Christmas knitting and Christmas presents and Christmas pneumonia

Considering the amount of knitting I did for Christmas, it would seem entirely reasonable for me to retire happily to a sheepless/goatless/alpacaless mountaintop to while away the hours pelting passersby with rocks and insults.

Instead, I have happily continued to knit during the holidays and beyond. I guess you could say that this is Christmas knitting in that I knit it during the Christmas break.

This skully hat is for my nephew - and it is possibly too small. He's got a huge noggin and when I pulled the half-completed hat onto his head during the Christmas morning festivities, his eyes bulged out a little. It is perched rather precariously on my own enormous noggin for this photo and shortly after taking this photo, I had to pop my eyes back into their sockets. It was tricky, yes. Thanks for asking.

I have already purchased yarn for an alternate hat.

Inspired by the post Christmas lull and the ingenuity of Jared ("Brooklyn Tweed" Flood, I pulled out some Malabrigo cast on for and quickly completed the Koolhaas hat:

I loves it... but alas, I cannot wears it. It's too small for my noodle. Into the present stash it goes.

On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day I knit mittens for my coworker. She had purchased the yarn, intending to knit herself a scarf but was uninspired by the yarn. She offered the yarn to me and I offered to make mittens for her.

I'll get a photo of them next week.

I used the chunky yarn mitten pattern in Weekend knitting as my pattern, modifying only the cuff - making it ribbed instead of plain. She's got the coldest fingers of anyone I know, so I thought her little hands need all the help they can get.

For Christmas, I received some really nice knitting-related presents from family and friends...

You've already seen the Imogen Kit from Mr. Happy...

During a December get-together which involved "Guitar Hero" at 2am, Jak surprised me with this:

Isn't it adorable? My little sheepie measuring tape LOVES his new home. Someone who works for/with (?) her husband makes these. I'll find out who it is and link to her etsy site. (I wonder if she thinks this will get her those French Child's socks any faster?)

Dad and Ivy gave me (among many other awesome presents - seriously, stop spoiling me) this awesome Vera Bradley tote and lunch bag:

You say lunch bag, I say, "Sock project bag!" They're just 7 different kinds of awesome! Pink Elephants, people! PINK! ELEPHANTS!

Also, I feel very much like Mary Poppins with this tote. It's so roomy! I'm going to pull a lamp, a hat stand, a mirror and a measuring tape out of it at KOL some night. Don't say I didn't warn you!

(Just as a side note here, how handsome is my dad in his new hat?

The beard is new-ish*. Doesn't he look like a courier de bois? He's just completed a portage with his canoe and his pelts and is resting at the trading post before heading back out on the trail. - Dad, if you grow whiskers, you know you have to take some teasing.)

And possibly the best present I've ever received:

Handknit socks... made by none other than my amazing grandmother. They fit me perfectly. I was so excited when I opened this present, I leapt across the room and hugged her to bits. I'll try to get a better photo of the toe decreases and the heel. They're pretty cool.

Just to review - here is my adorable Grammy:

She also knit me a pair of plain black mittens to go with my winter coat. I love them and have worn them every day since she gave them to me.

I also gave her the huge stash of leftover yarn that the KOL crew agreed that she should have after the big stash swap at the end of the summer. She was as pleased as punch that you ladies thought of her. She held up the sport-weight yarn and said, "This makes the nicest mittens." I wound all of it up for her on my ball-winder, so she'll have lots to work on... once she's been sprung from the hospital!

Since their Christmas visit, my Grammy has landed herself in the hospital. She's got pneumonia for "The 100th Christmas in a row" - her words, not mine. She was feeling quite awful in the middle of the week and called my aunt, who then called for an ambulance. Grammy conveniently got sick in the midst of a miserable snowstorm in New Brunswick and was snowbound in her house. The firetruck had to drive through her street before the ambulance could get in. I asked her if it was a ploy to get out of the house because she was Shack Whacky. She denies that she was bored at home... and is bemoaning the fact that she is unwell to the point that she is unable to read. My grandmother rarely goes a day without knitting, some sort of crafting or reading. At 89, pneumonia is quite a serious illness. The doctors are taking good care of her... and I just pray that they don't rush her out of the hospital too soon.

She needs to feel well enough to knit before they let her out!




*My father had a beard from before I was born until I was 14. When he shaved it off, I was so shocked at seeing his whole face, that I cried. It was like he had removed his nose. This is the first time he's grown it back and kept it since then. I kinda like it.