more last minute gifts

Why do I always seem to be cranking out last minute gifts? I guess I appropriately named this blog, eh? I had a trip out to Cali to see the rellies, and wanted to bring a few nice hand-knit items. I had this scarf (the Airy Scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts) laying around that had been knit as a last minute gift months ago.



I never gave it away, because I didn't like how it turned out. I decided to resurrect it and make it a bit nicer by adding a beaded fringe.



I like it much better now. My 15 year old first cousin once removed liked it very much, and wore it around all day after I gave it to her. :)

The other gifts I made super quick from a couple of Be Sweet Magic Balls. I so love this yarn. I very loosely followed this pattern.







Let's see, how did I change it? I used size 19 needles, a long circular because by the end there are a lot of stitches in each row. I cast on 45 stitches, increased at the beginning of every row for about 5 inches, then increased at the beginning and end of every row for about 5 inches, then did a row of (kfb, k2) repeated all the way across then cast off. The first one (the whitish one) I guessed pretty well, and ended with only a yard or so of yarn left over. The second one (the bluish one) I finished too early, and ended with quite a bit left, but too little to do anything with. I tried knitting it into a very small, very thin scarf, but it didn't really work. Oh well.

too girly for a boy

The cashmerino astrakhan presto chango is done. Well, virtually done. I finished sewing it all together, and went to put it on Little Sis Nys to model it, and the seam ripped. Ooops. Because of the nature of the yarn, I obviously couldn't use it to sew the seams, so instead had used a standard sewing thread in the same color. It clearly was not strong enough for the job, even doubled up. I'll just have to get stronger thread for it. I still managed to get a picture of it. I had been planning on this as a present for one of my many baby nephews, but the boucle makes this just too girly. I guess I'll just keep it for Nys for now, and then when she outgrows it send it on to a random baby girl.



As you can see, I modified the pattern, making it all one piece, rather than having the detachable front panel. Here's what it looked like before it was (inadequately) sewn up.



I think it looks like a thneed.

new puppy

The Presto Chango sweater is going along well. I'm getting more used to the yarn, and it's kinda fun to knit now. I'm almost halfway done, having almost reach the neck edge (it's knit in basically one piece from the bottom, up). Here's a pic from before I started the sleeves.



In other crafty news, I recently won a contest over at Bittersweet for this absolutely adorable crocheted puppy.



I asked Big Sister B what she wanted to name the puppy, and completely on her own she said "Hannah Bizarre!" Which is kinda bizarre, because the puppy's creator's name is Hannah.