Unwinding

I have been knitting like mad lately.

Like, KNITTING.

Which is funny because for practically the entire month of December, in those last weeks leading up to Christmas, I was juggling so many projects, knitting projects, that I swore once the hustle and bustle of homemade gifts was over I would take a long break from the needles and let my yarn wind for a while.

Except.

Well.

I have projects, more projects, and ideas, fun ideas, and so for the time being the yarn and I are unwinding together.

This is my first attempt at a simple cable pattern, and after wrestling with a complicated basket weave over the holidays this was a walk in the park. I absolutely adore this pattern, and recognition must be given to this cute little blog I stumbled upon last winter when I first started making hats.

Too bad it doesn't fit my baby's GIGANTIC melon head.

Fortunately I was not going to let one giant head bring me down.

Instead I simply cast on again and added a dozen extra rows to the length (while also omitting the ear flaps) and TAH DAH......

*We have a "sitter" here people, an actual sitter camping out in the living room playing with toys on a blanket like a BIG baby. Saoirse decided right after Christmas that laying around all day long was no longer enough and has been upright ever since. Oh how I adore the sitting time, right up until it turns into the crawling time, but we've got a few weeks until then (she says hopefully)!

Here's another hat I recently finished, it has pom poms on both sides and is made out of the softest baby alpaca you have ever felt.

Another post holiday project is a sweater that I am making for Nuala. I'm a little bit hesitant about the color scheme though, not sure about the green, and so I have put it on hold for the moment to ponder. The only thing worse than pulling out 500 hard worked stitches is finishing 10,000 hard worked stitches in the WRONG colors.

These were fun holiday gifts, cute little hand warmers, these were practice pieces and neither one has a partner yet.

And some mittens for Oscar....

MY favorite gift this Christmas (and santa was VERY GOOD to me this year, so narrowing it down was not easy) is THIS little guy....

I hinted around to Brendan that I really wanted some small circular needles, and then I even emailed him a link to the exact set I had in mind, which is something I usually don't do. I never have to buy my own gifts from him or show him what I want, he is an excellent gift giver all on his own, but knitting needles are tricky, so, long story short, I was very specific about which needles I wanted and didn't mind the fact that there would be something under the tree holding little surprise.

Yet, in true Brendan form, he still found a way to go above and beyond. Aside from ordering the needles, he also took the time to shop around for a nice little case thereby adding his own personal touch to a gift I all but bought for myself.

Isn't it darling?

It unfolds to reveal little pockets....

Which help to keep all your various sized needles organized. Anyone who knits knows just how valuable this carry all is, because the more you knit the more needles you acquire and they wind up laying all over the place if you're not careful! I am thinking about making one of these myself, it can't be that hard, right?

Here's the site he ordered it from, this cute little patch is sewn in on the inner flap and greets me every time I reach in for new needles.

So there you have it, a decent dose of our latest crafts.

Ruari is working on something really beautiful right now that I can't wait to show you, it's almost finished and I am so proud of her (it's a knitting project, but that's your only hint) for putting so much time and energy into her creation. More on this soon....