Elizabeth's November Wrap-Up

November was crazy productive. I finished all of my November goals, and am now two gifts away from Christmas. This blog rocked my socks, and definitely helped get me finishing my knits faster than I would have otherwise. I still plan to knit a cowl for my fiancé's grandmother, as well as a pair of socks for him. Hopefully I'll have those done in the next couple weeks. Happy knitting!

~ Elizabeth

1. Gift Item: Picot Mittens (ravlink) — Rollover
Recipient: Anik (Fiancé's SIL)
Pattern: Picot Edged Mittens by Carolyn (free pattern)
Occasion: Christmas
Deadline: Dec 25/08
Finished: Oct 26/08
Notes: These were actually finished in October, but I finally got the buttons in the mail (which I purchased from pinksupply's shop on Etsy), and sewed them on. Yay!



2. Gift Item: Basketweave Mittens (ravlink) — Late addition
Recipient: Anna
Pattern: Basket Weave Mittens by PolarKnit (free pattern)
Occasion: Birthday
Finished: Nov 7/08
Notes: My friend, Anna's birthday was last weekend, and a whole bunch of us are getting together tonight to celebrate. Being the knitter I am, I decided I wanted to knit her something. I bought some variegated yarn and tried to make a cowl, and I hated it. So I made a hat with it instead, and I really don't like how it turned out. Back to the yarn store I go, and I picked up some Louet Gems Chunky on sale and spent the last two days making a pair of mittens. ^_^ Love these! I'm glad she loved them too ^_^





3. Gift Item: Fair isle Tassel Hat (ravlink)
Recipient: Kim (Fiancé's Sister)
Pattern: Emma Hat by Louisa Harding (not free)
Source: BOOK — Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding
Occasion: Christmas
Finished: Nov 9/08
Notes: I ordered this yarn through my LYS, Knit-knackers, a few weeks ago. Originally I had planned to reverse the colours for the original pattern; a blue hat, with brown fair isle. When the yarn arrived in the store, only the blue had come in. I really didn't want to wait, so instead, I used white for the colour work. I love how it turned out, and I love the tassels.

My only real change to the original pattern was to knit it in the round, instead of flat. I also decided to use both yarn colours in the tassels, instead of just the blue. This hat took no time at all. A real quick knit!




4. Gift Item: Wool Toque (ravlink)
Recipient: Mike (Fiancé's Brother)
Pattern: Hat Fit For a Boyfriend/relative? (free)
Occasion: Birthday
Finished: Nov 13/08
Notes: So I'm crazy and I decided I needed to knit a hat for my FBIL for his birthday. Um… his birthday was the 13th! **headdesk**. The wool arrived on the 14th! And I only cast off at 11:30 the night before. I'm going to be weaving in ends on the car ride over, but it's DONE. Gah. I don't know what possessed me… I'm fast at hats but now my hands hurt lol I think I need a break from hats. I know it looks tiny, but it stretches a lot, soo it fits, promise ^_~



5. Gift Item: Alpaca/Bamboo Cowl (ravlink)
Recipient: Lise
Pattern: Zig Zag Cowl by Mandy Powers (free)
Occasion: Birthday December 1st
Finished: Nov 16/08
Notes: I started the Gemma Beret pattern first, but got so frustrated with how the pattern was written, and with how it was turning out, that I gave up and started this cowl instead.

I do have a minor complaint with the pattern though. When it tells you to cast on, it really should tell you to do a provisional cast on. I know there are people out there who hate prov. cast ons, but isn’t picking up stitches for a picot hem EVEN WORSE? Anyway, it was a really quick knit, and I love how it turned out.

6. Gift Item: Bulky Lace Cowl (ravlink)
Recipient: Joyce
Pattern: Quickie Cowl by Fawn Pea (free)
Occasion: Christmas 2008
Finished: Nov 18/08
Notes: I finished a cowl on Tuesday night for my fiancé's aunt (who I'm pretty sure doesn't read this XP) that turned out great. The pattern is the Quickie Cowl by Fawn Pea. The pattern is available for free on her website, and through ravelry. My ravelry project page is here. I loved this pattern. It was a quick as promised, knit flat and seamed (I did a 3-needle bind off because I'm lazy). It was easy to memorize and turned out really nice.

7. Gift Item: Gulp Scarf (rav link)
Recipient: Mike (FBIL)
Pattern: Gulp by Donyale Grant (free)
Occasion: Christmas 2008
Finished: Nov 23/08
Notes: I finished a scarf for my fiancé's brother, and also a pair of mittens for myself. The scarf took awhile, since it was knit the long way. I knit it using the Gulp pattern (free) by Donyale Grant. Yarn was: Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed and Knit Picks Imagination Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Frog Prince.