I am getting a head start

Let's see if I can keep this up.

Hey, I've got the first of the 2010 Christmas gifts done!

I decided this year I am going to give give of not only handknits, but handknits from handspun! How ambitious can that be.

Well, I am getting off on a good start.

Here is the fiber from the Yarn Side.


It's four ounces of 80% merino/20% cashmere roving that was just a dream to spin with. It took me no time at all to spin it up. I Navajo-plied it to keep the colors as intense as I could and to minimize barber-poling. It still barber-poled, but I was quite pleased with the yarn I got:

Only then did I realize that because I was doing the Navajo plying -- in essence three-plying the singles -- I ended up with much less yardage than expected! Well, what I got was about 120 yards of worsted-weight (12 wraps per inch) of absolute beauty and softness.

Now what to knit with it. I wanted something simple that would show off the beauty of the yarn. I spent hours perusing Ravelry and finally came up with this:

The Birthday Cowl.

Four stitches per inch on #10 needles. Cast on 77 stitches. I have about three yards of the yarn left. Perfect.

One gift down. How many more to go? I am on a roll!