Creampuff Enjoys Holidays, Reveals Mystery Knitting

Happy Boxing Day! Finally, a holiday we can all agree on! I hope all of you had a lovely celebration, whether you exchanged gifts and had a feast with family or whether you sacked out with Battlestar Galactica and a bottle of peppermint schnapps. Huzzah!

I myself had a really delightful holiday week. To kick things off, my best friend Padu came to visit for a couple of days and ended up modelling some of my keen knitwear! And then Katr's brother Drtr came to visit and did our bidding endlessly! And then we took the ferry over to Victoria and I finally got to see my parents' condo! And my cute and hilarious grandparents were there and my brother and my cousin and his girlfriend came over and she brought a pie and DAMN, it was good! And we had Christmas nachos on Christmas Eve and opened all our gifts and even though we all promised to go easy on presents this year, we all made out like bandits! Just like Jesus! And my parents kicked off all the fun by making an unexpected and very sweet and generous donation to the Creampuff Gay Wedding Fund! Sweet Lavendar Lord! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Seriously. It was a whirlwind of deliciousness and exclamation points and it's taken us nearly two days to recover. And then Katr's mom is coming tomorrow night and the fun starts all over again! Which reminds me, we have to go shopping tomorrow - we're almost out of eggnog.

Anyway, on to real reason for this post: the knitting!

I learned to knit one year ago yesterday and this year, many people were recipients of my occasionally lumpy but always well-meant knitting. In my beginner's zeal, I tended not to notice when the giftees did not appreciate or even acknowledge the hours and expense their knitted gift cost. Katr noticed, though, and she has a running list of people I am no longer allowed to knit for. Thanks, baby!

Of course, all of the holiday knitting recipients were so gleeful that they will all be getting knitted goods for years to come. Whether they want them or not.

Mom's Scarf

I tried a bunch of different patterns with this super-soft, cream-coloured, crinkly acrylic yarn (Mom's allergic to wool) but the thing just looked like ten kinds of ass. I eventually settled on this basket-weave-y look. Mom thought it was a winner. Score!

Katr's Shawl

This summer, my mom took me to a yarn store in Edmonton where she had spotted a stole/wrap/shawl that she thought would look great on Katr. She and I put a bunch of different colours and textures together and she commissioned me to knit it! We figured I earned about $0.50/hr. Not my usual rate.

Here's Padu as "The Virgin Mary, If She Was a Dude Wearing Katr's Shawl". He looks so coy. What is he hiding? The Son of God? Or a pack of smokes? History will decide.

Drtr's Brave's Fan Scarf

Katr's brother Drtr, my soon-to-be brother-in-law, is a huge fan of the Atlanta Braves. And I'm a huge fan of his! And he's been pretty excited about the knitting. So I made him a scarf in the Atlanta Braves colours. Jealous?

Padu sure was. 

Mom's Dishcloths

Again, when I was home in the summer, my mom handed me a ball of lime green cotton that she thought would make nice dishcloths. She thought that perhaps I could teach her to knit them! And then she thought that maybe . . . I could just knit them myself. So I used them to experiment. The seed stitch was disastrous, but the other two turned out okay.

Let's take another look at that fine fishtail technique:

Katr's Subtle Hint Scarf

Katr saw me knitting this scarf earlier in the fall and fell in love with it. She kept mentioning it, you know, whenever she saw me knitting, or whenever she saw scarves, or whenever she saw things that were blue. And so I gave it to her! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah! And then I gave her the scarf too.

New Yarn

The best thing about holiday gift giving is that sometimes you RECEIVE things that are knitting related. Like this luscious baby alpaca silk  and 6.5mm bamboo needles from my brother. Nice eye, young man. Nice eye.

And then my mom got me this pile of blue Shetland Chunky Tweed and a pattern for a very fetching shawl. For ME!! I have been touching it lovingly all the afternoon. Don't judge me.

I was so pleased with myself over the sheer amount of holiday gift knitting accomplished that I failed to notice that all my knitted holiday gifts were either scarves or scarf-like. Since this is my first year at it, I feel that this is allowed. However, next year, I will have to knit it up a notch (See? See what I did there?) Next year, look for more hats and mittens and yes, that's right - SOCKS. This year will be the Year of Socks!! And perhaps learning to drive. Huzzah!

Comments

[dawn]

it's all so preeeeeeeettttyyyyyy. :-) especially the beautiful blues of katr's scarf. and the pattern of mom's scarf. and the fishtails on the lime green cloth. very nice.

[HB]

Lovely, lovely work! And I know you've just been waiting for this lesson in Norwegian:
to knit - å strikke
knitting - strikking

Now guess what this word means: strikkeoppskrift

:-) I'm at work. Am I bored? ...could be.

[Kristen]

Sounds like a great Holiday season, beautiful knitting. I am where you were last year, beginner knitting stuff under the tree for me!

