Christmas Craziness

The Christmas season is in full swing chez sturdygirl. Husband and I are headed out of town this weekend for Family Holiday #1 with his family. Family Holiday #2 will be over Christmas Day with my family. Needless to say, the gift-buying, trip planning and organizing is intense! Luckily, I have been very cautious on the gift knitting or else I would be a basket case by now. As it is, I have had upset stomach and have been very cranky to my co-workers...so maybe I just need the basket. :)

Anyway, I did find time to make a warm scarf for myself. It will come in handy this weekend in Minnesota! Again, here's a cell phone pic:


I made this from Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Hand Dyed in Lilac. This was SUCH a pleasure to knit. Very smooth and soft yarn, subtle shading, and fast! Nine stitches on US 15s, seed stitch. I love the look of seed stitch but I find it tedious - so this is a less taxing way to enjoy it. It took just a couple of leisurely evenings to finish. Three skeins and it's plenty long for wrapping around and tying if you want.

I've been trying to knit with alpaca lately to see if I'm allergic to it. I got a weird tingly feeling when I started a project with Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which made me sad because it's such a versatile, great yarn. So I knit this scarf, and I knit a swatch in a different color of the U. Alpaca. So far, no problems! I'm really glad, because after seeing myself modeling the hot new Ariann, I think I need that yarn! The alpaca gives it a great drape, and the yardage! Oh, the yardage.

Anyway, have a great weekend! Hopefully I will be back to posting more regularly soon.

Random Post for a Random Day

Hello all! I got a little sidetracked last week, but let me be sure to say a huge THANK YOU for all the compliments on my gold 'n' leafy sweater. Thanks for applauding my first riff on a pattern...maybe one day there will be a full-fledged sturdygirl design effort. Who knows?

Things have been crazy, though mostly in a good way. Wednesday, I went on a business trip to D.C. (well, Alexandria), which was great because I got to see my best friend A. My boss and I were supposed to leave on Friday, but got snowed out. I say snowed out because DC was a lovely 70 degrees - while Chicago was getting buried with snow and ice. So I got to hang with A. not once, but twice in three days! I also got some goodies at Stitch DC - no pic yet, but I will share soon, because the yarn I picked up is cool.

As far as knitting goes, I somehow find myself sucked into the vortex of holiday knitting. I did my best to avoid it, but it happened anyway. Right now I'm working on some dishcloths which will probably be gifts for my co-workers. It's never good to be caught empty-handed when a colleague gives you a gift! Here's a really bad pic from my cell phone:


(knitting at work - sshhh!)
The other thing I wanted to share is more knitting news. Have you ever heard of Colorsong Yarns? They have the best selection of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns I've ever seen, which is great in and of itself - but now they've launched NatureSong, an online shop of natural yarns. Did you know Habu makes cashmere yarn? Check it, friends.

Anyway. That's pretty much all I have to say, except for this:


A stealthy shot of Benetton's yarn tree decoration. Kinda cool, but shouldn't someone be knitting with that stuff?!?