Forteenth night

Okay. I know I know, I'm extra late with this post (its past Epiphany and everything) but I thought I'd show you my knitted Christmas gifts.

Mum



I gave my mum the Irish Hiking Scarf I finished in October. She seemed to like it (although she can't really use it at the moment) and it shouldn't cause skin irritation like the pashmina I bought her. I just need to block (to make the ears a bit longer) on her Center Square hat, and the kinda matching set will be complete.

Clem



I knit Clem these Earl Grey socks, using Merino Cashmere Sock yarn in the colourway "Chocolate" from the knittery. I couldn't fully work out the "CL" in the pattern so ended up just doing a cable without a cable needle (as it was only two stitches and happened 6 times on each sock). I couldn't be bothered ripping back the first couple though and its not really that noticeable. I finished these in November. (They are my November socks for Southern Summer of Socks). However, I couldn't blog about them because Clem occasionally reads this blog. (I have a feeling he was suspecting socks though as one day I measured his feet.) (Clem if you're reading this, are you ever going to try them on?)

Dad



I knit my dad, Earl Grey socks too. Although this time I used Ranco (colourway #489 I think - it's grey anyway). When I knit Clem's I knit 76 stitches around on 2.5mm needles. (I don't know how Yarn Harlot got 72 stithces around on 2.25mm needles for a size 12 foot. I must have extremely small guage.) I actually got my dad to try Clem's on, to check for size (for Clem and secretly for my dad too) and he said they were fine but maybe a tiny bit tight. So I knit these ones with 80 stitches.



Unfortunately, with so many stitches I was going to run out of yarn. I realised this when I got to the end of my first sock. I had weighed the yarn first and gotten 107g and only had 51g left after the first sock. (107-51=56 ie. not enough for a second sock!) So I didn't kitchener the toes, knitted the second sock, sewed in all the ends, got any left over yarn and knitted as far as possible. I then added up all the stitches on the first sock that had been knit beyond that, divided it by two, ripped back to that point and then knit to the end with the left over yarn from Clem's socks. I used the extra grey yarn to knit up to the same point on the second sock and then finished it off with the brown as well. (I'm sure that made no sense to anyone but me.)



The socks are actually a tiny bit big for my dad, so I'm slightly tempted to rip them back again and get a bit less browness on them (but I don't think I'd be able to get rid of it altogether). I suppose I could have bought another skein but for a few rows that are going to be hidden in a shoe, I didn't think it was worth it.

Other stuff
I actually knit my grandmother and aunt each a MDK washcloth but I forgot (in typical Anna style) to take a photo of it. *sigh*

With so little Christmas knitting. I still had to finish the dishcloths and socks on Christmas day. I think I was distracted by other knitting. I'll post more about that later.