Handmade gifts

I love giving handmade gifts whenever I can. Each year I try to make at least a few handmade things. This year I made a lot of them. I got such a kick out of the way Lily squealed "Knitting!!!" as she opened each of her gifts. If you are interested in the patterns I used for these items, the links in the text below will take you to my Ravelry project pages.

I think I'm most proud of these socks for my favorite girl and guy. If you look closely, you can see a little blue paint on Lily's knees, evidence of one of her other Christmas gifts, an art kit for her easel.





Next up is the hat I made for Lily. It was a quick knit, but I it turned out cute. I've had this yarn forever. It was knit up into another hat that I never liked, so I ripped it out and made this out if it. I ran out of the Malabrigo, so I added some of my handspun yarn to accent the blue.









The thing I've made the most of, are these felted slippers. I won't show pictures of all of them. I made 11 pairs for Christmas and birthday gifts over the last few months.



I like to dress the kid ones up. I had made a Cookie Monster pair for my nephew and Lily loved them so much that I decided to make her an Elmo pair. Of course, now that she has her own, she doesn't like to wear them. That is the way it always goes!





I made 2 of these Market bags for the sister-in-laws in the gift exchange.



I made this hat for my mom.



A few of these wash cloths were made.



This technically this isn't a gift, it's for me. But it is something I've been working on for quite awhile, and finished just in time to wear on Christmas.







I also sewed pair of pajama pants for Lily, they have bananas all over them. I don't have any pictures of that at the moment.

Now, on to the next project!

On my needles

Today I was inspired by Soule Moma's "On the Needles" post. I love seeing other people's projects, particularly the things that are still being worked on. I love seeing the creative process midstream, and not just the end result. So, I decided to do my own little "On the Needles" post.

In the past, I have been a fairly monogamous knitter, finishing one item before starting the next. Recently, though, I have have been working on more and more projects at once. I do this because I try to match my knitting to what I am doing. For example:

This lace scarf requires quite a bit of concentration. I have to work on it only when there are minimal distractions, like when Lily is asleep. The pattern is a little too intricate for me to remember, so I have to read a chart as I make the stitches. Does this yarn look familiar? I spun it from Stew. It is his her first and only baby coat. The softest yarn ever.



If I need something a little simpler, I can work on Lily's second sock. Here is the first one I completed earlier this week. I started knitting these for her because, as I was knitting a pair for myself, she kept wanting to try them on. She'd try the huge sock on her foot over and over as I knit it up. How can I deny knitting her a pair of her own since she so obviously appreciates hand knits?



When I need something easier still, I grab a washcloth. I have the Ballband washcloth pattern memorized and since it is knit out of thicker yarn, I can knit it more easily without looking. Washcloths are my playground or "chasing Lily around the yard" knitting. I can throw my yarn in a bag and walk around knitting. Today the lady at the park gate commented how funny it is to see me walking around while knitting.



I knit while Lily talks to airplanes...



or gets into other forms of trouble.



In the last month I have done a lot of baby knitting for photo props and gifts since I had a couple newborn shoots. I made 2 newborn stocking caps, 3 newborn nest/pods, a cute little knit frog toy and finished up a pair of booties that had been sitting for 2 years. I started those booties for my niece, Grace and finally finished them in time for her little sister's arrival. More pics of the pods and my cute new niece on my Business blog. There are also some new pictures of Lily on there, unrelated to knitting.

The frog being blocked



The booties



One of the hats



And finally, another non-knitting related picture of Lil.



For the knitters out there, patterns and additional project information can be found on my Ravelry projects page. Look for me there as SpringPeeper. If you are a fellow Raveler, please friend me!