Things I made this year

Ah, New Years Eve – a busy day for me always, as I tidy and clean the house, take out the garbage, catch up on laundry, try to get everything as sorted as I can. I like to end as I mean to go on, and that means that the dust bison roaming the living room have to go – lest they haunt me all year long. I do this every year, and although it has never made one whit of a difference, I persist in doing it… feeling like if things are all unsorted as I enter the year, they’ll stay unsorted for the rest.  (I suppose actually, that it does work, and that the level of chaos our housekeeping has for the entire year is really the upgraded version – and that we’d be some sort of horrible episode of an embarrassing tv show otherwise. That alone is enough to keep me cleaning today.)  I’ll tidy up here too, and show you a few of the things I’ve made over the last little while, things I kept on the lowdown, so as not to spoil the surprises of all parties concerned.  I made my mum some slippers after all, those old fashioned ones…
mumslippers 2015-12-31
I’d link to the pattern, but it’s one I’ve carried in my head for about 30 years. I think I’ve made at least 50 pairs over the years. It’s from a Paton’s booklet I had in my teens, and when my Mum slipped them I’m pretty sure it was her 10th or 15th pair. She’s been wearing the French Press ones for a few years, and in my stocking this year was all the buttons from those worn out slippers, returned to me to be recycled into new ones. Typical of my mum, a helpful and not so subtle hint. I think she might prefer those to these old fashioned ones. (Noted, Mum.)
foxhats 2015-12-31
Frankie, Myrie and Luis got Foxy and Wolfie hats – all foxes, for the lot of them. I’m charmed to death by these hats – and I think Luis and Myrie were too.

luishat 2015-12-31 myriehat 2015-12-31

Lots of growling and fierce faces. (It turns out foxes are not as mild an animal as I imagined.) There’s no way to know if Frankie liked his. He didn’t cry when we put it on him, so I’m taking that as a win.

Carlos, Meg, Pato and Old Joe all got socks, You’ve seen all those go by as I finished them – Amanda and my brother Ian got hats…
ianianhatyfaf 2015-12-31
I was especially pleased about Ian’s hat, since it turns out that his dog ate his touque Christmas Morning, so my timing was fabulous. (Thanks Seamus.)  Ken got a fabulous pair of socks… I’d gotten a lovely gift of this Fade to Black yarn from CaterpillarGreen (thank you!) and as soon as I opened the packet, I knew that Ken would love them, and he does.
kensocks 2015-12-31
Besides all that knitting, I made tons of food, lots of cookies, several messes and… Well, here’s something I’m pretty proud of.

I made a knitter.  Blog, meet the newest to join your ranks, my Co-Lead on the Bike Rally Steering Committee this year, Cameron.  Now some time ago, Cameron rescued my knitting. I’d left it behind after a meeting we were at, and he traipsed through the night, found it, and brought it back to me. When he did, he mentioned that he’d like to learn to knit too.  Now, people say that all the time, usually it’s just a reaction to how much I knit – some sort of contagion that passes quickly. With Cameron though, well – he brought it up again a few days later, and a few days after that, he said something like “we still have to choose a time to get together so you can teach me to knit” and I started to think he was serious. I tested the waters by asking him what he thought he’d like to make – and he responded with “What could I make?”  I thought about it for a few minutes, and told him I was confident he could make a hat. A little one. “A hat for your nephew” I suggested. “For Christmas.”  Cameron lit right up with this idea, and a few days later I met him in a pub (it’s a very good place to learn knitting) and after a pint or two, he had it. He worked on a swatch for starters, and when I had a sense of his gauge, and he had a sense of what he was doing, we ripped that bit back, and he cast on for his hat.
camknits 2015-12-31
Cameron knit on for a little bit, and then I taught him how to fix a dropped stitch so there was a chance he could knit without me… and left him to his own devices.  The next day, he dropped me a text mentioning that he was having a little trouble stopping with the knitting. This was my first clue that he might be hooked. The next day he fixed a dropped stitch by himself and sent me several pictures of the process. The text read “I’m so proud!”  This was the second hint.  Fast forward a week or two, and Cameron is getting ready to fly home to his family for Christmas. We meet again, and this time I’ve got in mind that he’s going to finish this hat (or not) without me, far from Toronto, with nobody to help him.  I teach him how to do the colour work part of the hat (aim high!) how to k2tog, how to read his pattern, do magic loop,  i-cord, and talk about how to weave in his ends.  He asks, very charmingly – if he’s going to be allowed to knit on the plane. (Hint three.) That night I phone a few knitting friends and tell them about how even his stitches are. I tell him, but only briefly. I don’t want him over-confident.
camknitplane 2015-12-31
The day after, he does knit on the plane. (Clue four, received) and when he lands, he has the colour work started. He texts me a picture. It’s almost annoyingly perfect.  (Clue five.)

