Final Reveal, Finally

 

 The Christmas pressies are all delivered and unwrapped and can now be revealed!  For nephew Aaron, a plush Dalek in bright Xmas red which, I believe, makes it the Supreme Dalek.  Feel free to correct me Dr. Who fans.

 

He's made from the Extermiknit! pattern by Entropyhouse.  There's an awful lot of knitting in those bobbles, but well worth it in the end.  He stands about 11 inches high and he's stuffed with polyfil, except for his base which is weighted with a poly-pellet filled bean bag.

 

 

 Niece Thea received a knitted charm bracelet.  This is from the Care of Magical Creatures pattern - both pack 1 and pack 2 by Tiny Owl Knits.  The pattern called for a metal bangle as the bracelet base, with a single crochet cover worked all around, but instead I chose to make a leather bracelet with a toggle clasp with the crocheted cover.  I like that the bracelet can open and close, but the leather has a distinct leathery smell, I'm hoping that fades with time.

 

 

Just in case Thea was wondering what some of the creatures are, the charms, in order from one end to the other are; gnome, antler, hippogriffe feather, frog (I made a chocolate frog), dragonfly, unicorn horn, phoenix feather, mandrake root, mermaid egg, potion bottle, dragon tail, will 'o wisp, owl (my favourite), bird's nest, goblin crown, chameleon, pixie wing, wand, fox tail, bear paw, fairy house (also very cute - should've taken a snap of that one!), cat's paw, raven feather, hedgehog, dirigible plum, starwhale, puffskein, bat, toadstool, and monster book.

 

 

So stinkin' adorable.

 

For Elly and Steve I made two pair of Fightin' Words fingerless mitts by Annie Watts.

 

 

 I knit them in what I like to believe are Winnipeg Jets colours.  They might not be exact, but not being a hockey fan, they're the best I could do.  Steve's are made with Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Cotton Stretch in turquoise and Knitpicks Gloss Merino/Silk in the Winter Night colourway.

 

 

 Elly's are Knitpicks Bare Merino/Silk in the natural colourway with the same turquoise Lana Grossa Meilenweit.  Can you read them?  They say POW and BAM.  For their first Christmas as a married couple (and for watching hockey games).

 

 

Hope everyone had a very Happy Christmas!

Cosy x 2

 

I'm tearing up the year end, am I not?  A staggering number of blog posts in the last few days, if I do say so.  I have two cosies to share, first up the LTYC Cowl by Kelly Hechinger.  This is a fabulously quick knit done in super-bulky yarn.  The entire piece can easily be worked in an evening.

 

I worked it in Malabrigo Yarns Rasta in the brilliant true red colourway.  It's got a very festive vibe to it, though if I were to make another I would go down a needle size, as it's a tad huge, and I don't have an overly large head.  Did you know that many film stars have large heads?  This is a well known fact - it makes for a more photogenic person, apparently.  I suppose there's no future for me in films.

 

Here's someone with a biggish head, the tea cosy I knitted this past week.  She's from the Sweet Old Lady pattern by Loly Fuertes.

 

 

I've made one of her patterns before, the nurse tea cosy, which I gifted to my Mum without ever blogging about it...hmmm....I wonder what else I never mention?

 

Anyhoo...here she is in all her big-headed glory (not my Mum, but the Old Lady).  She's made mostly from scraps (the tea cosy!), with a hefty dose of Filatura Di Crosa Zara in black (like the angora pup mitts from the last post).

 

Can you see her wire-rimmed specs I crafted for her?  Adorable.

 

Next up I'll post the Christmas gifts I've made this year, but first I'll let the recipients

see them first.  In the mean time,

 

Happy Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

The Christmas Werewolf

 

Is everyone feeling festive?  We have two new ornaments on the tree this year...

 

a sparkly Tardis and

 

 

a cheery red Dalek.

 

Nigel made sure that the Dalek shared the top of the tree with Darth Vader.  Evil must reign, and all that!

 

And a smidge more darkness...

 

this little fellow.  I meant to have him made for Hallowe'en, but didn't get him started until early November.  Does he look a wee bit pudgy?

 

Well, that's because he's really a werewolf.

 

Wait, no, he's just a regular guy...

 

Ack!  No, no it's a werewolf!

 

 

 

Oooh, it's a Topsy Turvy Werewolf.  Clever, yes?

 

I'll show you something I made this December (see, I am getting  caught up), these lovely, cosy mittens.  Made for me!

 

 

 

These were based on the Westie Mittens pattern by Michelle Czyzo.  I worked them in Filatura Di Crosa Zara in black and Elann Pure Angora in white.  The pattern was very sweet, but I didn't trust the stitch numbers with the suggested yarn and needles size.  It looked as though they'd knit up too narrow and too long for my hands, so I redrafted the entire pattern.  I ended up deleting the first nine rows of the body of the mitten and adding a traditional Norwegian gored thumb - my favourite thumb - does anyone else have a favourite thumb?.   

 

And Then, Of Course, There was October...

We're not even going to talk about how negligent I've been in updating this year, instead we're going to plow through the end of the year with abandon!  Clearly, these snaps date back to Hallowe'en judging by the mantle decor in the upcoming image -  just ignore.

First project up is a pair of socks in the Pirate Danger pattern by Jeannie Cartmel.  Can you see the skull and cross bones appearing in the pattern?  They're being worked in Trekking Pro Natura by Zitron in the colourway called Jeans.  I started knitting them way back at the beginning of September and have only picked them up periodically since then, even now, I've not yet finished the first sock, but I'll still count it as an October project, since it sat staring at me through the month.

Both started and finished during October was the Morticia Shawl by Boo Knits.  Morticia was offered up at the end of September as a MKAL for October (MKAL stands for Mystery Knit-A-Long).  The pattern would be delivered up as four clues without seeing an example of the finished project, one clue a week for four weeks, with any dawdlers to be finished up by Hallowe'en.  I managed to finish by the 30th.  I've taken part in a Knit-A-Long (a KAL) before, but never in mystery form.  It was an interesting experience, but I think I prefer seeing where I'm going when I'm on a journey.

It was worked in JaggerSpun Heather 2/20 in the Lava colourway with matte black beads.  It's beautifully heavy with beads, giving it a lovely drape with deep Gothic points along the lower edge.  Very Morticia, indeed!

I'll be updating more this week in a desperate attempt to wrap up this year before it ends for real!