Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Yarn Along

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.  Come and join us at Ginny's for this week's yarn along.  See you there
I have actually gotten quite a bit of knitting done the last week. Well it feels productive at least- the nice thing about hats!  I worked on larger projects for so long that it was nice to finish up some smaller projects quickly. I finished another Thorpe hat for my neighbor's son.  I used Cascade 128 and it makes a fantastic hat.  I almost decided to keep the hat for myself but then I figured I could get a different colorway that matched my coat better- it's an easiest enough knit that whipping up a new one won't be difficult.  I also finished up a newborn fae folk hat for the same neighbor's new bundle of joy expected in April.  I planned to knit a little white hat for Christmas but then she found out that it was a boy so a little blue hat seemed in order.  I also have a pair of newborn socks made from the same yarn made this summer that I am going to include in the gift.  That makes 6 hats for 6 kids in time for Christmas- whew!

I also got a new basket for my bedroom/bath that I had intended to use for storing towels and the like on top of the toilet but then it turned out to be to big to fit nicely on the toilet so I converted it to a knitting basket for my bedroom. I often knit in the living room or bedroom and it will be nice to have some place to corral my things- my husband will appreciate it at least! I started on a FASC shawl for myself so it is already getting good use. I made a FASC for my friend earlier this fall and fell in love with it so I decided I needed to make one for myself.  I think I liked the midwinter colorway better than this one- regency- but it is too soon to tell.  They are very different to say the least. I do think this yarn makes an excellent shawl though.  I am using Knit Picks Chroma Worsted and it is just delicious.  It is just the kind of yarn that you want to wrap yourself in! I hadn't ever used a single ply yarn before and I'm liking it. James likes it too- I had to rescue my skein from his hugging.

All in all we had a lovely Christmas- very lazy and quiet.  We pretty much hunkered down at home and just spent our time together.  My mom came over and spent Christmas eve and morning with us before heading out to my brother's homes. We opened family presents on Christmas Eve and Santa presents on Christmas morning oer Frank's family traditions.  I think it works pretty well especially since the boys are young and even though we really didn't go overboard on presents, it can be overwhelming if they open everything at once.  This way they get to open and have time to enjoy each present as they go. Xander even made us a few presents at school and stamped the wrapping paper himself.  One of the presents he made was this ornament.  It's silly but I completely love it.

This was the first year we made the transition to all fabric gift bags as opposed to wrapping paper (well except for stockings- I used up the leftover wrapping paper from last year for the stockings).  I did learn some lessons about wrapping in fabric with toddlers.  I took all of the toys out of their wrapping and packages and just wrapped the toys themselves.  That was a huge frustration reliever for me anyway because the presents came out of the bag and were immediately ready to be played with; plus it seriously eliminated trash on Christmas day itself. I didn't sew any ribbons on the bags because 1. lack of time and 2. because I had done this with some of the birthday bags I made and found that depending on what I was wrapping the ribbons weren't always in a good position. So this time I just tied the bags closed with ribbons but it made it difficult for toddlers to open by themselves- really they needed to be cut open.  Plus using disposable ribbons kinda negated part of the purpose of switching to fabric bags so.... next year I plan on using yarn scraps and or putting drawstrings on the bags or sewing some cloth ribbons on.  The question is which should I do? In any case I know I need to tie the bags closed in bows or in some way that is easy for little fingers to untie. All in all though boys are young enough that they don't know the difference between fabric and paper and I am seriously enthused about never having to purchase wrapping paper again! Now I can just focus on using up all the stuff I have saved up over the years.

9 comments:

Tracey ~ Clover said...

I did a marathon of hats for gift giving so I do understand! Yours look adorable.

Crunchy Momma said...

hmmm...I think I need to basket to corral my yarny mess too! Nice hat.

momto5 said...

i am liking the fabric wrapping of gifts. i have seen it on a few blogs now. i just need to learn to sew. lol

Lee Ann said...

Congrats on all those hats! That is fantastic!!

Love the idea of fabric gifting bags...I have bundles of discarded wrapping paper in the garage at the moment, and would love not to have those again next year...Thanks for the idea!

Nadja said...

I did hats for all my kids last year...would love to do more, but we would be swimming in hats! Yours look great. Merry Christmas!

Stacy said...

I love knitting quick projects...hats are the perfect thing. All of yours look great.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on all of the successful hat knitting, and the shawl for yourself. Great idea, too, about the fabric gift bags. We made a bunch several years ago, but didn't make enough. I think we'll try to hit the local fabric stores for a big sale on holiday print fabrics and stock up a bit -- maybe if we sew a few here and there throughout the year, we'll have plenty when the holidays roll around again! Kathy at http://www.needleandspade.com

Corrabelle said...

I like your knitting basket! I've been using an oversized wooden salad bowl.haha

Gilda Knits said...

That basket looks so soft.

That baby folk hat - on my list!

Congrats on making all the hats in time ;)