FOs: Christmas knitting edition!

I have finished all my Christmas knitting! I even had time to knit an extra scarf today for a family friend.

This hat was commissioned as a tribute to a hat my friend's boyfriend lost.  The only requirement was that it have a stripe of a highlighter-esque shade of green at the bottom.

It looks more yellow here than it does in real life, but it's reasonably garish anyway. I used Rico Essentials Merino Aran for the black, and some James C. Brett Supreme Baby DK for the green stripes. U have a lot of almost-neon green yarn to use up.

I had intended to make this scarf for my brother, but the stitch was coming out quite lacy for me. I'm a little disappointed, as I think it's a really beautiful pattern, but instead I knit rib 2x2 rib scarf, using the Fibonacci sequence for the striping.  It's knit with Debbie Bliss Rialto Chunky.

I didn't want to carry the yarn up the side in case it was obvious, so I cut the yarn at the end of each stripe, and joined a new strand for each new one, and sewed in all the resulting yarn tails, because clearly I hate myself.

 This isn't a great photo of me or of the scarf, but look at the tree!

Another commission! I went to visit my brother and a friend in England two weeks ago, and I thought I would get a respectable chunk of them finished on the four-hour train journey between them, but I accidently read my book for about three hours of it. I queued this pattern (Ravelry page here) a while ago, and had been looking for occasion to make it. A friend asked me to make a pair of teal fingerless gloves for her mother for Christmas, so I got to use it! It's a bit strangely written, but easy to follow, and I think they're beautiful. The pattern suggested using 4mm needles, but with my tension that would have resulted in them being far too loose, so I used 2.75mm. They don't have a lot of give in them as a result - they take a little wiggling to get into - but they're very cosy. I have another pair in pink blocking on the windowsill to give to my sister tomorrow.

My aunt asked me to make a scarf to match a pair of Willow Tweed gloves she gave to her daughter-in-law a few weeks ago. I couldn't get the same yarn, but I used the same stitch pattern and I'm happy enough with how it came out. 

I can't help taking it personally when people complain that Christmas is materialistic and shallow. I'm definitely guilty of buying a lot of materials in the run-up to Christmas, and then I spend hours of time planning and working and staying up until three in the morning knitting complicated patterns on tiny needles because I want to create something for my loved ones which will make them happy. There's no reason I can't do this any other time of the year, but Christmas is a time at which it's acceptable to make grand gestures without making people feel uncomfortable, and for me, being given something which someone has put hours of work into is a pretty grand gesture, even if it's work they enjoy. As for shallow, bet the people making that complaint don't even create. So.

That pet peeve aside, I find Christmas to be a very lovely and fuzzy time of year, and I hope anyone reading this has a great one.

Free pattern: Santa's Chocolate Orange Tree Decoration

To give credit where it's due, I had this idea after seeing a snowman's head knitted around  a Terry's Orange a few weeks ago. When I went looking for it again my Google-fu failed me, I was all set to write my own pattern when I realised that a Santa hat is more re-usable as a decoration than a hollow knitted snowman's head.

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I made these little Santa hats that sit snugly on a Terry's Chocolate Orange to give to people who fall in the awkward realm or present getting where I should give them something, but nothing too formal or personal. This is informal with a personal touch, and they can hang the hat up after the chocolate is gone :)

You will need:

Red DK yarn

White DK yarn

2.75mm circular or double-pointed needles

Darning needle

One Terry’s Chocolate Orange

The pattern can be found here.

Enjoy!

I had a productive weekend!

I graduated, and got to wear a wizard's robe all morning!  So now I'm a real zoologist!

 

I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in the RDS! My brother was visiting and I had to catch up with friends who were back in Dublin for the weekend, so I was pleasantly strapped for time, but I've missed it every other year and was determined to go. I got there less than an hour and half before it was due to finish up (I thought I had another half hour!), so I had to zoom around and didn't see everything as well as I would have liked to. Didn't leave empty-handed though!

I don't know what the two fabrics on top will become - they both feel a bit lightweight for a skirt - but one of the stalls had a bag made out of the atlas material which looked gorgeous, so one of them will be earmarked for that eventually. This is why samples are a good  marketing strategy - I wouldn't have looked twice at that pattern if I saw it in a book. The pattern and fabrics were both from Fabrics Galore, I think. The yarn is from some very nice British men, the name of whose shop I can't remember. It's 100% silk, and a warmer turquoise than the photo shows up. I have a rule about not buying yarn unless I have a specific project in mind, but I might never see that make and shop again, and I graduated, I deserve a treat! (See also: "But it's on sale, this might be my last chance to get it," "But I sold a lot at a craft fair, I should get some nice yarn for myself", "But it's my first pay-cheque from this job, I should get something decadent," "But I just got my results," "But I just finished exams," and when I say I don't know how I have so much yarn, feel free to call me a liar.)

