The cutest gnome ever

My dear friends Mike and Amanda got around to their 2nd kid and I HAD to come up with the perfect gift.  Since I've meandered into knitting, I thought a baby hat seemed fitting.  Well originally it was going to be a Yoda (like in star wars) hat, I even got the yarn.  But I had just finished another project and had a ton of this orangish red left and I had an epiphany.  Mike has a rather large obsession with gnomes, so what better gift for Mike's daughter than a gnome hat (and matching beard!)  Here's pics of the finished product modeled on bella's cabbage patch as well as on the real life kiddo (Thanks Addy you were very cooperative!)

A Swift!

So... you probably don't know what this is, but believe me when I tell you it is super cool.

 

This is a swift, and this is one of many swift designs on which you place your yarn and from which you can ball your yarn either with a winder or by hand.  Swifts are fairly expensive, but I knew Adam was up to the task and he surprised me with a swift as a Christmas gift.  The pegs are adjustable so that different sizes of skeins of yarn can be placed on the swift in order to ball it.

 

Balling yarn without a swift is possible, but it can get very messy very quickly (just ask Adam who has watched me ball yarn from a skein just laying limp on the couch).  I'm very excited to use this!  And, what's even cooler is that it is collapsible, so I am able to take it apart and store it easy as well.

 

(Thanks, honey!  This is a great gift!)

A Fun and Special Hat

What I love about hats is the different techniques I'm able to try on a relatively small project.  Doesn't work out?  That's okay, it's only a hat.  Looks great?  Sweet, now I can try it on something bigger and HEY, now I have a gift!

 

(Really, I typically think of it as a gift first and as a technique learner second, but you get my meaning.)

 

This hat is my first felted project.  As you can see, you knit the project way larger than it needs to be and then felt it in the washer.  It was super fun to do the felting part of this... I love how it turned out!  Now I'm excited to knit a bag or small purse or something that I can decorate... SWEET.

 

This is another "gift hat"... I think this is number 10 since the fall... I'm losing count but having OH SO MUCH FUN!

 

erin