Sunday, August 9, 2015

YOP Updare - Christmas is Coming





Yes, I said "Christmas is Coming" or at least you'd think so at the rate I'm knitting gifts.  The fact that they are smaller projects that finish quicker I'm sure has nothing to do with it.  So, on to those gifts.  I jumped right into making a matching hat for my mothers felted mittens that I mentioned in my previous post.  It came out rather well I think even though the pattern calls for a yarn with drape, a quality which my sheepy sticky Shetland yarn definitely does not possess.  The striped brim, that I lined with angora yarn, ended up being a bit over three inches in order to fully cover my ears and is quite snug, then the body of the hat is loose and pulled down in the back.  My mom, most days, wears her hair in a ponytail so having this looser shape accommodates that hair style.  Sadly, I still have leftover yarn, but it's a small enough amount to relegate to the scrap bin.  As an aside, I really wish Ravelry had a "scrap" category for the stash section.  That way you would still have the yarn info. if you ever figured out a pattern to use up all your scraps, and it would free up your active stash yarn list to only full skeins.  Maybe someday...

With the mittens and matching hat now completed, I moved on to knitting another gift, but this time for my husband.  It's a pair of wool socks knit out of DK weight sock yarn from ONline.  It all started last year really when I knit his younger brother a pair of socks with this yarn using up a skein and a half for the pair.  Which left me with, you guessed it, a half of skein leftover - what to do?  Because of course, I had to do something I couldn't just let it lie.  Well, then I got to figuring all I needed to use up this yarn was to purchase another skein of it to knit a second pair of men's wool socks.  And, since my husband admired the first pair it seemed obvious that he should be the recipient.  Knitting a big pair of men's socks could be quite a challenge, but knitting up this pattern in DK weight yarn on US size 3 needles has been a breeze.  They are knitting up so fast I am already done with the first sock and I only started them 2 days ago, which makes me a very happy camper.  The fact that at this rate I will still be able to count them for Stash Dash makes me happy too.

Finishing all these gifts rather quickly, has me thinking about how I downgraded my mom to mittens (and now a hat too) for her Christmas gift.  She'll enjoy them and get a lot of use out of them I'm sure, but she really does need another sweater as many of hers are getting too worn to wear out and about.  So, I will give her these gifts for her birthday in October instead, and I'm going to try and challenge myself to knit her a sweater for Christmas.  I think why I was so quick to cut her sweater from my YOP list was I didn't want to knit the pattern I chose.  Instead of the Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern I originally planned on I am going to knit her another Kate Davies Blaithin.  This is a good switch for many reasons:  the yarn I earmarked for her sweater is enough to knit Kate's pattern, I really enjoyed knitting the 1st one I knit her, she loves the A-line styling, I think I can do a much better job on the stranded knitting section this time around (last time I knit it a bit tight and had to block real aggressively to get it to shape) and lastly I'll be using more of Jamieson's Soft Shetland yarn which can take the hard wear my mother puts her sweaters through.  Enough said.

Here's an update to the list as it now stands:
Baby:
Elijah the Elephant by Ysolda Teague Finished 7/29/15
Baby Surprise Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman Finished 7/27/15
Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho (Knit Sweet and Simple Baby Hat) instead Finished 7/28/15

Cowls and Scarves:
Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun  Finished 7/6/15
Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 
Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:
Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar
My Oluffa Doorstop by Lucinda Guy
Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson
Hot Out of the Oven Set by Knit Picks Design Team  (making the square pads) Finished 7/25/15
Out of the Frying Pan by Amy E. Anderson  Finished 7/18/15

Socks:
Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:
Blaithin by Kate Davies
Ground by Veera Valimaki
Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 
White Russian by Thea Colman

Tops:
Astonish Top by Katy Banks 
Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:
Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba
Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel
Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock
Felted Mittens by Joan Sheridan Finished 8/4/15

Hats:
Michele by Sarah Punderson Finished 8/6/15
A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Thanks for checking in.  To see other Year of Project participants check here.
Have a great week everyone!

8 comments:

  1. I absolutely love that hat! I am going to track down that pattern as soon as I finish this comment!
    I think you are amazingly generous with your knitting. I think a hand-knit hat alone is a good gift.

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  2. Gorgeous hat!
    Christmas knitting is creeping into my thoughts lately too... My biggest knitting frenzy each year is scarves for the teachers... But since I don't know who the teachers are yet... I shouldn't stress too much...

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  3. That hat is just so gorgeous! It's a great present to go along with last weeks mittens and look at you cranking out those socks, your definitely speedy needles this week. Blaithin is just so pretty, it's been on my favourites list for some time, it will make a great Christmas gift for your Mom. Ruth.

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  4. Bliathin is gorgeous! Lucky Mom!

    I'm like you that I can't stand having the sock yarn in my stash go to waste. Recently I bought some white sock yarn to combine with scraps in my stash for striped socks. They're pretty fun and a bit of a trip down memory lane!

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  5. You are storming through your list! Love the hat and socks, well done!

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  6. Your projects (and pictures of your projects) are great! I love everything about that hat. The color, the pattern, the inner brim lining.

    I agree with you on wishing for a scrap category on Ravelry's stash feature. I wish the "stash" and "use up" categories were interactive with each other. That would end up making a defacto scrap record on the stash page I think. And then a button at the top to search stash by amount. Now that I'm imagining that, I'm wondering if it does work that way. I don't think it does, but I'm off to Ravelry to check on it. :^)

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  7. What lucky friends and family you have! They will have a treat this Christmas. I love the hat. I think the yarn is perfect for it. And I much prefer DK sock patterns. They make cosier socks too :)

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  8. beautiful hat and I do love the socks that are currently on the needles.

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