Christmas Gifts

So far most of what you’ve seen of my Christmas knitting has been for the Advent Swap or for Lovebug.  And that’s pretty much accurate.  The last 2 years I’ve tried to knit something for everyone in my immediate family.  I didn’t this year because I didn’t figure I’d have time what with caring for a newborn and all.  Good thing I didn’t because I had just enough knitting to keep me occupied and happy, and not a mad dash to finish.

Instead, I knit a set of dishcloths for each of the women in my family.  Mom got a knitted dishcloth and a crocheted dish scrubber last spring.  She uses them a lot and we’ve talked numerous times about her getting more.  I used Christmas as the opportunity to supply her with some.

The first pattern I used was the Official Pattern of Revenge of Dish Rag Tag by Emily Ivey.  I liked the open knit material these dishcloths had.  These were made with Spinrite Peaches & Crème Ombres & Prints in Good Earth and Spinrite Peaches & Crème Solids in Burgundy.  These colors were picked to match Mom’s kitchen.   This pattern is quick and easy to follow.  Knit diagonally, you can make it as large or as small as you want.  These turned out a little bit small.  If I made them again I would add another 4-5 increase rows. 

The second pattern I used for Mom was the Mother’s Day Cloth by Kris Knits.  It’s a bit hard to see but it says “I (heart) MOM.”  This is a solid, knit dishcloth and more similar to what she already had.  I’ve asked her to get back to me on which she prefers – the open design, or the solid knit fabric.  This cloth was considerably larger than the previous two, and actually, larger than any other dishcloth I’ve made so far.  But I liked the size and the pattern was easy.  Just a bunch of knits and purls.  This too was knit in the Spinrite Peaches & Crème Solids in Burgundy.

The final pattern I used, with Good Earth, was Granny Square Cloth, a crocheted pattern.  This was my first crocheted pattern to try.  I’ve had some made for me and I enjoyed them, so I made one for Mom.  These work up in a matter of hours!

To complete her gift, Mom also received some matching dishtowels, a dish scrubber and some handmade soap. 

For my sister, I made a set of 4 crocheted Granny Square clothes.  Two were crocheted using Spinrite Peaches & Creams Solids in Strawberry Stripes. 

One was a mixture of Lily Sugar’N’crème in White and the Strawberry Stripes, and the final cloth was striped using Spinrite Peaches & Crème Solids in Soft Blue and Lily Sugar’N’Cream white and yellow.

The last cloth was a bit different because it involved striping and learning how to attach and weave in the ends in crochet.  A bit different from what I’m used to with knitting, but I think I caught on fairly quickly. 

Sis also got 2 bars of handmade soap as well.  They smelled very yummy.  I really hope she enjoys them and gets some use out of them.  I always get so worried about whether what I knit (or crochet in this case) is appreciated or will be used.

Finally, I crocheted Mr. Man’s mom a couple yellow Granny Square Cloths.  This was just a little something extra for her gift as she was also getting a new picture of Squishy.  I got a lovely text from her telling me she had used her new cloths and really likes them.  I love this kind of feedback!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them beforehand, so you’ll just have to imagine them looking like the above photos, except in yellow! (Yarn: Lily Sugar’N’Cream in Yellow)

Day 2

I'm playing a bit of catch-up since my package was a few days delayed in arriving. So I'll be adding a couple posts a day until I've caught up.

So Day 2 you ask?

Another requirement for the swap was an ornament of some kind.  Nina received a little painted Santa jingle bell.  There were a couple different designs and I thought they were all neat - with a rustic look which I think looks phenomenal on a Christmas tree. :)

And for me?  Well, Mandie is already showing us how much we'll be spoiled.  I got an Australia magnet (oh yeah, did I mention that Mandie's from Down Under?), an Australia keychain and a package of pink baby mittens for Lovebug.

Thank you, thank you, Mandie! :)

Friday Favorites 3/4: Mom's Brea Bag

This Friday's Favorites is a little closer to the heart than usual.  Today I'm sharing with you Mom's Christmas present, the Brea Bag.  It's taken me a little while to finish, but all those little details really make it so worth it in the end, and I'm really proud to share how it came out.  So here we go!

This yarn + this pattern = perfection.

We'll start with the knitty-gritty (haha) details this time.  This pattern is Brea Bag by Norah Gaughan, knit with Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Almanac.  The pattern calls for a worsted weight, held double.  So in the end, I used 4 skeins of yarn, but if you use a bulky yarn, you could probably get away with 2 skeins.  My yardage is also a little skewed, which I'll discuss in a moment. 

I fell in love with this pattern the first time I saw it. The cables and stitch pattern create an image that resembles the lotus flower (look towards the middle top of the bag).  I think this bag and design probably is best when used with a yarn that will show off the textural details. 