We got about 2mm of snow last night, kids are excited (we have not had much snow this year) really need to get them out today.

[Sharon]

Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday.

You give me hope on the knitting front! I am signed up for a class starting in January and am nervous. My SIL bought me a knitting basket and all kinds of goodies with which to knit (I don't know what they all are, except for three sets of needles).

So if I've done as well in a year as you have, I'll be feeling fortunate.

[wenders]

I am so bored at work today (WHY!? am I here?!) That I am making a list of all my 2007 planned knitting. Most of it is for me. I am impressed with your ability to give away the knitting. And I wish someone would give me yarn. Although, since my GF now listens to me talk about imaginary friends that I know through knitblogs, perhaps that should be enough? :)

[Syd]

Back up.... learning to drive? As in, you don't now?

[Syd]

OH, and your knit creations are absolutely gorgeous. Can't believe you've only been at it for a year. Dildy sends her love, btw.

[The Feminist Mafia]

Hey ... that's one nice fishtail you got there.
And a helluva lotta knitting for a newbie. Well done!

[Carry]

Very pretty knitting indeed!! Looks good, newbie status aside ;)

And the peppermint schnapps is a definite part of our holiday gathering...mmmm...

[roro]

dawn - thanks! That blue yarn is a wonder - between the variation in thickness and the variation in colour, even though I was knittin' the same stitch over and over, I never got tired of it. Although I WAS allergic to it...

HB - I love a Norwegian lesson! Does "strikkeoppskrift" mean "Queen of All Knitters"? Does it?

kristen - Yay!!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Can't wait to see your creations.

Sharon - Woohoo! Don't be nervous. Knitting is a wonderful, woolly adventure! And if I can figure it out, anybody can. Trust me.

Wenders - while it's very sweet of your GF to listen to your blog adventures, that ISN'T enough. Yarn must be given! Let me know if I need to send her a note.

Syd - Sigh. I got my learner's permit a year and a half ago. What do you want from me, blood? Say "hi" to Dildy for me!

FM - Thanks! And thanks! I bask in your knitterly praise.

Carry - it's all about the schnapps! Hope your holiday was grand!

[Heather]

Katr's scarf is beautiful, and your knitting is impressive. I love the blues! I have yet to progress beyond straight lines, but am hoping to move beyond that this year.

Also? Mix the peppermint schnapps with chocolate liqueur - nothing like drinking after eight mints.

[maggie]

Those are beautiful! I love the blue scarf! It's gorgeous.

I'm with Katr...I hate giving sewing to someone that doesn't appreciate it. :)

[SassyFemme]

You really do some beautiful knitting! It all looks so great it almost makes me want to take up knitting, if I had half an ounce of patience.

[KnittingPainterWoman]

I had no idea you were such a NEW knitter. BRAVO! to you woman. The basket weave shawl is awesome... and I totally know about the perils and pitfalls of seed stitch. It is sneaky. You think it is easy and repetitive, but then it leads you astray. The fish tail (?) lace dish cloth is a major accomplishment!!

[vesper]

your work is beautiful! i'm jealous.

[HB]

Queen of All Knitters = alle strikkeres dronning

"strikkeoppskrift" = "knitting recipe". I'm not sure if that's what you call it... Do you say "knitting pattern"?
The word "oppskrift" is used for instructions when it comes to both food and knitting.

More lessons next year :-)

[greymatters]

What great yarn gifts! Beautiful.

And how wonderful to recall Dildy ... LMAO.

[roro]

Heather - knitting in circles is where it's at! I swear you'll love it. Not as much as I love your peppermint schnapps/chocolate liqueur combo . . .

Maggie - thanks! Knitting only for those who appreciate it has been a tough lesson to learn. And when it seems that I haven't learned it, Katr's there with her list!

SassyFemme - I find knitting creates its own patience. Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?

KnittingPainterWoman - Thanks! I too find seed stitch tricky. Half the time I just give up and use garter stitch instead. Now you know.

Vesper - Ha ha! Thanks! My mission is accomplished.

HB - I feel so international! Thanks for the lessons - we do call it knitting pattern, but knitting recipe sounds much more delicious.

GM - Ah, yes, Dildy. Those were special times.

[Andygrrl]

::looks at currently mangled project with despair::

I will never be as cool a knitter as you, that's all there is to it. I'll have to content myself with being a Creampuff Knitting Fangrrrl.

Also, Christmas nachos? You Canadians know how to party!

[vesper]

happy new year!!!

[ScaryBez]

What fabby Christmas knitting - I especially like Katr's stole/wrap/shawl - great colours.
Happy New Year, Roro!

[Claire]

Wow your peppy writing style was just what I needed to get my eyes open this morning. I love all the presents you made - and can I say, I'm so impressed at your brother's present to you!! that yarn is love.ly.