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Make Something Monday!

Advent Knitting

I went into my Christmas knitting, once again, with the goal of making almost everything by hand. For about the fifth year in a row. Now that we're into the middle of November, I am realizing it's probably not going to happen. For about the fifth year in a row. Also, we are making our own advent calender. I had planned to make a little knitted something for each tree. I guess I didn't realize how very much work it is to knit 24 anything, even if they're very little somethings.
I started out with a mini stocking garland:

Being ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/mcso
I figured they could be the first four days of the advent, maybe with a little confection in each one.
Then I started a couple of little critters:

A little Rudolf and mini pink elephant. Which my mom says looks like a mini pig with a long nose. But cute nonetheless.
I am also planning on knitting my girl a super cute shawl, To Grandma's House. It's going to be the gift that's from me, rather than Santa. And I would like a couple of these cute reindeer under the tree as well. And this year, I absolutely have to knit t least two golden snitchs as gifts.
And I have realized that I really should have started in January! I would much rather have those knitted gifts than 24 little knitted advent trinkets, so I broke down and bought a few little things for the advent forest. Mostly Frozen related stuff, because someone in this house is in love with that movie.
What is everyone else knitting up for Christmas 2014?

Make Something Monday

Some mittens and a hat:

Boo!

Boo! Happy October and welcome to Make Something Monday! It's my favorite time of year again - fall. Although we're still having warm weather here, I love when the weather starts getting cooler, the nights get darker, and the trees get more colorful. Plus, the start of the holiday season is right around the corner, with Halloween just a few weeks away.
To celebrate the start of this amazing season, and to herald in the hopefully imminent colder weather, I knit up a hat this week.

It doesn't photograph well, or I am not a good photographer, I dunno. But it is a lovely hat, so soft and warm. Another angle:

I got to try something new with this hat, called welting. Welting is what created the bumps in the side of the hat in the first photo and makes for a perfeclty slouchy hat. I love trying new techniques, and I really don't try them too often.

Also, something I don't get to do too often; knit for myself. I literally made this hat in less then 24 hours. I cast on yesterday, finished this morning. The pattern calls for crocheting the edge, and I may go into my Local Yarn Store to ask them to show me how to do it, as I have never gotten the hang of it. I've watched plenty of tutorial videos, I just can't seem to get it!
Ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/kg
Oh, some more pictures:

The only other thing I managed to finish was another pumpkin.

Happy Monday everyone. Oh, and I want this bag. I mean, my 30th is coming up in about two weeks...

A Pumpkin and a Bat

By the way, it's Make Something Monday! Hey, they can't all be winners. I know last week I promised a new mitt, but then I decided I wanted to knit something else. Which happens to me a lot.

Like, way too often. But, at least I am maintaining the trend of one finish a week. This week, it's Batty the Bat and his pumpkin friend...named by the six year old who rules the roost.

I have wanted to knit up a bat and pumpkin for many Halloweens running and decided I was actually going to do it this year.

And it won't be too long before I am all out Christmas knitting (the bulk of my orders flood in soon - not a bad thing, but with the job and the kid it's full time!), so it was now or never.

She is all wool, and just as squishy and cute as can be.

Ravelled here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/NataliesKnits/bat-and-jack-o-lantern-2

Make Something Monday

Make Something Monday week six

Hi there, and welcome to Make Something Monday, week six. A recap of any and everything I deem worthy of posting, that I've made in the last week.
Last week, for Make Something Monday, I posted these tree lights. I love them and they are fast becoming the single most popular post on my Blog. Simple Mitts, beware! It'll be interesting to see if they're popularity keeps up after the holidays. I just can't wait to see what people are going to make with that pattern!
The past couple of weeks I have been knitting, knitting, knitting. I have completely finished four stuffed animal sets, which include the animal, clothing, and a mini stocking:

Not sure who all of them are going for yet, but some little ones are going to be very lucky! I made all four stockings this week and the reindeer and mouse girl. (She's in the pink dress.)

I have at least one more stuffed animal set planned, and she's going to be raffled to benefit a cause very close to my heart. She's probably going to be a bunny, as they're my favorite, in a sparkly blue reindeer dress, as I've wanted to make one for a while. I am planning on using some very special yarn that's been shorn and spun on Nantucket, it's so pretty. I just have to decide if it's going to be white or grey, opinions please!
They're jointly ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/sr2
By the way, I have two skeins of this yarn, I am planning a giveaway with one soon! Check back!
Also made recently is this awesome dragon, knight and princess set:

I love knitting this set up. I am planning on making a couple of the dragons for Christmas gifts, and making a few knights and princesses to tuck into mini stockings. Easy, peasy! Ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/1v1ap
Also finished were a set of Simple Mitts:

Sorely tempted to keep these for myself! But they've already been pretty much claimed, I don't think they'll last too long at the fair. I am going to chug through at least two more pairs, although I have the yarn for probably four pairs, so we will see! These mitts are really perfect for anyone new to working in the round, as they're simple (hence the name) and ideal for a first pair of fingerless mitts!
Then I finished a Santa Polar Bear Beanbag Animal. Why the caps, I have no idea.

He has yet to be ravelled, but he's made out of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes and polyester fiberfill. I accidentally used the wrong size needles (my number one mistake, I am always doing it) and he's huge...but hey, someone is going to get a deal!
Those are my finishes for the past while. What have you made?
Off to knit my little one a pair of bright pink mittens!

