Christmas presents

I'm on ravelry all the live long day, it seems, posting away in the forums. But taking photos of my knitting and crochet, or, god forbid, blogging? Not so much.

So first, all of the Christmas presents I have made so far.



This is a crocheted scarf, for my best friend. The pattern is from M. K. Carroll, who briefly made the pattern available to ravelrers last month. She says the pattern is an old one called Queen Anne's Lace, but I couldn't find anything by that name but a granny square-type motif when I searched the interwebs. I love the way that the motifs attach to each other to make the strip. Crocheting this pattern is a lot of fun; the motifs are quick but interesting, and it's hard to stop. The yarn is also very nice.



This is little crocheted purse for my six-year-old niece. I'm going to put some money in it, too. I started this one with a foundation single crochet row (rather than a chain) and then went around the other side of the foundation row before starting to work circularly, with no ch-2 steps at the beginning of rounds. I made the strap the same way, attaching each end as I got to it then made a semicircle of double crochet also attached at the sides. No seams! The yarn is an ancient rayon chenille from some kit that someone gave away at a long-ago knitting retreat. I've already used yarns from the kit to make my mom a shawl and a friend's daughter a backpack, but there are always leftovers.



This is a votive holder for my massage therapist. It's knit with 28-gauge wire in garter stitch with a bead on every stitch. The weight of the beads and the looseness of the gauge make it slump somewhat, but that means it will also fit the more standard votive after this one is burned up; this one is rather tall and slender.



These are fingerless mitts for my daughter's fourth-grade teacher. I used this pattern as a starting off point, but since the gauge is totally different, I'll just call it inspiration. These are my first thumb gussets. (And I've never knit entrelac, either.) The sharp-eyed reader will see that the trim is the same yarn as the scarf above.



These are earrings for my older niece. They're crocheted with gold 28-gauge wire. I made a pair for myself with (two different) big hooks; the smaller hook made a more delicate flower shape, although the beads are kind of crowded.



This is kind of a cheat, since I made this as a shop sample earlier this year. But my best friend's son is still into pirates, so I hope he'll enjoy it more than I would.

I'm also going to give my mom the diagonal kimono (pictured at right; why not download the pattern?) and I'm planning on another set of fingerless mitts for my trainer at the gym. I'm torn about my son's middle school teachers. Heaven knows they deserve the care that goes into a handmade gift, but I've yet to see any evidence that they use the ones I made last year. On the one hand, I despise gift cards (why not give money?) But there are classes of people to whom it is acceptable to give gift cards while it is offensive to give money, and teacher certainly fall into that category. It will probably be Trader Joe's gifts cards all around.

And then there's the other stuff I'm just buying. It's kind of the Buy Handmade Pledge except for the books and electronic gadgets and stuff.