Pattern: Woodland by Nikol Lohr. It's a fabulous pattern. One day I shall knit one for myself. I made it scarf-sized rather shawl-sized.
Wool: 100purewool merino laceweight in "Choir". I used approx 65 g.
Needles: 3.25mm. I think I could have gone up to 3.5mm and it would have been amazingly airy, but I liked the 'airy, but substantial' fabric the 3.25mm needles made. Similarly, I think you could have taken it all the way down to 2.50mm as well.
This was my mother's Christmas present. I worked on it from May 2008 until September 2008. Then she sent me a wishlist saying that she'd like a scarf (yes!) but NOT in any shade of brown (cue panic!!). Although many kind souls offered to take the scarf off me, so I could buy my mother something, I decided to chance it. Fortunately, she loves it and I can stop panicking (for about another six months).
During Christmas I actually finished a beret, but I have been unable to snap any great photos of it (I blame my cold). I wanted a portable holiday project which would be fun to knit, easy to do in a house filled with relatives and something I'd use.
I chose a free beret pattern from the ever-reliable Garnstudio and it turned out to be the perfect holiday project. The lace pattern was interesting enough to keep me hanging in there but easy enough so my three-year-old nephew could bounce around without me losing track. Instead of using the suggested wool, I opted for Sandnes Tove in a lovely olive green shade. I used about 1.3 balls in total (which leaves enough for a pair of mitts). I finished the beret in three days or so with nary a modification. Unfortunately the bouncy nephew and the Christmas excitement meant my gauge was way, way off, so the beret turned out to be huge. So I threw it in the washing machine at 40 degrees. It's now perfect. Perfect, I tell you.
What's on my needles now? A top-down jumper in a wool/alpaca blend. It's my own design and I'm now at that scary point where i have to work in darts. I'm also getting ready to cast on for a shawl, but all my laceweight is hiding in the storage room behind our Christmas tree. So I cannot access it, oh the trauma.
And so the knitting begins..