The holidays will soon be here, with Christmas only 11 days away!
This means I have a lot of work to do, as I’ve told my family they would only be getting knitted gifts this year, and yet I’ve only completed gifts for 1 (and almost 2 now) out of the 7 people on my list …
And because I’ve finished (or almost finished) knitting gifts for the only two people in my family that actually read this blog, I can publicly post without any worries my plans for the remaining five!
NOs. 1 and 2 – Antler Mittens from Tin Can Knits using Chunky Winter Garden
Tin Can Knits, one of my favorite knitting blogs, has generously offered up a beautiful free pattern in honor of the 12 days of Christmas! It is a pattern for some gorgeous cabled mittens, available here.
This is perfect as I’ve been meaning to improve my cabling skills for quite some time, and I know just what yarn I will be using up from my knitting stash! It’s a chunky knit yarn from Debbie Bliss’s Winter Garden collection.
I’m leaning towards the light blue, as I have an extra amount in my stash that’s still not used up. If the pattern knits well I’ll likely make an additional pairs in either the green or red. Because the yarn is a bit more feminine looking (with the tweedy brightly colored speckly bits) these will likely go to the two women on my list.
NOs. 3, 4 and 5 – Simple Skyp Toque Variations
For these ones, I am thinking of making a variation using the stitch pattern taken from Adrienne Ku’s beautifully simple Skyp sock pattern. I used this pattern to knit my first successful pair of socks for my dad a few months ago, and they turned out lovely! They were also very satisfying to knit.
I think I will knit a simple toque using only the grey with the skyp stitch pattern, and will then knit a second toque adding in a bit of ribbing detail and a pompom in a contrasting colour (No. 4 will have main color grey with rib/pompom in orange or main in grey with rib/pompom in green). I also want to make a crazy pompom toque for my little nephew who is in love with pompoms! Either insert an enormous pompom or do mini pompoms around the rim. To be determined.
Of course, these gifts only use up a tiny portion of my yarn stash, so I will either have to
(a) Host a Knitathon with my knitting friends where we will drink copious amounts of wine and knit through the knight;
(b) Donate my yarn to potential knitters?
It’s sad to say, but I feel very attached to my yarn and have a feeling that it is going to be extremely difficult to part with! So most likely will end up going with (a), which I’m sure will end up being much more useful (and entertaining) as there are many more people in this world that would rather receive something that they can put on their head or hands and have instant gratification than to be put to the task of knitting something stitch by stitch.
It would also be a great occasion to do something selfless for once and knit for people in need. This article from the CBC in particular caught my attention!