CHRISTMAS GIFT KNITTING

I confess that I probably start thinking about my Christmas knitting around August, which may seem crazily early in the year to even contemplate picking up your needles for gift knitting -  does it sound scary and a little obsessive? Even I think that it does, but if I am to manage a knitted gift or two for all of my friends and family whom have grown accustomed to something handmade at Christmas then I have to start early.

It goes without saying that my list this year is as lengthy as ever, with a selection of increasingly complex and barely achievable projects which, at this point in December, I'm beginning to feel mildly anxious about finishing. What can I say? I love to knit for my dear ones, and they are mostly so appreciative that I can't resist creating an almost impossible list of projects in the first place and then adding a few last minute accessories just to mix it up!

This year though, I recognised early on that I would need to enlist some help in order to complete everything, and who better to ask than my Mum? I have often thought that I get the crafting gene from my Mother as she has been the constant crafter in my life, an excellent seamstress as well as an incredible knitter who always likes a challenge (she occasionally also test knits for MillaMia). I had a plan in mind this year for some knitted gifts for all of our Knitting group and as there would be 10 items to make I thought I'd put it to Mum to see if she was up for some speed knitting, and lots of it!

These are the end result of much dedicated knitting over the past month, and a very sore finger! The pattern is Emilee Dee Mitts by Paula Mckeever - a simple fingerless mitten pattern, knitted in the round with the 'turtle tracks' lace pattern meandering up the hand. It's a free pattern available to download from Ravelry, and uses just over 1 ball of MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino. Mum is a relatively fast knitter, and has a fondness for knitting fingerless gloves too, but she assures me that these are a very quick knit, taking just over a day to complete a pair. I guess the only thing you'd need to decide on is the colour! Luckily, Mum managed to knit all 10 pairs, each in a different colour so you can see how they look in a good selection of our shades. Colours from top, going clockwise are: lime, grass, peacock, cobalt, midnight, claret, berry, scarlet, storm and putty. Mum is modelling the scarlet as these are her personal favourites, but I would be hard pushed to pick a pair - they would all add a pop of perfect contrast to my winter coat.

As you can see from the pics below, the mitts were a huge success! The ladies were so touched that Mum had knitted a pair for everyone and there really was a colour to suit every taste.

Louise chose grass, Sue in lime, Kirsty and Helen (behind) in peacock and storm, Mel in midnight, Mandy chose claret, Jo went for the
festive scarlet and Mum is at the back in berry.

(posted by Max)