Winter Crafts

 As the weather cools and it starts to get dark earlier and earlier, I find myself with more time to craft - which is great because I feel like I've been in a bit of project slump lately.  But...not anymore!  I've started and finished so many things in the past couple months that I'm posting my winter roundup early and I might have a Winter Crafts (Part 2) coming later on.

Oct 29

First up, this beautiful two-tone cowl.  It's knit on the smallest needles I've ever worked with, Size 1.  Fingerling wight yarn and tiny lace work in the second layer meant that this one took me a LONG time to finish.

Dec 26

Jan 6

I made some pretty good progress the weekend we were supposed to be skiing but Hazel ended up with the flu and I stayed home while everyone else went skiing.

Jan 12

Finished it up in January just in time to give me time to squeeze in a last minute hat knit for myself.  (See below).  

Last Christmas I got a National Park Hat pattern book and I was so excited to dive in!  I made a Grand Prismatic hat for Jenny much earlier in the year (in prep for our Yellowstone trip) but when I finished my cowl just a few weeks before our trip I realized I might have time to make one for myself as well.  We got tons of compliments and questions about our hats on the trip...which made it all worth it!

Everyone commented how they liked that the little puffball looked like the steam rising from the thermal features!

Not the best picture...but you get the idea :)

Up next - a baby quilt for baby McIlquham (born just 2 days ago...so we know his name is Liam now...but this quilt was made before that).  I love these linen fabrics so much - they are a little tricky to work with (they fray easily) but they make great boy quilts, and I just loved the understated, but deep hues they come in.

This quilt has it's backing fully made it's ready to head to the quilter but I'm holding off because I think I can squeeze in a "twin quilt" (ie: the same quilt again for a future baby boy) while I'm at it....I don't think we'll see Liz and Bobby for a few months now that Liam is here so I've got time!

Plane project - two skeins of yarn and a hat pattern make the perfect travel project.  Hats knit up relatively quickly, their finished size (like...not a full-on blanket) and the limited amount of yarn needed meant this was the next project up on my needles.  A 2-hour delay on the runway + two three-hour plane rides and a few lobby chills gave me time to knit this one up in just under a weeks' time.  

Finished it up on our second night home by tying in all the ends and adding the puffball on top!  I love this one and I think Ryan has decided to claim this one as his own.  It makes me happy to know that he is into wearing my handmade items now too!