Last-minute holiday knitting ideas

The time has come for ever-so-last-minute holiday knitting. I just started my holiday knitting YESTERDAY, if you can believe it, and I am thrilled to find a healthy assortment of DARLING patterns for super-quick knits.

Of course, there are dozens of books and magazines, old and new, filled with one and two-skein patterns. I have in the shop Interweave's latest special issue on 'Knit Accessories' which is filled with fantastic quick-knit projects (and let us not forget Interweave's current rebate offering - $5 towards any Interweave product purchased here at your LYS).

But there are also many free patterns available for some darling little tidbits -- and here are two of my new favourites:

For starters, I have fallen MADLY in love with Flint Knits' new pattern for Elf Shoes. I made one men's shoe in a single day, so a pair of these could easily be whipped together in a weekend (or a single day if making a kid size). The pattern recommends size 10.5 DPNs, but since the project is felted to fit, and since I much prefer the magic-loop method, it could certainly be done on a long circular needle in size 10 or 11. AND it's in the favourite Cascade 220, an awesomely affordable felting wool which comes in a huge range of colours (I have an excellent and ever-expanding selection of them here in the shop).



This morning I met with my Crystal Palace sales rep, who showed me some of their darling new patterns, including the Mochi Plus Swirl Hat, which is not only quick but also quite simple, since it is worked as a scarf-like strip and then stitches are picked up for the crown.



Also free is my own pattern for Perfect Mitts, knit out of a single skein of chunky-weight alpaca (Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky is an excellent choice for this pattern). These are super-fast and make a lovely gift for typists, knitters, or anyone who uses their hands a lot in cold weather.

1 comment:

  1. That Mochi hat is delicious! And the mitts too! Trouble is I want them both for me, me, me!

    ReplyDelete