Christmas Knitting Projects

After I finished my fall garland I devoted my energy to my Slanting Gretel Tee and blocked it the day before Thanksgiving.  I ended up making one more alteration before I finished.  I bound off on the neckline sooner than in the pattern because I don't like my necklines to come up over my collarbone.
I therefore had more stitches when I bound off, so the neckline is wider than in the pattern.  However, I think I might undo some things before I am completely satisfied.  I am contemplating making the sweater an inch shorter and then shaping the neckline differently.  After wearing my sweater a few times, I decided the neck felt rather constraining.  I do love the various design features: the seed stitch stomach, the celtic-looking center cable, and the sleeve cables.

As soon as my Slanting Gretel was on the blocking board, I started knitting a scarf for my husband's grandma as a Christmas gift.  A friend had loaned me an older book, Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework.  In the knitting chapter I found a lacy stitch design I liked.  With the busyness of moving, I found myself rushing to finish it in the last two weeks before Christmas.  A few days after I gave it to Grandma, I was reading online about knitting lace, and I found a technique that would have enabled me to make both ends look the same.  I will have to remember that for next time.

When we visit my husband's family, we always spend a lot of time sitting around talking, so I like to bring my knitting.  I had crocheted a Bible cover a few months ago that I wasn't satisfied with, so over Christmas I took it apart and knitted a different one.  I found a stitch pattern from the same book.  I knitted one long piece and then sewed the pockets closed.  This cover fits my Bible much better than the other one did.