Holiday Knitting

It's been a little while since my last post. Been a little busy with making gifts for Christmas.

Let's start with one of the earlier ones - Lonely Tree Shawl :  This one I made for my mother. It was meant to be a shawl but the pattern ended up being very small and it's more of a neck warmer. I bought her a brooch to hold it closed because you can't even tie it or wrap it. Here is an example of it on the needles. Very early on!

Blocking it didn't really help to stretch it.. should not have used acrylic. I know now that acrylic doesn't block well / at all. Knitters beware!

Project 2: The Bella Cowl : I made this cowl for my step mom for her birthday in November. I am very happy with the result. I made it from a wool blend I believe. It is a nice blue that has the potential to felt, but I still like it. Took me about a day to do, was pretty simple :)

Project 3: A simple scarf for a friend in California. He may not use it much but that's okay. If he ever comes to Canada he'll get a chance!

Finally, my personal project. Something for me! After seeing Catching Fire, I loved the cowl that Katniss wore so I knew that I had to make it. Not surprisingly, there were already patterns out there so I bought one fromAnaid Designs on Etsy / Ravelry. It was a pretty good pattern. I was confused in the beginning about the Herringbone stitch because it was different than the ones I'd used before. After some guidance from the designer, I was on my way. 

Hurray! The collar was hard on my hands as you have to knit with 2 strands together with really chunky wool. I felt like my shoulder was going to pop out at times too. All in all, pretty worth it. Still needs blocking as the back curls up a bit. But it's done!

What will come in 2014?

Happy Holidays!