Christmas Knitting!

I meant to have this post ready and queued up to post this afternoon but that didn’t happen. Anyways. Christmas is not completely over quite yet, but all the gifts have been given, I have eaten entirely too much and seriously enjoyed my day. I gave quite a few knit gifts (I think 8 total?) this year and they were all received very well.

Okay, first things first. I made an iPad cozy for my mom! She got an iPad for her birthday this fall, and was EXTREMELY wary of it (she is not always good with new technology, however she has gotten quite good at using facebook and is learning twitter!), but has come to love it, and she has a screen cover on it but I thought it would be nice for her to have a case for when she brings it places in her purse.

Pattern: iFelt Cozy from Knit Purl
Yarn: Cascade Eco+, leftovers from my Owls Sweater
Mods: I did little i-cord button loops and added buttons.
Ravelry Link

Next up: Felted slippers for my two sisters. My sisters are twins, so they frequently get similar gifts, which probably gets kind of lame! But whatever, one sister asked for felted slippers so both sisters got them. But they love them and they fit, that is what matters!!

Dana’s Pair

Kelsey’s Pair

Pattern: Duffers
Yarn: Full o’ Sheep, held double
Mods: None, other than the button embellishment.
Ravelry Link Ravelry Link

Next Up: Again, my two aunts frequently get similar presents. This year I decided to knit them hats.

Aunt Nancy’s Hat:

Pattern: Windschief
Yarn: Cascade Cloud
Mods: None.
Ravelry Link

Aunt Cyndie’s Hat:

Pattern: Hurricane Hat
Mods: None
Ravelry Link

Another Head covering Item: A Calorimetry for Michelanne!

Pattern: Calorimetry
Yarn: Berroco Blackstone Tweed
Mods: Only CO 100 sts, and 10 repeats of row 5.
Raverly Link

Socks for Aunt Jill (she got a pair last year and LOVED THEM so I knit her another pair. I definitely owe her a non-socks knit item though.)

Pattern: Plain Ole Top Down Sock from My Brain
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Worsted Merino Superwash
Raverly Link

Last but not least: A Saroyan for Grandma Barb.

Pattern: Saroyan
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino
Mods: 5 increase repeats, 20 straight repeats, 5 decrease repeats.
Ravelry Link

And here are some happy family photos:)

From left to right: Kelsey’s slippers, Cyndie wearing a sock I knit her three years ago and a cast cozy I knit her (but did not really consider a Christmas present, so it has not yet been blogged), and Dana’s slippers.

From left to right: Aunt Nancy in her Windschief, Michelanne in her Calorimetry, Cyndie in her Hurricane Hat, and Grandma Barb with her Saroyan Scarf.

I had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope everyone else has enjoyed their winter holiday of choice. I am extremely grateful to have such knit worthy family, who love, appreciate, and WEAR their knit gifts!!!

On Wednesday night I am headed to Hawaii (the big island!) for 10 days with Bret and my family, and I am sure there will be some gratuitous pictures of knitting on the beach:) Especially because Bret bought me a new digital camera for Christmas! Woohoo!

I didn’t finish my christmas knitting.

I came close though! I finished my mom’s mittens about ten mittens before we left for church, and while I knitted some on the red pair of socks in the photo above..as you can see, I most obviously didn’t finish it. However, the recipient doesn’t mind one bit, and everyone else loved their knitted gifts.

I made red and green cupcakes on Christmas eve. The insides were red and green..kind of more pink and green, but close enough. And I put crushed candy canes on top of some of them.

My christmas was very good..I hope everybody else had a good one too.

Christmas Knitting Starts off with a bang!

So this past summer around June, I decided I was going to get a head start on Christmas knitting. I went out and bought yarn, picked out patterns, all that jazz. And then I went about my 50 hour work week life, and had no time (energy, really) to be knitting. So I didn’t. Now, I am at school, and have LOADS (a disgusting amount, really) of time on my hands..So I started the christmas knitting for real this time! 🙂

This weekend I made one slipper from the Malabrgio Loafers pattern, and I cast on the second. With these I really feel like I should knit the body of the slipper in one go, so I will probably do the second one later on this week, possibly weekend.

I also started and finished a pair of Evangeline Mitts. Super easy, quick knit. I love how they turned out! I started the first one on Friday night, finished the ribbing Saturday afternoon and shortly thereafter cast on the second. Finished it just as SNL ended.

I have a bunch of other stuff on my horizon. I’m thinking about starting a Swell Hat soon, for my little brother. I also have the second malabrigo loafer to work on, a pair of felted slippers for my mom, and I am going to make a Calorimetry and some mittens for my sister! I’ve got at least three pairs of socks (One of which is halfway finished) going for Christmas as well…hmm..Maybe I’m being too adventerous. We’ll see how it works out.

In non-knitting news…I have been craving protein hardcore lately.  And eggs.

Here’s what I’ve eaten so far today..

Breakfast:

Instant Oatmeal: High Fiber Cinnamon Swirl. So, so yummy.

Lunch:

Dannon Light and Fit Plus

Thomas’ Light English muffin with turkey, a little cheddar cheese, lettuce and honey mustard. Toasted the muffin, of course. This is quickly becoming a lunch favorite of mine.

Grapes.

Snack:

Sugar Free Caramel Pudding with a Graham Cracker.

For dinner I am contemplating pasta and a salad, or a bean and cheese burrito. Haven’t quite made up my mind yet..And I will probably eat a string cheese before I head off to Aerobics this evening.

I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since May 28th and have lost 26.6 lbs. My goal weight is 145, I am currently around 158. I would really like to get there before the end of this year, but I’m not 100% sure if I’ll make it. Next weekend I am traveling to Michigan to visit my best friend for a week, where I will probably revert back to a lot of bad habits from last year, and then I have my dad visiting shortly thereafter..And then like two weeks after that I am going to Alaska for Thanksgiving..And then three weeks later I am home for Christmas and it is almost the new year! Wow, time is going to FLY.

We’ll see how it goes. I am really proud of how successful I’ve been so far and I want to keep it that way. I have learned a lot of wonderful habits and I just really eat differently now..So we’ll see how it goes.

I should probably end this entry and go do some math homework or reading before aerobics..I need to pull my grades up, hardcore