Christmas Recap – Part 3: Accessories

I thought I’d better get up the rest of my Christmas knitting on this last day of December, so here is the final installment!

Shelly Scarf

This gift has yet to be given but I am not too worried about posting it here since I don’t think the recipient ever visits my blog! This is the Shelly Scarf from Crochet Me made from about 1/2 skein of Caron Simply Soft in black with a size 4.5 mm hook. It was very hard to photograph in my cave-like apartment, but I hope you get the idea! This was super quick and easy!

Pocketbook Slippers

I made these slippers for my mom using about 3/4 of a skein of Lion Brand Wool and then used the “Florets” pattern from Nicky Epstein’s book, Knitted Flowers, for the embellishments. These were super easy, but I had to do some seaming at the end which I DID NOT LOVE. It was fun showing Mother what they were on Christmas morning since they don’t look like slippers when they aren’t on a foot, and she really loved them! (They made her feel nostalgic since there used to be a little older lady at church that used to make these and give to people.)

For some reason, of the 2 seams on each slipper, 1 seam looks really good and 1 seam looks really crappy. UGH! Oh well, I guess I should just be glad that BOTH seams didn’t end up looking crappy! 🙂

Cabled Scarf (This link would not work for me, but it is at Bernat.)

I had originally started another project for J’s sister, Karen, but I was just not happy with it at all, so this was a very last minute addition. Using 2 strands of Simply Soft doubled, I worked from 2 skeins and only used about half of each, in Autumn Red, which is a very nice color. The only problem I have with this scarf is that it wants to roll really badly and it being acrylic I didn’t even bother to block it, so roll it does. Karen didn’t seem to mind, so I will not let it bother me anymore.

So I think this just about wraps up my Christmas knitting for this year. Next year there will be considerably less, if there is any at all! I don’t know what it was about my taking up knitting that made me decide I needed to make everybody I know I gift, but I’ve learned my lesson! I’m about to get really selfish, and I say that it’s about time! 🙂

I hope that everyone has a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Not much is going on around here tonight, but I had a busy day so I am not at all disappointed about spending the evening in!

Christmas Recap – Part 2: Dishcloths

This year I gave away many dishcloths!! (Warning…this post is photo heavy!)

I was foiled by every attempt to make my grandmother a scarf, and when I told her over the phone that her gift in particular was making me crazed she said “Honey! Don’t make yourself crazy making a gift for me!” Since I knew she would love anything that I made, I gave up on the scarf and went to my old standby, the dishcloth! (Naturally!)

Snowflake, SusansKnitPatterns Yahoo! Group

For this cloth I used some Lion Brand Lion Cotton in Periwinkle Blue. I really love snowflakes in blue and this turned out really well!

Bee Stitch Dishcloth

This is a nice pattern for variegated yarns so I used Lily Sugar N Cream in Fairy Tales and Size 8 needles. This was my first attempt at knitting into the stitch below and it was so much easier and stress free than I’d imagined! I had read several places on the internet in blog-land where knitting into the stitch below makes people nervous, but I didn’t have that problem so I was thrilled! I am usually extra-nervous when I try something new!

Lacy Round Dishcloth

I love to knit round dishcloths now that I know they are so easy to do! For this cloth I used the same yarn as the Bee Stitch cloth and size 8 needles.

I’ve bought Rhonda K. White’s internet book with more lacy round cloths in it so be on the lookout for more! They are beautiful designs.

Reverse Diamond Towel

(I do not know what is up with Jim’s Dishcloth Boutique website, but once it gets back up and running, you can find this pattern there!)

I had originally made this towel for a Secret Pal swap, but was lazy about sewing on the button so it was never given to the original intended recipient! Luckily it was no trouble to sew on a button and give to my grandmother along with the 3 cloths! She was thrilled with this and deemed it “too pretty to use.”

I also made some cloths and sent them to Key West to my dad and his girlfriend, Debby, who is a fellow knitter and crocheter. I knew that she would appreciate them! 🙂

The patterns are Garterlac (which was so much fun!!! I can’t wait to make more.), Pinwheel Dishcloth, and Eyelet and Rib Dishcloth. I used Lily Sugar N Cream in Fairy Tales and Spring Meadows. Debby called me today in fact, to let me know how much she loved them! I, however, feel that I came out better on the deal since she made me a beautiful quilt!!!

I also sent a couple of dishcloths to my dad. I know this is weird to send dishcloths to a man, but when I saw the pattern I knew he would love them!

Daddy is a huge Snoopy fan, so I had to make them for him!! 🙂

(This pattern is available if you join Rachel’s Knit Patterns group on Yahoo.)

Last, but not least are the cloths that I made for J’s Aunt Jane. She loves butterflies, so whenever I see new butterfly dishcloth patterns I try and make them for her.

