Well, despite my best efforts involving avoidance and denial, the holidays are nearly upon us.  I love the holiday season, but this year everything is moving so fast I’m worried I’m just going to miss it all as it flies by in a blur.  I’ve been feeling somewhat overwhelmed with all that needs to be done and I’m not even talking about knitting projects.

This morning, our Store Manager Karen came in with a new project that lifted my spirits:

Isn’t he adorable?  Karen made him from one of the Woolpets kits that we stock.  These needle felting kits come with everything you need to make the Woolpet shown on the package.  Karen simply added a loop of Plymouth Goldrush to Sock Monkey’s head and voila – a tree ornament!

I think these would make a great gift either as a completed project or just the kit itself!   Here are a couple of other options to consider (we have 27 different Woolpets to choose from):

The holiday inspiration did not end with Sock Monkey.  When Steve & I returned from recording this week’s episode of Ready, Set, Knit, Karen came back into my office to show me this:

Isn’t it beautiful?  The pattern is Nancy Lindberg’s  “Christmas Socks” and the yarn is Valley Yarns Amherst.   It only took 5 balls which works out to just under $25 for a stocking that will last a life time.

Ready or not the holidays are coming.  I hope these projects awaken your holiday spirit!

Kathy

I must make apologies for not posting Pixie’s Babette photos sooner. For those of you who have emailed, left comments on the blog and on Ravelry, here, at long last is what I have of Pixie’s Babette:

 

 

The squares are truly breathtaking.

A couple of points I’d like to make about this project:

1. Pixie used our Valley Yarns Northampton. At $4.99/ball for 240 yards, it’s a “bahgain” as us native Bostonians would say.

2. She used a “G” hook – be sure to swatch! For worsted weight yarn such as Northampton a “G” or “H” is usually recommended, but you can’t be sure without a swatch.

 

3. Pixie did follow the schematic exactly, which means that because she was using a heavier weight yarn than called for, her finished blanket came out to be 56″ x 64″, much larger than the finished measurements in the pattern state.

4. Pixie used a total of 17 colors, just like the pattern calls for. She used 2 balls of Lizard Green, Eggplant and Laguna Blue (her favorites) and one of 15 other colors. Pixie went a little crazy on this project and rather than follow a “formula” for the creation of the squares, she selected randomly. Knowing Pixie like I do, this must have been a little tough for her! Like me, Pixie likes to have a plan and stick to it!

5. The pattern is from Interweave Crochet, Spring 2006 and is now also available at http://www.knittingdaily.com/.

The color in this finished shot is off and appears much brighter than it actually is – the photos above are much more accurate. I think something was lost in the translation from our professional photographer’s system to importing it here:

 

For those of you working on your Babette’s, please let me know how it’s coming along and email pictures to readysetknit@yarn.com – Pixie and I would love to see them!

Kathy

NOTE: Tuesday, 6/17 – the full photo of Babette on the bed has been fixed! Thanks to our most faboo photographer for fixing the CMYK conversion!