FOs 17-20

Oh, Christmas knitting. The bane of every knitter's existence. Do I like doing it? No. And normally I don't do it at all, except to knit something small for my assistant. For the last three years, that's been Matthew. He's gotten a scarf, hat, and mitts. Now, I have a new assistant to knit for. And on top of that, she's a crocheter! Big time, like knows Tunisian crochet and everything. So maybe I'll even get something handmade for Christmas myself this year! But anyway, I've made a dent in all my Christmas knitting. I still have a few things to churn out. I want to make Spanky a hat, and I told her little nephew that I'd make him a purple hat with a big red X across the top, although for the life of me, I'm not sure how the hell I'm going to manage that one... But for the most part, I'm done. And to top it off, I did it all from stash yarn!!!

Here in all their glory, are my Christmas knitting results:

FO 17 & 18:





As you can see, I knit a scarf with matching mitts. These are for my drum teacher, David.

Yarn: Cascade Pastaza, 50% llama, 50% wool, color 064, Light Charcoal Grey
Pattern: For the mitts, there was no pattern. I just cast on 80 something stitches on size 8 dpns, and joined and knit to the length I wanted the cuffs, then worked back and forth for a few inches, and then joined again to make the thumb hole, then continued to the length I wanted the finger part to be and then cast off. It was a bit of a gamble, since I was working with remnants from the scarf, and I wasn't really sure how much was in the left-over ball, but I was too lazy to re-balance the one skein into two balls. I ended up having quite a bit left over. Probably enough to make a third mitt! Maybe I should, in case David loses one of the others... Ha ha.

For the scarf, I used this pattern. The Montana Scarf--it is made by a guy, for bulky yarn (granted, his yarn was bulkier than mine), and looks great. I used size 10 straight needles for this (the pretty ones my old boss got me for my birthday years ago), and knit until it was pretty long. I don't think I measured it, but it was long enough to wrap twice around my neck comfortably. He's a small guy, so I also didn't make it too bulky, so it's a thinner width than the pattern called for by four stitches or so.



As you can see, it still fits really well around the length of my neck, so I think it will fit on him. I was a bit chagrined that I didn't have to use all three skeins of Pastaza on the scarf--I didn't want leftovers. But having almost a whole ball left over allowed me to make the mitts, so it's all good.

The other thing about the yarn is that it sheds! It shed all over me every time I used it. I hope he doesn't mind! I have to make sure I explain how to take care of it when I give him his present.

FO 19:


Pattern: Acorns by Melissa LaBarre. I bought this pattern, along with the next pattern as a set. I planned to give one to Rebecca, and one to her BFF at work, Carolann, since Carolann's boss, my friend Matt, had recently left the company, and I was not sure anyone would be giving her a present for the holidays to recognize her work. Also, she and Rebecca both protested once that hats made great gifts, so therefore, that means they get hats. I'm also planning to make mitts for them to match if I have time, but we'll see. That may have to wait.

The one thing I'm not sure about with the finished object is that the hat is very long. It isn't so much slouchy as puffy, and you have to adjust it a bit in the back before it looks ok. Here it is on my head:



Forgive my hideous pallor... I've been just wiped out by life lately, and couldn't be bothered to put on makeup. Actually, I'm surprised I had the energy to weave in the ends on the knitting. It's been sitting on our counter for a week now...

Anyway, you can see that it's sort of conical, and you can kind of push it to one side or the other or straight back to get it to conform to your head more. But I don't think that's something one would naturally just think of right away, so again, I'm going to have to explain that.

Yarn: Bernat Lana, leftover from a felted bag I did about 4 years ago. I had one whole skein and two partials, and this took the two partials and part of the whole skein, so I have plenty left to make the mitts to match, whenever I get around to them. Honestly I would have been in the middle of making them already in a better year. My energy, as I mentioned, is just barely keeping me going these days.

FO 20:



Pattern: Crooked Paths, also by Melissa LaBarre.

I really love the stitch pattern on this one, and it's just the right amount of slouchy. I declined to block it over a plate, because I didn't really want it any bigger, but I did pin out the star on the top to make it open a bit.

Here is is on:


This is also Bernat Lana, in this denim blue color.

I think this style will look good on Carolann. She's got long dark hair, so I think the blue will show up nicely. Rebecca's got red hair, so I think the dark brown of the acorns hat will go better with her coloring.

So there it is--the small bit of Christmas knitting I've gotten finished. It used up about 400 yards from my stash, and I'm really pleased with the finished objects. A win/win! I just hope the presents go over well.

Next up: finishing my mystery socks, Spanky's hat (and her nephew's), and an octopus for my friend Derek for his birthday. I just got some pipe cleaners at Target when we got the toys, so I'm ready to start on that one with left over Cascade 220 from my stash that I never thought I'd have occasion to use. Turns out Amigurumi is a great stash buster! YAY.