camknitshats 2015-12-31
The next few days pass, leading up to Christmas, and Cameron texts a few questions about the pattern, says he thinks he’s figured out “the loop thing” and starts to sound nervous. “I’m worried about I’ll do with myself when it’s done” he sends, and something in my heart leaps. He’s starting to sound like a knitter. Not someone who’s just knitting a hat, not a one off… but an actual Knitter.  I comfort him as best I can. I remind him he didn’t knit for decades, and he was somehow okay.

On Christmas Morning, the pictures arrive.

camknitdone 2015-12-31 camknitneph 2015-12-31

It’s a hat. It’s a beautifully finished hat, and it fits, and Cameron looks so proud, and his nephew looks so sweet (and like Cameron is making him hold still for a hat picture, which is resonant and funny, and probably the first of many incredibly awkward knitting moments – my phone is full of them) and it’s such a really, really good first project, and I text “Congratulations!” and he texts back “Thanks!  I kinda want to bring it back to Toronto so you can see it and then mail it back, but I guess that would be weird.”

And that’s not weird, not to me, and probably not to you, and that’s almost when I believe I made a knitter. Almost. The deal is sealed a few days later, when out of wool, far from home, and headed for the airport, Cameron sends the following.

“I really am a bit distressed I won’t be knitting on the plane. I have a feeling that airplanes are going to be where I do a lot of this. And steering committee meetings.”

And with that text, I know two things. Cameron is a knitter now, and I totally chose the right person to go to meetings with.

So that’s what I made this year. All those hats, so many socks, several sweaters…. and a Knitter. We are legion. Happy New Year.  See you in 2016.

PS: I’d be an idiot if I didn’t give you a way to show your love to Cameron, and welcome him to the fold. To that end, here’s his bike rally fundraising page, and… in case you’re pleased that I’ve brought him to us… here’s mine.  

PPS: I made sure he took a lot of pictures.  He doesn’t know it yet, but he’ll need them for his Ravelry account. 

151 thoughts on “Things I made this year

  1. OMG, Cameron is gorgeous (it’s probably inappropriate to say that, but is it not also true?) and so is the hat for his nephew. Congratulations, Stephanie, you have made another knitter!

    Happy New Year from the west coast (where it’s still 2015) and may 2016 hold wonderful things in store for you. I’m a huge fan!

    BTW, I spent all day writing this blog post, totally inspired by you: https://berryandmayasmom.wordpress.com/

  2. Oh well done on making a knitter! And well done to Cameron and his knitted hat. Cameron, if you’re reading: just wait until you start knitting socks. OMG they’re addictive!

  3. Steph, a very productive year indeed! Cameron’s story brought a tear to my eye reminding me of my beginning knitting career…I can say my project did not look as nice as his (and his model so sweet). My first project was a pair of slippers similar to your mum’s. I do think you, mighty knitting Oak, were a little remiss in birthing little acorn knitter…the joy of discovering local knit shops wherever you go and creating a stash so that he never has to fly knit free again…but then again maybe you were quite wise to let him yearn to knit first! Steph, thanks for all the joy you pass on to us, your fellow knitters. Happy New Year!

