Vermilion Socks and HOTH!

After I finished knitting my first pair of socks, I realized why sock knitting is so perfect me.  Because I have such tiny feet; size 3 boys (size 4/5 womens at a stretch), I can finish a pair much quicker than if I had average size or larger feet!  So I quickly advanced upon my 2nd pair of socks in a monochrome Vermilion shade of Malabrigo 100% merino super wash yarn and finished them in less than 2 weeks.  Xena's middle name is "Vermilion", the color shade of one of the stamps that my husband collects and it's a favorite color among all members of this household.

These socks are so soft and warm and the perfect thickness for this time of year!

Today I am starting a new pair of socks in a different pattern that's mostly stockinette with sock yarn on 0's.  Wish me luck!  The yarn is variegated and I can't wait to see the results.

When I wasn't cooking or doing X-Massy stuff, I spent the bulk of X-Mas day crocheting a bikini top for my friend, Annie, back in Richmond, VA.  She requested something vintage and stringy looking so here's my interpretation based on hours of etsy image trolling and no particular pattern.  It's a size 34C, a size my tits literally haven't been for about 2 decades.  Thanks gravity!  So unfortunately (or thankfully) I couldn't model it myself but hopefully Annie will send me a (sexy) pic of her wearing it soon cause she's a total babe!

I crocheted it with a size 2 (2.25mm) hook and mercerized cotton.  

I have to admit, it was quite a bit of work for such a dainty little thing, especially hand stitching the cups to the bottom strap but by the looks of that gorgeous seamless edge, it was worth it!

My next HOTH were crochet scarves for the 2 sisters at my salon who regularly give me the best mani's, pedi's and massages ever.  One of them also cuts my hair twice a year.  I tweaked a pattern for Caron Cakes that I bought on etsy that I'm not going to mention because I don't really like the way it was written.

Self-striping yarn is convenient but ultimately I prefer picking and arranging my own color striping patterns.

 I may further tweak this pattern to crochet a wider infinity cowl with thicker color blocks.

My final completed X-Mas project was for Arianna, the newborn daughter of Mya, the owner of Dinamo, my favorite Italian restaurant in Richmond, VA.  She has filled my tummy with so many finely flavored memories over the years, I couldn't wait to really thank her.

I crocheted the 3-6 month size of the free Mon Petit Violon Craftsy cardigan that I've already crocheted countless times over the past year.

I used Knitpicks DK swish 100% superwash merino.

Looking back it's hard to imagine that Xena was ever this tiny!

This yarn has great dimension on a variety of stitches.

My seamless sweater knitting class starts in about 2 weeks.  I already knitted, washed and blocked my swatch.  I made the gage and I can't wait to start!