i’ve been very selfish about something for many months. in fact, i have completely denied you access to one of the most delightful perks of living on my street, in exactly this house.
holiday displays.
our neighbors across the way just love them. and you know what last weekend was, right?
yup—time to put up the house decorations for christmas. thanksgiving was SO over by saturday.
doesn’t it look like an oasis of cheer in the chill, dark night? now, i know carole
thinks she has cornered the market on overdoing it for the holidays, but i think our neighbors are throwing down the gauntlet here (except, i HAVE seen some displays on 2nd place in brooklyn that left me, well, speechless, and are completely unrivalled anywhere . . .). but back to me and MY street.
the magic doesn’t really grip you, of course, until you go over there and stand at the distance at which it begins to envelop you, and you feel as if you are walking inside it.
there.
of course, in this weather you can’t stand there for long, which is why i’m so happy i have a great view from my office.
the best thing is, that SO much light is thrown off it, that we hardly have to lift a finger to make our house look festive. a few little trees in the pots, a single strand of lighted garland, a wreath (the pine cone wreath my brother made in 4-H about a thousand years ago). just enough that we join in, but don’t take away any of their thunder.
because i am WAY too busy at this time of year for that stuff. david likes the decorating, but i’d rather be working furiously industriously on gift knitting.
so what have i got for you today? heh.
you probably think that here is where i’m gonna cop out and say nothing, right?
i SO have something for you to see!
i thought of a name suddenly today while i wove in the ends, and i think it’s gonna stick—rococo
i think the recipient will love them.
these ended up rattling off the needles rather easily, except at the very end (don’t you hate that?).
i’d assumed that the picot edge that so many knitters favor would be perfect. WRONG.
it looked horrible—too heavy and didn’t retract with the rest of the lace pattern, so it was all wavy. ugh.
so ripped that out and made something up, which flowed from the main pattern nicely and made a ribbing to boot. (i’m a ribbing lover, that’s all there is to it—picot has no edge with me).
i have a foot shot too, but you have to promise not to laugh at my swollen hoof foot and ankle. and remember that the sock is made for someone with much narrower feet than me, so it’s gonna look a little stretched out.
i was so happy about finishing the one sock, that i started its mate AND i started the socks for the mail carrier. they are going to be my first pair of stockinette socks.
they go with her uniform. or her jeans, when she’s off-duty. i like ’em already. i’m going to make a stockinette pair for someone else too; that one will have some leg shaping. i’ll use this fearless fiber merino for those.
i was going to keep this for myself, but instead, i’ll use it for a gift. after all, i’ll have some in gray, and i can always get more . . .
i could not photograph david in his shawl this weekend because he was hanging the sorely-needed storm doors out on the cold, cold porches. but he promised he would model it, so i’m hoping to hold him to his word tomorrow—stay tuned!
beckie came over to do some dyeing today and we had such a nice visit! i tinted some gray wool/cotten yarn that i bought at rhinebeck to make the next manLace project with (it will be after the holidays probably). i wanted it a little more blue, like a faded blue-gray bandana. by the time she left, it was too dark to get nice pictures or really see the results. again, tomorrow.
21 thoughts on “it’s looking a LOT like christmas”
Anne – the socks are cool and the pattern is amazing!
Wonderful socks — and lucky recipients!
ok anne,
you have decided to make socks in that gorgeous blue colorway and limit yourself, once again, to gray or brown. Color, color, color,color!!!!!
“Rococo” is another beautiful design, beautifully executed. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Midnight Passion yarn works up, and hope you’ll have time to take photos.
I so look forward to the day when I’m confident enough in my knitting skills to just “wing” a pattern and have it be as beautiful as those socks! Good job. I’m sure they’ll be a gift that’s very much appreciated. 🙂
That is such a gorgeous sock! Lovely stitch pattern, and your fancy rib rocks.
I’ve never lived near anyone who decorated *that much* for Christmas. What fun!
Love the blue sock. Fab.
Get that guy of yours in front of the camera, girl. We’re waiting… 😉
I love that new sock! And the neighbor’s light – whoa! I do it up big inside but not so much outside. That’s amazing.
Wonderful new sock, the name is perfect. I’ve been debating knitting fingerless mitts for my mail carrier, and now wondering if I’ve procrastinated too long. Can’t wait to see your dyeing.
The sock looks wonderful, I love the pattern. We lived on a very Christmassy street for a few years and it was lovely, gave a fantastic atmosphere to the neigbourhood, the only downside was the constant parade of cars and tour buses.
New sock looks great! And the lights, woah.
Beautiful socks! I love the big twisted cable! Fearless Fiber is so soft! I have a skein of my own!
I like the way the ribbing worked out on your sock. Picot is something that I have a soft spot for, but I have a knee sock that needs to have it ripped out because it’s not tall enough to encase the elastic I bought. We’ll see if it works out in the end.
The Rococo socks look great!
Holy cow! That new sock is splendid. I love the wide, lacy cable!
There’s a house about a mile or so away from us that could give your neighbors a run for their money. I always wonder about their electric bill. 😉
Loverly lace!
I reserve the picot hem strictly for stockinette socks knit from handpainted yarns. It shines in such a situation. Perhaps for your Fearless Fiber socks?
the socks are lovely – beautiful and delicate. You are very fast at knitting socks, I’m amazed!
Love the lace & cable pattern on those socks. Lucky recipient indeed!
There is an area here in Dallas where people pay tens of thousands of dollars for professional companies to decorate their trees and houses. It’s so over the top you’d explode.
Beautiful socks!!!
I just love Rococo! The way you finished the ribbing is perfect!
Will you be offering the pattern?
I just purchased Rococo pattern from http://www.oneplanetyarnandfiber.com … I just fell in love with the stitch patterns while searching for a pattern for my next sock … My question, however, is this … I have a wider foot and was wondering if I could add purl stitches at each side of the pattern repeats without bothering the pattern … I would so very much appreciate a reply … Thank you in advance for your help and for such a beautiful pattern!
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