ah, now that christmas is over, and gifts are (nearly) all given, i have time to post some pictures of the projects that have been keeping me busy since oh, july. (if knitting bores you to tears, i suggest skipping this post. well, actually, i make no promises about any part of this blog being interesting. it’s all at your own risk). anyway:

christmas slippers

i made these for my new sister-in-law, teresa. it turns out we have the same size feet – a fact we each learned because she was knitting me a very cute pair of striped socks while i was making her slippers.

comment box wants to know:

wow these are great! where’d you get the pattern?

thanks! the pattern is in Handknit Holidays, by Melanie Falick. just know that the pattern seems to produce slippers a size or two smaller than it indicates, even after checking gauge – these are the largest size, modeled on my own size 8.5(US) feet, and i had to block* the heck out of them to get them to fit. if i made them over i’d adjust the pattern to make them bigger. also, it’s kind of weird the way the toes can be seen through the eyelet at the toe, and i think if they weren’t so stretched it would sit higher on the foot.

I used the actual yarn that the pattern called for (Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4 Ply), but it’s been discontinued, so it’s getting hard to find.

*blocking them was funny, because the only way i could think of to do it was to put the wet slipper on over a sock on my own foot, safety pin it to the sock in the right shape, then put another sock over that to keep the slipper clean, and wear it around until it dried, spending much of the evening dangling my feet off the end of the couch near the radiator. mmm…wet wool feet.

fibonacci’s handbag

this is an original (altho the flower came from a pattern by NONI). the width of the stripes correspond to the fibonacci sequence (altho not in order, obviously). it’s fully lined, so that putting a few heavy objects into the bag shouldn’t stretch it out of shape.

although it wasn’t until a few years ago that it really clicked, it was my grandmother who first taught me to knit when i was about 8. so when i decided to knit something for her for christmas, i asked my grandfather to do a bit of reconnaissance work on my behalf. he came back with the following:

“If you are knitting Christmas gifts, Grandma Jean would love a tote bag, first choice would be black with accent or trim of raspberry or coral. Second choice would be Navy Blue. It should be big enough to accommodate an eight inch long wallet.”

screw the surprise factor, i love it when people make specific requests. then i can give them exactly what they want.

aran christmas stockings

my brother matt requested christmas stockings for him and his girlfriend, carrie. here’s the first of the pair.

i busted my ass (well, fingertips) to get these done in time for christmas, and on the 21st of december fedex’ed them to denver…just in time for the blizzard. it took more than two weeks for them to actually be delivered. oh well, they have them for next christmas.

the pattern came from Handknit Holidays. i used a double strand of Cascade Ecological Wool on size 11 needles. they came out pretty big – i warned matt he was going to have to buy carrie a lot of presents.

make-believe crowns and christmas mice

two more things: the soft stretchy headband-style crowns i knit for my neighbor’s daughters (so cute! the kids that is, not the headbands. they’re just okay). the crowns were my first excuse to knit with novelty yarn, which i generally eschew in favor of natural fibers and earth tones. but hey, knitting for kids sometimes calls for heroic sacrifices.

also, christmas mice, because so many of my friends, like me, are at an age where we have invested our maternal instincts in owning cats. hell, i address christmas cards to: friend & cat. that is, when i send christmas cards. this year i was feeling particularly misanthropic around the first week of december. i do love you all, it’s that the past few months have been difficult. anyway, if you have a kitty, there’s probably a christmas mouse with your cat’s name on it. one of these days i’ll get off work before midnight and make it to the post office…