Fabulous Winter Ensemble

I knitted this winter ensemble for The Fabulous Miss A. Didn't get it finished in time for Christmas, but I did mail it to her as soon as I could. She's 9 now, so I didn't want to do something super kiddy for her. But I wanted something fun.

So this is a basic 1X1 ribbed and fringed scarf, with matching mittens. These are Quick Bulky Mittens by Aimee Pelletier. The yarn is Loops and Threads Charisma, but I can't remember the colorway. And somehow that label got tossed.

The colors kind of remind me of ice cream. (Or maybe that's just me?) But what really impresses me is the way these mittens matched up in colors. Like perfectly. I was going to just force them to match, but cutting the yarn in the appropriate spot. But I didn't have to. When I finished the first one, I was in the perfect spot to start number two.

Look at them! That's impressive. Or lucky. Whatever.

I also threw in a DaBomb Bling Bomb bath fizzy with a jewelry surprise inside, because I thought it was cool. I also thought the whole DaBomb story is cool, so if you get a chance, go read that. Two teenage entrepreneurs. It's a great story.

More Knitting

So, just to catch you up, here are some of the other things I did for Christmas 2017:

Celtic Knot Scarf for M. The pattern is Celtic Looped Knot Scarf by Patricia Everett. I used Lion Brand Heartland in King's Canyon. Love the colors of Heartland yarn. They're very rich. The pattern turned out great. Although, once you braid it, it's really more of a cowl than a scarf.

The matching hat is Messy Bun Knit Hat by Laura Bain. That knit up super quickly. It's a cute hat, and works really well for M, because she has long, beautiful, blonde hair. My hair is cut in a million layers, so there's never going to be any pony tails or buns for me, sadly.










Plus, you know, when you pull it up, you can see all the grey. And nobody wants that.









I also made these for my friends at work:

 Definitely Diagonal Scarf by Kris Basta for Sarah. This is Lion Brand Shawl In A Ball Metallic in Om Opal. Very pretty, with just a hint of sparkle.

This was a nice, fun pattern. I think it would translate well to many different kinds of yarn, too. I recommend it.







Another Lion Brand Shawl In A Ball project. This is Lotus Blossom colorway. The pattern is Feather and Fan Shawl by Elana Malo. Feather and fan is one of my very favorite lace patterns, so naturally, it's what I used for a shawl for Amanda.

I haven't gotten to see Amanda very much since she moved to a different store. But, hopefully, once the weather gets warmer, we'll be able to schedule some lunches or something.








This is Frosted Leaves Scarf. The pattern is actually a cowl (by Louisa Harding), but I left it long and loose because I thought it was prettier that way. This is for my friend Dawne. I used Caron Cakes in Turkish Delight. This doesn't show up very well against my tan couch, but it's shades of purple and violet, with a tea green thrown in there. I think it fits the leaf pattern really nicely. And it's nice and warm for those days when she has car duty at school.











This one is crochet. It's called Neptune's Ocean by SassaFrass Crochet. I used Caron Cakes in Lilac Frosting and Red Heart Soft in Lavender.

It was a lot of fun to crochet. The waves are accomplished with different sized stitches, mirrored against each other and separated by the contrasting yarn. It's just a lot of fun to do and very quick. I would definitely do this pattern again.

This one was a present for my friend, April.








This cowl is Beginner Friendly Scarf or Cowl by Shaina Bilow. It's done in my very favorite Loops and Threads Charisma colorway, Northern Lights. I made this for Rebecca.

This is a two-needle cowl, so it knits fast. But it's got a ton of texture, so it keeps your interest. Plus, Charisma is super soft. So, it's a great choice for yarn that goes right up against the neck.

I know, some of you yarn snobs will say "wool is warmer," but you never know with wool, whether someone will find it itchy or not. Doesn't bother me, but many, many people can't wear wool. I always use synthetic for gifts.









This is also Charisma, in Mulberry Bush, for Jeanne. It's Vaduz Cowl, by Gretchen Tracy.

I like the bold colors in this. It's very pretty. And the cables add a lot of interest to it. Not to mention, warmth. It's Indiana. It gets freakin' cold.

 I also knitted a really pretty blanket for my MIL out of Caron Big Cakes. I really loved it (and she did too!) but I forgot to take a photo of it before I gifted it.

I can't believe I did that!

Anyway, I will have to take a pic of it next time I'm over there so that I have it. It was really lovely, trust me.

Shark Attack!

Not a real shark attack. That would be terrifying. That's actually reason number one that Patwoman doesn't go in the ocean--because sharks live there.
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That's a big nope from me.

Seriously. You want to know how to keep from being shark food? Don't go where they eat. I stay out of the ocean and that makes me pretty much 100% impervious to shark attack.

Except this kind. I made two of these for Christmas presents for R and for my SIL.

It's Shark Attack Blanket by Kari Provencher. Knitted in Bernat Blanket (With some glow-in-the-dark thread for highlights on the eyes, because I'm super clever).

These blankets are very soft. Like Cat Magnet soft.  I basically couldn't keep cats off of it while I was knitting.

I liked how quickly this knit up. I can't say I'm a huge fan of sewing all those pieces on. But, you know. You gotta do what you gotta do.

This was a pretty good pattern, really. It only took longer to do for me because I was doing adult sized afghans. But I think you could do a kid sized one pretty quickly.

Police Appreciation Hats

So probably the best thing I did last year was a police appreciation project, in which I hand knitted hats for all the officers in my daughter's department. Here are the hats I knitted:

I started out making them all different patterns, but that's a lot of hats. Toward the end, I had two or three simple patterns that I just used over and over, with different colors. It's okay. I think they all turned out pretty well. And the officers liked them. So that was the main thing.