I thought this bag would be a fun, casual weekend purse.  The bag doesn't require a lining, but many people lined it anyway. That's what we did to.  Made for Mom for her Christmas gift, I wanted this to be something she wanted.  When I finished the knitting, Mom picked out her fabric and helped sew the lining into the bag.  

Part of my reason for wanting a lining to was to maintain the structural integrity of the pattern.  The pieces of the bag are seamed with a crocheted slip stitch and create very clean lines.  And since these pieces all blocked out so nicely, I didn't want their look compromised. To help with that, fusible interfacing was used on the lining gusset.  

The actual knitting for this project was fairly fast.  The front and back panels took a couple days each - the cables are very engaging.  The gusset, on the other hand....took forever!  

Instead of a leather shoulder strap, I knit the shoulder strap using the book "Super Stitches Knitting" to pick out a cable pattern that would compliment this bag. This is the reason the amount of yarn I used is different than what many people would get.  The strap was reinforced using the same fabric as the bag lining.  (We didn't want the knit strap to stretch.)  The cable pattern is OXO on pages 182-183.

And the final finishing detail was the button.  Honestly, I had forgotten about what kind of button I wanted to use until I we got the lining in.  I had seen another Raveler's Brea Bag and she had made a gorgeous button using embroidery thread.  I wanted one too.  The pattern is called Dorset Button (Ravelry link for Dorset Button here) and uses plastic rings, embroidery thread and a yarn needle.  Super simple!  I really recommend trying this out.  It produces a really neat, fun result that can be customized to whatever project you're working on.  And since you can find plastic rings in so many different sizes, you can have a wide assortment of these buggers! :)

I must say - this is one of my favorite projects to date. :)

Christmas Knitting: A's Morgan

Ahh yes...I am back with Christmas knitting (on Valentine's Day no less).  Like you haven't been hearing about it for 2-3 months already. :)  Last week I finished A's Morgan.  I worked on this straight up until the Christmas holidays.  Actually, very late (or very early depending on how you look at it) the night before Christmas Eve I was knitting this.  I was making good progress, but after being so tired and not having my wits about me, I didn't think it was smart to try and complete the finishing details.

I knit this hat with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Blueberry Mix.  The yarn is a DK weight and is so wonderfully soft.  I really liked this yarn, but in the end, probably wouldn't choose it again for this pattern because I'd like to see more stability/structure in this hat.

I'm trying to remember what the yardage may have been on this hat but I honestly can't remember.  I want to say I used less than one skein.  In fact, I'm almost positive that I did.  I can't remember.

Anyway - the details of this hat.  It wasn't mindless knitting.  I watched television while knitting this, but had to pay more attention to the rows and the counting than any show I was watching at the time.  The designer does have a tutorial (link on left-hand side of blog) on her website that explains her method of increasing and decreasing, but I didn't find it until after I had finished the counting.

While knitting, this hat didn't feel like it had rhyme or reason for why you were directed to knit this way or that.  Don't let that fool you.  The designer had her head on straight and this is a great example of trusting the person who wrote the pattern.  After the knitting was finished, I could see each element of the hat when I went back to look at the pattern.

The pattern has you knit a pocket for the brim/bill.  You insert your choice of stabilizer into the pocket and close it up.  I then tacked down the top of the hat to the brim as opposed to the suggested snap because I didn't think A would wear it unsnapped.  I used an old, unused baseball cap and cut the plastic brim out, cutting it down to size as necessary.  This part had me the most confused and gave me the most trouble.  My stabilizer is considerably smaller than the template given, but I had to modify it to fit into the pocket.  The problem isn't readily visible and I can't remember what went wrong there.

I got X to pose in the hat the night it was finished blocking by bribing him with a tootsie roll.  He wasn't very happy with me that night, but since then he asks to wear it all the time.  His uncle may have a hard time taking his hat home with him! :)

WIP Wednesday 2/9

I'm going to keep it simple today - it's busy at work today!

Mom has found fabric for her Brea Bag.  Hopefully soon we'll be able to line it.  I'll be knitting a shoulder strap for the bag since we didn't find anything we liked better.  We'll probably line the back of the strap with the same lining as the fabric to add stability and so the strap won't stretch out too much.

I'm almost finished with J's gloves.  It's just the fingers that need to be knit.  Potentially, this could be done in one night.

(Sorry for the fuzzy, funny colored photos.  I took them this morning before work!)

Last night I sat down and finished the knitting on A's Morgan.  For whatever reason I wasn't really wanting to pick this up again.  I think I put it so far out of my mind around Christmas because it wasn't finished, that I found it daunting to return to it an finish.  I still need to cut out the stabilizer for the bill and sew it in, as well as block the hat.  It's a bit tight on my head so I don't know if it would fit A's head.  I may go back and re-do the bindoff to make sure it's really loose.  At this point it feels really tight even though I tried to get it loose.  :/  It doesn't look like much and I won't weave in ends until the bill is finished, but I feel the relief of being close to done!

