It’s a New Year!

Well, I have to say I’m really glad Christmas is over.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the time with my family and friends, and having the time to kick back and relax.  But, this year, unlike others, I got a really late start on Christmas gift crafting.  That meant that I got the last gift finished at 4:00 on Christmas Eve when I had to get ready to go out.  While I spend just about every spare minute crafting, this was a bit too much.

However, I must say I am pretty proud of how this year’s gifts turned out.  And some of them will become patterns in the near future!

This particular gem was made for my daughter who had seen me making a caterpillar cocoon for a friend. She loved the yarn and color combination, so, of course, it had to become a scarf for her.  I used Caron’s Simply Soft in ocean, blue mint, sage and dk. sage.  The scarf is luxuriously soft and spongy.  This photo doesn’t do justice to the intense, silky colors.  It’s knit on circular needles in alternating sections of stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m particularly proud of this bad boy.  My grandson is obsessed with super heroes and the Justice League.  I was having a hard time figuring out what to make for him so I headed over to Ravelry and did a search for Justice League.  I couldn’t believe I actually found a scarf with all of his favorite super heroes on it.  You can find the pattern here.  Because I wanted the scarf to fit my little guy, I chose KnitPicks Brava Sport instead of using worsted weight yarn.  This scarf took a long time because it was double-knit.  It gave me the opportunity to learn a new technique, though!

 

Then, there’s this cutie pie!  My 2-year-old grandson is obsessed with basketball.  I wasn’t a fan of the rather cheesy designs I saw online with basketballs hanging from the ends of the scarf.  Instead I went with something a little simpler, using some of the yarn leftover from the Justice League scarf.  I double crocheted each row lengthwise and added enough fringe to fill out what was left from the color changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made a pair of 3×3 rib boot cuffs out of Plymouth Yarn Company’s Homestead and a wonderfully soft garter stitch scarf out of Lion Brand’s Heartland.  All in all, a very successful Christmas gift crafting season!

I think I’ll start a little earlier in 2015, though…