In defense of Christmas

Sweaters , that is

Sorry for the long absence. I have been playing alot of Scrabulous.

But I've been in holiday gift-making mode.

What I've been up to...

• I sewed a quilt for a soon-to-be-born niece.

• I finished up the knitted dress/top for another niece.
  
  
• I sewed some tote bags for a craft fair at work.

• And I working on a plain-ol' 2x2 ribbed scarf out of some lovely green Malabrigio that I got from Maryland Sheep and Wool like 3 years ago. This is for my mom, but I think it will have to wait until next Christmas, because I'm super bored with it.

Also, if you have yet to send out holiday cards (like me), you can download some free cards.
They were a work assignment, and even though I made one, I need to print some myself to send out.
Or they might also have to wait until next year.

I wish you luck on all your handmade presents and hope you and your love ones a happy holiday season!

Entrelac

I never thought my little foray into knitting backwards would turn into this, but here I am.

I received many great suggestions on projects that had entrelac, but I discovered something about entrelac as I was swatching.

I'm not a fan.

As a knitter, I'm not really into the finished objects, which you might have discovered if you read this blog with any regularity. I'm much more into just the process of knitting, having something in my hands while watching television or listening to the radio.

So entrelac, and for that matter, lace knitting, forces me to have to pay way more attention to my knitting rather than paying attention to say "Lost" or "This American Life."

With this being said, I decided to create a pattern which would showcase the entrelac, while allowing me some good TV watching time (since the fall season has started).

When I started, I meant for it to be a baby dress that as the girl got older, it could be used as a cute top. Right now, it's more of the latter. Mainly because I didn't add any stitches for the "skirt" portion of the dress. I was tempted to go back and add stitches, but I decided that if I did that, I may have nothing to show for all my entrelac effort.

So I'll figure out that stuff later. Hopefully I'll be done in the next couple of days to show the finish top.

Oh, and by the way, you guys were right! Knowing how to knit (and purl) backwards is totally helpful when doing entrelac.