Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Issue 375: It's almost Christmas...What is on your needles?

Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Check out our Holiday Gift Ideas on what to get your knitter, crocheter, weaver, spinner and maker. Support your local yarn shop!

For those who still have last minute Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers to buy, I am OPEN the rest of this week and on Saturday until 6 pm instead of 4 pm as well as Christmas Eve until 4 pm. I will be closed for the holidays from the 25th to the 27th. I will be open on the 28th but only until 4pm. We will be back to regular hours starting January 2nd!

The Wednesday Knit Afternoon and Thursday Knit Night will be cancelled next week but will resume January 2nd.

Elf Mouse by Manon Lemaire are adorable, have such unique personalities, are fun to knit up and is available for free in Knitty, Winter 2022 issue or as a paid version on Ravelry! The paid version provides 2 pdfs, French and English. If you choose the paid version, the English pdf is printer friendly (15 pages, instead of 35 on the website).

Casper is very festive and outgoing in his red and blue outfit whereas Parch has more of a gypsy vibe with his woodsy color scheme.

The elf mouse is knit in the round, bottom up. There is minimal sewing.
The arms and tail are worked separately, then knitted with body.
The ears are knit by picking up marked stitches.
The eyes can be embroidered or 4.5mm safety eyes can be inserted.
The nose and mouth are embroidered.
The hat is knit in the round.
The tunic and pants are knit flat, then seamed.

At just 6 inches (15 cm) tall this project is a great stash buster and it knits up pretty quickly!

NEEDLE SIZE
2.25 mm (US 1)

 

YARN
Fingering

 

SUGGESTED YARN
Garnstudio Drops Flora or Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight

 

 

 

 

Little Long Johns by Susan B. Anderson is small and sweet, just a little silly and a lot old-fashioned. She had the idea of designing the Little Long Johns ornament in her head for a long time and it turned out, back flap and all, just the way she imagined.

 

The long johns are worked from the top-down with raglan increases. The sleeve stitches are separated and held. The body is worked down and the legs are worked one at a time from there. Then the sleeves stitches are revisited and finished. The back flap is picked up and knit onto the backside. Finally, black beads are stitched on as the finishing touch for buttons.

 

FINISHED MEASUREMENT
4-inches in length

 

YARN
Fingering

 

SUGGESTED YARN
Garnstudio Drops Flora or Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight

Finished Long Johns sample weighs about 6 grams.

NEEDLES
3.25 MM (US size 3) double-pointed needles or size to obtain gauge

GAUGE
7 sts per inch in stockinette stitch

 

I finished and blocked my Arne & Carlos Christmas Stocking KAL 2024. I used BC Garn Semilla Melange staring with I had after I finished my Karen Slippers. When my stocking was finished, I had used 10g of the natural, 21g of the red and 22g of the green. I still have enough of the green and red to cast on and knit last year's The Children Dance Around the Trees Stocking by Arne & Carlos, their Mystery Christmas Stocking 2023.

This is the only photo I’ve taken since last week of my progress on my Mokosh by Teti Lutsak. The Rowan Kidsilk Haze Kits that I started with had six colours but Mokosh only has four. I originally thought that I would use the other two colours for the bottom half of the pullover but in the end, I decided to choose similar colours of Drops Kid Silk instead. The colours are similar enough that I don't think it will be noticeable.

KNIT GROUP AND GALLERY

Teri finished her Urd by Anna Sjösvärd Knitwear from Laine Nordic Knits using Istex Lettlopi in the pattern colours Rust and Barley.

Jen (zjewell) is wearing the Step by Step Cardigan by Florence Miller that she knit for the First Cardigan Class that she taught. She used Lang Yarns Frida held double with Malabrigo Silkpaca.

OMG! Isn’t Yanhong’s Go Go Dynamo: Westknits MKAL 2024 by Stephen West absolutely stunning!

Emma (emmlaporte) finished this beautiful gift knit Kallias by Isabell Kraemer.

Jocelyne (jocblais) brought this tablecloth that she crocheted 40 years ago to show us!

Here's a close up look of it.

Krystyna finished her The Children Dance Around the Trees Stocking by Arne & Carlos, the Mystery Christmas Stocking 2023. Yarn is BC Garn Semilla Melange GOTS.

Hannah finished the socks that she knit during our Cuff Down DK Magic Loop Sock Class. Yarn is Schoppel Wolle Starke 6.

Back to Basics: Socks (DK) by Melinda Measor is the pattern we used.

Here are the socks Farzana knit for our Cuff Down DK Magic Loop Sock Class. Yarn is also Schoppel Wolle Starke 6.

Marilyn (@marieana64) finished a pair of Vanilla Latte Socks by Virginia Rose-Jeanes. Yarn is WYS Signature 4 Ply in Holly Berry from their Christmas collection and Katia United Socks for the heels and toes.

Debbie (@love.knit.spin.weave)’s Midwinter Knit Along by Martin Storey is blocking! She knit it using Rowan Felted Tweed while knitting it in the round with a steek!

REMINDER TO SIGN UP FOR CLASSES

January is just around the corner, so sign up today so you don't forget!

Moonflowers Shawl - Mosaic Knitting Class

Want to learn how to do mosaic knitting starting with Moonflowers Shawl by Ambah O'Brien? Register for this upcoming class. Pair irresistible yarn with this beautiful Moonflower motif, and you’ll enjoy every stitch as well as the wearable result. 

Saturdays, Jan 11, 18, Feb 1 and 8 - 9 to 11 am

Love Note Lace & Top Down Pullover Class

Cast on and learn all the techniques you need to make your first lace and knit top down sweater! Love Note by Tin Can Knits is a very simple seamless pullover knit from the top down.

Saturdays, Jan 11, 18, Feb 1 and 8 - 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Register for this upcoming Colourwork and Steeking Class! This jolly tea cosy features a carousel of Shetland sheep and offers a small sampler of many of my favourite hand-knitting techniques: stranded colourwork, steeks, vikkel braids, corrugated ribbing, i-cord and centred double decreases. Practice on your teapot before trying these things out on a sweater!

Saturdays, Jan 11, 18, Feb 1 and 8 - 2 to 4 pm

Register for our upcoming Learning Brioche Class. The Plumped Up Cowl by Andrea Mowry is a great beginner project for brioche newbies! This fun (and addicting) stitch will open up a whole new world to your knitting life!

Saturdays, Feb 22, Mar 1, 8 and 15 - 9 am to 11:00 pm (filled)

Saturdays, Feb 22, Mar 1, 8 and 15 - 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Happy Wednesday, Happy Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting!