Busy Christmas Knitting Season - #10-14

As usual I started Christmas knitting way too late. Next year I promise to start on September 1st! I started with a small little gift, the biscuit blanket. It's a cute little napkin-like cloth that you wrap biscuits in. The pattern has some mistakes in it, which is always frustrating. Mine also did not end up square..so off to the discard pile it went.



On a brighter note, I finished the beautiful Swallowtail Shawl for my mother-in-law. I loved knitting this shawl! The Briar Rose yarn I used was lovely. This is definately one of the prettiest things I've ever made.


I then moved on to a huge project, the gorgeous Girasole. I'd been wanting to knit one of these for a long time. I decided to make this for my sister for Christmas. The one problem was that the deadline for shipping was fast approaching. After a few marathon knitting sessions I finished on time to ship this to Texas. I love the pattern, but was disappointed in the yarn I used. The Lion Brand Fishermen's wool looked great in the skein, but had lots of hidden surprises inside. There were many kempy hairs as well as ton of knots and knots in plies. I won't use it again for anything this nice.


The next project was a little cabled Christmas ornament. I ended up putting it on my own tree. Another gift on the way to Texas was this cute little Fan and Feather Cardigan. This is for my new niece Anabelle.

Projects 8 and 9 of 52- Hats for Jack

I seriously thought I would have more time to knit once school started. Turns out that wasn't quite true. I took a bit of a break after I finished the stackable pups. Every fall, however, my needles start to call my name. "Hats" they say. "The boys need hats." So here are two quick little hats. The tassel hat was meant for Andrew, but it was way too big. So, lucky Jack got two new hats this fall. Gauge swatch? What gauge swatch?

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/kable-kid



http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/childs-ear-hat

Project 7 of 52- Stackable Pups

Since Andrew claimed the previous baby shower gift that I knitted, I had to quickly make a replacement. I decided on these cute little stackable puppy dogs. The response I've gotten from this project has been crazy. Everyone really seems to love the color combination. These were a huge hit at the baby shower and the mom-to-be just loved them.



http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/pile-able-pups

Project 6 of 52- Knitted Ball

Everyone needs a dodecahedron to call their own. This initially started out as a baby shower gift. My little baby, Andrew, decided to claim it as his, however. This was a little bit tedious to knit, but the finished product is great. It requires a lot of polyfil stuffing.



http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/doddy

Project 5 of 52- Deep Sea Anglerfish

My son, Jack, is a big fan of my knitting. Every now and then I'll drag him to the LYS with me. On one of our recent trips he spotted the Amigurumi Knits book by the talented Hansi Singh. He casually requested that I make him every single thing in the book. The pattern he wanted first though was the anglerfish. The construction techniques used in this pattern are very clever. I look forward to making (almost) everything else in this book.



http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/deep-sea-anglerfish

Project 4 of 52- Baby Bear

I started this bear in 2007 when I was pregnant with my second baby. I had a little boy, so it sat neglected in a drawer waiting to be loved. I decided to give this to my new niece. I really enjoyed adding girly details to this little bear. All the embellishments came from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge series.



http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/baby-bear

Project 3 of 52- Summer Shawlette

I wanted to make something nice for my very dear Great Aunt Irene. She is 90 years old, but you'd never really guess it. She is spry and spunky and someone I cherish very much. I chose a nice little shoulder shawl with faroese shaping. I made it out of a pretty silk/merino blend. This was a fun pattern and a nice, easy introduction into faroese shawls. She loved it and said she would pray for cold weather.





http://www.ravelry.com/projects/BrookeH/summer-lace-shawlette