Christmas Shopping

Ventured out on my first Christmas shopping trip of the season yesterday. I can't say it was particularly successful - I wasn't feeling inspired. It turned into a knitting supplies shopping trip instead - don't they all!

John Lewis have finally got the latest Kim Hargreaves book in stock. It's called Cherished and is more inspiring than the last book, which I didn't buy. Here are some of the patterns I will be adding to my queue - but it'll be after Christmas before I can seriously contemplate starting them.

The first is Raine. A lovely shaped cardi knitted in DK weight yarn.


I also liked Skylark. Quite a feminine design - it's the same stitch pattern as Anais.

My favourite is Isle. Simple design but interesting details.

Well they are for the future. Right now, I would like to make Eve a Nordic style sweater for Christmas. She saw similar sweaters in Primark on a recent shopping trip - so I offered to make her one. We decided it would be customised to exactly as she would like it. We found a pattern for a lovely short-sleeved cardi from which we will use the colourwork.

This pattern is by DROPS design and is available free here. Our version will be a sweater, with long sleeves and some waist shaping.

I've made a start, so let's hope it goes according to plan.

I like to make a something special each year for Christmas ( Well actually I like to make lots and lots of things for Christmas!). Last year I made the Snow Queen by Alan Dart. This year Alan Dart has produced a pattern for the Christmas Pudding Pixie.

He looks a bit scary, but should be fun to make. Alan Dart patterns are always great fun - so much attention to detail. The pattern is in this month's edition of Simply Knitting magazine. I'll be starting this soon.

This is only a small sample of the stuff I'm planning on making - most of it's secret - so I probably won't be sleeping or eating for the next 6 weeks!! Better get on with it!