Holiday Knitting: Pattern Favorites

Getting a jump on your holiday knitting can be satisfying and practical.  Part of the fun is looking for new and interesting patterns that would make the recipient of your gift ooh and ahh at there new hand knit item.  I've scoured Ravelry and my list of favorites and I've come up with a list of great patterns that are all free either as Ravelry downloads or hosted on other blogs.  What a perfect excuse to go yarn shopping and start a new project

Favorite Free Patterns 

doublepointed, River Run

Scarves and Shawls

Wingspan, Maylin Tri'Coterie Designs

Purl Ridge Scarf, Stephen West

Prim's Scarf, Julia Carlis

Riverrun, Erin McNellis

Boneyard Shawl, Stephen West

Maluka, Bea Schmidt

Brainfork Blog, Crenellated Hat

Hats

Turn a Square, Jared Flood

Crenellated Hat, J. Wilson

Regina, Carina Spencer

The Purl Bee, Color Block Hand Warmers

Hands and Legs

Cimidar, Melanie Berg

Urban Rustic Gloves, Sarah Sutherland

Color Block Handwarmers, Purl SoHo

Dashing, Cheryl Niamath

Brooklyn Tweed, Hemlock Ring Blanket 

Larger Projects

Abalone, Beata Jezek

Hemlock Ring Blanket, Jared Flood

Just Crafty Enough, Grumpasaurus

Wee Projects

Saarjte's Bootees, Saarjte de Bruijn

Garter Stitch Baby Kimono, Joji Locatelli

Grumpasaurus, Kat Lewinski

Blue Betty Blog, Lace Legs

Free Blue Betty Patterns

Sea Glass Cowl

Lace Legs

Easy Peasy Beanie

Easy As Pie Tam

Put a Bow On It

Give a Hoot Beanie

Knitting Update

I've been knitting and knitting.  Although that's not unusual, my schedule has been a bit wacky with the new jobs so there is some getting use to the time frames and such.  This scarf has been completed for about a week and put me right on target for the Christmas gift knitting.  I love the dyed job on this yarn and am tempted to keep it.  I mean I won't, but I'm tempted. 

I finished this lovely Wingspan in record time and with the completion of this item I am ahead of my gift knitting time line.  This was knit with some of my hand spun and it turned out even better than I had expected.  The Wingspan is a great pattern for hand spun yarn, and gift knitting.

This is my current gift knitting project.  I've used this yarn before and was looking for an excuse to use it again.  This is a little shawl scarf I found on Revelry.com.  It's super simple to knit and the primrose edging makes the knitting interesting and adds a feminine touch.  The pattern is called Prim's Scarf and is Hunger Game themed, although other than the edging and the name of the pattern I feel it's a stretch.  The pattern however is great and I might make a second one of these. 

I am still knitting away on my hoodie.  Look I'm almost done with one sleeve.  The plan is to have this completed right before the fall so that when the weather turns chilly I have a cozy hooded sweater to wear around the city. 

Gift Knitting: The Plan

I have been making great head way on my holiday knitting and have five gifts completed and have started a 6th.  I don't remember if I ever laid out my gift knitting strategie, so here it is.

Hats: knit 4, all for boys. Complete!
Scarves/Shawls/Cowls: Knit 5 all for ladies, 1 complete 4 more to go.  These are the next items to get knocked over.  I hope to have them all finished by the end of the summer.
Sweaters: Knit 1 for a very special recipient, still have to purchase yarn.  This project is slated for September, it's a simple cardi that I've made before, so it shouldn't take me too long.
Toys: Knit 2 sheep for the babies, This will be late in the fall probably around October/November.

My plan for the summer was to knit two gifts each month.  So far I've been able to complete this with no problem.  I may actually finish a third this month which would put me ahead of schedule.  Next on the list of gift knits, two items from the scarves/shawls/cowls category.  (The above pic is one of those items, but I'm not going to say who it's for.) Oh, and ordering that yarn for that special sweater.

I may add a few extra bits, in the way of dish cloths and tea towels, to the list just in case I forgot someone or need an extra gift.

Gift knitting

Lion Brand Yarn Studio

Gift knitting.  It's one of those topics in the knitting world that is talk about a lot, especially in the fall as everyone is frantically knitting hats and scarves for the holiday season.  The question I posed was "are there strategies that make gift knitting easier, is there a way to plan ahead?"  I asked my local knitters if they had any advice on this topic.

Nancy of Nangellini said  "In the past I have made x number of the same item and given them as gifts, like big flower pins…and then picked from all the finished ones which one I think would be best fro each recipient."  This idea is great for making sure everyone on your list gets a little something hand knit.  Another twist on this is knitted or crocheted Christmas ornaments.  I've also seen knitters and crocheters who make quick flowers and bows that they use to wrap their gifts with.

What about that special person you know would love something with love in every stitch.  How about a warm accessory to wear.  "I make tons and tons of hats, and my only thing is that I prefer to knit for people who will wash properly" Nicole from NoTwoSnowflakes comments bringing up two great points.  Hats can be easy and fast, faster than scarves.  Other quick knits, cowls, fingerless mitts, and anything that requires bulky yarn.

