Away on the sleigh

A couple of recent Finished Objects have been carried away on the sleigh and delivered and now can be revealed to a waiting world!

Two knitted necklaces, pattern lost, so recreated from memory of the general idea, which was: cast on a whole bunch of stitches, join in circle, knit stocking stitch for 6 rounds, cast off all but, say, 20 stitches, knit across 'em, cast on another buncha stitches (but fewer than before), st st for 6 rounds, cast off the whole business, and voila! through the magic of the Stocking Stitch Curl, you have a 2-strand knitted necklace with strands joined at the back!

The black one was made with Katia Gatsby yarn, a fingering weight synthetic chain with a little strand of gold.  Beads were added to the smaller strand by threading them on a linen thread that was knitted in with a bead every 6 stitches, advanced 1 st every round to get the spiral effect.  Had to use the thread because the dang beads didn't fit on the yarn!

The beads did fit on the Dream In Color Starry in Visual Purple.  The yarn is really magic-looking--merino sock yarn with a tiny real silver fiber running through that glints like, yes, stars in a purple sky without being blingingly overwhelming.  Beads knitted in here at random, with more on the inner strand than the outer.

You may have to click on the photo to embiggen it and see the matching earrings hooked into the top. After I got the necklaces knitted and tried them on, I could see that they needed matching earrings to look cooler than "some dumb loops of knitting that a knitter made for me."  I cast on 8 stitches, knit a bead in between each stitch, cast off, and used the tails to tie them up in loops.  Tiny dot of glue on the knot, clip the tails, and put them on wires.

One of the recipients missed the earrings entirely until I spoke to her on the phone.  "Oh, wonderful!  I wondered why it was so scratchy on the back of my neck!"

This whole multi-loops thing could be developed in a lot of interesting ways.  I can imagine a lot of same-size loops as a cowl/scarf.  What could you do with/without different colors, different yarns, charms, doughnut beads, feathers, big gauge, felting.......

Update: I found the pattern!  And it's a free download from Ravelry! It's Kirsten Johnstone's sev[en] circle.  

Cheat-Toes

I know, I know.  Long time no post.  What I've been working on has either been not very interesting or secret stuff on contract for Santa Claus.  There will be more to see later, but meanwhile, here's some yarn to look at.

This was going to be for the Claus contract, but the original sock didn't work out so well and Idea 2.0 was in a different gauge that would need to be doubled yarn, necessitating the ordering of another skein and further delay.  Meanwhile, the resemblance of the yarn color to Cheetos struck me, and I had to make a direct comparison.  Unfortunately, weird winter light does tricks even when you go outside in mid-day to try to catch the best that's on offer. The yarn really does match the snacks.  If it's not the winter light bleaching the yarn, then blame the strange day-glo additives coating the Cheetos.

The yarn is Blue Moon midweight Socks That Rock in  Sunstone.  The web site has a better approximation of the color, though no snacks for comparison.

Didja get the title?  It was going to be a sock, but now will be something else.  Cheat-toes?