Pattern: Petal dishcloth, modified to include beads
Yarn/materials: Red cotton embroidery floss (used two 5g skeins of 15m each), 48 Beader's Paradise beads (from A. C. Moore), and a few inches of green embroidery floss to hang the ornament
Needles: 2mm (I used two size 0 sock needles)
I stiffened the ornament with Aleene's Fabric Stiffener and Draping Liquid (available at JoAnn Fabrics). I diluted the stiffener with water, soaked my finished ornament, rinsed and wrung out the excess liquid, shaped the ornament flat on the table, and let it dry overnight. Drying the ornament on Christmas Eve, I woke up on Christmas Day to discover that the ornament had not stiffened enough to my liking, so I re-soaked the ornament in the stiffener then quickly dried it in the oven - risky, but luckily it worked like a charm.
My boyfriend's parents are very generous, and I wanted to give them something in return. I knit his mom a feather and fan scarf:
Pattern: "Misty Garden" from Scarf Style (just feather and fan stitch)
Yarn: 3 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Silk (55% superfine alpaca, 23% silk, 22% merino wool) in color "Cornflower"Needles: 5mm (size 8)
Dimensions before blocking: 6.5" x 47"
Finished Dimensions (after blocking): 6.75" x 59" - a foot longer!
Time requirement: I knit an hour a day for 8 days, then I blocked it. The entire project took roughly 9 hours to complete.
In return, his mom gave me two knitting books (Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and Vogue Stitionary 2) and sock yarn:
The sock yarn is Claudia's Hand-Painted sock yarn. She chose the beautiful colors "Bearded Iris" and "Plumicious." I cannot wait to start knitting socks. ;)