Papillon Cloth

These came out really great I think! I used Peaches & Cream in Daisy Ombre (the yellow and white) and Sugar N Cream in Crazy Daisy (pink, orange and white). I love crazy daisy! So pretty!

The yellow cloth is the Lacy Butterfly Cloth and the orange cloth is from the book Garden Dishcloths to Knit.

I am desperately trying to use up some of my cotton yarn stash, so I am afraid that there may be more dishcloths on the horizon.  Hopefully I will be able to intersperse some other projects in so as not to bore anyone to death. Including me!

Still to come…Christmas Recap – Part 3: Accessories!

Christmas Recap – Part 1: Amigurumi

I hope everybody had a very Merry Christmas!! I got a lot of wonderful knitting/crochet related gifts: J got me a yarn swift, a beautiful Lantern Moon project bag and 3 insert pages for my Namaste Needle Binder! I am so lucky and excited that I can finally wind my hanks into balls easily!!! Yea!!!

I have a bunch to show off from my Christmas gift knitting, so I am going to have to do it in parts otherwise there will be about 25 pictures in one post. Too many!

I’ve recently become slightly obsessed with Amigurumi. I love it!!! I had gotten the book, Mr. Funky’s Super Crochet Wonderful, a while ago and back in November I started making one of the projects in there. I was going to give it as a gift, but I quickly decided that I was NOT going to be able to part with it!! (I really love stuffed animals!)

This is Molly, and the pattern is “The Real Mr. Funky” from Super Crochet Wonderful. This took me a while because I started on it and then once I decided I was going to keep it I put it on the back-burner to work on some other Christmas gifts. Molly measures about 11 inches tall when she is seated and she is so sweet!!! I just love to cuddle her!

Once I finished Molly and found that I really loved making stuffed animals I thought I’d make something for my mother. I chose Scott the Bear, from Lion Brand because she had previously expressed that she found him to be ‘charming’ when I showed her the pattern once to ask her what she thought about it for a possible shower gift.

Mother has named him Raspbeary. Cute I think!

There were no bear noses to be found at any of the craft stores that I went to, so his nose is a little lacking, and I am a little disappointed in that. Looks a little too ‘rat-like’ for my tastes…But Mother loves him, so if she is happy, I am happy!

I used Lion Brand Wool in Cocoa and Fuchsia and a G/4.0 mm hook. This was so quick and easy! It could easily be accomplished in one evening, but because I was in no particular hurry I stretched it out into 2.

Since I was able to get all of my knitting finished on time this year I also made a few other things for myself using some patterns that I found on Ravelry!

Hello Kitty Ornament

I was so excited when I found this and it is SO quick and easy! I was probably finished with it in about 2 hours. I love it!!!

Violet

This is the pattern, Beary Jackson, but mine looks a little bit different because I didn’t have any big black eyes and I used a nose like on Molly so I wouldn’t have to try and embroider anything. I like the results for Violet, but I think that the original is still so cute! She is about 7 inches tall I estimate and her legs are as long as her body! She is very cute, and also very quick to complete!

I can definitely see a lot more of these in my future!

Coming Up…Part 2 : Dishcloths…

First Gift Given

I am not so good at keeping secrets at Christmas time so I just caved to my own pressure yesterday and gave Maria part of her gift early, the knitted part, of course!

Since I’ve discovered this new-found love of knitting hats and since Maria complained to me just 2 weeks ago that she had no adequate winter head wear, the Palindrome Hat it is! (Actually, I’d already started knitting this hat before she told me she didn’t have anything. I can sense the needs my friends have…)

I used about 3/4 of a skein of Cascade 220 in the colorway 9466, which is a reddish-orange.

While I was knitting this I wasn’t very crazy about the way the decreases at the top look, but I have to say that they really make for a nice fitting hat! I put it on my melon head to test it out and was happy to find that it fit! No added length required! 😉 Maria’s head is not quite as ‘shapely’ as mine, so I was not at all worried that it was going to be too small – which was a nice feeling.

She likes it, it fits, and I am hoping that this trend continues.

My First (Mini) Sweater

I said at the beginning of the year that one of my goals for this year was to knit a sweater. Well, I have accomplished that this week…In a way.

Making her blog debut, here is Lamby, modeling her brand new sweater!!!

This is a little bit large for her being a Wee Wonderful sweater, but it is really so cute and I really love it on her.

I used Peaches & Cream yarn and size 8 needles. The buttons came from Wal-Mart. They are purple and sparkley, which is just what every little lamb needs to embellish their sweater, I think.

I wish that I’d read the dimensions (and measured them out with my tape measure) before I started knitting because then I would have seen that it was going to turn out way-big and I could have used smaller yarn and smaller needles, but that is water under the bridge now. I’ll know next time!

