Saturday, October 10, 2009

Christmas Gifts Done (plus a back-up too!)

Every year, not matter how early I start, I have trouble finishing my Christmas gifts. So, this year, I followed these rules:

1) To be unambitious this year - pick simple but equally beautiful projects to knit
2) To find mobile projects - pick small projects that I can take with me on the TTC
3) To start early - I did!
4) To knit things that are enjoyable - they are!

It's been successful so far.... as I've already made the following:

For my sisters - the yellow/gray and blue/purple claoptis from the last post

For mom
- I finished the cashmere fingerless mitts.

The yarn is really soft and the pattern enjoyable… but I ended up with quite a bit left over. I have another 2 skeins for another pair, but next time, I will do a few more cable repeats in the beginning to use up more of the yarn. Cashmere is too luxurious to waste!
For ? (back-up) - this chunky spewing two skein scarf

I just wanted to quickly get rid of chunky stash. I received two skeins of this Long Batik BBB yarn from a yarn swap. It's 90% wool and 10% acrylic. I crocheted One-Skein Scarf but didn’t follow the pattern exactly, especially the scallop edging. My scallops were smaller as I was worried about running out of yarn but it turned out OK!
Finished all the crocheting in one night! The only step from this being officially finished is a dye job - I find the white/orange mix too much of a contrast (looks like someone/something spew blood on it). I would like to make this more harmonious and less disturbing. Considering whether to dye this red or brown.

I wonder if anyone has dyed a project (after being knitting up) with success? Would the dye become blotchy?

1 comment:

graphic designer said...

For sure one day I want to be able to give gifts like these to my friends and family. I think it feels so rewarding to make something that a friend can use for a really long time, and something they can wear. It comes from the heart!