December 30, 2007

I Have Been Knitting

Though my posting history hardly reflects it, I have been working the needles. Took a brief hiatus from the CPH to get in some holiday knitting.

Though I tend to eschew holiday gift knitting in order to avoid the headache that inevitably becomes the last minute scramble, I found myself succumbing to the desire to gift handcrafts and whipping up a few last minute goodies. Last year a few local knitters clued me in on the wire votive holders in Handknit Holidays, which come in quite handy for some eleventh hour gifting:

votive holders

I also knit up a pair of the Voodoo wristwarmers though I forgot to snag any shots of them. I forgot how simple and wonderful these are. I first knit up this pattern a while back when I got up the courage to venture into circular dpn knitting. I chuckle to think how adventurous I thought I was being then, as it was the first non-flat project I tried. My own pair is rather ratty now though I still sport them which is how one of my court deputies discovered them. She'd been eyeing them since I started donning them this past fall, so figuring out what to do for her for the holidays was a no-brainer. A local knit shop showcased a pair worked in this Odyssey yarn so I purchased a couple balls in the 408 colorway for this pair. The yarn was delicious and knit up so softly that I may need to replace my old ones, which were worked in just plain old wool -- perfectly warm, but not quite as soft.

With winter hitting these parts, I was in the market for a new winter hat. Now, I am not a hat knitter. I have bookmarked a number of fun hat patterns, but I always end up just buying hats. Yet, nothing in retail land was striking my fancy and with so many knit items on the racks, it occurred to me that maybe I should just make one. I chanced to remember a Rowan accessories pattern book that I had in my library and settled on a simple earflap one. Knit up with mega chunky wool, the hat was just as cozy and warm as it looked -- I tested it out when I attended the Bills/Dolphins game several weeks back.

Knitting with the chunky yarn was the inspiration for knitting for my giftee in our Chicks with Sticks exchange. Everyone should have a nice, cushy winter scarf, so Adriana got one in wintry white, and I subsequently had to have one of my own to match my hat.

big yarn accessories adriana

I finally made my way back to the CPH last night, only to discover that I hadn't brought enough yarn with me to my parents' house where I've been lounging excessively for the past week. I usually pack an extra skein with me when I'm traveling with my knitting, but I guess I just forgot. So, that will just have to wait til I get back home.

I guess that leaves me more time to engage Pippin with the feather toy he got from Santa:

merry xmas

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