SO…This project has just reconfirmed that I Hate to sew seams, but I DO think I am getting a little bit better at it. I bought myself some “Knit Klips” on ebay yesterday so I am hoping that they will help me the next time I take a notion to knit something that needs to be seamed.

To Frog Or Not to Frog

Ok. I am in a bit of a state here. I have recently started back working on the Sybellia scarf that I began for my grandmother back in July. (Didn’t meet my goal of 1 skein per month obviously!) Today is December 13 and I need to have this finished by December 24, which is when we have our Christmas with her and my grandfather. The truth is that I HATE THIS SCARF. I do not want to work on it and the yarn is making me crazy. Purling into the back of a stitch with yarn that splits into 100 pieces is not my idea of a fun time, so I always end up knitting like 3-5 rows and putting it away. Clearly, it won’t get finished if I keep up at this pace. I don’t mind the pattern so much, but I don’t enjoy the twisted ribbing with this yarn and the 22 rows of a stitch pattern. I am not so in love with Sybellia anymore, and really I only started this to see if I can cable, which I’ve proven I can!! (Yea for that at least!)

I’ve found this pattern which only a 2 row repeat. I think it is really lovely and will look nice with my yarn, which is Berocco Softwist. I also think my grandmother might actually like this better. The cables on Sybellia are so dense that it makes it pretty heavy, I can only imagine how it will be when it is a full length scarf and not just 7 inches long.

Yeah, I think I’m gonna frog it.

A Christmas-Time Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I love wrapping paper and I love to wrap gifts, so I’m not a huge fan of bags even though I know that sometimes they are the best option.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I have an artificial, but I do like real trees…so I don’t really care.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever I feel like doing it, but that is usually the weekend after New Year’s.

5. Do you like eggnog?
The taste is ok, but I am not a big fan of it because it is so thick.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I used to love to get baby-dolls.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
nope, but my grandmother does.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
nobody really because I quiz them down so much about what they want that they usually cave in and tell me

9. Easiest person to buy for?
see above

10. Mail or E-Mail Christmas Cards?
I don’t send out any Christmas cards and I feel like Charlie Brown because nobody ever sends me any either! BUT if I did give out Christmas cards then I would definitely mail them.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Once when I was about 6 or 7 my grandmother gave me some purple corduroy pants and I was really disappointed because I didn’t like the way corduroy felt. (I’ve always been very particular about the way something makes my hands feel.)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Rudolph

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
This depends, but usually around November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I’m sure I have

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
I don’t really know of any items in my family that only get made at Christmas, but my aunt, Amy, sometimes makes these little pizzas on melba toast that I really love.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
I like clear, but colored are ok too. I just like A LOT of them. Whatever they happen to be.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Is this a Christmas song?!?)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
If I were to stay at my house then I would be there all alone, so I must travel.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers?
maybe…actually I can only think of 7

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
I like either, I’m not a huge fan of bows.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
At my grandmother’s house we do Christmas Eve, but Santa still comes to see me, so of course I open those presents on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
crazed shoppers and feeling so rushed

23. Favorite ornament theme or Color?
I really love snowflakes and anything sparkly or glittery.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
I love mashed potatoes and gravy.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I’d really like a yarn swift (which I HOPE I get). Anything else would be wonderful!

 

FO: Woven Lux Scarf

Another Christmas gift finished!

This is the Woven Lux Scarf (should open PDF) pattern (which I found through Ravelry) and 2 skeins of Rowan Tapestry in the colorway #175. This is an easy pattern that gives a nice variation on basic stockinette.

Downside: it rolled up so bad! And that really drives me crazy. I hated working on it b/c I couldn’t stand looking at that rolled up mess and knowing that I was going to have to straighten it out and block it. THAT caused me to not want to work on it, so I really expected this project to end up being one that just DID NOT GET FINISHED. However, I had committed this scarf to being my aunt’s Christmas present and I was too far in to find something else to make for her. I persevered and last Thursday I was finally finished! I don’t love the way the edges look, but overall I am pleased with the result.

I am a little bit worried that my aunt won’t really love this because she goes for more bold, bright colors and this is rather muted shades of goldish orange, blue and gray. I know she’ll love it because I made it for her, but I really would hate it if that was the only thing she liked about it! I think it will look really cute with jeans, so I am hoping she will think so too.

So Christmas is 22 days away and I still have several things to finish, the most important being that Sybellia scarf for my grandmother that I started back in July. Now my grandmother (Memaw) is a sensible woman, but she is not going to take too kindly to having her present being the only one NOT finished for the 2nd year in a row. Clearly, I must get on that ASAP.