I added three rounds of a pink border in garter
stitch.
Reflections: I loved this project. Although it became a little tedious (I couldn't see it getting
bigger because it was knitted in the round), it was so simple! I hardly had to pay attention, so
it was a good project to knit while watching TV and attending to my children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up was the project I named "Pretty in Pink:"
Here are the details:
Project: Dress with Eyelets, by Debbie Bliss
Knitted for: Baby Claire
Yarn: Phildar Plaisance, in Camelia
Needles: Size 3 straights
Modifications: Um, yes. When I was working on the back, I realized that the opening for the baby's head was going to be quite small, so I omitted the single button closure on the back and knitted one shoulder so that it overlapped and could be tied with a bow. This way, my sister in law can open the entire shoulder when dressing the baby. Also, I had a wee bit of trouble getting the eyelet rows to match up on the sides, so I tied one bow under each arm instead of the one bow in front.

Here's a picture of the shoulder:
And here's a picture of the two bows:
I am so relieved to have these two projects done. I loved knitting for my new niece, and both projects were fun, but after a few false starts and a bit of tinking... they sucked up most of this year. I feel really good about them, and have no doubt that Claire's parents will save them for her for many years.

So, what's next for this knitter? Well, it's time to make my New Year Knitsolutions. I didn't really make any last year, but I do have a couple in mind for 2010. I'll be working up a list of knitting goals for next year... and I'll be sharing them later this week!