MMM....Toasty!

The holidays have come to a close and I am glad for it. I love the holidays but hate the hussle and bussle of Christmas shopping and whatnot. I have been going over my posts from last year and have found them to be...well...sparse. Not that anyone reads this but me, but I would like to think that somebody at least tried my pattern besides my testers. Oh well. I haven't been wholly unproductive over the last few months. I successfully knit and felted 2...count them TWO pairs of "alpine boots" and it only took me a weekend! I don't know what it is about slippers but I can whip out a pair in no time. Sweaters, on the other hand, they take me forever! Case in point the "February Lady Sweater" for my DD that only has two or three inches left to go on the sleeve. How pathetic am I! Why would anyone let 3 inches of a sleeve hibernate for two months? I think I just don't like the stitch pattern who knows. But slippers...those are my favorite for some reason. I think it has to do with the fact that slippers were the first things I learned to knit. I taught myself how to knit slippers and even guessed as to what the stitches were. I got most of them right too. As I sit here typing I am thinking, no reveling in the slippers I just felted. I changed the "Alpine Boot" pattern to be a lace up boot instead of just a pull on. I am amused at how different yarn felts up differently. I would guess by ply and weight but even brands surprise me. These are the third pair of boots I have knit up and the first pair I made in Cascade 220. They were not lace up and when I finished knitting them they came up past my knees. After felting there was so much room around the ankle and calve and they didn't even come up to mid calve. The next two pairs I made out of some old wool that a neighbor gave me. Thoroughly expecting them to felt somewhat like the Cascade 220 I knit taller and decided to make lace ups to accommodate for the wide ankle and leg part of the boot I was expecting. I even made a swatch! (Which I never do.) Needless to say I have a very tall, skinny boot as my finished product but ooooh are they warm! I almost gave them away due to the fact that they are slightly large for my feet but after wearing them in my semi-frigid house I am in love. I am also finishing up my "at first glance" version of the "wicked" pullover. It isn't exactly the same but that is because I just winged the whole thing and decided to change somethings mostly because I didn't have a pattern. I swatched this one too and it didn't work out for me either. I used Bernat Satin with a US 10 needle and for some reason it is stretching out a lot! I had to cut out 30 sts off my original cast on and I think maybe I should have done more. I ended up with more of a sweatshirt instead of a sweater. I am adding a kangaroo pocket to see if it will make a difference. I have never made one of those before either but we'll see how it goes. Cross your fingers!