  4. I went on a slipper rampage this year and knitted family members each a pair of the old fashioned slippers. Except for the one person, who didn’t know what they were (not knit worthy and related by marriage, so he still gets knits) they were all thrilled.

  5. I burst out in laughter when I read that last time about how Cameron would need photos for his Ravelry account! His knitting is beautiful and that hat fits his nephew well. Welcome to the wonderful world of knitting, Cameron.

  6. Well done Steph! Great start to the new year – a new knitter! Welcome Cameron! 🙂
    This reminds me of teaching my sister to knit. It was a week visit and by the end of it she had fabulous stitches. Then she taught her BFF to knit, so I was then a knit grandma and that was a great feeling too.

  7. Happy New Year, best wish for 2016.
    I am still an hour and a half away from 2016.
    Happy knitting to both you and Cameron, looking forward to the stories. Maybe by the time the rally comes around more of the committee knits?

  8. Welcome Cameron!!! Congrats Stephanie! I am proud of you both, and yes, you made a lot of lovely things this year, but I think your Knitter is the very best of all .

  9. I’m more than a little jealous of how good Cameron’s first project turned out. WOW!!! PS: Awesome name! (My younger son is named Cameron..heh heh)
    Steph, the old fashioned slippers are great. I made up a gauge-less any size pattern a few years ago for a very similar looking slipper. I never got around to learning how to make a PDF so I never “published”, but now I see that my pattern was far from original! hahaha HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

  10. The berry hat was also my first knitted hat, such a wonderful first project! And the babies look so adoable in them 🙂

  11. Fantastic first project – actually, just fantastic project! Love everything about this post – Happy New Year, your writing and knitting have really been inspirational, not to mention the bike rally! You are, quite simply, a star x

  12. Happy New Year, Happy Finished Objects Year! Yay Cameron, totally jealous of what his first FO looks like. Be well all.

  13. Love the idea to end as you wish to begin and will have to remember that for next year. So today I will spend the day cleaning and organizing and setting things straight. And of course, casting on a new knitting project. Happy New Year!

  14. Your story made me smile, such wonderful pictures (all of them). I love to welcome a new knitter and had to laugh about the hat-eating dog. Well done!

  15. I was all set to be all “gadzooks, woman, you gave him colourwork for his very first project?!?” but then I remembered that I did cables on mine. I agree. Aim high. One of the great things about knitting is that even if you screw it up royally, you can rip it out and start over, no harm no foul. But you’re also right that his colourwork section is terribly perfect. My first cables were not quite so perfect. Anyway, welcome to the fold, Cameron!

  16. I’m a knitter who has read your blog for years. I used to work (and occasionally party) with Cam in London 15 years ago! Tell him I’m sooo proud of his knitting! Of course he is a natural! Happy new year.

  17. Hooray for Cameron! And congratulations, Steph, for making another knitter. Get him going on a simple sweater next – maybe an Icelandic pattern out of Lopi? They go so fast. And, of course, he needs a Stash – would he like some of mine? I seem to have a bit more than necessary.

    And Happy New Year to you, Steph! I hope the new year is full of wool and love and family, all the year long.

  18. While I haven’t actually made a knitter — yet — My Little Sailor, Jacob (the one of K2P2K2P2 t-shirt fame) connected me via Skype with one of his friends in Chicago who loved the handwarmers I made MLS for Christmas. She wants knitting help! Anyone know a good shop on the south side of Chicago?

  19. Those slippers! I had several pair growing up that my aunt made me. She put pompoms and a bell on them. I think she may have hated my parents in retrospect.

    Congratulations on making a knitter. I have taught a handful of people to knit in the last decade, but I am not sure it’s stuck like that.

  20. Happy New Year Stephanie, new knitter Cameron and all the blog “poppets”! My knits were well-received this year, too. Loved the post today, and as soon as I finish my coffee I’ll begin the annual purge of superfluous stuff. Cheers!

