Miss Janets Knittings

hmn, I eagerly joined this group at the beginning of the month... I am still eager to participate, only January went a bit quicker than expected, or perhaps mine has been particularly slow!

Anyway, this is as far as I am. What drove me to grab the crochet needle was this. I managaged to get hold of the original pattern and started to crochet my squares.... I had done about 10 before it finally dawned on me, that the ones in the photo aren't of the original granny-kind, they have less holes!! didn't stop me though ( too lazy to start over). For sewing them up I had my second bright moment: given the way I've done the colours there was no way to combine the squares for the shape of the original bag with a colour-harmony I can live with. The above is what I ended up with. Not quite the original source of inspiration, but I hope we can still be happy together on a beach off the Indian Ocean :-)

Tomorrow (tonight is probably a more accurate description of the time) I'm off to Africa, and won't be back for real until mid March. I don't see much crafting going on down there, so here I am off to a rather poor start on the 12 projects. I do pack the above + darning needle and hope to finish it, but will be a project and a half behind when I return. 10½ months should allow for catching up though:-)

A few knitted items were also put under the tree.

For a dear friend:

They look at bit odd in the upper photo, hence the on-hand shot to show that proportions do fit a normal-ish hand (no piano-length fingers here ).

SPECS
Pattern: Wine and roses mitts, by Jolene Treace, Interweave Knits W2006.

Yarn: 4-ply sock yarn from Hjertegarn (25% nylon, 75% wool)

Needles: 2.5 mm 

A dear elderly lady has been without these for way too long (that is, she didn't know they were in the making, but I've been wanting to make them for her since February!)

SPECS

Pattern: Fancy silk socks by Nancy Bush, Knitting Vintage Socks 

Yarn: 4-ply sock yarn from Hjertegarn (25% nylon, 75% wool): 73 g used

Needles: 2.5 mm

These socks were knitted for myself months ago, but a similar-ish pair were given away for Christmas. Mine were knitted in 2k-2p rib, but for the pair that I gave away (and forgot to photograph) I used 1k-1p rib, which is highly recommendable. I do love my own though, despite their loose nature as they keep feet very warm. Perfect with a pair of Birkenstock in a house with cold floors :-)

SPECS

Pattern: General sock pattern with Boomerang-heel and 2k-2p rib

Yarn: Hifa 3-ply sock yarn: ca. 100 g used

Needles: 4 mm

The last knitted gift is still in progress (!): a brioche-hat (nice example here) from Weekend knitting. I have some major issues with the crown shaping, but some googling has given me hope that these will be resolved...