Last Christmas I gave you... something hand knitted

Nothing puts me off knitting more than a deadline.  

So it might surprise you to learn that I knitted five gifts for my nearest and dearest in time for  Christmas.  There's no more stressful deadline than 25th December, as we're all packing in so much else in the run up to the festive period.  What was I thinking?

Start early.  That's what I was thinking.  

So I began knitting for my Mum way back in August when we were on holiday in London looking after my daughter's puppy.  

It may appear that Murphy is taking a keen interest in my knitting, but he's really just hoping for a pat - or a treat!

My Mum had admired the colours in this jumper I made a year ago, and I still had some of the gorgeous pink dyed by my friend Helen of Ripplescrafts.  I paired it with a mohair in a colour called Mother Knows Best from local dyer Claire of Cookston Crafts.  They just had to be made into something for my Mum.

This lighter-than-air shawl with its picot edge of golden beads feels luxurious but is surprisingly warm.  

Five shawls - two for me and three gifts

I should know - I've knitted this pattern, the Winter Wander Shawl by Helen Stewart, five times now and it's one of my wardrobe favourites, as well as making a lovely present.

So, that was one Christmas gift completed - and autumn barely begun. 

I next turned my attention to some souvenir yarn purchased in Amsterdam last May.

The Dutch yarn store Stephen and Penelope is something of a mecca for knitters and I was pleased my daughter Maddy was happy to accompany me on a visit during our minibreak - and took lots of photos whilst I was drooling over the wool!  I asked Maddy to choose something she liked and she picked a pretty skein of mohair silk by German hand-dye company Walk Collection in this delicate colour called Cloudy Sky.

Throughout October I transformed the skein into a shrug similar to one I'd seen Maddy wear, following a pattern called Sleeve vibes by designer Sachiko Burgin.

Here's Maddy wearing her knitted Christmas gift, back home in London.  It's an ideal layering piece.

If anyone in my family admires knitwear, especially anything I've made, I pay close attention.

Three hats ready to post to Crisis UK

When Geoff said he liked one of these chunky hats I'd knitted for a charity initiative supporting the homeless in Edinburgh, I noted the colour and bought another ball.  I chose the Suffolk Hat pattern by Jo Storie Knits.  This pattern had been in my library for ages just waiting for the right wool.  All the hats are knitted in ReCreate Chunky from Stylecraft, a blended yarn made entirely from recycled fibres.  Though it's 40% wool, it can still be machine washed.  That ticks a lot of boxes for me and I can buy it in person locally from both Baa! and Cookston Crafts.

Here's Maddy admiring Geoff's finished hat during a woodland walk at Haddo Country Park just after Christmas.  I didn't make a pompom for Geoff as I made his hat slightly bigger than the charity ones and only had this tiny nubbin left.  He's not really a pompom kind of guy!

It's fair to say that when I find a knitting pattern I really like, I can become a bit fixated.  

I first knit the Bamboo Field Mitts as a shop sample for my local yarn store, Baa! in Stonehaven, last September to see if it was possible to make a pair from one ball of beautiful North Country Cheviot Hills Lambswool from The Border Mill.  It's a lovely pattern generously provided free by designer Holly Terrell.  With my mission accomplished - mitts finished from just one ball and safely delivered to Baa! - I made a pair for myself.  Then my attention turned to other leftovers in my stash for my final family gift.

After I made Maddy a Rosa Cardigan in Rowan Felted Tweed for her birthday in 2021, I made myself a grey one in the same yarn.  Remembering I'd some of the tweedy grey wool leftover, through November I knitted Eilidh a pair of the Bamboo Field Mitts to keep her cosy on her dog walks back in London with Murphy.

At the end of the day, when the Christmas hype is past, gifts are given and all I really want for them is to be worn, and worn, and worn again.

Geoff's hat on our hall table awaiting its next outing

But wait - that's only four and I mentioned five hand knit gifts...

With three weeks 'til Christmas, I made a late decision to make one more pair of Bamboo Field mitts, this time for my friend Lorna.  We'd a lunch date on December 18th when I knew we'd be exchanging gifts.  Made from her own alpaca yarn (which I've written about here) held with beautiful mauve mohair lace from Henny Penny Makes, I was in such a hurry to knit, finish, wrap and present these that this is my only photo!

Hand knit work in progress - not an instrument of torture!

I can't say I'll be making that number of knitted Christmas gifts every year but knowing those I love are wrapped in beautiful yarns from the work of my hands gives not only me a warm fuzzy feeling!