Tag Archives: christmas ornaments

T’was the week before Christmas

Leave a reply

If you’re still knitting gifts for Christmas, good on you.  But I’m afraid that I have some unwelcome news.

You have just about a week before Christmas is officially here.

I’ve got faith in you that you can make it- you’re a knitter, after all, and knitters Get. It. Done.

But, if you’re a knitter who has to make a lot of gifts in a short amount of time, well, might I recommend one (or two… they’re small) of these little patterns.  They all take less than 50 yards of yarn, which means they should work up pretty quickly.

Plus, they’re totally cute!

I love these tiny, adorable long-johns (complete with butt-flap).  They look a little bit fiddly, but, man, they’re cute.  They’d make a really sweet little Christmas ornament (especially if you bent a bit of wire into a teeny-tiny hanger).

Little Long Johns by Susan B. Anderson
Screen_Shot_2018-11-23_at_5.17.30_PM_medium2

If your recipient is more of a “classy Christmas” type of person and less of a “butt-flaps are funny” type of person, I think these little wreaths are just darling. (Ugh… they’re so fancy that they turned me into a person who says things are “just darling.”  That’s real fancy.)

Holiday Wreath Ornament by The Big String
IMG_0024_medium2

And these little guys are just straight-up cute.  They’re somewhere between Dr. Seuss and the kind of window displays you might see at a really nice department store in New York.  I kind of want a tree covered in trees.  How cute would that be?

Wee Three Trees, by Tricia GilbertOtober_Still_Life111052_medium2

If you’re still working on your Christmas knitting, good luck!  You’ve got this!  If you’re done (or just not bothering, like me), congratulations!  Sit back and have a cup of hot cocoa.

Are you making any gifts this year?

Christmas Balls Are Go!

3 Replies

Merry Christmas, everyone!

What? It’s not Christmas yet?  But I’m drinking my morning coffee with egg nog instead of milk, and I may have just eaten a sugar cookie (breakfast of champions!), and my house is festive as all get out!  It certainly feels like Christmas around here.

We decorated last weekend.  Our front yard is full of twinkling lights (though some of our strands of lights are starting to get a little sad- I think we’re going to need to buy new ones for next year).  We’ve hung the stockings by the chimney with care, and we put up out (not quite straight) Christmas tree.

Usually I’m a “let’s use every single ornament we’ve ever come across” kind of tree decorator.  It’s usually packed to the gills, with almost every branch holding at least an ornament or two.  But this year we switched it up…

And used my Christmas Balls!I managed to finish 24 balls (I still have a handful that haven’t been filled yet), which turned out to be just enough to decorate the front of the tree!  I love how bold and cheerful they turned out.They look great, and (bonus!) I don’t have to worry about the dog pulling down the tree and breaking everything.I couldn’t be happier with how they’ve turned out.  Now I just have to make the other 30-ish balls, to finish out the book.  Maybe by next year, I’ll have them all finished?

(I tried to get a nice picture of Ollie in front of the tree, but he didn’t want to cooperate.  So, here’s the best one.)Have you decorated for the holidays yet?  What

Inspiration: Advent Calendars

Leave a reply

When my brother and I were little, we each had tiny Christmas trees that we used as advent calendars.  My mother (or maybe my grandmother… sorry Mom, I can’t remember which) had made us both these long wall-hangings with 24 little pockets for the days leading up to Christmas.

On the day after Thanksgiving, my parents would pull out the trees, wall hangings and an old cookie tin full of miniature ornaments.  My brother and I would spend the afternoon taking turns picking out ornaments and carefully putting each one in each pocket.

Every morning in December, we would add a single ornament to our trees.  The first week, the trees always looked a little sad and bare, but by the 10th or so, they started looking quite festive.  And by the week of Christmas, it was hard to find a free branch to add the day’s ornament to.

I’m not sure what happened to my little tree and wall-hanging, but I still have some of those miniature ornaments (a bunch of them are hanging on my tree right now!), but I still remember that particular holiday tradition fondly (especially the excitement my brother and I felt when we started having trouble finding space for our ornaments!).

Interested in making your own advent calendars?  Try one of these beautiful ones (although, it’s probably too late to make them for this year!)

Mini Stocking Advent Calendar by Alison Stewart-Guinee

IMGP1939_medium2[1]Smitten (a Holiday Garland) by Emily Ivey

Smitten3_medium2[1]Countdown to Christmas by Kate Heppell

advent1_medium2[1]

Pattern Spotlight: Weasley Sweaters

5 Replies

I must have mentioned at some point that I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd.  It’s true.  And I’m not one bit ashamed of it.  I’ve probably read through the books at least five or six times.  I even dressed up with my friends to go to the midnight release of one of the last book.  Then we all sat up until dawn reading.  Good times.

One of my nerdier purchases (which is saying something), is my well-used copy of Charmed Knits, by Alison Hansel.  It’s an unofficial Harry Potter knitting book, and it is utterly delightful.

charmed_knits_h_sm[1]

If you’ve read the books, you know that Mrs. Weasley knits sweaters for each of her seven children every Christmas.  And, if you’re a knitter, you know what an undertaking that must be (even with the help of magic!).  It’s one of the ways she demonstrates how much she loves her family and how much pride she takes in protecting them.

harry79034[1]

In Charmed Knits, Alison Hansel has two patterns.  One pattern is for a full-sized Weasley sweater (with sizes running from toddler all the way up to adult XXL).  The other is for a miniature, Barbie-doll sized sweater.  She suggests bending a bit of wire into a teensy coat hanger to turn your tiny sweater into a Christmas ornament.  (It’s pretty much the most adorable thing ever.)  I’ve made both the full sized sweater (minus the big double-stitched letter on the front; I’m a nerd, but not that much of a nerd) and at least a half dozen mini sweaters.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA(This is a mini-Weasley sweater I made for my friend Kate’s Harry Potter-themed 29th birthday party.  Also pictured, a felt Mimbulus mimbletonia and a scroll with a magic incantation.  Like I said, I’m a nerd.)

The coolest thing about these two patterns?  They are constructed in exactly the same way.  So, if you’re worried about making your first sweater, why not try knitting up a mini Weasley sweater first, to see how everything fits together before you go?  The two patterns are great beginning sweater patterns; simple, and knit at a largish gauge to make the projects go quickly.

So go find a copy of Charmed Knits, and make your family some sweaters for Christmas.

Christmas Knitting: Deck the Halls!

1 Reply

But what do you make for someone who is super picky about clothes, or someone whose size you don’t know?  Try making decorations.  These ornaments are fun and quick to make, and will be appreciated by everyone (or, if the recipient doesn’t like them, they only have to put them out once a year).  Start knitting away, and before you know it, you’ll have enough to cover a tree!

Balls Up! By General Hogbuffer

balls2

Yarn Basket Ornament by Scarlet Taylor

bag

Deck the Balls by Sonia Ruyts

deck the balls

Stjarna by Karolina Eckerdal

stjarna