Good morning 2010

My fiancé is "a maths person" and his tendencies have rubbed off on me to a certain extent. Therefore it makes me want to pull my hair out when people say that we have just started a new decade. Or when magazines announce the This-n-That of the Decade. Of course, if you normally start counting at 0 in everything, then be my guest and celebrate the new decade now. If not, wait a year.

In other news today: Finland is experiencing its coldest winter in years - indeed, the last few have been nearly snowless in the south. Yesterday the landscape outside my home looked like this:


Sunny with temperatures down to -25°C. It doesn't get much more wintry than this!

In the end, I was able to finish all of my Christmas knitting in time, just. I was still knitting the foot of my mother's second sock on Christmas Day while expecting them to visit, and had just finished kitchener stitching the toes when the doorbell rang. Talk about timing!

This Christmas I made mostly socks and hats. Here's the lowdown (photos may be replaced later on with ones of the recipients wearing their gifts)...

As a notable exception to the above, my fiancé received the gloves that he requested awhile ago. This was the second pair of gloves I had ever knitted, the first being a pathetic specimen created at school when I was 11 or so. Of that pair, the middle finger could have fit two fingers in and the rest were woefully small. All this considered, I think I didn't do tooo poorly this time. The yarn is scrumptious, too.


Pattern: Garter-Cluff Gloves by Deborah Newton (from the book Weekend Knitting)
Yarn: Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK (75% extra fine merino / 20% silk / 5% cashmere) in 0051 Button

Originally I planned on making my friend Elina a scarf. However, when I asked her what colours she likes to wear around her face, she got excited at the prospect of me making her a hat, so a hat it was. As soon as I saw this 1920's-inspired pattern, I knew it was the perfect hat for her.


Pattern: Side Slip Cloche by Laura Irwin (from the book Boutique Knits)
Yarn: Rowan RYC Soft Lux (64% extra fine merino wool / 24% nylon / 10% angora / 2% metallic fibre; discontinued) in 001 Pearl

Another case of "she-must-have-that-hat" happened with the next specimen. My friend Anna loves kooky things, cats and the colour pink. I had some pink yarn left over from Veera's Hello Kitty sweater, so I whipped up this hat for Anna.


Pattern: The Official Kittyville Hat by Kitty Schmidt (from the book Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook)
Yarn: Novita Samos (50% cotton / 50% acrylic) in 568 (main colour) and 628 (contrasting colour)

Maija is a friend of mine from secondary school times and will be my maid of honour at our wedding in July. To show her some love, I knitted her a pair of socks with hearts on them. The poor yarn is truly lovely, however it had been frogged twice already as I was trying to figure out the right use for it. Although it has no nylon in it, it proved to be great for bed socks.

Pattern: Seven of Hearts by Omly
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Mystique 8 Ply (75% wool / 20% mohair / 5% alpaca) in 769 Bolero

I mentioned earlier that I only just finished my Mum's socks in time. To be precise, I responsibly started the socks already in October, finished one, then put the other in the back burner thinking "the first one was so quick, I'll whip up the second one in no time", eventually casting on the second on Christmas Eve. Not a good idea. Mum loved them though - she had been secretly hoping for socks!


Pattern: Flame Wave Socks by Ann Budd (from the book Favorite Socks)
Yarn: Novita Nalle (75% wool / 25% polyamide) in 248

The idea was to knit both my parents a pair of socks. In fact, I bought a skein of dark red Novita 7 veljestä for my dad's socks. However, my mum decided that red socks were not appropriate for men so the idea was scrapped. Dad got a book instead. The 7 veljestä became socks for my sister, which I unfortunately forgot to photograph before giving to her.

As soon as my sister found out that I was knitting gifts, she submitted a request for her husband - a dark grey hat with no cables or other fancy bits and one or two rust-coloured stripes. I love it when I get detailed requests, it takes the guesswork out of it (especially if I don't already have my heart set on something). This hat is very simple in design but it actually fit very well, Tristan wants one now!


Pattern: Rib-a-Roni by Jane Tanner
Yarns: main colour Novita Aino (100% wool; discontinued) in 044, contrasting colour Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12 Ply (100% wool) in 938 Russet

I have already showed you Oona's earflap hat in progress; here's what it looked like when it was all done and done (like father like daughter, or something):

Pattern: Fancy Ribby Hat by Anadiomena
Yarns: main colour Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK (57% extra fine merino / 33% microfibre / 10% cashmere) in 501 Sweet, contrasting colour Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply (same fibre content) in 432 Bark

December must have been a busy time for storks - two little bundles were delivered to people close to me. My sister and her husband had a baby boy and a friend of mine from university had a daughter. Both babies received a pair of bootees:


Pattern: Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarns: Rowan RYC Cashcotton 4 Ply (35% cotton / 25% polyamide / 18% angora / 13% viscose / 9% cashmere) in 913 Peppermint and Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply (57% extra fine merino / 33% microfibre / 10% cashmere) in 432 Bark

We had the opportunity to spend Christmas with two friends from Adelaide who were stranded in Europe for the holidays. I made a little something for each of them to go under the tree.

Tristan's cousin Kim had just about finished her exchange in Denmark and was preparing to go back home to Australia, so I didn't want to make her anything too warm or bulky to pack. Because I was so pleased with the washcloth I made for myself, I decided to make one for her as well.


Pattern: Knitted "K" Cloth by Rhonda White
Yarn: Novita Bambu (68% bamboo / 32% cotton) in 381 (yarn held double throughout)

Rogan, Tristan's friend from university, received a hat. I didn't want to make just a basic old hat, so I tried the alternating stripes ("Noro") technique that is very fashionable at the moment. I asked Tristan which colours I should go for, and he just said "not pink". OK.
This was another hat that turned out surprisingly well and made me want to keep it for myself!


Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarns: main colour Novita Luxus Stone (100% wool) in 009, contrasting colour Novita Puro (100% wool) in 807 Iltanuotio

Phew! I think that's it.

Now that Christmas is done, guess what I started? Another pair of socks. To be given away. Don't worry, I started something else for myself as well! Deets to come later on.