A Lot of Catching Up to Do

Happy 2011!!!

I realized this morning that I haven't posted in AGES!!!  I was having a hard time thinking of posts since all of my knitting was gift knitting, and then we were out of the country for the holidays.  Needless to say, I'm back, and I have a lot to share. 

Here are some of the holiday gifts I wasn't able to post before...

Here is the winter hat I knit for my Mom.  We went out to Banff for the Christmas Parade, and after a stop in the Jacques Cartier store, I came home with some beautiful yarn.  It is 50% Qiviuk and 50% Wool.  The yarn is thin, but really warm.  I was able to make this cabled hat in a few days, and I gave my Mom the rest of the yarn...one ball made an adult hat with extra repeats and I still had about half leftover!!!  I am really happy with this project, and I think Mom liked it.

Next up, this super cute knitting basket ornament.  A bunch of my knitting buddies came over for a Secret Santa Swap Party right before we left on holiday.  My partner asked for handknit stuff, and mentioned ornaments, so I whipped this little guy up.  The original pattern suggests making mini hanks of yarn, but I made balls instead.  The knitting needles are made with toothpicks and beads.  I may make one for our tree next year!!

This next project involved some design modifications by Hannah.  We went through my yarn stash and she planned out the hair, tights, and shoes.  She even wanted to pick the eye color for each doll.  The blonde doll is made much more like the original pattern.  She has tights that go all the way up to her white bloomers.  The brunette doll (I don't have a good photo of her legs...sorry) has black shoes and white ankle socks.  We then carried the skin color all the way up to her bloomers.  These dolls took a bit of time, since every hair is stitched individually, and the doll is seamed, not done in the round.  I made them for our niece, and despite the effort it took to make them, it was well worth it!!

I had been wanting to try cables, so I found a pattern on Ravelry that everyone claimed was a good starter project.  The hat is based on one of the Harry Potter movies...I'm not a HP fan, so I can't give you much more info than that.  I made these before I made my Mom's hat, and I think that they gave me the courage to try hers.  The gray one was made for a friend of ours who is a huge HP fan (she saw the white one and knew what movie/character the hat was from without me saying anything!), and the white one was for my sister-in-law.  Not too shabby for my first real go at cables!

Finally, I made a bunch of dishcloths and hanging towels for my sister and sister-in-law.  They seemed to like them, and I hope they find them useful. 

Now that Christmas knitting is done, what does 2011 have in store??  Well, you'll notice that my WIP charts in the sidebar are multiplying!  We have several babies on the way amongst our family and friends, so I'm going to be making baby stuff like crazy!!  Two of the babies are due next month, so my needles are on fire!!!  After that, I have a break for a few months, with the next bundle arriving in early May.  So far all of the babies are girls, so the plan is to make a bunch of girly things and then just split them up. 

Wish me luck on getting through the To Do List!!!

Cheers!

Sharon

Lots to Share...and some Christmas spoilers

Hey Everyone!

I knew I hadn't blogged in a bit, but once I saw how many projects I've finished since my last post, I realized just how long it had been...yikes!!!  I actually have 9 projects to share, and a few that I've finished up, but am going to keep under wraps until after Christmas.

First up, The Diva's Bumbleberry Pie Hat.  I made another hat in the purple yarn I showed in a previous post.  This one fits perfectly, though I don't have a photo of the Diva wearing it.  I'll have to snap one this winter.

Next, a WCOBBS update.  As you probably read about in another post, I have been seaming blanket squares together to make some blankets for the WCOBBS.  I had some donated squares in boyish colors, but not enough to make a full 9-square blanket...so, I added a bunch of squares myself.  Here's the finished product (minus the border)...

On this blanket, I made the star squares in each corner, and the two burgundy squares (one is a dog bone and one is a football helmet).  I named this one "All-Star".  It took a while to finish, but was so worth it in the end!!

In other blanket news, I promised to post a photo of the blanket I made for my friend Jenn.  I wanted her to get it in the mail before I revealed it on here, and now that she's had it for a bit, here you go...

I'm really happy with how this blanket turned out, and I've gotten great feedback about the colors that I picked.  I like that it is girly, but it doesn't look like Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake threw up on it!!

Speaking of Barbie, here comes a Christmas gift spoiler.  I am quite certain that my niece H doesn't read my craft blog, so I'm not too worried about posting things on here.  So, Big Sis, if you're reading this, don't show the next few projects to your girls!!

