Here are a series of accessories that I knitted as late Christmas presents for 2 of my cousins and their families. All together I knitted 8 hats, 2 pairs of fingerless gloves and a head band. I planned on knitting more gloves but my husband informed me that men don't wear the fingerless type :-) So instead of a hat and gloves, I knitted the boys 2 hats... in colors to hopefully match anything and everything. (I am posting all of these on Ravelry, so check that out for yarn and pattern info). Here is a set that I knitted for my cousin. The hat was super easy, knitted from the top down. It was also knitted longer than most hats so that there was a brim to roll up. The fingerless mittens were very easy knitted and in the round. I picked out a self striping yarn (Duo) in a variety of pinks and it was a bit too 'bubblegum' so I used one strand of it held together with a strand of a burgundy color (Vintage Wool) when I knitted, and it turned out perfect!!
This next one was knitted for my other cousin's wife. She has bangs so instead of a hat, I knitted her a head band to keep her ears warm, which I think she might also appreciate since she likes to ski. The fingerless gloves here were also really easy and knitted in the round.For the boys I knitted them the following 2 hats. Basically a 2x2 rib pattern knitted in the round. The decreases were a little different than a basic hat, so that the ribs stayed intact until the last possible minute. Although I had a pattern that I used for the decreases, I had to alter the size based on the yarn. I picked out 2 SUPER chunky yarns, one more so than the other, so I had to use a different amount of stitches to obtain the right size. I used the same size needle for both and they look great. (oh and thanks to my BFF, Bradley for modeling the hats... my husband would have never gone for that!!)
I also knitted a hat for my son. We saw this monster hat on Ravelry (available on this website) and instantly my son loved it.I am way too cheap to buy the pattern so I just made it up. I changed it up a little and think the changes made it look cuter.
I also crocheted these ornaments for everyone. They were SUPER simple and easy to make, and best of all it was a free pattern (called Fancy Ornament) from lionbrand.com. Luckily I downloaded it after the corrections were made for the pattern and I didn't run into any problems. The best part was that I didn't have to tuck in any ends!!! I don't think that I am alone in that, I really dislike weaving in the ends of the yarn after I am done knitting/crocheting a project. In fact that is my very least favorite part. And on this ornament, the end of the yarn created at the beginning, I tucked into the stuffing so that it was hidden and when I was finished, I took a needle and guided the ends through the middle of the ornament and up through the top to use it as the hanger. It couldn't have been more perfect!!!! I used some fiberfill to stuff them as well as some yarn scraps left over from the above hats and mittens.I also crocheted a lingerie bag for my friend, Emily's, birthday. So far I only have progress pics because I failed to get any after it was completed/before I gave it to her. So... thankfully she is taking some for me to post. Here are the progress pictures.
My next post is going to be exclusively jewelry so be on the lookout for that. Right now I am working on nothing but cleaning my house and hopefully some fun projects after that. Here are some things that I am inspired by/thinking of making (Click on pictures for sources):