Bread and Butter Men's Hat Patter, NTS

Nicole's other point is to make sure you know who you're knitting for.  For example if I knit my brother a hat out of alpaca and wool it would be ruined as soon as he felt the need to wash it.  There are a few ways to remedy this.  The first is to not knit my brother the hat, but that would be cruel for both of us.  His head gets cold up in Rochester and I really wanted to try out that Crenellated Hat Pattern.  The second way is to tell him how to take care of his new hat as part of the gift.  One of my knitter friends told me "The first time I give someone something that I’ve knit, I include a bottle of Soak."  This works if your gift recipeant will remember how to care for their knit item.  The third way is to choose an easy to care for yarn.  In my brother's case I would choose a super wash wool.  This way I know he won't have to remember to hand wash his hat.

What if time is running out?  Sue Ellen had a great solution to that problem "If time is short, I’ve given the yarn and an image of the FO one year, and the FO the following year.  That also lets me spend a little more because I spread it over two years."  If you just must knit the Color Affection for you mom, but your deadline is a month away.  Buy the yarn, wrap it up in some pretty paper (with your yarn ribbon/flower/knit ornament) and give her a gift that will last two years.

Another idea that came up to solve the "I need a gift now!" dilema was the "Gift Closet".  You may not need a closet per say, but a bin or basket will do the same job.  The gift closet is when you have a few gifty items all knit up and ready to go for any last minuet gift giving.  You can stock your gift closet with a few scarves and hats, a couple of cowls, a spare baby blanket or BSJ and any thing you love to knit.  This way when the time comes to give out some hand made love you aren't frantically knitting till the wee hours of the morning.


Thanks to all the knitters and crocheters who joined in the discussion.  I truly appreciate all the input.

Gift Knitting Advice Needed

I have decided to knit/sew/embroider/make most of my Christmas gifts this year.  I am usually the knitter who says "I only gift knit once in awhile, for truly special recipients"  or something along those lines, maybe not as elegantly put, but you get the idea.  This year is different for a lot of reasons, where we will be spending Christmas is a first for us, some gifts will need to be completed earlier than December to make it to their recipients and some of the gifts will have to be easy to travel with.

I am asking for any and all advice on gift knitting, from strategies to patterns, to quick gifts that you maybe don't actually knit, but use yarn.  Leave your gift knitting/crafting advice in the comments it will be truly appreciated.  

Black Friday Offer, Cyber Monday Giveaway

This weekend is a crazy retail frenzy.  For everyone who is knitting gifts, or buying handmade I wanted to have a special giveaway and offer.

First the offer, Starting today through Monday the 28th I will be offering free domestic shipping on all items that are shipped through the USPS in my Etsy Shop.  To take advantage of this great offer all you have to do is enter the coupon code SHIP4FREE at check out. 

Now on to the fun part I am giving away the Southerly Pattern Set to one lucky reader of Blue Betty.  This set includes the Southerly Tam Knitting Pattern and the Fall of the Leaf Fingerless Mitts Knitting Pattern. 

Also two runners up will receive a copy of the Wintertide Gauntlets Knitting Pattern.

To enter just leave a comment letting me know how your thanksgiving was or what your holiday plans are.  For a second chance to enter go to my Etsy Shop and pick out which item you would most like to receive as a gift and post it here in the comments. 

I will pick a winner and the runners up randomly Monday Night and will announce them on Tuesday here on Blue Betty.  This giveaway to open to everyone! 

Lebowitz Cactus

When my friends moved into their new house we hatched a plan on what they would put in the giant picture window in the living room.  The plan involved me knitting a cactus, not just a knit version of a smallish house cactus, this cactus needed to be well interesting, weird, I mean it was going to sit in the picture window facing the street, it had to be a bold statement piece.

After about 6 months of trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this, along with a few failed attemps on the way I give you the not quite finished Lebowitz Cactus.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but this lovely pile of color will soon be a stuffed and potted cactus.  My friend Mike who described the cactus to me only really said a few things.  It should be knit, it should be "patchy" and that it shouldn't look like a cactus except in shape.  So here we have it the outer shell of what I think is a pretty good interpretation of what he was asking for, and a good use of multi-colored eyelash yarn on my part.

All I need to do know is sew up the strips, stuff it, knit the base, stuff that and then gently hot glue it into its pot.

The Black Hole

That's right I am stuck in a knitting black hole right now. If you have never heard of this check out Yarn Harlots post here. The above pictured project seems to not be going anywhere. I have measured and knit and measured and knit and my progress is slow. I think the only thing keeping me sane it the joggless stripping that is in the body of the sweater. But for real, I sit next to the hubby on the couch and knit and knit for what seems like hours and when I measure my project there seems to be no progress.

The Yarn Harlot says all you can do is put in your time. So I am patiently waiting, ok, maybe I'm not that patient. But I want to knit sleeves damn it! I want to wear my new nautical stripped cotton sweater right now!

There is my tantrum, maybe a nap and a glass of wine and finally my time will be up.

Gift Knitting

It's barely into November, Thanksgiving is still a few weeks out, and its not even close to Christmas yet, but it is "that" time of year and with "that" time of year comes the rush to knit Presents for most of my close friends and family. Along with this race to finish knitted goods also comes the strong desire of knitting for myself. (Also at this time of year try to convince Simon that he would like an knitted item.)

So my question to knitters, crocheters, or any crafter out there is what do you make for your loved ones?

What patterns do you use? Who do you knit for? Do you pick one person to knit and epic project for or try to churn out a bunch of smaller projects for all your love ones?

P.S. I still haven't decided who or what I am knitting.