A weekend to finish them in. .

It was my goal to knit gifts for my nearest-dearest this year (aside from those who need something purchased). So far I am pretty much on schedule. The pair for SIL need to be finished this weekend. Can I do it?

Then there will be the samplers for Dad's sweater to be ready for when he and Mom blow into town on a whirlwind-24-hour visit on the 5th of June.

And the socks for MIL.

And then the socks for the rest of the year.

So far it has been incredibly satisfying to be able to give something handmade. Almost like getting a gift in return. Hmm.

What was I thinking II?

Here is a picture from the King's Garden. I took that instead of taking pictures at Strikke cafeen Den Røde Tråd in Nørrebro. Den Røde Tråd was a wonderful experience.

For the Niece I hardly know

Here is a pair in Arauncania for the daughter of my cousin. My late aunt used to knit for her whole family, but since she passed away they have been looking for a new knitter. Though I had fairly close contact with my aunt and her oldest son, I hardly had any contact with the younger son and his family. What better way to show them that they are important to me, than to knit a pair of socks for each? Knitting a gift, for me, is like giving a piece of oneself.

Anyway, I hardly know her, having only been at one luncheon with her in the past 30 years. She is quite beautiful: both slender and delicate (with an iron will, from what I overheard her saying :o)). This yarn is gentle and feminine in its colors and I hope it will convey to her the high esteem in which I hold her.

The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's new book Sock Club, and it is supposed to have a very special heel. More pictures to come as the work progresses!

Domino Socks

These are more fun than is probably legal. The domino squares are knit on Brittany Birch dpns (so warm, so soft. . ). The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the colorway pinstripe. I have been most concerned - these are a gift for my employer on his 50th birthday, and I wanted to make something that would speak to the Rebel Soul in him. Despite the subdued colors, the pattern is a bit wild. Now that I am working the foot, I am less concerned. I have put a little 1x1 rib on the sides to make them hold their shape and to break up the striping a little.

The top will be knit "up", though I am not sure if I should make the triangles in domino or in entrelac. Another idea was to make them red, since he is a little "Red" in his heart ;o)

What was I thinking?

Socks for another brother-in-law. Knit in Ringel in the pattern Texture Socks. What is up with that light blue stripe? What was I thinking???

Home.

In my younger days in Colorado, I used to run down the stairs to my parents' house. I would pass over the threshold into the house's warm embrace and be Home. It occurs to me that Home is not where I was, but what I became in the sanctuary of house in which I grew up. This year (I was there in August) the grass was greener than I have ever seen it so late in the year. The house opened its embrace to me, but Home had become something I carried in my heart. This did not diminish the beauty of the place, or the joy of being with my family.

Socks for a Wonderful Brother-in-Law

Ok, they look like nothing, but they were a gift for my Brother-in-Law (who is also my cousin, go figure). The pattern is nothing really, and the yarn is Hempwol from Lana Knits. I hope they wear well.

These are part of a series - one pair for BIL, one for Dad, one for my Brother, and (soon!) a pair for dear Husband. All four will have the red yarn in them. In Danish things are said to be connected with a "red thread". I wove a little piece of it into the sole of my Father's socks.