Progress report

Apologies on having been a bit remiss with my posting of late. There is quite a lot to report on the knitting front, but no pictures for various reasons. Some items cannot be revealed until the intended recipient has seen them; others cannot be shown as I haven't had a chance to photograph them in daylight yet. I intend to resolve this in the next few days, so please bear with me.

First news is that mum's christmas socks do not fit. Damn! Luckily I've 'only' made one so far, I got her to try it on at the weekend with her eyes closed, and found that although she could get it on, it was a bit tight around the ankle. I'm going to rip it back to the foot and do some gusset increases which I hope will solve the problem. I was relying on my usual short row heel without any gusset increases which normally works, but I think the pattern I've chosen is not very forgiving and the yarn is not hugely stretchy.

Secondly, I started some Dashing gloves for dad for christmas, using some Jamiesons heather yarn which I THOUGHT would make gauge suitably. In fact it was fine in terms of stitch count, but way out on the row count, which I only discovered when I finished the first glove and realised dad would look like he was wearing a pair of particularly rustic evening gloves if I left them like that! So I've hugely adapted the pattern in terms of rows, started on the second glove and when I've finished that, I'll rip back the first one and start that again. It will be interesting to see how much yarn I'll end up using - it might even be possible to squeeze a pair out of a single ball which would be very economical!

Other news is that the second mitten is on hold at the moment (pending completion of christmas knitting) and the Somewhat Cowl is progressing slowly and painfully. I'm hating the ever-increasing length of rows, and annoying both myself and the Curse by measuring the raglan after practically every row and then tutting because it is still not long enough! It'll all be worth it in the end, I keep saying...!

Two other gifts will be on show soon, I hope! One is currently on its way to the USA, the other is awaiting finishing touches before being gifted to a member of Meantime Knitters, so watch this space!