Major Knitter

An Army of Little Snowman - I Surrender!

You know when I get hooked on a theme, I run with it.  Sometimes that's good.

It's good - because I came up with 13 adorable teensy tinsy little snowmen ornaments for my Christmas tree.  You could call them my own little army of snowmen.

Some of you mentioned you couldn't tell how big or small they are - so here they are on my laptop to give you an idea.  The snomen are 2 inches tall (without their hats).  So cute.  So small.  (Why, yes, I am watching an episode of ABC Family's Melissa and Joey.)

But the bad part is that they're so small, and I'm knitting on such small needles (US 1s and US 000s) that my shoulders are crying "I surrender!"

So I'm going to give them a rest for now - the snowmen and my shoulders - and pick up a book or something non-repetitive.  I plan on throwing in a little yoga and stretching while I'm at it.  How about you?  What are your tricks for taking it easy and giving your knitting muscles a break?

 

It's Raining Men - Snowmen, That Is!

My friend Estella knit up a cute little snowman ornament last Christmas.  Of course, I saw it on her blog and ravelry page and thought it was the cutest little ornament ever.

The pattern is Lisa Wilt's Let It Snowman - and it's a free Ravelry download.  I decided to microsize it - so I used fingering weight yarn and size US 1 needles to make my snowman.  I had to really microsize the nose, so I used fingering weight yarn and size US 000 needles for the nose.  Otherwise I followed the pattern.

Let's go through it step-by-step so you can start making your own adorable little snowmen for Christmas.  

I started with snowballs.  Using Knit Picks Palette in white and US Size 1 needles, I knit the body of the snowmen and overstuffed them.  Trust me, they look cuter when they're really plump.  

Then I knit four smaller snowballs for heads.  Once again, I overstuffed them to make them really round.

Then using US size 000 and Knit Picks Palette orange, I knit the smallest i-cord carrot noses you've ever seen.  I knit five rounds instead of the recommended four rounds because I thought it was the right porportion, given the microsizing I improvised.  When you're done knitting your mini-i-cord nose, thread a darning needle and pull the end of the yarn down through the carrot nose so it's on the same side as the starting tail.

Now is the perfect time to sew the carrot nose and seed eyes to the snowman's face.  You should plan on securing the thread and yarn from the eyes and nose to the very top of the head.  The orange yarn actually pulled back into the fiberfill heads.  This way, the threads will eventually be hidden under the snowman's hat.

Using the ends of yarn, attach the snowman's head to the body.  Weave in the loose ends.

See - you now have a naked snowman.  He's cute, but he definitely needs some clothes.

Using US Size 1 needles and bobs and bits of leftover mohair (I suggest Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Debbie Bliss Party Angel or Knit Picks Aloft) - knit some itty bitty scarves and weave in the loose ends.  The mohair hat and scarf is the part that makes these ornaments so adorable.  Don't scimp here by substituting with ordinary fingering weight yarn.  It's just not as cute.  

Now, knit up some matching mohair hats.  They are really small, but trust me, they work.

Using the end of yarn at the tip of the hat, attach an itty bitty bell (I found mine at Jo-Ann's Fabrics) or use a decorative bead.  Also, fold the hat over about 90 degrees and tack it in place.  Roll the brim of the hat up and sew it to the snowman's head, being careful not to let the stitches show.

 

Sew some gold 1/8 inch ribbon in a loop to the back of the hat and you're done.

Ta-da!  A finished snowman ornament all dressed up for your Christmas tree... and it's only April!  Just think how many you could finish by December!

I asked my guys how many I should make.  The answers I got ranged from 20, to 36, to 50.  Hmmm.  I take that to mean they like them!

OK - go ahead.  Make your own Let It Snowman.  How many will you make?

 

Mini Cashmere Socks

Every time I make a pair of cashmere socks for BF (birthday, Christmas, anniversary), I make a mini sock, too. So last night I cast on for a mini brown sock, and when I was finished, cast on for a green one (remembering that I had never got around to knitting a mini green one). Then I decided to take an inventory and discovered I had been remiss in my mini sock knitting… so a total of 4 mini cashmere socks were knit.

These hang on the mantle of the fireplace in my Knit Nook during the holidays. If I ever need to darn the socks and don’t have any more of the remnant yarn, I could always deconstruct the mini socks. Or at least that’s the theory…

 

Fundraiser Socks

Our Venturing Crew needs to buy our flag.  They're not cheap.  So since I'm ALWAYS knitting anyway, I thought I'd shift focus on the mini Scout socks to be a fundraiser for our new Crew flag.

