A Knitted Holiday

Now that Christmas is over, and my last-minute crafting craziness is almost* finished, I can look back on the gifts I made.

As usual, many of the gifts were knitted. Warm knitted things just seem like a natural gift in December... However, I did make some necklaces for the 5 nieces and earrings for some of the women in my family.

On to the knitting...

Ribbed Hat and Scarf Set - "Vogue Knitting: Accessorize"
I decided to use the skeins of Manos of Uruguay wool I had on hand. It was a blend of brown, red, yellow, and certainly manly enough for my dad. I went with a simple pattern that would knit up quickly and show off the beauty of the yarn.

Felted Tote Bag - Two Old Bags
The nicest thing about this project was that I used yarn I bought last summer at Belle Valee' Woolen Mill in northern Ontario (near our family cabin). That made it pretty special. I was not completely happy with the pattern -- it ended up deeper than I thought a tote bag should be, and the straps didn't felt quite as well as I hoped so they were a little long. But it's still a nice, useful tote bag for my aunt.

Felted iPod Cozy - Bonnie Sennott
When I found out that my sister was getting a pink iPod for Christmas, I knew I needed to make her a cozy to keep it safe in her purse. This knitted up really quickly -- it took much longer for it to dry after felting than it did to make it. I used two vintage buttons to pick up the colors in the yarn.

*Weasley Sweater - "Charmed Knits" by Alison Hansel
This one is still in progress. Yes, it was completely unreasonable for me to think I could knit a sweater for a 6'3" teenager in one weekend. Sheesh! So I'm currently working on it. The boy has been wanting a Weasley sweater for a while now -- I hope to get it done soon.

The yarn is Andean Silk from KnitPicks. Lovely stuff: 55% superfine alpaca, 23% silk, and 22% Merino wool. Soft, silky, and strong. I'm really enjoying working with it. I promise to let you know when it's finally finished and off to its new home....

Homemade Gifts

I took the Buy Homemade pledge this year, and outside of a few non-homemade items (like a gas gift card for Tommy), stuck with it. Actually, I only bought a few things -- I made most of the gifts myself.

The hats (left) were for all the nieces (on my side of the family) -- the five of them range in age from 8 to 16. I love this hat pattern -- it fits everyone, it's fun, and can be personalized to go with different winter coats.

We draw names for the adults on my side of the family and ended up with all the women. I made up packages for them with several handmade things -- earrings, patchwork scarves, etc.

As always, it was a last-minute push to get everything completed. But it worked out in the end, as it always does.

The only thing I didn't get done was a hat for Tommy. I hadn't promised it, but I know he's been wanting one for a while. It's the adult version of the Harry Potter baby hat from Weekend Knitting. He wants it simpler -- no stars and done in off-white, cream, and light yellow. I promised it would be the next thing I knitted... so it's on the needles now.... (or will be if I can finally find a size that fits the gauge).