Not knitting for Christmas

Remember when I said I was "not knitting for Christmas"? Did you believe me? Silly you, if you did!

Last post I did mention that the only thing I was knitting for Christmas was an earflap hat for Scott's 19 year old nephew. And I did.



Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool in black
Needles: US 8

I was very pleased with the way it turned out. I don't know if he loves it since he wasn't at the family party where we exchanged gifts. And, knowing this kid, unless I see him (which I don't often), I'll never know if he liked it. Oh well, I'm happy with it. And he did wear the other one I made for him.

The hat was finished in plenty of time for Christmas and I had all those pretty skeins of Malabrigo to play with so I made a neck warmer for Ariane.



Pattern: Bernat Camouflage Neckwarmer
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce
Needles: US 8

She loved the neckwarmer. She snowboards and said she needed something to come up over the straps of her helmet. Earlier in the month, I asked her what the colors of her snowboarding jacket were and lime green was one of them. Perfect!

And then I had to make something for Mike, her boyfriend. I decided to make him a hat.



Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Cypress
Needles: US 10

Mike has a large head so I made the hat kind of large. I guess it's a little too large but he figures once it gets wet on the slopes and then dries, it'll shrink to the right size.

The Malabrigo is so soft and wonderful to knit. I really love this yarn. There are three more skeins in my stash but I'm gifting the Jewel Blue to Donna. The Sunset (which is a gorgeous yellow-orange) is going to become a cowl for me. And there is no project in mind for the Damask Pink yet.

The neckwarmer was finished a couple days before Christmas. The hat was started on December 23 and finished Christmas morning. They didn't get to the house until 3 p.m. so it was all wrapped and under the tree.

Saturday we went to Scott's brother's house to exchange gifts and see everyone. I wanted something mindless to take to knit and didn't feel like working on a sock. So I got out two colors of Rowan Tapestry yarn and started a Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood.



This scarf is so much fun to knit. And the Tapestry wool is nice and soft. It's a little splitty but I don't mind. Here's a close up of the colors -


The blue is #180 Lakeland and the brown is #173 Antique. I think I'm going to have to get some other shades and make a couple of these scarves. Maybe I'll start now and have my Christmas knitting all done for 2009!

Jolly Old St. Nick

This is a Santa that I knit for my mother several years ago.



Even though I had been knitting on and off for a long time, I didn't know how to do a lot of things. I know in this pattern, I couldn't figure out how to P2tog so I did all my decreases on the knit rows. But I finished him before Christmas and was very proud of what I had done.

The pattern is from Leisure Arts, The Magazine December 1988. I subscribed to this magazine because it was mainly counted cross-stitch. Every issue had at least one or two knit or crocheted patterns in it.

I used Bernat Berella 4 for the body and Lion Brand Wool Ease for the robe and his hands and feet. He's at my house right now because I had to repair his beard. The original one was rather skimpy. Tomorrow I'm giving him back to Mom.

And here we have another cowl. It's the Stacked Eyelet Cowl by Ami Madison.



It's done in Claudia Hand Painted Fingering weight yarn "Eat Your Veggies" colorway on size US 5 needles. It hasn't been blocked yet. I wasn't a big fan of the eyelet pattern but I did like knitting the cowl. And I like the way it fits. The next one I might make with a different stitch in place of the eyelets.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, several online knitting stores had sales. I ended up buying 5 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in 5 different colors (Cypress, Jewel Blue, Lettuce, Damask Rose, and Sunset), 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport in "Black Watch", 2 skeins of Rowan Tapestry in browns, and 2 skeins of Lambs Pride Superwash sport in White and Dark green.

The Malabrigo is destined for more cowls. The 2 skeins of Rowan Tapestry will be combined with 2 skeins of blue Rowan Tapestry to make a Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood. I hope to use the Lambs Pride Sport to make stranded mittens or gloves and the Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport doesn't have a specific project yet.

But, as usual, I shouldn't start any of these projects until I finish the earflap hat I'm making for Scott's nephew for Christmas. It's the only gift I'm knitting. The hat part is done. Now I just have to pick up and knit the earflaps.

And I have to make Scott's alpaca mittens. They have been started but I haven't worked on them in a couple of weeks.



So far one cuff has been knit and the first increase for the thumb gusset has been done. I guess I should get working on them so I can play with all my new yarns.