It's October, so it's time to start my holiday crafting. I've learned from experience to start early. I used to plan to make far too many knit gifts and ended up not sleeping in order to complete them. After too many sleepless nights, I decided I would limit my knitting -- usually only for my spouse and kid and my parents or in-laws or close friends. This limited my holiday knitting to about 4 projects and allowed me to sleep. Despite these precautions, in 2015, my holiday knitting was a disaster. I had only planned two projects -- socks for my spouse and a skirt I designed for my daughter. Alas, after completing my second sock, I discovered I'd lost one sock so I ended up having to knit three socks. I didn’t plan my pattern correctly so I had to undo my pattern design which meant my gift was not complete. You can read all about it here. New mistakes brought new knowledge so last year, I did all I could to ensure my holiday knitting was a success. I started reasonably early, kept my projects realistic, and didn’t carry any completed projects out of my home. I made a pair of socks for my friend, designed a pair of mitts for another worthy friend, and designed a pair of mitts for my daughter. All were completed timely! This year, I’m committed to making at least two of my holiday gifts and, hopefully, gifts for my mom and my in-laws.
For Beloved, I’m making a pair of Cookie A socks. The pattern is milo from her book, Sock Innovation. I have made three pairs of her socks and I love her work. Her patterns are complex and beautiful, but easily adjustable for different size feet. Below, you can see the Bex socks I made for my daughter (green with orange and purple Lion Brand Sock-Ease), the Kai-Mei I made for my mom (purple with green, blue, and lavendar Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino) and the Cauchy socks I made for Beloved (gray with brown and black Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock). The last picture is a completed milo sock for this year's holiday in Circus Peanut Lion Brand Sock Ease yarn.
For Beloved, I’m making a pair of Cookie A socks. The pattern is milo from her book, Sock Innovation. I have made three pairs of her socks and I love her work. Her patterns are complex and beautiful, but easily adjustable for different size feet. Below, you can see the Bex socks I made for my daughter (green with orange and purple Lion Brand Sock-Ease), the Kai-Mei I made for my mom (purple with green, blue, and lavendar Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino) and the Cauchy socks I made for Beloved (gray with brown and black Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock). The last picture is a completed milo sock for this year's holiday in Circus Peanut Lion Brand Sock Ease yarn.
For my daughter, I've taken on a seriously difficult project. It is the One Ring Scarf by Lyle Stafford. You can see it here. It is an exceptional pattern. This pattern was made even more exceptional by Ravelry knitter Omamarienkaefer. She adjusted the pattern so that the scarf could be read on both sides. It's amazing! My daughter is entirely fascinated by The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. She started reading Tolkien a few years ago and cannot put down the books down once she starts. She's also seen the complete extended trilogy of the Lord of The Rings movies every year for the past 5 or 6 years. She has seen this scarf and has asked me to make it for her. This year, I will do my very best to make it for her. I purchased this beautiful yarn at Knitty City a few days ago. Tomorrow, I will print out my charts in color. Hopefully I can also start knitting tomorrow.