Inspiration
Giftalong: It’s Go Time!
HELLO KNITTERS!
After a week of all of us jogging in place, the starter’s pistol has rung out and it’s time to KNIT KNIT KNIT.
Wait, that’s what we’re always doing. It’s time to KNIT KNIT: GIFTS!
If you’re just joining us and wondering what this Giftalong thing is, check out this explanation of what we’re up to, to the extent we know what we’re up to. It’s a very fluid knitalong, as knitalongs go. Knit what you want, for whom you want. Knit from a meticulous list in your bullet journal, or just free-associate your way through your Ravelry queue. Then give the results as holiday gifts to your most beloved, most deserving, or most needy friends ‘n’ fam.
If all this loosey-goosiness has you confused, your fellow knitters are here to help. Head on over to The Lounge, which is already bursting with knitterly industriousness and many ideas for gifts. To our delight, one Lounger even wrote a poem to celebrate The Night Before Giftalong. (Of course, any English major could tell you that the correct title is A Visit from St. Knitolas.)
Today, I’d like to share the source of at least one of my gifts this year, and perhaps a few more before I’m done.
Lars Rains Has Perfect Timing
A few weeks ago, I got my hands on an early copy of Lars Rains’ latest book, Presto, a collection of accessories using Madeline Tosh’s bulky-weight yarn A.S.A.P.
A.S.A.P. is one of those yarns that always speaks to me from the yarn store shelf; it’s a beautiful yarn, exquisitely dyed. I resist mightily, telling myself that it knits up too quickly, that I am not a Bulky Yarn Person, that I want more entertainment–more yardage–per gram of yarn. But A.S.A.P. can only be kept at bay for so long. Somehow, at this weight, the colors are so deep, so tactile–you can almost taste them. I buy a skein, knit somebody a hat in an afternoon and consider the A.S.A.P. itch scratched for a while. I don’t have many ideas for it beyond a beanie.
Well. Lars Rains has some excellent ideas for A.S.A.P. (Pictured above: Dark Mithral mitts. He’s also got cowls, scarves, hats (slouch hat and hat with good posture) and a lovely shawl.)
It’s a gorgeous, and timely, little book. (The photographs, including the two shared here, are by our farflung correspondent, Gale Zucker.) Most of the patterns in Presto call for 1 or 2 skeins (only the shawl calls for 3). We are talking fast knitting.
Rule, Titania
Saturday night I cast on Presto‘s cover pattern, Titania, a sculptural neckwarmer.
Daughter Carrie picked out the yarn (A.S.A.P. in shade Glazed Pecan) when she and I stopped in at River Colors Studio in Lakewood, Ohio (aka Cleveland) last weekend.
(What? Parents Weekend should always include an “impromptu” yarn-shop stop. Yarn shopping is a form of nurture that our young people miss when they are separated from us.)
Titania is easy knitting, with a fun tuck-stitch element that will seem familiar to knitters of the Breton Cowl. (It’s even easier to make those foldy flaps when you’re not working in laceweight mohair/silk.)
The best part? I’ll be weaving in the ends on this today. One more gift for the holiday pile–Giftalong overachiever status awaits.
Final Instructions
Giftalongers: knit like the wind! Share your progress and patterns over in The Lounge. Personally, I’m on the hunt for tiny, cute non-fiddly patterns, things you can knit a bunch of. Little somethin-somethins that amuse people: mug sweaters, ornaments, bottle-toppers. What are the good ones, the non-cheesy ones? (Also accepted: cheesy in an ironic, fun way.) Patterns for those whose attention span is short but whose stash is long. Put them in The Lounge in the thread I just started called: Teeny Patterns. (Squee–there’s already a teeny pattern there. Thanks, rawedges!)
Remember: we have hashtags, for those who indulge in the delights/wade through the murky swamps of Instagram and Facebook.
Our main hashtag is #MDKgiftalong. Tag your pictures so we can all see them, and we’ll do our best to share some here. And since I love hashtags, I’ll suggest a secondary hashtag: #MDKpileOgifts.
May the odds be ever in your favor, and your present piles reach the top of your Festivus pole.
Hi Kay–If I remember correctly, EZ’s Knitters Almanac has some knit ornament patterns. I think they’re in a summer month chapter, perhaps August.–Diane
Good idea, Diane. I do remember the story she told of knitting a Christmas tree in a boat.
Just ordered Presto. If Mom were alive I would have ordered a copy for her, too. She loved a good one skein Malibrigo project. However, she couldn’t wait until Christmas; if you were in the room with her, that hat or cowl was yours the minute it came off her needles. Oh, and as I read your post, I thought, Kay is talking about yarn, but I’m seeing my stash of cranberries, pecans, Brussels sprouts, and butternut squash. Color and texture is color and texture. For those of us who crave it, we get it where we can. Happy knitting. I’ll provide food for the lounge. xo
I thought I wasn’t knitting any gifts, but then I remembered my knitting group always makes hats for the hardy staff at “our” Panera and I’ve got a hat or two to make. Bankhead is calling my name (just found it in your 8 hats link). Love that deep ribbing and slouch.
I’m glad you’re doing this, because there is one little project (well, maybe two) that I really want to make for someone, but my attention span is about the length of a wooden matchstick right now. KAL to the rescue!
Having just spent hours (not exaggerating) organizing my stash, I now know how many single skeins of things I own. Must find lots & lots of patterns for hat, mitts, etc. I think I might own 4 sweaters’ worth of yarn, the rest if single, sometimes 2 skeins. And I have about 8 tubs of yarn. Yeah, I need to stop buying one skein of pretty stuff.
All right, the tunic sweater I was making for me is finished (all but the blocking, but since it’s still in the 70’s here in California I can’t wear it yet anyway…) so out come the Christmas projects, which I have to knit around the company coming for Thanksgiving since they’re getting some of them. 2 cowls, 2 hats and a pair of mitts. Gotta get cracking!
These are good: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/george—sock-monkey-cup-cozy
Oops, wrong place to post.
comment
I love those mitts, sort of. They look a tad slouchy, like they will only stay on with your hands up!
The gloves are actually gauntlets with increases to make room for your forearms. If you want a tighter fit, just leave out the increases.
Would this cowl be okay for beginner knitters? I’ve knit a couple hats and scarves and part of a sock, but I love the shape of this and would love to try it.
Presto’s not available for another few days on Amazon, but I read on Lars’ (or is it Lars’s) Facebook page that the book is being published in PDF. Have you heard anything about this?
I’m caving. Gonna order Presto, in spite of delay. This cowl is intriguing me and I know it’s not nearly as simple as it might look. At a little more than $2/pattern, it’s a bargain.