Happy New Knits!

Ahhhhhhh. Freedom.

Are we all free from our Christmas Knitting?!?!

You are? That’s awesome!!! I hate you.

I still have 2, possibly 3 projects to go. But seriously, I completed 14 out of 16 projects by Christmas. I win, ok?

Here’s the final set of Completed Christmas Knitting…

So…from top left, across and so on we have…

1. Beth and Kelly both got purple waffle hats with some super yarn from my good friend Natasha at Unplanned Peacock.
2. Beth’s son got a simple gray hat in Cascade 220. He’s 1, so he doesn’t care much for fashion.
3. Laura’s fiancee, Henry got a nice warm Virginia Tech colored hat. Double stranded the yarn and killed my hands on that little gem.
4. Aunt Connie got a nice Rollin Beret, pattern from Woolly Wormhead, yarn was Malibrigo. She should feel special.
5. Next up we have a simple I-cord hat for my nephew, Miles. Yarn is cascade eco which I then hand dyed.
6. Following his hat is a wash cloth for grandma. Grandmothers have EVERYTHING and mine won’t wear hats, scarves, or anything else I could think of to knit…so she got practical gifts.
7. Carly’s Pink Scarf was my first attempt at cables and has literally been in the works since last year. FINALLY done with that monster. Made with Cascade Eco, one of my favorite yarns. It’s cheap and you get a metric TON!
8. Finishing out the second row we have a hat for my niece, Charlotte. This is the Jester Hat by Woolly Wormhead. The yarn is Cascade Eco which I dyed in my “Skittles” colorway.
9. Now we have my cousin Jamie holding up her new Skinny Scarf. Made with more Unplanned Peacock and Cascade 220.
10. Next is another washcloth for Grandma. Next year hopefully I can get her to wear a sweater I knit. We shall see.
11. Then…we have the bane of my existence. My dad wanted a cat sweater. Seriously? He is a grown, over 50 male and he wants me to knit his CAT a sweater. So I did. The cat was about as thrilled as I was.
12. Then Aunt Sarah, who thinks she’s allergic to wool *HA*, got some lovely hand knit socks which she modeled the rest of the day. Allergic, my ass.
13. Laura…got one of the un-finished projects. She got one sock for Christmas and will be getting the second sock for her birthday which is in January. 🙂 It worked out well for me.
14. Last we have Aunt Cynthia and her new Quick Cowl with, what’s that? More Unplanned Peacock!

So. That’s our Christmas Knit List. Unfinished are Mom’s Citron Shawl, Laura’s Second Sock, and a hat for Kim. Kim may get a different present, because I am all knit-out when it comes to other people.

Seriously, is anyone else sick of knitting for other people? I don’t want to have friends anymore, because I am so tired of knitting things that I don’t get to keep and enjoy!

According to Ravelry, I’ve knit around 40 projects. I currently own 4 items that I hand knit. 4 out of 40. I keep one tenth of what I knit. That’s sad. As a knitter, I have virtually NOTHING to show the world that yes, I knit all the damn time!

I have one hat, one scarf…oh wait…2 scarves. Whoops. Ok but still! One hat, 2 scarves, and 2 pair of socks! That’s it! I seriously need more knit-wear so I can prove that…I know how to do this! My friend Beth now has a scarf and hat for herself that I knit, and two hats for her son. She has almost as much of my knitted love and labor as I do! OH WAIT, she also has a baby blanket which she FELTED. She has waaay more hours of my time in her hands than I do.

What is WRONG with me? Why do I knit and knit and knit and knit…then just hand it off? Why do I give away all proof that I know how to knit? What kind of person spends 35 hours stitching away on a pair of socks that they will never wear?? I knit my first-EVER hand spun in to something (really dumb) for my ex. WHEN WE WERE ALREADY BROKEN UP!!!

Clearly….we knitters have problems.

So this year, I’ve decided to spend at least half my knitting-time making something for ME. It’s MY turn to have hand-knit gifts. It’s MY turn to show off my knitting skills. MINE. ME. MYSELF.

