cottington's so crafty: Evergreen Socks, Gift Knits and Christmas!

Well.

I did TRY to have my Evergreen Socks (designed by Madeline Gannon) done for the Advent-along in This Old Knit's Ravelry group....but then gift knitting got in the way! I did some crazy December knitting that involved tight gauges and a million Barley Hats. I don't know WHAT I was thinking, aha! Anyway, all of this meant my socks were finished on the first of January!

The Evergreen sock pattern was super easy and delightful. I used Marigoldjen Yarn in the Chip colorway on the BFL Extra Long Sock base. I LOVE that base!! I actually DID whip through the leg portion of each sock super fast and had those complete before any of the gift-knitting began. I am not honestly a huge fan of knitting the Eye of Partridge heel. I think it is pretty, but I'm too lazy, generally speaking. I did put forth the effort this time, but I'm such a weirdo in that I like to count the rows of my heel flap, rather than the slipped stitches - in order to get my heel flaps to match, etc. It is more work to count the rows, because you don't have one column of straight knit stitches to count.

I discovered something crazy when I knit these socks, though: I have been using a size 00 needle for sock knitting lately, because I am able to tighten my tension when I wrap the yarn around a finger. However, apparently, that isn't tight enough for this lace pattern. I did cast on 64 stitches, per the pattern instructions, so, maybe 60 would have been better (and I used 60 in the last pair or two I've knit). So, after SADLY discovering this mistake, I had to rip out, from completed gusset decreases all the way through the gusset pick-up. I picked up maybe 21 or 22 stitches (because, again, I am a LOOSE knitter, but when I have to move down so far in needle sizes, my ROW gauge tightens up like nobody's business), which is more than most people would do, I believe. I tried to not be too sad, though, LOL, and I finished the first sock up pretty fast. I did knit the toe three times, though, because I was making an effort to knit a toe that was more specific to my foot. I decreased quicker on the left side of the left foot and sort of did some nonsense on the other side. I then did the same thing...almost...with the right sock, and as always, with the right sock, I added four stitches, to accommodate for my bunion.

So, they're cute, and they fit pretty well!!

As for my gift knitting, I knit a total of six Barley hats, using all scraps from my stash. I also knit two pairs of Stars and Stripes mittens. In the end, it was a bunch of dense knitting, which really pains my upper right back, especially. Ah, well. They are done and cute! I do NOT have a photo of the mittens, but I'm hoping my sister comes through with a photo! As for the hats, I don't have a photo of a green version, but the others are pictured below. I also have a duplicate of the pink, which is Dashing Dachs Stallion Organic Merino yarn I was given years ago, here at home to give Camden's Seattle cousin. I am also working on a seventh Barley hat and a pair of baby mittens connected with an i-cord, aha! SOOOO much knitting! I love, though, that it uses up remnants/scraps/whatever, and I get to see tiny things all over again!

Lastly, I knit up a Bonbon Bunny, designed by Susan Claudino, for Camden's Seattle cousin. It is SO cute! I may have slightly overstuffed it, but whatevs! I did stuff it with yarn scraps, which was good! And I used eyes I thankfully had from 6060 Eyes. I actually want to order some more, as I recently purchased a couple more of Susan's patterns!!! I again used stash yarn - a fingering weight blend which included bamboo. So, it's cute and tiny, like Camden's Bonbon. I have a couple photos of the wee thing.

As for our fun holidays, the kids had fun, I think, and we did the usual exchanging of letters with Santa, which is always a good time. The fairies had it out for him again this year, but they reached a silent agreement one evening, just so Santa could deliver gifts before we headed up to visit Matt's parents for Christmas. We also saw a fun tap-dancing musical version of Cinderella, at the Northwest Children's Theater. I love our little tradition of seeing a show the day after Christmas! Matt also worked hard on finishing up projects around the house....we now have baseboard trim and a fully framed and trimmed window in our room, but there is a LOT of painting ahead of me....yikes.

As for the new year, I get to see a concert this month, and we will still be working on house projects! I hope to fit in more reading. I just re-read the Hunger Games trilogy, but I need to be better about reading NEW books way more often. I used to be such a reader, but I can only do so many things at once, and knitting usually wins ;)