January 6, 2012

Holiday Stitches

Over the holidays, somehow I managed to get a lot of knitting in.  For the first time I can remember, this year's Christmas celebrations felt a lot more relaxed and less hectic.  We actually got to stay home on Christmas morning!

I finished 2 hats and 3 washcloths in the span of about 10 days.  The first hat was for my nephew who over the last 6 months or so, has been asking me if I can make him a hat "with skulls on it".  After a bit of procrastination and wondering how exactly I would make this hat, it was ravelry to the rescue.  I found this pattern which uses knitted colorwork, which I've never done before, but I really enjoyed.  I had to tweak the pattern a bit to make it smaller for a child-sized head (sizing for children has to be one of my biggest challenges).  The colorwork can be a challenge as following the graph forces you to use a bit of math (yes, it's true what they tell you in school, you do need math eventually) and pay attention.  But I'm glad I challenged myself and am looking forward to doing more colorwork in the future. 


Next up were some washcloths for my dad, who really likes the crocheted ones I made him about two years ago.  Since I've been noticing he still uses them AND they are falling apart, I thought it was high time to make him some more.  Usually I just wing it and crochet some squares.  This time, I decided to knit them as I wanted to use up my cotton stash- and only having a bit of cotton left, I thought I'd knit as it uses less yarn.  I forgot to get pictures but I used this pattern that features a basketweave stitch, which I quite like.  Here's the photo from the pattern page:


And lastly, I made my first project for our baby bean.  I've been so excited to start making things for the little one!  The Aviatrix pattern first caught my eye on cosymakes blog.  I loved the style of the hat, especially with the handspun.  One of my goals this year is to keep more of my handspun and dyed yarns for myself to use in projects.  So after Craftateria, I coveted one of my hand-dyes for this hat.  The yarn is from my local wool series and is processed right here in Alberta.  Orange is not typically a color I choose, but since it's neutral and bright, and Cosy's looked great in orange, I thought why not.  


It's actually a bit more orange than it appears in the picture (stupid lack of daylight!)  And gosh, I enjoyed knitting this.  The pattern was interesting.  I finished it off with a funky polymer button I received from Elaine in a Christmas swap from a few years ago.  It did turn out a bit bigger than intended, but since baby is due in the spring, it probably won't be needed until the winter anyhow.

Next up, I'm pondering a little sweater or perhaps another hat or maybe some legwarmers for myself!  Gotta get through some stash as my current yarn studio will be baby's room come spring!

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