Christmas 2009

Cultus Lake at Christmas time.

With Christmas knitting out of the way and all of our travels and visits over with I am excited to settle in at home. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season with friends and family and that the new year holds great promise for you and yours.

A Lesson Learned...

What's this mess you ask? Well, let me tell you...

I'll begin by explaining a little something that I do when I am finishing two different kinds of hand knits...

Gift Knits

When I am weaving in ends on an item that is meant to be a gift I take great care to hide them in a way that no one would ever be able to find them, making sure that they will not reappear after wear or washing. This perfectionism began a few years back after my Aunt Karen, a knitting junkie like myself, was admiring a baby sweater I had finished, she hesitated and then asked if she could turn the garment inside out and look at my seams!... all of a sudden I felt very self-conscious.

Knits for Me

On the contrary, when I am finishing an original design I always weave the ends in loosely, in a straight line, making them very obvious, almost temporary. I do this because these pieces stay with me and I don't really consider a design finished until it has passed the final test of wearability.

While I was pregnant I knit this adorable and elaborate hooded cardigan for Elsie. I resisted the temptation to knit a teeny tiny one that she could wear immediately and opted for the 2 year size so that it would get more use. This thing was a labour of love and the end result was stunning. The only issue was that the hood was absolutely enormous, I mean this thing could easily fit my head, it looked really goofy. I retired the sweater to my WIP tote until I could find the perfect buttons. Two and a half years later, with Elsie pushing 2, I've decided to fix the hood before she might actually fit into the sweater. When I tried to uncover my ends I could not for the life of me find them! I kept pulling the knitted fabric this way and that, investigating each and every seam, where were they? With no "ends" in sight I decided to take scissors to it, thinking I might uncover them that way, yeah, right...

I've obviously cut into a stitch and now the entire neck edge is threatening to unravel. I've learned something from all of this, from now on, if a hand knit is going to stay in my house, I will always leave the ends where I can see them...

...and who cares, nobody's looking.

Christmas Knitting

This year is an "away" Christmas for almost everyone in my very large family. Because of this there are many "early" Christmas' scheduled during the weekends leading up to the big day. This means that I can finally blog about some of the Christmas knitting I've been doing since the recipients received their knits last weekend.

For a handful of ladies in my family I chose to knit the French Press Felted Slippers. This was my first felting project, I think the only reason it has taken me this long to learn to felt is because until now I hadn't really stumbled across anything that appealed to me. The verdict... you must make these slippers! If you are dedicated you can easily have a pair of slippers knit, seamed, and felted in less than one day. The pattern is easy to follow, the yarn is inexpensive, and the finished product is absolutely adorable. The girls loved them...

Last Christmas I set out to design each hand knit gift from scratch. Marian, Elizabeth, Frances, Aesderina and Nicholas were all named after their recipient. What a relief to have found a pattern that suits so many on my knit list. Although I can't say I haven't designed any Christmas gifts this year, I can't help myself...

...Liam has been waiting since last Christmas for a pair of his own pop-top mittens, this year I've written a pattern for very quick and easy mitts for men made from chunky yarn... the best part, they are super easy care, they can be washed and dried in the machine! (I'm not sure why his tongue is out, unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the finished mitts! lol)

It has been bitter cold here lately so I whipped up a pair of mittens for Elsie to match my Red is Best Mittens. They are really dear and she doesn't mind wearing them so I believe they are a huge success.



...I hope that everyone is making good progress with their Christmas knitting, for a stress free holiday season remember to be realistic and don't bite off more than you can chew!