I feel a little crochet-y

I do believe I have established, from past escapades, that I am somewhat insane. To further drive this home, I decided this year to make all my Christmas gifts. I've been crocheting hats and scarves since October with my able assistant Lucy^*, and I lovingly crocheted mistakes into every piece.^**

The original plan was to crochet something for family, then something for me, and keep alternating so I wouldn't get bored and resentful (the Selfish Seamstress called this "Sewing With a Grudge"). That worked until about the beginning of December when I still had several hats and scarves to go. My projects were generously put aside as I crocheted scarves until my fingers bled.

Not really. But I'll just say that one thing I learned is that scarves are really boring to make if you're adding rows of length, much less so if you are adding rows of width. Another thing I have learned? Earring findings make great stitch markers.

Now that they have been given, I can finally blog about the projects in an extremely lengthy post. Here they are, modelled by me in my fetching and falling-to-pieces duster sweater that is my at-home cover-up of choice.

For Aged P, I used some extremely fluffy wool -- Estelle Kidluxe (mostly) kid mohair. It was like crocheting with Muppet intestine. So fluffy that I'm afraid the pretty pattern for the Blue Spruce scarf (from Love of Crochet Holiday 2012, got kind of lost and the most distinctive part is the rib on the back. To match it, the Tahoe Hat (available as a free download if you sign up to Crochet Me) is supposed to have a bit of a rib at the crown by increasing on the back loop then front loop of the same stitch, but since I couldn't see where the stitches were properly, that got completely lost. You can't tell though because it's so fluffy. I added a six-petal flower (which I turned into a seven-petal flower because I can't count) to cover the colour change step because the hat is crocheted on a spiral. I think it looks pretty adorable.

My sister-in-law F got an Orla Cloche from LoC Spring 2012 in cream Moss Loop-d-loop merino wool and the Treble Cross-stitch scarf in Galway worsted. The red ribbon on the hat was a big hit, and it looks really great on her.

My brother P2 got Galen's Manly hat and scarf (no really, that's what they're called!) from Interweave Crochet's 2010 Accessories issue (although you can get the beanie pattern for free as above) in navy blue and grey Galway Worsted wool. I really, really like the stitching on these. Dense crochet stitches tend to be super-stiff, but this is an interesting and supple pattern.

My nephew A got the Candy Cane (aka quasi-Jayne Cobb) hat from LoC Holiday 2012 in slightly less candy-cane-like red and grey Galway Worsted wool and Galen's Manly scarf, but this time with irregular stripes to match the hat on only one end. I goofed and put the hat trim on backwards, but I like the resulting line better. Sadly, Lucy's fervent adoration of the yarn means that the somewhat allergic A has to wash them before he can wear them if he wants to breathe through his nose.

The first gift set I actually made was the Tear Drops scarf, which I did wrong for my aunt R1 (but I like the result). The corresponding beret is called Bluebell beret (no doubt because the original is in blue) from LoC Fall 2012.

My cousin J got an infinity scarf, called the Winter Skies cowl (again, LoC Holiday 2012^***). It's crocheted in Katia Mississippi 3 cotton in 4 colours (because I was originally going to make her this hat but got into a bit of a misunderstanding about yarn weights and had to abandon ship part-way through). I really liked crocheting a möbius strip and am planning to make one for myself.

My aunt R2 got the Ramses II scarf (which I also made for myself) and the unoriginally-yet-descriptively-named Any Gauge beret from LoC 2012 Fall and Spring, respectively, in Lamb's Pride Bulky sandy heather. The buttons on the scarf are made of bone, and I should have put them nearer the end. It's also one repeat narrower than it should be because I made it before I learned to pay attention to yardage and not just weight of skeins. This scarf was the only thing I blocked, and I think I need to work out a better, cat-free system.


I made a few gifts for people outside the family, some of which haven't been given yet so I will remain mum on them for the time being, but I can tell you about the Misty Morning Mitts I made for Hyedie from the Cupcake Ride. I was a bit excited when she said she likes wearing wrist warmers when she works, but that her dog had eaten the pair she bought online, because when I saw the pattern in LoC Fall 2012^****, I really liked the stitch and wanted to make them, but couldn't imagine what I'd do with them afterward. I gave them to her at the Women Who Bike Brunch, and you can see her much better photo on her write-up. Anyway, I made it with yarn for which I have misplaced the label, but which is made of cotton and milk protein, whatever that is. Which probably means they too will be eaten by her dogs.


I also made some non-crocheted gifts: the Fresh Clementine marmalade (from Chatelaine January 2013) tastes really nice but turned out much runnier than I would have liked (and kept making me think of the Cheese Shop sketch) and not-nutella, which recipe I have been using for years and it is so good I often end up eating it with a spoon. I had meant to make the not-nutella last year, but in an attempt to save time removing the skins (an extremely necessary but tedious and very time-consuming process) I blanched the hazelnuts before roasting them. The skins came off like a dream, but alas so did the oils because when I put the nuts into the food processor and ground and ground and ground them, they refused to turn into butter. Lesson learned. Roast, then rub off the skins.

[no pictures because I forgot to take any]

Completely at the last minute, even though I should have known better than to learn how to make jewellery the night before Christmas, I decided to make these Christmas tree earrings for me and Aged P (and one as a pendant for F, since she doesn't have pierced ears). I'm sorry to say I was only inspired by the photo and did not purchase the pattern, and I probably would have done a better job if I had -- not enough windings in my version. They're pretty easy, but very fiddly. Before I made them, I scoffed at requiring a cone-shaped mandrel, but having gone through the process I think it would have been very useful indeed. And if someone does purchase the pattern, can you tell me what the drill is for?

I still have two more things to finish (yeah, yeah, Christmas is over, but that's what some people get for not being in town), but then I'm going back to making stuff for me me me!^*****

I took a bunch more photos of details of each item. If you are interested, you can see them by clicking on the name below the thumbnail and scrolling down to the gift bag shot.

From Gearing Up -- So Handy

^*Seriously, I have never seen her more loving and wanting to sit in my lap as when the yarn comes out. She luurves me when I have yarn nearby.

^**I have decided that this is my signature.

^***If you're keeping track, that's 3 patterns from the same magazine... twice! It was going to be 6, but the DC decided he didn't really want the Merry Monsters hat after all, the Winter Wonderland hat didn't turn out well, and I ran out of time to make the Festive Fuchsia cardigan. When I pay for a magazine, I use it!

^****I see that they have removed the pattern from the digital version of the magazine, and I wonder why. I had serious issues with the stitch pattern as written, because a) the math didn't work out, b) when I tried to work around it, the pattern was so difficult to work that it hurt my hands, and c) the resulting pattern isn't as lacy as the original. I emailed both the magazine and the designer -- the designer got back to me the next day saying that the magazine had written up the pattern differently and the magazine took about two months to get back to me (long after I had already finished and given the gloves to Hyedie) and said nothing useful, but both of them seem to think I didn't understand the math. I kept wanting to say "Hi. I'm a mathematician. I have figured out what you're trying to do, but that's not what is happening here and I'm not enough of an expert crocheter to figure out what I'm supposed to do instead." Anyway, I will try to get to the bottom of this problem, but the removal of the pattern from the digital version does not inspire me with confidence. And while I would like to support the designer, I don't want to pay £3 when I already bought the magazine.

^*****Wait! What about the DC? Well, yes, I did make him some stuff (despite him not wanting the Merry Monsters hat), but I gave him his main gifts at the beginning of December so he could use them right away. Since they doubled as his birthday present, I felt I could sneak some store-bought presents in there, so only one item was bloggable. And I'm waiting on pictures to blog it.