Sunday 14 December 2008

Xmas Knitting . . . Done!

OK, earlier on this year I thought I would have only two gifts to make for Christmas. And I ended up knitting neither of those. I was going to crochet the Seraphina Shawl for my mum and my gran. My gran passed away, and I made hers in the days after her death in an attempt to comfort myself. And I decided my mum would like other things better. Then I forgot all about Christmas till basically the beginning of this month!

It seems like I decided what to make people all in December. Just as well I've got a lot of time to knit :)

I made this for my friend from bellydance class, and gave it to her yesterday:

S5003445
S5003446
S5003447
S5003449

It's basically a knock off of the burly-que-hat from the Spring 2007 issue of Knitscene. I saw the pattern on Ravelry, and just thought of this woman, it's perfect for her. So I searched ebay, the in-search-of boards on Ravelry, all the shops I could think of, but couldn't find a copy of the magazine. Eventually I looked at the pictures and figured I could make my own version. I feel kind of bad just basically copying the pictures, but I do intend to buy the pattern as soon as I find it, and I could not find it anywhere, and this pattern would be perfect for my friend. I totally want to support the designer, so if anyone knows where I can buy the mag, let me know please :)

Anyway, I gave it to my friend yesterday cos it was the last class of the year, and it got a great reaction! Reactions like that are what make me want to give my knitting away, she loved it! I just knew it was for her as soon as I saw it :D Almost makes me want to give up being a selfish knitter!

S5003357

I made this bag for my mum (I know she doesn't read this cos she doesn't have the internet!). I had made it for myself in the summer, in blue, and she'd hinted (read: told me!) that she wanted one for xmas in purple. That was what made me decide to make her this instead of the Seraphina shawl. :) It's the Cabled Baglet from One Skein Wonders. It knits up really fast, and is really pretty. She's getting this perfume bottle inside it, cos she loves butterflies :)

S5003450

I went to the shops last Wednesday in an effort to find last minute gifts. I know it's not really last minute, but it's as last minute as I want to allow it to be :) The shops are horrible as it gets closer to Christmas. Me and a friend were scaring ourselves wondering how it would be to go into Toys R Us on the weekend before Christmas. Scaaaary! Then we imagined how it would be to actually work there the weekend before Christmas, and nearly passed out from fear! Kudos to all those workers in the shops, you're braver than me, and work so hard!

Anyway, I popped into the yarn shop (as you do when you're Christmas shopping ;) ) and they had purple sparkly yarn! Normally I would just walk right by it, but suddenly I thought that my mum and my sister love that shade of bright sparkly purple, and would really love scarves made from it. So I bought four balls (it was Stylecraft Cabaret, BTW), and went on my merry way. I also bought a couple of other balls of yarn for a shrug, but we won't mention them, k? ;) Then I was looking around trying to find something for my BF's brother's girlfriend. And just could not find anything. In a flash of inspiration, I looked down at my shopping bag, and thought "she can get a scarf too!". So I went back and got another two balls.

S5003427
S5003431

I knit the three scarves in two days! It was just 25sts of garter stitch on 7mm needles, for as long as two balls lasted. They turned out to be 6 inches by 6 feet, which to me is the perfect length for a scarf, so it all turned out good! I couldn't believe they knit up so fast, and the recipients will be more impressed with them being all sparkly than if I made intricate lace scarves for them.

It was my first time knitting using "fun fur" type yarn too. I figured if it was as horrible as some people say, then it would only be three scarves, and I could at least say I'd done it. But it wasn't bad at all knitting with the Stylecraft Cabaret. It's quite soft, and if you need to, it rips out easily and smoothly. I don't think I'd wear the scarf, just because it's a little too fluffy for my taste in clothes, but I wouldn't rule it out. Maybe the other people were using really rubbish fun fur or something. It's definitely all right for whipping up a quick scarf or three!

Anyway, that's all my Christmas knitting done, so I can get back to making stuff for myself! Unless I think of anyone else who needs a scarf!

4 comments:

Lina said...

Congrats on finishing up your Christmas knitting! I hope everything is as appreciated as the hat you made your friend! :)

Samsara said...

That's such a cool hat! Love the duel colour web band :-) The cabled bag is gorgeous too!

Anonymous said...

That must be a relief to get all that done. I am waaaaaay behind on my Christmas gifts. :-(

Viknits said...

Sorry to hear about your Gran, I hope she's in a nice place, watching over you now. I love the perfume bottle you got, it's beautiful! I kind of agree with you about furry yarn - I've done a few scarves in Sirdar Zanzibar, which is sparkly and soft and furry, and it's not bad at all - I just wouldn't wear it as like you, it's not in my taste!
Have a lovely holiday xx