plain vanilla

I think after finishing all that holiday giftmaking and knitting I'm ready for what I call plain vanilla knitting. You know, something you can finish in an evening and wear the next day, or something that doesn't require any concentration and perhaps you can actually read some subtitles. You know stuff like that.

My friend Rachel sent me a nice ball of the softest chunky alpaca yarn in an excellent orange color and I've been debating what to make out of it. I think I have enough hats, so I thought I was make a little neckwarmer. There are some wonderful neckwarmers on Flickr, I really like some by Cosymakes and Minibee, so I thought I would make my own version.

specs:
pattern: made it up as I went along
yarn: plymouth yarn baby brush alpaca (maybe 1/2 skein?)
gauge: 3 1/2 stitches = 1"
needles: 9's - 5.5mm
buttonholes: single crochet loops



I like the randomish different sized vintage buttons - so cute!



In this awful bathroom mirror shot you can see how it looks on. The accordian ribbing lets me squish it down or put it over my chin when I'm really cold.

I'm also working on some very plain toe-up socks. I'm sure sure what kind of sock yarn this is - I had almost a full skein left over from a pair of socks I knit for Elliott, so I tried dying it more blue - less guy colored - for me. It's not the most exciting, but I'm guessing I'll actually wear them a lot. Hopefully I can finish it's mate before I get bored.



I'm off to Michigan for the holidays with probably infrequent blogging, but who knows you might get lucky. Happy Holidays!