I only did a little bit of gift crafting this past December and it was mostly crochet. I had picked some Red Heart Scrubby up on sale from Joanns for some kitchen cloths. I was pretty happy with what came out!
No plan, no pattern I just chained a whole bunch and worked the cloth in half double crochet. I crocheted until I used half the skein of yarn and cast of. Then I would make a matching one with the last half of the skein.
I gifted these to my coworkers as a little post Christmas pick me up. It felt good to share a little cheer with people I see everyday!
A few special people in my life are expecting babies in the new year. So I couldn’t let those babies have cold heads!!
This yarn is some Super Bulky spindle spun handspun from 2020. I decided they needed to be baby beanies. I pulled out some size 10 dpns and just invented hats on the fly. I used up every single inch of precious handspun and came out with two cute hats.
PB loaned me a baby doll so I could take glamor shots. I still need to wash them and get them wrapped up. But that is for another day!
The socks that tried to beat me at every turn are DONE! My Dad’s 2021 Christmas socks are done and knit to the correct size this time, lol.
Pattern: My own “recipe” of a toe up sock with 68 stitches
Yarn: Regia 6-fadig in color #6974
Needles: US 2s
I don’t really have sock blockers that fit the socks for my dad/husband who wear size 13 US men’s shoes. So I make do with my sized blockers but it always makes me giggle because I feel like a child trying to wear adult sized things, lol.
I feel great to have these finally done and ready to wrap up for Christmas. Am I totally ready for Christmas? Heck no, but this is at least one thing off my list!
After accidently leaving my project bag at my parents house…I can finally show you that I finished my Mom’s 2021 Christmas Hat!
I took advantage of a grandparent babysitting weekend to really power through this project. I only had like 3 inches of hat and the decreases to go so it wasn’t too bad. But it felt great to get another gift hat off the needles. So much so that I tossed the project bag behind their recliner and forgot it when I left for home, lol.
Pattern: None, just a 96 stitch basic beanie
Needle: US 7
Yarn: Shepherd’s Mill 2 Ply DK in the Berry Gradient
Mods: really none because I just made things up as I went (including the decreases)
I purposely made the brim super long so it could be folded up and keep ears warm. This yarn is made of wool and bamboo so it blocked quite a bit with little stretching. So I gained a lot of length in blocking. I used roughly 52 grams or just over half the skein of this long gradient. I think I have enough for a second (and slightly shorter) hat….
The only bummer of this project is that the yarn my mom chose was too long of a gradient to really get much color difference in one hat. It does change from bright berry to dull berry but I never got to any of the browns. I guess I’ll save those for a bonus hat!
My mom was pleased with the finished product so that is all that counts. And it’s another hat down this year with my hat mojo still going strong. Happy Knitting!!
I have a finished Baby Yoda! And the hubby loves it. I am really pleased with the whole project. The eyes could be a little bit bigger but they were all I had without going to the store and my husband didn’t seem to notice/care.
One of my husband’s online gaming friends already asked if I could knit another one and he would pay me. I replied that “knitting is like sex, if I like you then its free. If not, then you can’t pay me enough”. That got a pretty good hearty internet laugh. But in all honestly I told them that I have enough on my plate and I don’t have the bandwidth to work extra projects at the moment. Felt good to be honest! Life is to short for obligation knitting.
They have a pretty good fit and are a bang on match to one another. They yarn is very soft and drapey. They do feel warm with the llama content in them. And I think the tweedy bits really pop against the black yarn. And I washed them in some Jasmine scented Soak so they smell lovely.
Now I just need to get over my Turkey coma and get these wrapped up to go to the recipient. Happy Knitting!!
I have been trying to knock out some of my smaller project I have knocking around in my WIP pile. I had cast on the Dreaming of Spring Fingerless Mitts with no real plan in mind. I have now decided that these need to be for my son’s kindergarten teacher. This has been an extra crazy year for teachers and I want to try to fix it with hand knits.
The first mitt is complete except for the thumb. And I’m well into the thumb increases on the second mitt. I think I should be able to knock this out this week especially with Thanksgiving. I think my plan is to wrap these up and stick a little note of appreciation in with them. A virtual hug in stitches.
I had the itch for a quick project with a tweedy yarn. And in the spirit of using stash I hopped on Ravelry and compared my pattern library to my stash and came up with a wonderful idea. A sport weight pair of fingerless mitts for my Jellybean’s Kindergarten teacher!
I picked the Dreaming of Fingerless Mittens by Joelle Hoverson (Rav link) from my book More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I pulled my Good for Eve Claddagh which is a sport weight tweedy black yarn with rainbow pops.
I’m working on US 4s and 5s so this is going pretty quick using my nine inch circular. I’ve already completed the cuff and started the hand portion with the thumb increases. I’m hoping to power through this and get these wrapped up by Thanksgiving. I have a Christmas checklist and I need to get going!!
With some personal perseverance and some Knitflixing, I finished the leg of the first sock for my Mom’s Christmas Socks!
I am using size 2 needles and my mom wears a size 8/8.5 US women’s shoe. I cast on and worked 66 stitches for the foot to get the circumference where I needed it. Right before the heel I decreased away two stitches to get the count to 64 to make the heel turn work. And then after the heel I went back to 66 stitches for the leg. And finally before the cuff I increased up to 68 stitches for both roominess and to make by 2×2 rib work. I’m just so please with this sock! I managed the whole sock in roughly a week and a week that involved a lot of sleep deprivation!
The sock fits me nicely as well. I’m a size longer than my mother but my foot is not a wide. So I feel like the fabric is very forgiving will conform to the foot very well. Now I just need to make sure I cast on the second sock and get a cooking. I’m hoping to get this finished so I can enter into the 12monthstoXmas KAL, the Pigskin Party KAL, and possibly the Double Dip KAL by the Bede Sisters Podcast.
As I mentioned before the hubby took Jellybean for the weekend this past weekend and I was FREE! I also happened to have a weekend get-together with some coworkers at a local vineyard winery. My coworkers know I’m weird and if they didn’t know….they do now! I took my Mom’s Christmas Socks with me because I had just literally turned the heel the night before. You guys….I got almost four inches of leg done despite partaking in Wine Slushes and generous sampling! It was just so amazingly soul restoring to laugh, knit and just enjoy the company of others. I definitely don’t do that enough!
My coworkers were so gobsmacked that I could knit without looking. And they thought I was counting and manually making the pattern appear. (I did break that illusion by showing them the yarn ball but they were still duly impressed.) These print yarns from Cascade Heritage are just my favorite go-to gift knit yarns. The patterns are amazing, the fabric is pleasing and they are easy care for non-knitters! I hoping to knock out the rest of the leg and cuff this week. Stay tuned!
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 