My yarn!

My handspun!

My hand dyed!

I’ve already made the list for Christmas 2011. Who am I kidding?

However I did make my first mitten. And it is mine.

One Mitten for ME!

So we shall see. Maybe I’ll get a few knitted items to keep for myself. Or at least I’ll get a second mitten.

I hope.

Happy New Knits!

Knit One

*dramatic entrance*

*trips over stash and skids across the floor*

Ahem.

Hello. *waves*

I’m the Knitter in Pink…or KP for short. How’s it going? How’s everyone doing tonight? How’s that Christmas knitting coming??!?!

*dodges flying DPN’s and icy-cold glares*

Yeah, I know. Me too.

Why do we do this, guys? WHY do we insist on trying to MAKE presents when buying presents is a heck of a lot faster and sometimes cheaper!?! I mean come on. I could have bought my niece and nephew a stuffed animal for less than it cost me to make them hats out of my hand painted Cascade Eco, am I right?! Of course I am.

But yet we do this. We knit. For other people. For Christmas.

Personally, I justify my Christmas Knitting this way: I’d rather spend money on yarn and spend time knitting than take money out of the yarn budget for presents for other people and have no fiber enjoyment for 6 months because I’m broke from buying everyone a twenty dollar alarm clock picture frame hair dryer that they will break in ten minutes anyway.

I mean hellooooooooo. I can spend time playing with THEIR present. Ok granted sometimes…I want to chuck their present across the room and never look at it again, let alone pick it up and finish it…but for the most part, I knit presents because…hey…I get to knit! And I can also tell non-knitters that I need to knit through things like meetings and boring conversations and car rides because it’s for a PRESENT. I’ve learned that if I tell people I’m making a PRESENT they take my “odd behavior” much more seriously in the hopes that some day a “present” will be for them.

Ha. No. I’ve seen how you throw all your laundry in a pile and don’t sort it. I know you. You don’t know what “hand wash” even means. Let alone what “cold water” would be.

You? You do not get socks.

No.

Knitted gifts are often a one-time deal. You may get something small…a simple stockinette scarf or a quick hat to test your ability to care for knitted goods. (The friend who felted the baby blanket I knit….oh she’s on shaky ground) If you cannot prove your adherence to the rules of wool, then you will NOT be getting another knitted gift. I’m not wasting my yarn on you!

Well at least not until I run out of other people to knit for, or until I have zero money to buy you a gift with and therefore have to give you something made of yarn because…well…I spent all your present money on yarn, ok??!?!

So this year I’ve got around 15 knitted gifts to make. Here’s the run-down.

1. Hat for Nephew – DONE
2. Hat for Niece – DONE
3. Scarf for Cousin 1 – DONE
4. Socks for Aunt S – DONE
5. Hat for Aunt C – DONE (slightly large, mildly concerned)
6. Hat for B’s son – DONE (was supposed to be birthday present. Forgot to bring it to him. Calling it Christmas)
7. Shawl for Mom – On Needles
8. Hat for Cousin 2 – On Needles
9. Scarf for C – On Needles
10. Socks for L – On Needles (Had completed one sock. Was too small. Had to rip HALF of sock out. Don’t want to talk about it. Very painful.)
11. Hat for Mom’s Friend (Because mom thinks knitted gifts just fall out of my closet willy-nilly and so she told me to make 3 hats for kids she knows. HA!) – On Needles (Begrudgingly)
12. Hat for K – Not Started
13. Cowl for Aunt Y – Not Started
14. Hat for H – Not Started
15. Hat for B – Not Started
16. Hat for D – (Done, too small, must re-do. May scrap altogether)

Oh my dear sweet Lime and Violet (how I miss them!). I may not make it.

I’m going to go hide in my bed and weep now. Send malabrigo. May your knitted gift less be less daunting. Addi Turbo’s be with you.

*collapses*