December Wrap Up

I made a lot of knit scarves in the last two months, but did not post them because they were holiday gifts. We'll be celebrating with my husband's side of the family in two weeks, but they don't know I have this blog, so I can now post all of the gifts that I made here. They were all, for the most part, fun to make.

These four photos show the hats and scarves that I made for my sister-in-law, niece, and two adorable great-nieces. Mom and Grandma each got a boa scarf. 5 year old Olivia got a ruffled hat and matching boa scarf, and little 5 month old Cecilia got a ruffled hat. (I was working on a matching blanket for Cece, but, my intentions were stronger than my knitting skills and that project ended badly). I don't normally go for "matchy-matchy" gifts, but I fell in love with this yarn - just loved the mix of pinks and oranges - and thought that I would break the rule this time.

I used the same yarn in shades of purple to make a scarf for my sister, Iris. The colors of this yarn just scream "Iris", and while I'm not sure the ruffles are really her style, I know that she loves the colors.






Next up were the scarves for hubby's side of the family. These will be gifted in a few weeks. All the scarves are fun ruffles, but they use different yarns, so they are all unique. Some yarns were more fun to work with than others, but I'm pleased with how they all came out.




















Last, but not least, were two scarves that I made for friends.







Tomorrow starts a new year which will be filled with more projects. I intend to start by finishing the project on my loom - a shawl that I am actually making for myself - and by knitting myself a ruffled scarf. I have Joie de Vie yarn (just like the green w/ blue and the purple w/ pink scarves above) in black w/pink that I bought for myself months ago, and I want to make it quickly so that I can enjoy it during the cold months.

Beyond that, I want to work on expanding my knitting skills, trying new weaving techniques, and crocheting more projects for Marine Corps Kids.

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2012. Happy Crafting!

Try, try again

I have been making a lot of small scale knitting projects to give as holiday gifts. I'm really enjoying the knitting and have made some pretty things that I'm proud of. I'll post photos after the holiday.

I was trying to make a baby blanket for my great-niece, Cecilia, and that hasn't been so successful. I was pretty proud of my progress. This was my first large scale project, and it was going pretty well. I made a mistake fairly early on, and didn't completely correct it, but it still looked pretty good so I pressed on. Now I find that I've made several more mistakes, and while the baby won't know the difference, and my niece is lovely and wouldn't say anything about it - I don't like that it's imperfect. Cece deserves better.

So, it's time to frog. I don't think I could have finished this in the next two weeks, so better to rip it out and try for a better one to give later. Still - I'm pleased with my progress and feel like I'm learning!