I finished the first of my sister's Christmas gloves! I'm using the Amy gloves pattern, knit with some Louisa Harding Ondine I bought on sale. It's probably slightly too heavy a yarn, but I had already bought it with a view to making her gloves for Christmas when she asked if I would make her a pair of gloves like these for Christmas, and it is too perfect not to use for her present. I wouldn't be concerned about the weight of the yarn only I don't know whether she wanted the gloves to have the same pattern, or be similarly snug. I made mine quite snug so that I can wear them to knit without my needles snagging, but I have child-hands, and she has normal-sized hands, so it seems like gloves which are small on me would be impractical on her. I'm worried they'll grow with blocking, but the yarn is 100% cotton, so hopefully I'll be able to shrink them in a hot wash if needs be.

I've signed up to sell at a Christmas craft fair in college (I didn't quite get around to leaving, I'm volunteering in a lab in the college where I did my undergraduate degree, though it's a different department at least) at the end of this month. After these gloves, the only Christmas knits I have left to make are toys, and they are a bit too finicky to knit on public transport or on lunch breaks, so I should have time to build up a solid stock. Now that Hallowe'en is over, I don't feel bad about feeling pre-emptively Christmassy anymore.

Christmas hats!

I've made Christmas hats and even managed to dispense a few of them! I'm organised but the gifts aren't taking up space in my room. It's the best of all worlds.

My dad lost his hat on the DART, so I made this as an early Christmas present. I used this pattern (Ravelry pattern page here), and I think it's lovely - simple without being plain. However, a few project notes said that it was turning out small and a bit pointy, so I made a few modifications which I found to be quite useful.

I used 5.5mm needles and bulky yarn, rather than aran. I think aran would have been a bit bare for the weather we're having. As was, I used just shy of two skeins of Mirasol Kutama, and I'm very happy with the fit and ease.

I added an extra eight rows at the start, immediately aftert he brim - seven of the ‘normal’ ribbing, and one cable row, cabling back. So from the pattern, I knit this part: 
“Work 6 (7) rows of P2 (3), k3, p2 (3), k9 Repeat from * to * to end of round. 
P2 (3), k3, p2 (3), k3, CL Repeat from * to * to end of round.” 
immediately after the brim as well as before the crown, creating three cabled crossovers altogether.

Following each of the first three decrease rows, I knit two rows working each stitch as it presented, rather than one, to stop the crown from becoming pointed.

To give a rough reference for size, as I knit it, this hat is a perfect fit on my dad (a 6’ man) and a pretty good, if slightly less snug, fit on me (a 5’6” girl).

These modifications are also available on my Ravelry project page.

This one was actually an October birthday hat rather than a Christmas hat. I really like how it turned out though! I've found most hats don't suit me since I cut my hair short, but I like how this one sits. I say "Maybe I'll make one for myself" pretty often, but I've bought yarn for this, so I'm a step further than I usually make it.

I discovered in searching for this pattern that the blog it's posted on no longer exists. PROBLEM. I think I'll remember it though. The Ravelry page is here, dála an scéil.

I knit this hat with Spud and Chloe Sweater that I found in a bargain bin. It was all one colour, so I thought it was just that one they were off-loading, but when I went back it was all of the shelves. It's a real shame, it's very soft and warm and not bulky and awkward. Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

As we can see, I have a weirdly-shaped head, a further argument against me wearing hats.

I had already made this hat as a Christmas present for a friend when she asked if she could commission a hat, so I just posted this to her. Because two hats would be decadent.

Pattern page here, Ravelry page here. I used a bulky yarn to make it warmer, and because I'd had a hankering to try out Debbie Bliss Winter Garden. I knit the extra pattern repeat because I thought the pattern photos looked a bit short, but apparently it's a bit long on my friend.

Pre-blocking, in the picture above, it only just covered my ears, so I was worried about the fit, but apparently I just have a large head, or hold others to unrealistic body standards.

This is the fourth time I've made this hat (twice for myself, but both versions have been repurposed), so I'm getting good value for the eighty cents or so that it cost me. This is for my brother's girlfriend, whose name is also Jen! When she visits she sleeps in the room beside mine, and we never know which of us is being called, and it's mildly entertaining. I've found it to be a bit small before, so I knit it on 5.5mm needles, and I'm happier with the resulting fit. I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Chunky, but I think I could have gone for a super-bulky yarn - it looks a bit too lacy and gappy to weather a serious Winter. Pretty, though! (Sorry for the blurriness of the last photo, but I think it shows it off reasonably well if you pretend it's in focus.)

