christmas stocking

For me!


Remember when I made Ben a christmas stocking? Well, now that we are living together I feel it is only fair that I have one too. So I made one for myself!



With a dragon motif of my own design, and lots of other Christmasy patterns.

I love Christmas.

java blue

For Grandma

From the Sundance Bag pattern, this is an adorable little make up bag that I made to match my grandma's favorite Vera Bradley purse. A pleasure to knit!


As always, the longest part of making this bag was sewing in the lining and looking through my great grandmothers old button stash for the perfect attachment. I am quite happy with the results.

Happy Christmas Grandma!

po's sweater

This is Po


It is beginning to show signs of fall weather here in Colorado, and so I started to worry about the ferret who is loosing her hair. I made her this little sweater using Pepper Redfern's tutorial which was very simple; I was done in an hour. I also added a "P" for Po in the style of the traditional Weasly Christmas sweater. Happy.



I love fall. I am so excited to knit again. Hopefully you will be seeing many more completed projects here soon.

indian summer

For Shanti


From the knitty Fern Glade pattern in bright turquoise yarn, this pattern was fun to knit and came out beautifully after my second try. For my friend Shanti, who is as bright and interesting, full of color and always smiling, who kept my heart light in Riverside, who I miss greatly.


Thus ends the great hat knitting project and my life in Riverside, just as life begins again in Colorado....

crossing

For Sean


Crossing from one place to another, over the mountains and ending here in Fort Collins, Colorado. I saved the best for last; the people I knew I would miss the most and would want to stay in contact with. This is for Sean, a kindred spirit who hated the desert as much as I did, and who will be using my gained knowledge to follow my footsteps and end at a masters come fall. Hopefully wherever h e goes he will actually get some use out of this hat.

The pattern itself is the Ring of Fire knit on dp 6s and fair isle brown and changing fall colors, an ode to the seasons of Oregon and friendship found in too bright places.

spirals

For CrissyMade from the Berroco Dizzy pattern, this elegant hat was slightly frustrating at first, and then intriguing as I learned how to keep track of the pattern without being able to count stitches. The instructions for closing the hat was especially confusing, and I ended up making up the pattern on my own, and to my delight, it looked amazing; a little like a snowflake:

I wish I could tell you what I did, but I have no idea. I mark it as a success anyway as it turned out. This is for Crissy, who was one of the first and best people I met when I moved to Riverside. This hat fits her unique personality and I hope she loves it.

thinker

For Dr. Rodgers


At the Christmas swap, Dr. Rodgers said that if I made him a hat, he would wear it, so I figured I better. Made using the Tychus pattern, this hat was really fun to make, and even though Dr. Rodgers may have badly messed up my time at UCR, he really did mean for the best. I left all these hats as the hat fairy would have; in the evening when no one was around so they would find them after I had alreay left. When he found his, Dr. Rodgers sent me a text message saying that the hat "is so beautiful I wanted to cry. " So now that we've tradded tears, I'm glad to have known him.

matching circles

For Aliana and Arodi

From Knitty's Center Square pattern, I made one for my grad school co heart Aliana, and a smaller one in inverse colors for her daughter Arodi. She is the cutest little girl you have ever seen, and she wore her hat to my going away party, which made me cry.

camouflage

For Chris


Knit in the round on 8s with seed st brim and mixed media stripes plus poof, this is a big hat for a guy with a big head. (No really, he just has a large diameter head.) Chris was one of my first and best friends when I came to UCR, and he knew before he opened it what this would be. He is off in Japan now, so hopefully he can make good use of it.

red flower

For Yan

Perhaps a bit too girly for my normal taste, but just perfect for my Asian friend Yan. The hat is a simple white pattern with pink trim, and the flower is from the Stitch-and-Bitch Nation book and throws in some nice color. I will always remember the first thing Yan asked me when we meet, which was if I had any brothers or sisters, and when I said that I did she asked me what it was like. She grew up in the age in China when more than once child was illegal, and was fasinated with my stories about my little brother. Internatinal diversity does have a way of changing your perspectives.

undergrowth

For Sharad
Simple hat style rib with red heart held 2tog on 12s, this hat is for the Optical engineer that Dr. Anvari hired mid way through my crisis who is now helping Nima piece the lab back together.

He is one of the most interesting people I know; from India, Korean wife, adorable daughter, great taste in food and coffee. I will miss our conversations.

brown brioche

For Nima

Simple brown hat done on dpt 8s in a mock brioche rib. Nima was the best lab mate anyone could ask for, quirky Persian humor, constant dedication, complete confidence in adviser complaining! He was such a support toward the end, a hat is not quite enough but I hope he knows how much I owe him.

sprawl foliage

For Denise


Made using the Knitty Foliage pattern, this sunny fall lace hat is a tribute to the Bioengineering secretary who is amazing and kind and keeps the department running. I will miss trips to her office to chat, and the strangely combined Spring and Fall seasons of the desert.

blue squares

For Hong

Simple blue squares beanie on simple yarn and 8s, this hat is for the developmental engineer who works in my department, who has been very supportive and kind to me while I was in California, poking fun at the crazy fire-starting Russian and organizing the infamous experiment to prove she was a liar. In some ways, I will definitely miss the entertaining drama queen antics of the UCR Bioengineering department.

