Wednesday, December 31, 2008

30 finished knits!

FOs of 2008
Wow! I had no idea I finished 30 knits in 2008! Looks pretty impressive when they're all together in a pretty mosaic.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

More Christmas knits

Now that the holidays are over, I can expose the rest of my secret Christmas knits. My cousin, Andrea, has two Guinea pigs that she loves more than anyone could ever love a rodent, so I scoured the Internet for a decent Guinea Pig pattern. Not an easy task. Most patterns are too cartoon-y and cutesy. When I was just about to give up, I came across this pattern on etsy. I bought the most disgusting yarn known to mankind and whipped this up at the eleventh hour.
Ginger Guinea Pig
Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world? My uncle said she stole the show on Christmas morning!
Raveled.

My fourth and last Gloria Cowl went to my sister-in-law, Hannah. She loved it! But really, can you blame her? It's knit from beautiful Fleece Artist Nova Socks yarn. Mmmm.
365-232 (one last cowl)
Raveled.

And, surprise, surprise! Mum got a Forest Canopy Shawl too! She knew about Gramie's shawl and Gramie knew about Mum's shawl, but neither of them knew they were getting their very own shawl! Heh heh.
Mum's shawl
The colour is just perfect on her. It's knit from Black Lamb City Silk.
Raveled.

Dad is an avid birdwatcher. Well, I guess avid might be kind of an understatement. He's not one of those guys who'll drive 500 kms to see a rare bird, but he will devote several months each year to monitoring certain species of birds. If you want to know more, check out his Web site.
Dad's blue jay
I found this blue jay pattern on Ravelry and couldn't pass it up -- it's just way too flippin' cute. I didn't really expect it to turn out as well as the pattern picture, but it did. It's just perfect!
Raveled.

My brother, Nigel, couldn't be left out. He casually mentioned that he wanted a knit gecko after I gave him Myrtle for his birthday. So, again, I scoured the Internet for the perfect pattern. Who knew Fiber Trends carried an adorable gecko pattern? The only hitch is that it cost me $15USD to get the pattern mailed to me. Ouch.
Nigel's gecko
I knit the gecko and needle felted some markings to make it look like his late pet, Zia. I think he was pretty darn happy with her!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a fantastic 2009!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Lots and lots of Christmas knitting

Sigh. I've almost finished all my Christmas knitting. I wish I could show you everything I've knit right now, but too many of those FOs are still top secret. However, a few recipients don't read my blog or have already received their handknit gifts, so here's a quick round up of all the not-so-secret knits.
365-204 (yet another Christmas knit)
I knit this tam for my friend, Sarah. She lost her beloved tam while back, so I whipped this up for her. It's a Drops pattern knit with one skein of Drops Alpaca. Raveled here.
Back of the Tam
Since Gramie isn't Internet savvy, I can blog about her top secret gift. It's the Forest Canopy Shawl in beautiful Fleece Artist Somoko. I almost want to keep it for myself, but I know she's going to love it so I guess I'll part with it. I will, however, have to knit myself one of these in the future. Raveled here.
365-214 (I almost want to keep it)
I've knit a number of cowls over the past few weeks, mainly Gloria Cowls. It's a quick, easy and elegant pattern and doesn't bore me. The recipient of this one is still top secret, just in case she happens upon my blog. Raveled here.
365-220 (yet another Gloria cowl)
Sherrie and I exchanged gifts the other evening, so I can reveal her handknits. She asked for some charcoal coloured fingerless mitts in a "heavy" type of yarn. If you know Sherrie at all, you know that she's quite particular about what she likes, so I spent a great deal of time picking out the right yarn and pattern. I chose Drops Silke Tweed because the silk gives it that "heaviness" Sherrie wanted and the colour was spot on. Plus, I know that she likes tweed. (Who doesn't?) I found the pattern on Ravelry and fell in love with that cable. Sherrie seemed to like it too! Raveled here.
Sherrie's mitts
She also asked for a matchy-matchy cowl and since I had some yarn left, I whipped up yet another Gloria Cowl. Raveled here.
Sherrie's cowl
And just in case the recipient of these slippers reads my blog without telling me, I'll keep her identity a secret. These are the Yoga Slippers from Erika Knight's Classic Knits At Home. I had planned to sew on some suede soles, but I tried to do it by hand and on the sewing machine and it just looked sloppy. They're still pretty sturdy without the soles and if someday they get holey, I'll darn them. Raveled here.
365-221 (One more Xmas knit finished)
Come back after Christmas and I'll show you the rest of the top secret knits!