Winter 2010 Crafts

So I did manage to do quite a few crafty goods this past fall. It was the season of the fingerless gloves, I guess. I’ve been knitting on and off for about six years now. I got into it in college, in the dorms, as a lot of women seem to. It was beginning its resurgence in popularity, and it’s honestly a great time to be a crafter. There are so many brilliant patterns out there, especially for the geeky variety. I have a ton of projects on my Ravelry queue I will someday do!

My goal for Sept-December 2010 was to do five projects, which I accomplished.

My first project was a very simple fall hat:

Button Tab Hat pattern (Ravelry link)

It’s basically only knitting, with a touch of purling, and then a sewn button. Cute, right? Nice and fun and simple? It wasn’t particularly warm, but I really enjoyed it.

And then I lost it.

I was shopping with my mother at the mall and dropped it while trying on various winter coats. I hunted around the store, asked at all the service counters, and nothing. Someone probably stole it. 😦 I hope they are taking good care of it. It was quite well done.

Then I moved into fingerless gloves. See, my room has two windows, and my computer/keyboard is right in front of one of them. I usually rolled my eyes at fingerless gloves. If you want to keep your hands warm, use real gloves or mittens! Eeesh.

Then I made my first set.

Susie’s Reading Mitts pattern (Ravelry link)

I pretty much fell in love. I wear these constantly, even though they aren’t particularly comfortable (there is a hemmed rim which is strange). I’m going to make myself another pair, using a different pattern, once I finish my current project. They are nice for typing – not ideal, but better than having cold hands. They are wonderful for playing the Wii. It’s one of those things which people knock until they try them, I think. I don’t regret making mine at all.

I made another set of this same pattern in bright pink, which I forgot to photo, as a gift. My great-aunt bought it off me to give to one of her friends. I believe that is the first knitted thing – perhaps my first creative thing ever? – to be bought off me in fair trade. I actually bumped the price up on her a little because I thought it was worth more than I originally charged. She didn’t seem to mind forking over five extra dollars, at least.

So then I used my new powers for good. My family does a stocking gift exchange every year and I made a pair for my stocking.

Cabled fingerless gloves pattern (Ravelry link)

This will probably be the pattern I use for my next personal set. It’s a nice simple set which can be both casual and semi-fancy-ish. Grey is a good color for a generic gift for women, so that was about it.

So after the success of my own gloves, my sister and my mom both wanted their own pair. It being the Christmas season, their sets became their Christmas gifts.

Evangeline fingerless gloves pattern (Ravelry link)

This is my sister’s set, which may be one of the most elegant things I’ve knitted. The yarn is super soft and the design is deceptively complicated looking. They’re elbow length and quite classy looking! She’s been wearing them fairly often, I’m pleased to say, and was quite delighted with their final appearance.

My mom’s set is what I’m working on at the moment, so no picture/link yet.

In any case, I’m very satisfied with my craft output for the end of 2010. This year I’m going to try and step it up a bit. I’d really like to make a shirt, maybe even a sweater, and maybe a cute bag. I have two or three small projects lined up in front of me, but it will be onto exciting stuff after that!