What's on your needles this week?  Any projects left unfinished that you just can't bring yourself to pick back up again?

Christmas Knitting: C's Scarf

As I've mentioned before, most of my knitting is gift knitting.  Sometimes for swaps, sometimes for birthdays or baby showers, sometimes informal "just because" gifting.   And then there's the formal gifting of Christmas.  Last year I made C a hat, the Modern Rib Hat, to be precise.  It was made out of gold and black for the Hawkeyes as they are his favorite.

I thought about another hat, but wanted to do something different.  So this year, he was gifted a scarf.

C got a new coat this year.  A terrific navy pea coat.  I decided that the best thing for his new coat would be a lightweight scarf that could be dressy when needed, but casual enough it could be worn anytime.  Enter Cerus Scarf.  As I perused the patterns on Ravelry, I just wasn't finding anything I was happy with, there didn't seem to be a pattern that fit the needs of C.  I didn't want anything bulky or too heavy.  This quickly eliminated any ribbing action in the scarf, in my opinion.  I also didn't want it too long because he doesn't normally wear scarves and I didn't want it to be a hassle when worn.

I saw this pattern in the list, and after looking at several finished objects, I decided this was it.

If done properly, the stitch pattern gave the scarf a wonderful woven look that was simple and classic.  In addition, this scarf was a little different because the scarf was knit from one long end to the other.  I hoped this would make the knitting go faster.

(Please excuse the lighting, I took the pictures at night - there's really no substitute for great natural lighting!! - Pictures outside are more true in color.)

I also liked that I could use a variegated yarn without getting wonky pooling or funny patches of color.  I like variegated yarn, when used in the right places.  Again, the linen stitch did wonders for the colors.

After admiring a few Raveler's scarves, I chose Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend Multis in Adobe for this project.  The navy paired with the creams and grays seemed perfect when matching C's coat.

At this point, I would like to mention that I worked on this scarf for about a month.  The first 2 1/2 weeks were only on this scarf and nothing else.  I knew scarves could take a long time to knit.  Shoot, I still have my very first scarf on the needles, and although it's getting closer to the finish line, it's time consuming and a bit redundant.  So I was having a hard time knitting and knitting and knitting on this scarf.  Would I knit it again?  Absolutely!

I meant to wait and share this post after I'd taken pictures of the recipient wearing it, but I keep forgetting to get over to their house in good light.  Maybe tonight...  And once I do get pictures, I'll just have to write a 2nd time about this scarf! :)

One tip if any of you out there are interested in this gem....when binding off the edge, be sure to do so loosely.  I did mine a little too tight so the scarf doesn't lay completely straight, one edge has a natural curve to it.  The doesn't hinder the use any, but you know how we knitter's get...it's hard to look past things we'd like to change. :)

What did you knit for Christmas?

Christmas Knitting: J's New Winter Hat

I feel like I've actually shared more of my Christmas knitting than I actually have.  I have a lot of the posts already written, but I'm waiting for pictures or finishing touches.  Do many of you do that?  Store up posts ahead of time?  I'm finding it a nice way to be on top of things, and helps me to post more regularly.

Anyway, my next project doesn't need a terrible lot of information because I just shared the same pattern with you a few days ago.  I made a decision this year that every year I'll knit J a new hat.  At some point, I may actually be ahead of the game and surprise him with a hat before he asks for one, or before we even talk about it.  Sometimes he may get a say in what it's like and other times not.  This year it was a mix of both.  His hat from last year is great, but I wanted to make something for him since so much of my knitting is for others.  And hats work well for him because he shaves his head - making winter that much colder!

I originally picked Windschief as a pattern for J, not A.  He wanted a dense knit fabric, and we'd discussed lining it.  A ribbed hat presented a couple problems because you want the stretch of the hat, but don't usually see that when the hat's not on someone's head.  Mostly stockinette stitch with a twisted rib brim and a twisted rib section - shouldn't be too difficult to line. 

Again, I like how this hat lends itself to both sexes, but is masculine for J.  I knit this hat in Cascade Superwash 220 in Charcoal.  This hat isn't quite as dense as the Berroco hat.  

It fits J well, although I wish I would have knit it just a few rows longer before decreasing because the very bottom of his ears poke out just a bit.  I guess my head's not the same size as his! :) (Yes, I already knew that.)

X had to take the hat for a test drive after I finished the knitting.  He's started to enjoy wearing hats again.  For awhile, he's complain and throw the hat on the ground.  Most of the time he'll keep one on outside. 

I lined the hat with sweater fleece.  J picked it out.  It's pretty soft and the color matches the yarn beautifully.  I'm not 100% satisfied with how I lined it, but J is happy and says it's warm. That's what counts.  

And after seeing X in Daddy's hat, I'm considering sizing it down a bit and making one for him! :)