Ring in the New

You didn't think I would go a whole week without showing off another Botanic Hat, now did you? This is the fourth and probably the last one for a while. It will be donated to the local shelter. I took the pictures of the hat at night using my Ott-lite (without flash) just to see how they would turn out. I think that it's a good option for when natural sunlight is not possible. Also shown are the Give a Hoot mittens that I made for my two nieces, which went over really well. And that's the last of this year's FO's. Here's to a New Year of bright possibilities and more crafty adventures! Help us to ring it in properly by visiting Tami's blog for FO Friday.

Cookies and Tea

My Christmas weekend was peacefully spent at home with loved ones. I am happy to report that the knitted gifts were very much appreciated. That's always a relief since one never knows how handmade gifts will be received in this era of electronics and gadgetry. Now that the holiday knitting is finished for another year, I can turn my attention to the most appreciative recipient of my knitting efforts: me. Currently on the needles is Turmeric designed by the talented Veera Valimaki. I had casted on for this back in October but took a hiatus due to the gift knitting. Now I'm back to it in full swing, having completed the yoke and divided for the sleeves. Another self-indulgent project is a repeat knit of the Shawl Collared Cowl by Alana Dakos. I had knitted the first one for my little sister and almost gave into the urge to keep it and buy her cheese instead. Now I can have one for myself, guilt-free. The week after Christmas is a little difficult for me, mainly because I enjoy the anticipation and bustle of preparing for the holidays so much. The transition to non-holiday mode is always helped by making myself something warm and cozy. Plus leftover cookies and lots of tea! Add in inspiration from these crafty bloggers at TAMI'S AMIS and I'll be back to my normal self in no time!

EIP Wednesday

This will be a very picture heavy WIP Wednesday with TAMI'S AMIS or in my case, Elving in Progress. I wanted to share some finished gifts before they get wrapped and put under the tree. The Beaded Gathered Scarf for Grandma L. (my mother-in-law) is finally done. My very own yarn angel in the form of the lovely owner of my LYS gifted me with half a skein of the green mohair/silk yarn to finish the last 12 rows. The scarf will be joining the knitted bead bracelet as part of a gift set. The bracelet was so much fun to knit and I see more jewelry making in the near future. There is also another Botanic Hat ready for giving. My little boy is test driving it out and I think it meets with his approval. I have the fourth and final one on the needles now. It's such a relief to be almost done with the gift knitting! Hope everyone has a happy, safe and peaceful holiday!

Heck With The Malls!

I am totally excited to post my first FO Friday with TAMI'S AMIS! Here are some gifts that are hot off the needles. This Shawl Collared Cowl is intended for my little sister. The pattern is very well written and lots of fun to knit. I have some yarn and buttons to make one for myself, so looking forward to knitting this again. Speaking of repeat knits, here are two examples of my current obsession, the Botanic Hat. I love the different results that you can achieve with this pattern just by switching yarns. It's also reversible which is too cool. I am looking forward to gifting these to my little boy and hubby. Hopefully there will be more presents to display next week, none of which requiring frantic trips to the mall! Have a fun weekend everyone!

Where are those elves when you need them?

Let's start with the good news: I managed to finish knitting 3 gifts yesterday. Now for the bad news: there's still 3 more gifts left to be done. This is not including the never ending beaded scarf that was started in October and is still not done because, despite my optimism, a big ball of mohair yarn must eventually come to an end. Yes, I ran out of yarn yesterday with only 12 rows remaining. If this scarf was just for me, I wouldn't care about the two ends being a little mismatched or making it a little shorter. However, since it's a gift for a special lady, those 12 rows will have to be finished. So with only 10 days left till Christmas, there's still 2 more Botanic Hats to knit, 1 pair of Give a Hoot mittens still in need of thumbs, and some mohair/silk yarn to magically spin up (since I don't know how to spin). Plus, 18 cards to make and send, a gazillion presents to wrap and a partridge in a pear tree.

Tune into TAMI'S blog for more holiday crafting drama....

Nip/Tuck

This is Henry, from the pattern Henri the Knitted Bear by Rachel Borello. He was meant to cast a cheerful glow over the tree, but ended up looking like he has a bad case of indigestion from eating one too many holiday cookies. The hardest part of knitting softies is getting their expressions to turn out the way you intended. Oh well, maybe Henry just doesn't care for smittens. Or maybe his grumpiness is from missing a pair of legs and an arm. Sorry Henry, but those will have to wait because there are many more gifts to knit. I am almost finished with another Botanic Hat. This one is knitted out of Ultra Alpaca and Poems yarn. Really loving the subtle effect of these yarns knitted together. Then onwards to Grandma L.'s knitted bead bracelet. Here's a preview of the beads that will be used. Not much time left, so hopefully this will knit up quickly. (Check out these crafty ladies at TAMI'S blog for WIP Wednesdays).

Sofitel's Second FO

Over the past year, I have been teaching my two nieces (ages 9 and 11) how to knit and crochet with mixed results. Although Bleach (the older one) is extremely artistic and loves to draw, she is also completely enamored of her various electronic gadgets and has a hard time being unplugged from them. So asking her to sit for short periods of time with a ball of yarn and 2 sticks was like sending her back into the Stone Age. I had more success with my niece Sofitel. Now there's a girl after my own yarn loving heart! After her very first crochet lesson, she created her own ball of crocheted art yarn which I knitted up into a bag for her. We then moved onto knitting lessons which resulted in her first FO, a garter stitch scarf for her mom. She was so very proud of that scarf! She then asked me if I could buy her some yarn for her next project, a knitted purse. I, of course, said yes! and even offered to look on ravelry for some patterns for her. Well, the yarn was happily accepted, but she said that she would come up with her own pattern for the purse. Can you believe it?!! So here I present to you Sofitel's Knit on the Fly Purse. It makes this knitting aunt proud every time I look at it.
(On the needles is her WIP, a coaster knitted out of some more crocheted yarn she made)

Tree Trimming, Disco Style

It's Raining Men FO's! I have been diligently working on my holiday knits, even finishing some of them. I just need to snap some pictures to share them on FO Fridays. In the meantime, there is the pressing need to trim the sadly naked tree in my living room. This year, I am smitten with (you guessed it) SMITTENS! Oh, if only I had known about smittens a few months ago! Then there could have been 24 of them lined up to count down the days till Christmas. But at least there will be a few to dress up the tree this season. You just got to love a project that goes fast and uses stash yarn. Here's a picture of the advent calendar we are using this year. It is made out of some paper gift sacks picked up at the craft store. Add some decorative stickers, stencil in the numbers and hang up with some clothes pins. They might not be smittens but my little boy doesn't care, as long as they hold the all important treats! (They also can be reused as gift tags. Just punch out a hole, add a little something sweet inside, and string with a bit of ribbon or yarn).

Put on some Bee Gees and your elevator platforms, then disco on over to TAMI'S blog for some groovy WIP's!