I have whipped up a few items for H's growing Barbie clothes collection.  I plan on making a lot more, but this is the start. I made her a dress and sweater.  I also have plans for a fancy dress, some purses, maybe a hat or two, some pants...well, you get the point.

I think they look pretty good.  Because I have to use such small needles, I have to alternate Barbie clothes for H with American Girl clothes for her big sister A.  My hands can't handle all of the small needles!!  With the changing of the seasons, I have noticed my joints cramping up quite a bit when the needle size drops to below a US 6 or so.

Here is the outfit for A's American Girl doll.  When we were home in August, I showed A some patterns for AG clothes, and her face lit up.  I know she LOVES the color red, so I thought her doll needed something rosy red.

Here's a closeup of the skirt...

I really had fun making these!!  It was also fun dusting off my old American Girl doll so I could use her as a model.  The sweater is a play on the popular February Lady Sweater, and the skirt has a bit of texture, thanks to some carefully spaced ribbing.

Also in the works for A's doll, is a funky hat, some pants, another sweater, and possibly some socks.  Oh, and I found a pattern for doll slippers that match the ones I make all the time...do I smell a matching set??  Hmmmm....

Finally, I want to share some baby sweaters I made last week.  I am pretty thrilled with these...two sweaters in 3 days!!!  One of hubby's co-workers is having twins in a few weeks, and I thought they needed matching sweaters.  I didn't want to go all matchy matchy, so I did coordinating ones instead.  I used the popular 5-hour baby sweater for the girl, and the modified boy version as well.  I had fun making a "girl" sweater a while back for hubby's cousin's baby, but this one was so much better!!!  Not only have my knitting skills greatly improved since then, but my coice to use Vanna's Choice yarn instead of the Bernat Satin I used last time payed off!!!  The yarn almost has a woolly texture to it, and the stitch definition is so much better!!!

I sewed snaps into the garter borders this morning, and these sweaters are good to go!!  I hope to see some photos of the little ones in them!!! 

So, I think that's all I have to share today.  Like I said earlier, I have some other projects, but the people they are for might read this and see them.  I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises, so expect that after Christmas, I'll have a recap post that shows off all of the projects.

In the meantime, I have some more knitting to do...

Cheers and Happy Crafting!
Sharon

Christmas Knitting Update

Hello!!

Happy New Year's Eve!!! So, I thought I'd write a quick post about all of the handmade presents I made this year. Olivia lucked out with the most "stuff". She seemed to really like her American Girl sweaters, and she loved the hat that I made. I held up the legwarmer I made to her crazy long legs, and I was right...WAY too short!! Thankfully I went with my gut and didn't finish the second one!!

I gave my Mom her angel, even though I never got a chance to make it stand up...she liked it just the same, and might get out the fabric stiffener on her own.

I think that's it for gifts I made. I had a lot more planned out, but they never happened...oh well. I did manage to start a new sweater while I was in New England. Our friend's little guy is turning one in a week or so, so I thought he needed a sweater to keep him warm this winter. It is coming along nicely, and I am hoping to have it done and some photos taken shortly.

As for new projects on the horizon, I have another WCOBBS blanket headed my way. I started Pooh Bear and Friends back in July, and I'll be finishing him up as well. I also found out that Craig's cousin is expecting a little girl in March, so I figure I should make something to send to Boston. I was going to make another blanket like my Willoughby, but when I looked at their registry, I noticed that they had chosen pink and green as the nursery colors...hmmm...now I'm tempted to finish up The Floridian instead.

I also got lots of knitting related stuff for Christmas!!! I couldn't resist and I bought myself a teddy bear pattern book called, The Best Dressed Knitted Bears, by Emma King. The bears were too cute to pass up!!! Then, the hubby bought me all three Susan B. Anderson books!!!! I'm super psyched!!!! Finally, my In-laws spoiled me with an electric ball winder!!! I would have been thrilled with a hand crank one, but this thing is slick!!! I had to mail it to myself since it didn't fit in the luggage with all of our other new items, so I am chomping at the bit until it gets here! There's hope that my stash will some day be organized!!!! WooHoo!!!!

Well, I better end this post...the Diva is napping, the food is all cooked for our New Years Eve party at a friend's house, and I have a sweater that needs finishing...oh yeah, and I need to jump in the shower!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and that 2010 brings you good times, great health, and lots of fibery goodness!!!

Blessings!

Sharon