![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/IMG_5776_trm_sm.jpg\" "\\"IMG_5772_trm_sm\\"")
<\/a>The yarn selection and pattern turned out to be a very good pairing.\u00c2\u00a0 The finished fabric is perfectly soft with a nice drape around the shoulders.\u00c2\u00a0 With the aid of several dye experts across the Internet, I was even able to overcome the dye transfer problem.\u00c2\u00a0 A long vinegar soak and steam heat turns out to be just the trick.\u00c2\u00a0 Husband loves how the lighter flecks were enhanced after washing and blocking.<\/p>\nThe second item is for my mother.\u00c2\u00a0 I have made the rounds of my family members, crocheting an afghan for each household.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that everyone has one (except myself, of course – perhaps the next one should be mine), I decided to create one for my parents’ lake house.\u00c2\u00a0 They have begun to spend more time there in the cooler months now that they are both retired.<\/p>\n Oh, and toss in a hat for my brother.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s decided that it’s cold enough now to need a hat and he’d rather get a handmade one from me than one from the store.\u00c2\u00a0 (So sweet!)\u00c2\u00a0 Even in the hat making flurry that was last Christmas, he missed out – he had been bugging me for the Yoda I crochet him instead.\u00c2\u00a0 An emergency trip to the yarn shop was in order (yay!) so I could whip out a beanie for him while I’m visiting my family this week.\u00c2\u00a0 There were at least a few hours of car knitting time thrown in, so I was pretty comfortable that I would have it finished before I fly back home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that gift-giving is here, I can finally post these finished projects.\u00c2\u00a0 Both are the product of several months of solid work, so I naturally needed to narrow down the list of folks I crafted for this year.\u00c2\u00a0 The mothers … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a>For reference, here’s the state of the bathwater on the first pass.\u00c2\u00a0 I was a little frightened.\u00c2\u00a0 (No, the shawl is not in the water for this photo. I had removed it just prior to grabbing the camera.)\u00c2\u00a0 But yes, it did indeed rinse clear in the end.\u00c2\u00a0 Whew!<\/p>\n<\/a>She wasn’t expecting to be gifted knitted items on our first Christmas as a married couple.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope she’s pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n<\/a>I wanted this one to have a cottage feel, so I selected a pattern that made one large granny square rather than several smaller ones that are pieced together.<\/p>\n<\/a>I thought I was avoiding the necessity of weaving in a lot of ends.\u00c2\u00a0 But…look at all those color changes.\u00c2\u00a0 Ah well.\u00c2\u00a0 It was worth it.\u00c2\u00a0 I have to say that weaving ends in crochet is much easier than weaving ends in knitting.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially in worsted weight.<\/p>\n<\/a>So now it’s back to full time knitting on my next pair of socks.<\/p>\n