Handwarmers for Kelley

December 24: Matching handwarmers for the hat that I made my sister for Christmas. Yes, this will be a late present.

December 26: Finished the first mitt. I’m really glad that ribbing stretches because these are small and although they do fit, it probably would have been better to add at least one more set of 4 stitches, perhaps even more than that.

December 29: Finished the second mitt. Still a little tight, but this time I used a sewn bind off and that at least helped make the edge a bit looser than on the first one.

Pattern: Riverside Handwarmers by Ivete Tecedor
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Rose Smash

Cowls for Eden and Gina

December 23: I finished the second of two cowls today. I wanted to make something for the two gals in my gaming group and decided this cowl would be great. So I picked out yarn in the colors I thought they would like (Gina got Whale’s Road and Eden got Emerald) and went to work. I finished the first one during our gaming session and gave it to Gina. It took me a couple more days to get to Eden’s but it is now also finished. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of Gina’s (did at least get a pic of the yarn) but I did take a quick picture of Eden’s (I'm also posting a picture of the yarn for Gina's).

I was wondering why these turned out to be tighter than the one I made for myself a while back. Apparently my needles were in the wrong pocket so I used much smaller needles (10 3/4 instead of 13) than intended. Oops. At least they still fit!

Pattern: Dolores Park Cowl by Parikha Mehta
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky in Emerald and Whale's Road

Ribbed for Mandy's Warmth

December 20: I did another project (bath mitt) for my sister-in-law and just wasn’t happy with the way it turned out. So I decided to make her this cowl as well.

December 23: Much better! This is a gift that I’m proud to give to someone. I really like the way it turned out.

Pattern: Ribbed for Your Warmth by Sonia Ruyts (free download on Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Hummingbird

Little Miss Sunshine

November 21: Need to get working on Christmas gifts so I decided to give this one a go. I had a bit of a mini heart attack last night when I couldn’t find the pattern. But after a while spent looking for it, I finally found it, safely tucked away inside another pattern. Colors used should be Semolina (yellow), Coal (black), and Serrano (red).

November 24: Finished all the knitting bits. Used a whole skein of the Semolina and part of a second. Now it’s just a matter of piecing it all together, which is the part I really hate. But I’ve got about a month, so hopefully I can talk myself into completing it during that time.

December 6: Did all the seaming and putting together of parts. The only thing left to do is to embroider her face. I’m really pleased with how it looks so far so I hope I don’t mess up the face!

December 21: Finally stitched the face. The mouth is a little crooked, but overall, I think it turned out quite nicely. I actually don’t really want to give this away, but I did send it out in today’s mail.

Pattern: Little Miss Sunshine by Alan Dart (out of print)
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Semolina (yellow), Coal (black), and Serrano (red)

Fishy Bath Mitt

December 20: I’m just not happy with how this fishy mitt turned out. I also think there are a couple of minor errors in the pattern. Present for Mandy for Christmas. Decided to make her something else to go with this as I just didn't feel like this mitt was good enough.

Pattern: Fishy Bath Mitts by Helene Rush (part of kit)
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Cotonade in Caribbean and Neon

Emily's Christmas Pink Ranger

December 8: Details of this project will be posted after Christmas as this is a present for Emily. A couple of vague notes: I’m using a technique that I haven’t used before on this project and I’m finding it a bit tedious. But it’s good to learn something new. I just hope it all turns out okay!

December 12: I had a hard time doing ____ with the project (blank to be filled in after Christmas) so part of it looks a little wonky. I did finally have a breakthrough regarding _____ and what I’ve done since then looks a lot better. Although it doesn’t look great for the part I did before I figured it out, I just don’t have the patience to take it all out and do it over again. Sorry, Emily!

December 12 (later): I’ve reached saturation point on this project for today, so I’m putting it aside for a while to work on other gifts, but I’m determined to get this one done in time so Emily can get it for Christmas!

December 18: Finished! I would do this only for Emily but will never do this again!

December 25: Okay, so the gift has been opened and I can post details. First, the new technique I used was intarsia. Not something I plan to make a habit of (the bobbins were annoying) but I’m glad that now have the skill in my knitting arsenal. The technique that I discussed in the ____ above is the dreaded seaming, which is the bane of my knitting existence.

Pattern: Might Morphin' Power Rangers Intarsia by Alan Dart (out of print)
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Petal, White, Coal, Red, and Gray

Mom's Felted Bag

December 7: I made one of these bags a while back for my mother-in-law. She mentioned it to my mom during our summer vacation and my mom seemed interested, so I decided to make one for her for Christmas.

December 17: Finished and felted. I think it turned out great!



















Pattern: Angela's Fabulous Felted Bag by Angela Roberge
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Onyx and Deep Pine

Rolled Brim Hat (Take 2)

December 2: With the first half of this yarn, I made a rolled brim hat, but I was unhappy with the “nipple” at the top. So I decided to try again. I cast on 72 stitches and just knit and knit and knit until I felt that it was tall enough. Then I started decreasing (if I remember correctly, it was something like the following):
K10, K2tog
K all (2 rounds)
K9, K2tog
K all (2 rounds)
K8, K2tog
K all
K7, K2tog
K2, K2tog
K2, K2tog
K2tog
Pull yarn through remaining stitches.

I had to start doing the major decreasing in a hurry because I was almost out of yarn. I was a little worried about how it might turn out because of that, but I’m actually really pleased with how the top looks. Definitely a successful hat!

Yarn: Madil Yarns Pierrot Print