I am ALIVE... I promise!! hahahaha. Man, I have been busy. Christmas wiped me out this year. I finally got my Christmas cards done and sent and then the true holiday season hit. I didn't have a lot that I was working on, but it still flew by. Then just after Christmas, I had a bunch of projects to start and finish and they are now done and in the hands of their rightful owners :-) and now I finally have some extra time to make my much over due post!!! :-) I am probably going to have to break this up into several since I have a lot to share. So 'yarning' 1st.
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!!
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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.
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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!!)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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):
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