Neither Hip Nor Funky

Thanks for all your kind words about my mom’s tablecloth; she really appreciated the gift.

I have one last set of Christmas gifts which segue nicely into the title of this post.I made a couple of gifts for my niece that weren’t originally meant to be a set, but definitely went together well in her mind.

First, this colored pencil roll from Last Minute Quilted Gifts:

This thing was insanely fun to make. It was also well-received, which was great since you never really know with gifts for a four year old.

I also made her a beret from my handspun:

This was spun from Pigeonroof Studios SW Merino in Pink Lady. The pattern was just made up as I went along. It definitely needs some elastic in the ribbing.

When my dad joked like he was putting on the hat, my niece responded in an exasperated tone “No, Papu, it’s for my artist.”*

Good thing we train them in stereotypes early

This leads me into Handspun February. I started a group over on Flickr to concentrate on working with handspun this February. Fight off that winter ennui with some fluffy fibery goodness. The group is for spinners and non-spinners alike. Make yourself some goals for February, whether it is knitting with handspun, spinning more, or concentrating on spinning for particular projects, and come join us.

*She later told me the hat was stinky. This seemed odd at first until I remembered that I had wetblocked it at my in-laws house where the water smells like sulphur. I love how young ‘uns tell you the truth.

This was the main gift that I wanted to make this year.  My grandma passed away last summer, and one of the things I requested from the house was linens.  This was with the intention of making this tablecloth for my mom.

My mom has spent most of the last five years taking care of, first, both her parents and then her mom.

My mother is also such a good hearted person that whenever she felt any tinge of stress or annoyance resulting from this responsibility she would feel bad about having that feeling.

I think she definitely deserved something special for all the love and care that she showed her parents over the last years of their lives.

Pattern: Hannah’s Tablecloth by Annie Modesitt in Handknit Holidays
Yarn: Louet Euroflax 3 skeins (really more like 2.5)
Needles: Addi US 4

The napkins I used were 16″ as opposed to the 21″ called for in the pattern. I went down a needle size, and it worked out perfectly.  It is about 36″x54″.

I didn’t do very many projects for gifts this year.  However, I picked a couple bigger ones that kept me occupied and led to blog silence.

The first of these:

Pattern: Regal Frost Cushions from Handknit Holidays
Yarn: MC:Classic Elite Classic One Fifty in Daisy
CC: Kathmandu Rustic Wool DK in Mustard
Needles: US 4

Present for my oldest sister. I made her some cushions last year, but I really wasn’t satisfied with the ones tha tI made.

This one is a whopper of a cushion at 20″

Mods:

• The biggest mod is that I modified this to knit in the round, adding a lined dot pattern on the back.  This is simply becuase colorwork in the round is faster and much, much more pleasant to do.
• I also added a purl “seam” on the sides of the pillow in the contrast color.
• There are quite a few places in this pattern where you are carried your second color for long distances, so I twisted the floats every so often.
• Mine was not turning out square, so I eliminated  a few of the plain rounds at the beginning and end.
• I did a 3 needle bind off at the top and seamed the bottom around the pillow form.