From Head to Toe

I can't believe that my Christmas knitting is done! DONE! Bwa-ha-ha-ha (i.e. evil laugh of smugness).

To celebrate this end to my frenetic knitting schedule, I decided to sit down, relax with a cup of tea, and - yes - knit some more, hee hee!

If you haven't heard yet, Knitty just updated their patterns, and there's some really nice ones in there (as usual). One pattern in particular caught my eye, as it was reputed to be fast, and seemed a clever idea - a hat and scarf combination in one. Perfect! (I have to admit, this was especially tempting, as I have been suffering under the humiliating knowledge that my daughter has been wearing a -gasp!- store bought hat.)

Can I just say that I love this pattern? I just love it. LOVE it. It's clever, well-constructed, easy, and very fast as it's knit with two strands of worsted weight yarn at once. The scarf addition is a nice touch, since my kids are incapable of keeping their hats over their ears, and the snow loves to trickle down their little necks. This hat is ultra-warm, and I'm planning to make another one for Peter with navy blue yarn, since the hat I made him last year is looking rather sad. (Oh, I knitted this hat with my all-time favorite cheap-o yarn, one skein of Caron's Simply Soft.)

(I did make one alteration to the pattern. If you're planning to knit it, I'd recommend using Elizabeth Zimmerman's backwards-loop method to increase, rather than to kf&b. It makes a more seamless increase with no bumps.)

Of course, since I'm the Queen of Over-Embellishments, I couldn't leave well enough alone. My first thought was to embroider snowflakes on the hat, but I quickly realized that I must not understand the geometric make-up of snowflakes, as my initial sketches looked more like satellite antennae. Having given that idea up, I settled on little flowers. It was a good idea, but I over-did it with too many different sizes and colors. Ick. Even I could tell it was too much. So, happily wielding my handy-dandy pair of scissors, I cut out the flowers I didn't like, and stuck to one color of yarn.

Much better. Ah yes, much, much better.

And now to the feet . . .

These are a pair of socks/house slippers that I finished knitting a day or two ago. I am so happy that they are the last Christmas item on my list! I sort of cobbled together a pattern from my favorite sock heels and cuffs, and ta-da! I hope the giftee likes them! They're knit from the most lovely yarn, Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton. It only took one skein, too, so it was affordable as well as fast! I'm not sure if you can tell from my rather blurry photo (I over-did it again with the photo effects), but the cuff is buttoned together. The buttons are a made from real forget-me-not flowers! How cool is that?

(If you'd like the pattern for the house slippers, let me know, and I'll write it out and put it with my other free patterns.)