Make Something Monday Week Five

Hi there, and welcome to Make Something Monday, week five. A recap of any and everything I deem worthy of posting, that I've made in the last week.
I never got around to posting Homeschooling Friday last week. We did plenty, I just didn't really get too many pictures. This week, I will be better!
I finished a stuffed animal and a doll this week. I love this doll, it's something I've been meaning to knit for well over a year:

Can you guess who she is? She's known for her incredibly curiosity, even following a white rabbit down a mysterious hole and embarking on many adventures. I have since sewn her apron down, but was really lazy with pictures all the way around the past week.
She's been ravelled here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/NataliesKnits/alice My other finish, and another new love, is this darling girl:

I mentioned last week that I was into the foxes and wanted a girl fox, and here she is. I am loving making up the little dresses, it's the details that really make them pop. I don't know what other animals I can make for these dresses! She's ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/h6evg
I am currently working on a cute little squishy baby doll, but have no pictures. I am also planning a Hello Kitty stuffed animal, for someone's stocking.
M and I wrote up a list of Christmas gifts, I told her I wanted them to be all things I could knit. Well, I now have about 16 mini stockings to make, a few dragons, and a bunch of baby dolls. These posts are going to be getting a lot bigger soon!
What did you all make this week?

Make Something Monday week four

Hi there, and welcome to Make Something Monday, week four. A recap of any and everything I deem worthy of posting, that I've made in the last week.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was in a knitting funk. Well, it's gone. Now I can't seem to put the needles down! It's always that way for me, though - knit like crazy for a few weeks, then stop altogether for a few weeks, or only knit when I have to. Anyone else like that?
I got three stuffed animals done this week, plus a cute dress for one of them.

That's the three animals I've made this week, plus Mr. Fox who I finished a couple of weeks ago. But he looked lonely on the dresser by himself, so I threw him in the photo. They look snugly to me. Or maybe I've just been looking at stuffed animals for too long and giving them personalities. Who knows? I made this badger and raccoon:

Badger doesn't have a mouth yet, still debating if he needs one. Add Mr. Fox and you get the backyard bandits:

Ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/509tn
Also finished this week, and probably my favorite stuffed animal I've made ever (I posted her in the making last week)...this little winter bunny:

I don't think she's going to be a secret Santa gift, as I had predicted. I think Magdalena has called dibbs. Which is OK. Because I don't really want to give her up. Ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/bgiadd
On the needles right now:

Another fox. I don't know why, but I am digging the foxes. I figured since I think of the other one as a boy, I would make one I think of as a gal. She will have a little heart dress:

Plus a peek of my knitting bag, in case you wanted to know what it looked like! Being Ravelled here: http://ravel.me/NataliesKnits/h6evg.
What did you make this week?

Linking up to:

Make Something Monday Week Three and Giveaway Winner

My knitting mojo is back! I have only fully finished one thing this week, but I am well on my way to another finish, and I must say, they're both super cute. I've been wanting to make some Christmas type stuffies for the December fair I sell at every year, but not something so Christmassy that it couldn't just as well be played with every other time of the year. Every time I have tried selling something at the artisan fairs that is pretty much exclusively Christmas, it never sells. So, I've made a bean bag animal that can be a Christmas elf bear, or just be a green and white stripe bear any other time of the year:

For some reason he looks more teal or blueish, but he is a nice green. I will take a better picture for next week when I have a few more done!
I am going to make some red and white stripe one as well as blue and white polar bear.
I am currently working on this cutie:

She's going to have a blue and white snowflake design dress. She's going to be for whomever I get for Secret Santa this year.
Agh, I can not believe I am making posts about Christmas, when Halloween isn't until next week! It's the time frame of a knitter - I live months in advance, I tell you!
What did you make this week?

Linking up to:

Ok, now onto why I am sure you are all actually here, the winners of my three skein giveaway!
Using the random number generator from random.org, I chose a winning comment:

Which is comment:

Congrats, Danielle! Please e-mail me at natalie@nantucketknitter.com or nataliesknits on Ravelry with your mailing address and I will get your yarn to you ASAP.
Thanks everyone for entering, and check back soon as I have another giveaway in the works!

Make Something Monday - Week Two

Well, last week I projected I would have a pair of knucks and a couple of stuffed animals. I managed to finish exactly one stuffed animal and one glove. About half of what I'd intended. At least what I made is cute, in my humble opinion.

Mister Fox's ears do look a little wonky in those pictures, but they are pointier and straighter than they look. Haven't been able to make him a tail, because I ran out of yarn. I am pretty sure I have another skein of it, but I've been a little too lazy to look.
The glove is a little big on me, but the person I am giving them to has bigger hands then me, so hopefully they will fit. If not, I will just felt them a little, it's what I did with a pair I made for myself last year and they turned out perfectly.
I haven't been digging working in the round lately. I used to knit everything in the round, even convert patterns to be in the round. It seemed easier for me then and required less finish work. Well, now I am converting everything to be knit flat. I find, though it's more work, it actually is easier (can zone out whilst knitting) and the finished product is better. Just takes a little more time.
I couldn't convert the knuckle mitts to be flat, though. Would take far too much finish work. Thus, there are runs in some spots which never used to be there before and I was dropping stitches like it was going out of style.
I just haven't had the motivation to knit lately. I am in a knitting funk all the way around! I've gone through these phases before and they always pass. I just hope this one passes soon, and I need to have a bunch of things for December!
What did you make this week?

Linking up to: