Final Four

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I had a great Christmas, and I actually got all of my crafting done on time. It was fun, and the only stressful part of it was trying to finish up the last bits of a couple of projects so that I could drop off all the presents before we left town. I had planned to just give IOU's for any unfinished projects, but these were just so close that I pressed on to get them done. Go to the gallery if you want the project specs.

First up, a pillow for my parents. This was my first intarsia project, so it took longer to get the tension right. Plus, I had to pull out the sewing machine to sew the backing on. I wish I had a full shot, but those pictures turned out blurry.


Then, I made a felted basket for my uncle, who does woodworking and has turned out beautiful bowls for all the rest of us for years.


This little guy is Sleepy Sam, my first knitted stuffed animal. It was for my aunt, who collects teddy bears. This project was the real nail biter. He had been knitted up for awhile, but I didn't finish him until the last minute--I was up past midnight getting him seamed up.


Yup. That's how I felt at the end of it! Oh yes, there was a final fourth project, but it was just a little one and I got too busy sewing up Sam to take a photo. I used 1 skein of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille to make a flower washcloth to include with some bath and lotion goodies for my great aunt.

So that's it! That's the end of the gift crafting for this year. I've moved on to 2 new projects for myself (even though I should be finishing up some UFO's instead), but I'll share those another time.

Not a Scarf

I have been doing a lot of knitting, but I'm quite behind in getting pics. The Christmas crafting continues. I decided I'm not going to make myself crazy trying to finish things, so if I don't get to someone's gift, I'll give them a picture of the project in progress or an IOU. Here's a bit of what I have done, and no, there's not another Noro scarf!

I finished the knitted bangles for my sister, and more info is in the Gallery. These were made with Rowan Calmer, so they are super comfortable to wear!


This one is a mobius basket--my first mobius project. For some reason, I kept messing up on the cast on and would always end up 1 or 2 stitches short. I decided for the sake of time, though, not to worry about it--it's not going to have a huge impact on a basket that is going to get felted, but if I do any other mobius projects, I'll need to invest some time in figuring out what I'm doing wrong. For now, I just have to get this baby into the washing machine!



And this little guy is a teddy bear. I have all but one arm knitted, and then it's a matter of seaming, stuffing, and embroidering on some features.


On Dasher, on Dancer, and you too, Rudolph! Back to the workshop!