Project Specs
Pattern: Mitered Mittens
Pattern Source: Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #88, 66g (145 yards)
Needles: US 6 DPNs
Date Started: 12/15/08
Date Finished: 12/18/08
Finished Dimensions: 11" inches long
Modifications: Added thumb gusset

I've had it in my mind for about a year now that this pattern would be perfect for my grammie. It's subtle and beautiful while not being at all ornate, and I thought it would be a great compliment to the Chickadee Cowl I had already knit her. With a matching Silk Garden colorway, I thought they'd make a lovely set.

I knit these pretty much the same way I made my first pair of Mitered Mittens, with a 5 row garter stitch edging and added thumb gusset. I made the cuffs a little shorter this time by about two inches. I wanted to make sure that the thumbs kept in line with the color pattern, so after working the thumb gusset I knit two rounds in the miter pattern, broke off the yarn, then went back and worked the thumb before finishing the rest of the mitten. I think this also helped me complete them in a timely manner, since it always seems I put off knitting the thumbs on my mittens. :)

It took me a little while to find the right colorway to match the Bronze Handmaiden. The muted colors are really pretty and I like the variety of browns, pinks and greens just like in the Handmaiden. I visited several yarn shops in Boston until I found this at Snow Goose Yarns in Milton. This shop is quickly becoming my favorite LYS and not just because it is pretty close to my house. They have a huge selection of yarns with a different brand on sale every month, plus their clearance section is the best I've seen (other than Webs). If you live near Boston, it's worth checking out. However you will need a car to get there.

Project Specs
Pattern: Drive Thru by Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic
Size Knit: 2 years
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in 153g Cactus Flower (330 yds), 15g Verde Adriana (32 yds) 5g Garnet (11 yds), and 13g Natural (28 yds)
Needles: US7 and 8 Clover Bamboo DPNS, US7 and 8 Denise Interchangeable Needles
Date started: 12/17/08
Date completed: 12/21/08
Modifications: Instead of a stranded transition row between colors, I slipped every other stitch. Did not bind off stitches at underarms and grafted them to sleeve stitches later.
See it on Ravelry

Pattern: Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur of Through the loops!
Yarn: 70g Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Verde Adriana (151 yds), 5g Garnet for the edging, and 5g each Verde Adriana, Cactus Flower, Garnet, and Natural for the pompom and ties.
Needles: US 9 Addi Bamboo DPNs, 7 mm Crochet Hook
Finished Size: About 19” around
Date started: 12/19/08
Date completed: 12/20/08
Modifications: Knit at slightly smaller gauge, worked jogless garter stitch technique on the band, made 4-stranded square braids as ties, added pompom
See it on Ravelry!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I know we had a blast! I got to see my sister open her Fiddlehead Mittens which she loved, and also gave my niece this cute sweater and hat set. I’ve almost finished all my x-mas knitting, but luckily I still have time to finish up a few more things before we get together with our whole family for a late Christmas celebration in a couple of weeks.

I came up with the plan to knit this sweater and hat set for my niece, Jojo, about a week before Christmas when I realized I’d never get the other gift I had planned done in time. It took some quick knitting but I love how it turned out! The sweater is just about the cutest thing on her and fits her absolutely perfectly! There’s a bit of extra length in the arms and body so it should (hopefully) fit her for awhile longer. I opted to make the cardigan version of this pattern; I thought it would be better that it can be easily taken off especially since Malabrigo isn’t machine washable. I also love that it can be slipped on quickly. Jojo didn’t want to sit still long enough for us to button it up, but I think the cardigan looks just as cute worn open.

This is the second time I’ve knit this pattern, and though I have loved the finished product each time, I haven’t overly enjoyed the actual pattern. If you’re looking for a pattern that lays out everything with step by step instructions this might not be the one for you. The color changes in the yoke are more guidelines than anything, so it really helps to use your gauge to figure out how many rows of each color you’ll need and where to place the decreases in advance. When it came time to work the button bands, I was surprised to see there were no instructions on how to knit buttonholes or how many buttons to use. In the end I think if I have to do a lot of figuring anyways, I’ll tackle an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern next time I want to knit a seamless sweater.

After finishing up the sweater I decided to move onto a pattern I really love and have knit three times already —Thorpe. This hat turned out better than I even expected and knit up so quickly. I knit the same size that I had made for Camdyn before. It’s a tad big on Jojo now but she’ll be able to wear it for years to come. Of course I had to add a huge pompom on top—I think it ups the cuteness factor even more.

At first when I chose the color combo for the sweater and hat I thought it might be too Christmassy, but I really like how it all came together! My sister is a huge fan of pink, and the Cactus Flower Malabrigo is the perfect bright pink. I absolutely loved knitting with Malabrigo—I probably don’t even have to mention that anymore. I’m totally addicted to this yarn!

This gift was a big hit and I’m excited for it to get lots of use. The weather’s been colder than normal here in Las Vegas, and on Christmas night we even had a little snow flurry!

Project Specs
Pattern: Evergreen and Christmas Rose Gift Bags designed by Suzanne Atkinson
Pattern Source: Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick
Yarn: Evergreen Bag - Patons Classic Merino, 61g Deep Olive (136 yds) and 42g Leaf Green (94 yds)
Christmas Rose Bag - Patons Classic Merino, 44g Gray Mix (98 yds); Cascade 220, 50g Robin Egg Blue (110 yds)
Needles: US 8 Denise needles and dpns, US 7 dpns for i-cord
Finished Size: Small; Evergreen Bag 7" diameter x 10" tall, Christmas Rose 7" diameter x 8.5" tall
Date started: 12/8/08
Date completed: 12/13/08
Modifications: For Evergreen bag changed eyelet row to "*k8, yo, k2tog; repeat from * around".
See them on Ravelry!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! I've finished my first round of presents, and with any luck they should be arriving to my family today. These little gift bags were part of the package I sent out to my aunts and uncles. They turned out even better than I hoped and will look perfect under the tree. I'm sure you've all heard me rant and rave about how great the book Handknit Holidays is. I really don't think I'll stop until I've knit every pattern in it, and even then I'll probably come back for more! It is the first place I turn to find ideas for quick gift knits, and it never disappoints.

