Kitted out
November 08 2011 – thisisknit
We have been carefully avoiding any mention of the upcoming Christmas and New Year season so far. But it's now well into November, and there's increasing talk of gift knitting at the counter.
We're generally in favour of starting your gift knitting in January. Jacqui does this, and remains calm and relaxed in December. There is amongst us one knitter who decided to knit all the presents one year, starting at the beginning of December. Calm and relaxed were not applicable terms by Christmas Eve. This Is Knit does not recommend this strategy.
But if you have room in your schedule for one or two small projects, then we have two ideas for you which are fast and pretty.
The first is a pair of very easy garter stitch mitts, the Bread and Buttoned Mitts. They're knitted with Louisa Harding Thistle, a deliciously soft Aran weight yarn made from merino and alpaca. They're the simplest pattern imaginable (a beginner could make them in a couple of evenings) so they're a very effective emergency gift.
The second is a pair of soft-as-air mittens, made from Araucania Tepa, a bulky yarn made from wool, mohair and silk. With the long range forecast still predicting a hard winter, they'll keep you, or that lucky recipient, warm as toast. Again, they'll knit up in no time. We've called them the Blueberry Hill Mittens.
Both of these designs are available as kits containing the yarn and the pattern, so they'll also work as gifts for any deserving knitters you know. The kits will be available (along with lots of others) at the Knitting and Stitching Show this weekend, as well as in the shop.
We've got Mark Grehan to thank for the botanical specimens in these pictures - he runs the beautiful flower shop in the entrance hall of the Powerscourt Centre. When you walk in from South William Street, you're suddenly surrounded with the most beautiful things - you can see more at his site. There too, wintery decorations have started to nudge out autumn over the last week or so.
Speaking of the Knitting and Stitching Show, we have two pieces of news to tell you. The first is that the Random Number Generator picked out Elaina as the winner of the ticket to the show which we offered in last Tuesday's post! We're looking forward to seeing you, Elaina, and we hope you have a fantastic time at the show (including lots of lovely patchwork)!
The second piece of news is that as of this morning, the DART line between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade has reopened, so you can now get to the show via Sandymount DART station from both north and south. It's about a ten minute walk from the station to the Simmonscourt Pavilion, where you'll find us on stand K13. Please drop by and say hello - it'll make our day!
The second is a pair of soft-as-air mittens, made from Araucania Tepa, a bulky yarn made from wool, mohair and silk. With the long range forecast still predicting a hard winter, they'll keep you, or that lucky recipient, warm as toast. Again, they'll knit up in no time. We've called them the Blueberry Hill Mittens.
Both of these designs are available as kits containing the yarn and the pattern, so they'll also work as gifts for any deserving knitters you know. The kits will be available (along with lots of others) at the Knitting and Stitching Show this weekend, as well as in the shop.
We've got Mark Grehan to thank for the botanical specimens in these pictures - he runs the beautiful flower shop in the entrance hall of the Powerscourt Centre. When you walk in from South William Street, you're suddenly surrounded with the most beautiful things - you can see more at his site. There too, wintery decorations have started to nudge out autumn over the last week or so.
Speaking of the Knitting and Stitching Show, we have two pieces of news to tell you. The first is that the Random Number Generator picked out Elaina as the winner of the ticket to the show which we offered in last Tuesday's post! We're looking forward to seeing you, Elaina, and we hope you have a fantastic time at the show (including lots of lovely patchwork)!
The second piece of news is that as of this morning, the DART line between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade has reopened, so you can now get to the show via Sandymount DART station from both north and south. It's about a ten minute walk from the station to the Simmonscourt Pavilion, where you'll find us on stand K13. Please drop by and say hello - it'll make our day!
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