some hats, some socks, and some mitts, all completed!

First of all, thank you all for your kind words of congratulations about what will (hopefully) soon be our new house! We still need to do a home inspection tomorrow, and then all of the paperwork and legal stuff that comes next. We don't want to count on anything until it happens, but we are optimistic that things will go smoothly. If so, we will close in mid-December.

Although I was very stressed before posting that entry, I felt much calmer after putting it all out there. We haven't been talking too much about the house hunt/house buying process. It's kind of like having a new baby -- fascinating and all-consuming for the parents/home-buyers, but not nearly that interesting to everyone else. Because I hadn't been talking about it, I was getting freaky about it. Getting it out there really helped. And thanks again for all your great comments!

So, back to the knitting. Apparently, stress leads to the need for de-stressing. In my case, that's knitting and crafting. Which leads to a lot of FO's.

I finished the Baudelaire socks that will be my MIL's Christmas gift. It's only October. How responsible of me!
Note to anyone using dark red Koigu -- this is what the water looked like when I washed them the first time:
By the fourth wash, it looked like this, so I put finally them out to dry:
Here's a closer view of the pattern and the toe-up heel flap:
PATTERN SPECS:
Yarn: Koigu, some dark red color
Needles: Size 1 Clover DPNs
Gauge: 8 sts/in
Pattern: Baudelaire
Pattern mods: subbed short row toe (from Wendy's pattern)

Next up, a hat. This was going to be a gift for a teenage girl (a former swimmer, now a freshman in college, and like a little sister to me!), but it turned out too big after blocking. Instead, it will be off to Afghanistan or Mongolia.

PATTERN SPECS:
Yarn: Big Kureyon
Needles: Size 9 Addi Turbo, magic looped
Gauge: 4 sts/in before blocking, something less than that after blocking
Pattern: based on the numbers in Ann Budd's Handy Pattern Book (or whatever it's really called -- I call it "the green Ann Budd book")

So, since that hat did not work out for the intended recipient, I resurrected a WIP from this time last year ... the purple alpaca scarf. I decided to finish the scarf and make a quick hat to go with it, and give that to my former swimmer instead. I finished the hat, but the scarf is still going. On 10 1/2 needles, I should just buckle down and finish it. But, I didn't.
Instead, I finished my Denise Schmidt oven mitts. I made some pieces of blue patchwork, and used them for the top of the mitts, with plain navy blue palms. All the better to hide the food stains!
They probably should have a hanging loop on each, but I didn't do that yet. I love how they look, but the DS pattern gives you a pretty small mitt, ok for me but too small for Thom. I'll probably make more mitts at some point, but make them bigger.

**************************

So, where does that leave me on my list of 5?

• Still need to work on the Cabled Seaman's scarf for FIL's Christmas gift. It will match the mittens I made him last year, and a hat that I made the year before.
• Still need to get cranking on the poncho for grandma
• But I'm really working on a NEW WIP!!!
  

Now, before anyone notes that the list of 5 only has 3 items, one of which was NOT a WIP that needed finishing, let me point out a few things:

1. I think I've finished most of my languishing WIPs. I have a bunch of other items that I have materials for, but haven't started yet. I'd like to finish the actual "works in progress" before I start the "things I bought supplies for but didn't actually start yet".
2. WIP #3 (which will be discussed in a post of its own, soon) is a Christmas gift. So, it's actually responsible of me to have started it now.
3. The three items on the list above are all gifts.
   

So, once I am done all these gifts, here are some contenders for a spot on the crafty list of 5 ...

• A Must Have Cardi for my mom. She bought the yarn 2 years ago. I should work on it :)
• more socks for me
• a possible Christmas gift (sewn) for my parents
• some beverage coasters and/or hot pads (you know, put hot pans on these on the table) and/or placemats to match the DS oven mitts...
• A crafty gift for MIL's birthday, which is December 29.
  
• Fingerless mittens for me, using Olympic doorprize yarn
• A crafty gift for Grandma for Christmas. Probably beaded jewelry.
  

So much to do, so little time!!