Banditas

Yes, again another bout of blog silence, but for good reason. There was so much secret knitting going on....crazy, marathon, manic knitting sessions. There was some frogging involved. It wasn't pretty, but it's done. I hope you all had a fabulous holiday.

So now you must be scratching your head wondering what the heck that has to do with my post title. Please observe.

Suspect Profile #1: Clarabelle Cow-l Bandita:

She will rock out and then steal your Disney pins. This one has such a Disney fetish for pins, you had better lock your doors. Note the Tinkerbell purple cowl she is sporting. (BTW, if you call yourself a Disney fan and don't know who Clarabelle Cow is, then shame on you. Do your Disney homework).

Suspect Profile #2: Mommer Bandita:

This one can clean your house and render it spotless, blind-folded....literally, in a matter of minutes. She has a lot of that meticulous, Italian mother blood in her. Your laundry and any dust that exists in your abode should tremble in fear. She is also known to feed dogs lots of treats and has an affinity for a certain son-in-law, she aptly calls "son". The Mommer Bandita has a sidekick. The suspect's profile is a black and white Japanese chin/Yorkie mix with a ferocious appetite for alpaca and specifically handmade socks, much to the chagrin of a "certain" knitter. Some consider this yapper to be the brains of the bandita operations as he has the Mommers and Dadders wrapped around his paw for cookies.
Ok enough of my silliness. The first cowl is of my own design, just a simple garter on the top and bottom with stockinette in the middle. I did this because I know Tammy does not like tight things around her neck. BTW, that is my SIL, KubusKrafts in disguise there. It's made out of a lovely Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky in Tinkerbell Purple, of course.

The cowl on my mother...oh yeah, that is my mom hiding in the blue cowl and then modelled by her sidekick, Ozzy. The pattern for this is the Cherry Garcia Cowl by HelloYarn done in a mixed berry colored Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky.

Also, you might not believe this but neither of two human pictures were posed. They were both random and done on different days, but I could not resist the criminal profiling spoof on count of the bank robber style we have going on here. BTW, I loved knitting cowls this year and it was instant gratification abound.

Next up, Dad got a pair of slippers that I decided to whip out at the last minute for no reason other than he complained his feet were cold. I haven't broken down and done another pair of socks yet after the dog ATE a hole in the alpaca socks and slippers I made for him WHILE they were on his feet and his was dead ASLEEP in the recliner. I kid you not. I couldn't make this crap up.

This pattern is called "Aran Isle Slippers" by Jennifer Lang from the latest Interweave Knits. I don't really care for the look of them, not the pattern, but more my yarn choice. The heathered olive Cascade 220 muddles the cables quite a bit. They fit Dad though and he liked them so that's all that counts.



I did finish my MIL's cardigan, which is posted to Ravelry, but I want to get pictures of it on her. It doesn't look good on me b/c it wasn't meant for my size. She is tiny and likes loose clothing so it looks much better on her. Hopefully, I can get those pictures tomorrow.

One last thing, today is 4 years that I've been knitting. Granted, I crocheted since I was 8 and my foray into knitting is really not that old, but I feel I've accomplished a lot in that time. So with that, my first FO was a seed stitch scarf out of a pure wool I can't remember. We decided to dig it out tonight and take a new picture. This was an FO prior to any Ravelry or blogging years so we actually needed a photo anyway.

We decided to compromise the dog's dignity since Mom was not feeling photogenic tonight, as evidenced by the bank robber pose above.And last but not least, Whistler's mother. Dont' worry, Ozzy will get a cookie for his dedicated services in the interest of my art. (read Mommer Bandita profile above on the cookie part).

Ok well, hopefully, I will have more tomorrow and then my year in retrospect on 12/31. Where did the time go?