Some Christmas Projects

We had a home-made(ish) Christmas this year, so I thought I should post some of the things I made. I'm terrible about taking pictures of my finished projects, so please forgive me for the quality of my pictures. First of all, I made my mother a lace-work scarf. I decided to use a seagull pattern for the lace, and because I wanted it to be something pretty and un-bulky (Yes, it's a word. A word I just made up.) I made it shortish with a key-hole style fastening method. I know that sounds confusing, but it makes sense when you see it:

There's a slit in the lace on one side, and you put the other end through it so that it snugs up around your neck without having to be wrapped a bunch of times. I did the part that actually goes around the neck in garter stitch for comfort and warmth. I loved the yarn I used; the picture doesn't show it well, but it was this nice sock yarn in rich blues and purples.

I also made my brother a nice bulky scarf, good for braving the icy winds of his might-as-well-be-in-Canada college. Again, I don't have a good picture of the finished piece, so I hope that you (and he) will forgive my poor photos.

As you can tell, everyone gave him a lot of winter gear. I think he also got gloves, another hat, socks, and thermals. That's actually the backside of the scarf that you see in the picture; I double-knit in green, cream, gray, and black, with the green through gray stripes having a staggered end (replaced by black) on one end. It was deceptively difficult to knit, since I had to navigate and untangle eight strands of yarn simultaneously. It's nice and thick and wooly, though, so it was worth the trouble.