Yarn: Worsted
Needle: US 4 (3.5 mm)
My default Christmas gift is the Christmas ornament and I look for the for the perfect pattern all year. The Holiday Bird Ornament from
The Purl Bee was this year’s choice by a landslide. Digging through and matching up my scrap yarn was almost as much fun as the knitting. By the time I was finished, I had a kaleidoscope of red, green, blue, purple, yellow, and white.
Most of them have migrated to their new nests but these two stayed with me. Fair Isle has been preying on my mind lately and I couldn’t resist mixing it with this pattern. The birds were great practice because of their small size but large stitches. Had I known how well they’d turn out I would have made more to give.
Since Fair Isle wasn’t finished with me and I had a little extra time before the 25th, I knit up this cute mini stocking in honor of the first Christmas in the new house. Now I want one for 2010, 2011, and beyond. Since 2010 will be my third year making ornaments, knitting them will officially be my own holiday tradition. I can’t wait.
Single Skein September was a lot of fun and very productive. I managed to get a good chunk of my gift knitting done: however, October doesn't mean that I can slack off. Overdrive is a great adjective for this month since I'm trying to finish up a modified version of this giant scarf. Originally, it was supposed to be a Christmas present in 2008. I really missed the mark on that one but I think I can knit the last 4' in the next few weeks. Maybe.
Besides from being really late and really large, there's something else about this scarf. With one exception, I have been knitting this scarf every time I've watched
Hellraiser
. Since Halloween is approaching, I intend to continue this trend and I'll probably watch a few of the sequels too. It'll be a good start to my own personal horror marathon I'll be having this month. Any suggestions for scary movies I can knit along with?
Also in my collection of horror is
The Hellbound Heart
by Clive Barker, the book Hellraiser is based on. I'll have to read that too this month...once I finish that scarf.
My army of cuteness continues to grow and these are my two latest recruits. The blue alien is staying with me and the little green guy is heading off to share an office with the boyfriend. Blue has been a pretty good office mate so far and he certainly keeps the place lively on rainy days.
I'm still using this
pattern but decided to try out a bulky in addition to a worsted weight yarn. The bulky creates an alien about twice the size of one made from worsted. Still wonderfully cute too.
Today was grey, rainy, and a bearable temperature. In other words, it felt like Fall. I might even need long sleeves and layers soon. In preparation for the lower temperatures, I've been knitting hats, socks, scarves, and fingerless mitts throughout the summer. Now that Fall seems to be hanging around, I want to knit cute, colorful things that have nothing to do with keeping warm. So, it's a very good thing that I have plenty of supplies for making more of these:
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Date: Sept. 15-16, 2009
These little guys are small, quick to make, and are so cute that they'd fit right in on an episode of Dr. Who. They don't take much yarn either since I only needed 5g for each one. The original landing party is destined to be a Christmas gift but the subsequent waves are going to be for me...and a few of my choice lieutenants.
Soon, all your base are belong to us!
I started my Holiday knitting early this year by accident. If left to my own devices, gift knitting would have taken over in late September instead of late July. I'm definitely not going to complain though since I might actually finish everything I have planned. It's not just Christmas, there are also lots of birthday gifts to finish. Almost everyone I know has a birthday in the next four months. With all these deadlines, gift knitting has taken over my thoughts completely. The recipients have been decided upon as have the respective patterns and yarns. I even made up schedule of when things needed to be finished. Yes, the battle plan is complete and hopefully there won't be too much revision. Must resist the urge to keep adding to the list.
One goal on the list that I can tell you about is the accoutrement gift. Basically, it's a small knitted gift that I can personalize and give to everyone on my list. For 2008, it was ornaments using the
Knit Ornament pattern by Leigh Radford. The pattern was a wonderful base because I could easily make each ornament unique without taking up too much time. This year's gift has already been decided but I'm not revealing it just yet. In the mean time though, I'm getting back to my Hemlock Ring and a few episodes of Dr. Who. Just because it's gift knitting season doesn't mean I can't make something for myself.
I like to make things. Knitting is my current medium of choice and I want to share it through photos, stories, and patterns.
