his yoke is easy

I have Messiah on the brain. Tomorrow is our service of music, and we’re singing the first half of Messiah. We rehearsed today with the strings – it went well..mostly. I’m a little nervous about “He will purify.”

And then I went into the lab and did a 3-hour fluctuation experiment (3 hours! I am so streamlined). On a saturday. Which sucked ass. BUT had to be done.

Anyway, since all that is kind of boring, I present you with my christmas gift knit FO pictorial review!

Shut up. You are thrilled.

panta!

this is a pattern that is a big hit over at the knitting forum over at Crafster. Now I know why – it is ridiculously easy and super cute. I used some gorgeous Malabrigo yarn (hand spun and dyed merino). I’m pairing the panta with:

flora!

pattern from knitty, also out of malabrigo. it’s a little difficult to see – it’s a neck wrap with a fun flower buttoned on the front (not so fun to make – the last six rows of that flower took me about 3 hours total to do – SO VERY PAINFUL!)

This pair was originally going to my mom, but it’s a little bright and cutesy for her, I think. So it’s going to a friend who occasionally reads this blog, so I’m not going to say WHO!

For my father, knitty’s tychus. Ably modeled by Kevin.

Also ridiculously easy. But not made from nasty-ass red heart yarn like the pattern calls for. No way. I did andean silk from knitpicks. In STEELER colors, of course. My only complaint is that even though my gauge was SPOT ON, it came out a little big. Fortunately, my dad has a big head, so I’m hoping this will work out. I plan on making one for Kev, too, so I’ll probably use a smaller needle size for him.

Fingerless gloves (also from knitty, I think they’re called “voodoo”)

for my brother, made from Lion Brand’s cashmerino. Black, of course. I tried to pick a manly pattern. I’m hoping that I wasn’t too drunk the night I heard him mention that he’d like a pair of fingerless gloves. Maybe he said he’d like a pair of circumcised doves. Oh well, he’s getting these.

And I know I swore I wasn’t going to make any scarves this year (flora doesn’t count. that’s a “neckwarmer.” plus it’s short), I need SOMETHING for my mom. And i have all this superfine alpaca laying around I bought on ebay last year.

it’s lace! Kind of. SIMPLE lace, which is important. And if I can find some worsted weight yarn in the same color, she’ll get a panta, too.

And then I’ll make myself one.

So that’s what I’ve been doing in between writing and head vs. wall bangings. I’d still like to make one more thing for my grandma, but I don’t know if I’ll have time. Word to the wise: if you are ordering a pattern and yarn from knitpicks for a project, check AHEAD of time if you have the needles for the project. because if you don’t, you can conveniently order them AT THE SAME TIME, instead of realizing weeks later and spending too much money at the yarn store to buy what you need.

D’OH!