Gnome for the Holidays

Who doesn't love a needle-felted gnome, especially one who also resembles Old Saint Nick?



A couple of things I finished during the last couple of weeks and forgot to post:

Pattern: Single Cable Scarf from One Skein
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton, 1 skein sage

Source: Patternworks

Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo straights, US Size 9

Modifications: None

Pattern: Tweed Beret, Interweave Knits Winter 2006 (Size 19"; my head is actually 21" but

this fits great)

Yarn: Tahki Donegal Tweed, 1 skein

Source: The Elegant Ewe

Needles: Susan Bates 16" circular, US Size 6; Aluminum DPNs, US Size 6

Modifications: None

Finally finished:

Pattern: Clessidra from Knitty Spring 2007
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential, 3 balls burgundy (I ordered four balls, since the yardage is almost the

same as the yarn the designer used, and despite adding a significant amount of stitches to

the calf to make it bigger, I didn't even touch the fourth ball)

Source: KnitPicks

Needles: 2 Addi Turbo 24" circular, US Size 1 (I used the two circular needles method)

Modifications: I added 12 stitches total to the calf to make it larger and then added more decreases to make up for it

I wore them on Thanksgiving and they were very toasty and pretty (if a bit slippery on the hardwood floors--one of the risks of handknit socks and klutzy tendencies)

And in non-knitting news, I present a picture of my made-from-scratch apple pie:

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

And now the holiday countdown begins:

6 Christmas presents to make

5 Final papers

4 clues to knit for the Secret of the Stole

3 weeks of classes
2 presentations
and a partridge in a pear tree

Not to mention I plan on watching Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas every day from now until December 25. Full speed ahead!

Golf and Birdies

"Birdie" is a golf term. If you're really desperate to know what it means click here.
I made these golf club covers for my dad's birthday next weekend. I made him a set of five or six a couple of years ago, in Red Sox and Patriots colors, but he lost a couple of them on the golf course (hey, at least he's using them). These I just made with some scrap yarn I had hanging around.

They knit up really quickly in Lamb's Pride Bulky. The pattern is one I kind of made up, based on my bad experience with the golf club covers from Suss Cousins' Hollywood Knits (I've said it before, I love her designs but I have never knit one of her patterns that I didn't have to change in some way because of gauge or other issues).


Unfortunately, I still feel that my pattern is too close to the original or else I would reprint it for you here. I've been scouring the new wave of men's knitting books that have come out, looking for great guy patterns, and I'm surprised I haven't seen any other golf club covers. As far as I'm concerned, this is one of my most successful guy knitting projects ever (and you don't have to worry about fit!).

Pattern: My own, inspired by the Golf Club Covers from Hollywood Knits
Yarn: Odds and ends of Lamb's Pride Bulky
Source: Probably all from Patternworks
Needles: US Size 10, these ancient aluminum ones I inherited from my mom
Modifications: So many I call it my own pattern



I actually finished the knitting aspect of the Bird Seed Scarf a couple of weeks ago, but several attempts at embroidering the birds on made me very cranky.
It hit me while I was riding the T that I should cut out my sketch of the bird, pin it to the scarf, and stitch around it. So simple, but this was literally the sixth or seventh time I had tried to embroider it. I tried to use the yarn I used for the scarf, but it was picky and stuck to the fabric. I switched to embroidery thread and I really love the effect. I just have to do the other end, and decide whether to do anymore. I kind of like how it looks with just the ends decorated.




I also finished another scarf this week but I forgot to take a picture of it in the craziness that is my Sunday mornings. I only have a few hours to get ready for work and do some chores and knitting, so I never get as much done as I would like. Today was especially bad. I mentioned that I had kind of been in a knitting funk, and I'm not sure that's cleared completely. This morning I felt like The Kid Who Can't Knit (or Sew). The golf club covers knit up pretty quickly but I've been busy and haven't had the time to do the actual knitting, and seaming them up, with all their shaping, is not fun. I finished the second one this morning, finished embroidering the bird you see above, and started a second bird which looked nothing like a bird so it had to be ripped out. Then I tried to work on the Secret of the Stole, but I had to redo the first row of the fourth clue three times. Three times!!! I was almost in tears. I never get like that about knitting.


Anyway, the crankiness continued for awhile (a few too many people cut me off on the way to work) but I had some comfort food for dinner and I've gotten my homework done, so I can look at wool and craft blogs until closing. I also just realized that I have one more row on my second Clessidra and then I can do the heel. Then it's just the foot, which goes very quickly. I only have one class this week, and just one day of my internship, and then it's the holiday--that's something to be grateful for too.