During the ski weekend I knit up the four different Scout socks - Tiger Cub, Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Venturing

I got orders for 16 more miniature socks - for Troops and also in favorite school/team colors.  This will help us get halfway to our goal.  I'm really excited about this!  

If you'd like to order some, please let me know.  Each miniature sock is $10 and is approximately 3.5 inches tall from toe to cuff. 

Happy New Year!

BF and I wrapped up 2011 doing what we like best - having a quiet evening at home (because it's absolutely crazy to be out on the streets on a night like tonight!) and enjoying our time together.

I managed to finish my final FO of 2011.

And I also finished my first FO of 2012.

Not bad for a night's work.  

These are Let It Snowman by Lisa Wilt.

Details - Knit Picks Palette (white and orange); US Size 1 needles and some unlabeled leftover mohair for the hat & scarf.  I used some black beads for the eyes; and some random colored beads to top the end of the hat.  These are too cute and I'll definitely make more for next year's Christmas tree.

Happy New Year to all!

Stockpile

Today was our big stockpile day.  BF and I went out to Jo-Anns and Wal-Mart.  We stocked up on DMC floss for more Santa ornaments (but unfortunately, only about half the colors were in stock!); and then we headed over to Wal-Mart to stock up on all our paper supplies for the year.  

I am going to repeat a lot of the Santa ornaments from years past... and also create some of my own.  The hardest part was finding the plain white 14 mesh plastic canvas.  Fortunately, Jo-Ann's had some, so I bought 6 sheets - which is enough for 36 ornaments.  I think I'm set for the next several years.

Unfortunately, I was only able to cross off about half my required DMC floss colors for both the Santa ornaments and some new heirloom Christmas stockings.  I think I'll have to make another trip to Milford and check out the Michael's (oddly enough, right across the street from Jo-Ann's) and see if they have any floss in stock.

I'll spare you pictures of the newly acquired stash of toilet paper, kleenex, garbage bags, etc.  But suffice it to say that I LOVE being stocked up on non-perishable supplies.  How about you - what do you buy in bulk (aside from yarn)?

Mets Baseball Ornaments

We have a few themes on our Christmas tree.  Baseball and the New York Mets make up a part of our tree.

Mr. Met

My first hand knit Mets sock ornament.

One of BF's baseball cards.  It's not a Met, but it's a pretty funny baseball card!

A classic Mets glass ball ornament.

A Mets jersey - #45

45 is Pedro Martinez' jersey.

The 2011 striped Mets hand knit socks.

Hmmmm.  I'll have to start looking early for some new baseball ornaments for 2012.  Have any ideas?  Will you keep on the lookout for me?

 

Searching High and Low

You know when you're searching absolutely everywhere for something and you simply can't find it no matter how hard you try?  That's what happened to me.  I was trying to continue in my series of Boy Scout socks.  I had the Tiger Cub sock, the Cub Scout sock, and the Boy Scout sock.  Now I needed to make a Venturing sock.  But I couldn't quite find the perfect yarn.

I looked through my Knit Picks Palette stash and found three similar colors.  None of them were a perfect match.  I wanted something with a heathered look or perhaps a rag wool.  So I searched on Ravelry.  I searched the world wide web (you know I love saying that... remember when people verbally referred to the internet as the WWW?).  I couldn't find anything.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  I was looking for something with a grey and black mix.  I was surprised at how seemingly impossible it was to find.  So I made my own.

I took the closest palette color I could find and I knit it while holding a black thread, thereby creating my own two-tone multi color ply.

It was very close, but not perfect.  Let's not even try to figure out the dilemma I'm going to face regarding embroidering that tiny Venturing logo onto the sock!

Then all of a sudden, I was looking at my sock stash when this lovely black, white and grey yarn jumped out at me.  It screamed "I'm the perfect yarn for Venturing socks!"

Wow!  This Cascade Yarns Heritage Quatro in the pepper colorway is a perfect match.  My favorite part is that it was sitting on my shelf the whole time.  This reminds me of my father who would be looking for his glasses when they were right on top of his head.  It must be genetic!

And this weekend when I went up to my local Scout Shop, I solved the problem of the Venturing logo.  They sell these affordable and quite adorable mini Venturing logo pins - and I bought a handful.

Here's the first finished sock.  This one was knit in the Palette - but now I'll knit the rest in the Cascade Heritage Quatro pepper.  I think I should stock up on this yarn, especially since we all know how hard it is to find.  Hmmmm.  Maybe there's more in my Knit Nook.  I think I'll go look...

 

A Plethora of Striped Socks

I think I may have finished knitting mini stockings for the year.

Maybe.

Reverse Candy Cane Stockings

I thought some red and white stockings would be in order.

Voila!  Reverse candy cane stockings!