I'm currently re-knitting the llama hat, having given the original up for lost. My brother also lost the triangle scarf I made for him, so I have to make another one when I get a chance. Need to start something new soon!

Lots of scarves!

Some low-bandwidth projects, as the kids say.*

1-2. Triangle scarf in Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton. 3-4. A long neckwarmer in Katia Big Merino. 5-6. A triangle scarf (an early Christmas present for my brother) in Malabrigo Merino Worsted. 7-8. A snugger neckwarmer in  Katia Big Merino.

Woo webcam-quality photos! For such speedy, lazy projects, I didn't feel like going outside in the cold and taking dozens of awkward photos of myself. The first two of these are commissions, the latter two are Christmas presents (one if for my little brother to give to his godmother, which doesn't help me with being organised, but means I get paid back for the yarn, so!). I have finished three Christmas presents, and am currently debating whether to keep going on with them, or take a break and do some craft fair knitting for the end of the month. In any event, it looks like I won't be up until ungodly hours finishing presents this year. This is EXCITING TIMES.

*I am not sure if the kids actually say this.

Back to work amárach.

A few weeks ago I stocked up on relatively cheap yarn. I used the Noro Aya to make a few circle scarves.

This colourway reminds me of the sea.

It's hard to describe just how much I like this yarn.

This one reminds me of the seashore, which is slightly different.

Just... learn to knit if you don't know how, and then make something with it, and you will understand. I've held on to one skein for myself. I don't know what I'll make with it, but it would have made me sad to give it all away if it won't be on sale in Dublin in the future.

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I am making another pair of flip-top fingerless gloves

but this time I'm writing down the pattern. Foresight!

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A Christmas present! Going to own so many socks.  The box includes trilobite socks - my loves of knitting and long-extinct animals can be combined at last! (Or "again", but in a practical way this time!)

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Meeting a PI tomorrow to discuss possibilities ("job"?  Did he mean to type "job"? I hope so.  Those letters are very close together.) for next year. Only three of his papers are available for free on PubMed, and they're rather old ones. Hopefully he's more interested in what use I can be than what I already know about a field I haven't worked in.

Fibonacci scarf.

I made this scarf for my boyfriend, who suffers from maths envy.

Pattern

I should really have taken more than the one decent photo of it, as I was quite happy with how it turned out.  This is my first time knitting a flat stockinette scarf in the round.  I had originally thought of doing it in garter stitch, or seed stitch, and knitting it flat, but the allure of just carrying the yarn up on the inside and not having to weave in any ends was too great.  I'm glad I did, as it turned out to be one of those "Well, this changes everything" projects.  Stockinette is a non-rolly option for scarves now!

I made this with Cygnet Superwash DK, which is 100% acrylic, as the boyfriend is allergic to wool. Personally I consider this highly inconsiderate, but we work with what we have.

Also: new year!  I should make resolutions.  For now, knitting.

Happy things!

This is Knit had a sale this week, and I got this much yarn

Five skeins of Noro Aya,

six skeins of Louisa Harding Willow Tweed,

three skeins of Louisa Harding Rosetti,

four skeins of miscellanoues (Sublime, Debbie Bliss Rialto and Sirdar chunky bamboo)

 for sixty-one euro.

Yarn!

Some of them I have plans for (the Willow Tweed will one day be a top), and the others are just for the sake of stocking up while it's cheap.

Yarn!

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I have finished my Christmas shopping, and only have a few more presents left to make.  I bought slightly fancy wrapping paper (recycled and all) and my presents look like this:

which I think is nice.

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I own a colander now!  No more steam-burning my hands when I need to drain rice or pasta using a bowl!

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I went to my boyfriend's work Christmas dinner last night, and had this novelty beer.

So novel I stole the bottle.  It was nice initially, but it tasted more like beer and less like ginger ale the more I drank.  Pity.

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Term is finished!  Last week I handed in an essay worth 8% of my degree.  The day before it was due I was talking to my PI, who also set that essay title, and when I described what I'd done she said it wasn't quite what she'd had in mind.  Handed in regardless, and the person I believe is my second reader is quite a lenient marker.  So that could go alright.  Plus, today I was in the lab and when I was using the cryostat approximately one in three specimens were undamaged!  I'm on fire.

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My class are having a Christmas dinner later.  In the meantime, I'm going to sit in the warm, knitting and emailing neuroscience PIs about research positions for next year.