california mountians

For Corena


Don't say I didn't warn you. This is the first of many postings concerning the farewell hats I am making for California. Corena had a hat similar to this one stolen from her many times during the grad student Christmas swap, and I've been wanting to make her her own ever since. This one is blue tipped in white, something like the fabled hidden mountains of Riverside. Big chunky yarn and simple cables means comfy cute hat. I will miss the people I have met here and the view from my balcony in winter.

the quest of the golden hat pattern

Oh fellow bloggers and watchful followers! The time has come to embark on a unique and dangerous quest, a quest wrote with peril and bruised fingertips, of frustration and endless nights, a path which leads ultimately to glory, fame, salvation, and a normal sleep schedule!

Here are the challenges we face:

FINALS week draws ever near; the looming cloud of dread, the great gray beast of March!
The poisonous MASTERS THESIS, with razor sharp fangs, slowly draining all hope!
The hunt for the sly and elusive PHD FUNDING, like trying to catch smoke!

Our only weapon against all pain, sorrow, and ultimate madness: KNITTING

At the end of March, I am leaving California, never to academically return. While I am thrilled by the prospect of the Colorado PhD, I am also saddened by the thought of the friends I will leave behind. To lighten that burden, and to garnish my weapon against evil, I have decided to knit hats for everyone I like or owe money in my department. This means 16 hats.

This is where you come in.

Send me your favorite hat pattern. Be it your easiest, fastest, most fun to make, done with your favorite leftover materials, or simply your most FULL OF AWESOME HAT PATTERN, I want to see them.

Your gallantry will never be forgot! Bless you, o knitters of the realm!

blue wing purse

For Kara

When Kara went to Africa, she brought me back this amazing fabric, and I knew right away that I wanted to knit her something and line it so that she could keep a small part of it. I immediately thought of the Percy pattern, which I had been eying as a fun project for some time. I was really happy with the results. The bag is sewn to be modest on the outside, with a silver button clip, and snazzy on the inside, with the beautiful fabric and pocket to match. Just big enough for a travel journal and the essentials, with a front pocket that perfectly fits a cell phone:

And here you get a view of the blue winged tip African birds that make this purse unique.

lover's mittens

For Adrienne


Just because you want to hold hands does not mean they have to be cold. These are the Lover's mittens. Above, you see the normal mittens for the outside hands, and below you see the joined glove that they can hold hands inside of. Que the precious AWWW... but seriously, I couldn't let the DC winters get in the way of blooming romance, so these are for Adrienne and her Ben. Knit in big chunky yarn and stitched with warm fuzzies inside, these may be slightly silly but they are also toastaly endearing.

fuzzy slippers

For Grandpa, and then also Ben

Look familiar? These are the slippers that started out as fuzzy feet supposed to be felted! and ended up as normal sized slippers. The good news: they turned out to be very comfy indeed. so much so that when I made Ben try them on to fit them to give to my Grandpa, he wouldn't take them off! So I had no choice but to knit them both their own pair. Knit on big chunky yarn using a basic top-down sock pattern, these are the perfect gift for the lounger with cold feet. Pay no attention to the book collection on this shelf, I have another one for classics.

green weaves scarf

For Daddo


This year for Christmas, I wanted to knit my Dad something that he could wear more often than he goes hunting (he usually requests something bright orange). The weave patten of this dark green Lion's brand yarn makes for a slightly fancy but comfortable manly scarf that he can wear to work or out on the town, but also warm enough for a nice hike. I think he was quite impressed. Happy Christmas Dad!

hogsmede mittens

For Mommo


Made using the Charmed Knits pattern for fan's of Harry Potter (the blue blog), these are the mittens Hermione wore to Hogsmede in the third movie. Aside from the dorkish reference, these mittens have a beautiful pattern and come out warm and elegant in soft white yarn. The bobbles were especially fun to knit, and my Mom was very impressed by them and wore them constantly with her matching white scarf. Merry Christmas Mom!

monogrammed oven mitts

For Katie Thomson (KT)

When Kt came to visit me over the summer, we watched Kronk's New Groove together, where we learned that the purest expression of love is to bake together and to give the other personalized monogrammed oven mitts. I knew then and there what to make her for Christmas.


These are made with Chunky thick and quick held 2tog for nice thick, padded heat resistance, knit just like mittens without the cuffs and then embroidered. "These were the last things she touched, besides my fragile heart!" Happy Christmas Kt!

turkish coffee tea cozy

For Jaclyn


I found this beautiful tea pot at the antique store for Jaclyn for Christmas, and so I had to knit it a tea cozy. The Turkish say that coffee and tea should be

"Black as Hell
Strong as Death
and Sweet as Love"

Made from the stitch-n-bitch pattern, keeping warm the lovely blue pot stuffed with hot black organic tea, I hope it shall bring much delight to her home. Happy Christmas Jaclyn!

bamboo socks

For Uncle Steve


Knit in the Thuja pattern with organic bamboo wool, these socks were a pleasure to knit and to give. Let the post-Christmas-knitted-gift-blog-a-thon begin!