These holiday bags knit up super quickly. If you started right now you could probably have one finished by tomorrow! The pattern is really flexible, with instructions for two sizes provided. It would be easy to scale them up or down, and I can just imagine how cute a pint-sized bag would look. The only thing I changed was the eyelet round on the second bag I knit. The pattern originally calls for you to bind off stitches, and then on the next round cast stitches back on. It was pretty tedious when I did this for the first bag, so I changed it to "*k8, yo, k2tog; repeat from * around". I also added one more knit round after the eyelet round. The eyelets are so much easier to create this way and are easily big enough for the i-cord ties.

It would also be really simple to change the color charts to customize the bag to the occasion or recipient. I thought that a simple stripe pattern like the one Alice used for her Holiday Stripes hat would be super cute. I'd also like to play around with different yarns; this pattern could be a real stash buster. I'm sure I'll be knitting this pattern a lot in the future.

I filled these bags each with a bag of fancy chocolates, a Celtics car magnet (Washington no longer has a basketball team, so I thought they could now root for my team), and a Boston postcard. The possibilities are endless, but no matter what you fill the bags with the present will feel special because you gave something handmade.

Project Specs
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark
Pattern Source: Wrap Style
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino, 137g Spring Water (411 yds)
Needles: US 8 Denise needles
Finished Size: 54" x 28"
Date started: 9/25/08
Date completed: 10/1/08
See it on Ravelry!

I'm so glad I finally got around to knitting this pattern again! It's been about a year and half since I knit my first Shetland Triangle, and it's been in the back of my mind, calling me to knit it. I finally got the chance to cast on, this time as a present for my aunt. She is the first person I ever gave a knitted gift to and she really liked it! Like Alice said, it's great having family that loves hadknit gifts. I just hope I'll be able to get these present to everyone in time for Christmas! We've had a HUGE snow storm here in Quincy and I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the post office.

I'm glad I took Alice's advice and used Malabrigo Silky. The combination of the shine, softness, subtle color variation that Malabrigo has perfected, all make this yarn gorgeous and perfect for lace knitting. It works great for more lacey patterns like this one as well as stockinette shawls like the Ellensburg Shawl Alice just knit. The weight of the yarn makes lace knitting just fly off the needles, and allows you to actually knit a shawl as a quick gift. I was pleased to find out how well Silky blocked too. Usually I have a problem with the smell of wet silk yarns, but the smell of Silky didn't bother me at all.

This shawl was just as fun to knit the second time around! The pattern is simple enough for any beginner lace knitter and interesting enough to hold anyone's attention. I have so many lace shawls in my queue, but for some reason this one just kept calling me to knit it again. Next year I'll venture out and try more lace patterns, but for now I just needed my Shetland Triangle fix.

Project Specs
Pattern: The Ellensburg Shawl by Janelle Masters
Pattern Source: Dancing Ewe Yarns and Teas or from Janelle’s Etsy shop
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino, 2.5 Skeins (375 yards) Celeste colorway
Needles: Size US7 Denise needles
Date Started: 12/4/08
Date Finished: 12/12/08
Modifications: Worked to only 231 stitches before edging, did not block out points on edge
Extras: About 68 size 6.0 beads, clear with silver metallic centers (leftover from Camdyn’s Tretta Hat)
See it on Ravelry!

The Christmas knitting continues! I’m in the final stretch and have a few more things to finish up before the big day. It’s so hard because there are so many patterns I’m wanting to knit for myself right now that I’m having to force myself to stay on task.

This shawl is for my grandmother. I picked up the pattern at The Dancing Ewe on one of my visits back to Washington and decided it would make the perfect gift for her. It’s named after the town I grew up in, and where most of my family still lives. It’s also designed by a local designer, which I thought was pretty cool. Though it is simple, I really like the thought that was put into the borders. Both the “wildflowers” and “mountain and valley” borders really make me think of Ellensburg.

Though Grace has knit a few triangular shawls, this was my first. I have always been intimidated by shawl patterns and charts. This pattern was so simple though I couldn’t believe it! The body of the shawl is basically stockinette. It isn’t the most exciting knitting, but it’s nice relaxing knitting. The borders are really fun and simple. The instructions are written out—which if you’re intimidated by charts is a good thing—and easy enough that you don’t have to look at them every row. If you choose to make the beaded version, there’s even more excitement. I love the little bit of glimmer the beads add! There are just enough so they’re kind of a fun little suprise.

I decided to make a slightly smaller shawl and worked to only 231 stitches before knitting the borders. This created a nice sized shawl that could be draped around your neck as a scarf, over your shoulders, or even on your lap for a little extra warmth. This would be a great pattern for other knitters looking to make their first shawl but a bit scared of intricate lace charts. I know I’m now ready to try to tackle something a little more adventurous!

I actually got to give this shawl a bit early to my grandmother last week on a quick visit home. I am really glad I got to see her reaction when she saw it. She loved it! She commented on how nice and soft it was (Silky Merino is always fantastic!) and loved the explanation of the lace patterns. I love having a family who really appreciates handknit gifts!