  21. Way to go Cameron! Excellent debut! Steph, you done good! I taught my niece that lives 1/2 a continent away how to knit a few years back while she was here on vacation. She went home straight away and taught herself how to do intarsia! I was like, “Whoa. Wait a minute, I didn’t say you could do that yet,” lol. She taught her two kids how to knit when she got home also, and they all made admirable hats 🙂 Then they stopped. I guess living in New Mexico they don’t have a lot of need for knit wear. But by golly they know how if they change their minds. Be proud Stephanie, it feels so good when you can teach someone else about life on the dark side, lol. Cameron, I see lots of completed and beautiful projects in your future! May the force be with you.

  22. Way to go Cameron! Excellent debut! Steph, you done good! I taught my niece that lives 1/2 a continent away how to knit a few years back while she was here on vacation. She went home straight away and taught herself how to do intarsia! I was like, “Whoa. Wait a minute, I didn’t say you could do that yet,” lol. She taught her two kids how to knit when she got home also, and they all made admirable hats 🙂 Then they stopped. I guess living in New Mexico they don’t have a lot of need for knit wear. But by golly they know how if they change their minds. Be proud Stephanie, it feels so good when you can teach someone else about life on the dark side, lol. Cameron, I see lots of completed and beautiful projects in your future! May the force be with you.

  23. Happy New Year to all! And thank you, Stephanie, for sharing so much of your life with those of us who take the time to join you. I have found this blog to be encouraging, uplifting, and of course humorous. You should know that you make a difference in this world and it is a good one! I, too, know how rewarding it is to make a knitter, although I have probably made more crocheters .Don’t hold that against me lol. I tutor at a home school co op and nothing beats the thrill of seeing another young person walk away with a lifelong skill. Everyone should make a goal to teach at least one person to knit, or crochet during the coming year!

  24. If you are making French Press slippers for your mum, maybe the girls al need a new pair too. If you have to use the plunger and the bathtub to felt them, I’d make everybody a pair for next year and put them in the box for gift giving. Your mum wants a pair now or at least by her birthday and an extra pair for Christmas is a good idea to give her variety. Also, maybe Wolfie hats for the kids for next year? You have the pattern, just need new color. You can whack those out in your sleep I bet. I adore the gradient look of Pato’s socks. Any idea where it can from? If you start now, next year might not be such a panic. Warm mitten, hat and scarf sets for the girls? And whack out a few mens hats, because that need is always there. I may not be full of great ideas, but at least I have some ideas. Start your list now, and start working on it. Also, you will need a sweater for Rhinebeck. It isn’t too early to think about.

  25. As promised, because Cameron knit, and there is a picture of the finished object worn by a much loved recipient, AND Cameron knit on a plane, there is a $100 donation to the bike rally. Sending much love from a knitter in Thunder Bay.

  26. I thought I was the only one with that idea of having a clean house for the new year. It’s an obsession! Also, I have to follow my mother’s example and take down all the old calendars before midnight. Superstition . . . it may be silly but at least the new year starts in a somewhat organized manner.

  27. That’s awesome. I have started the process of making a couple of knitters. With my one friend, she saw me knitting socks and I just handed her a pair of straights and a ball of yarn floating around my stash and just said, “Join me.” The other is my boyfriend’s mother who asked me if I would teach her to knit. She mentioned she’d like to make a washcloth. So I got her two pairs of straights for christmas, a ball of cotton for the learning, and three balls of handpainted Noro (for her next project of course). Let her stash grow mighty indeed.

  28. Fantastic story Stephanie! To commemorate such I momentous occasion I donated to both of your Bike Rally pages. Of course, now that you’ll both be knitting during Rally meetings it’s only a matter of time before you start converting all of them to the knitting way of life 😉

    P.S. Please keep us updated on Cameron’s next project!

  29. Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. Your writings and perspective is so a part of my life. Thank you for doing such a great job at loving people and pursuing your art. And sharing it all!!

    I will now go back to cleaning, getting the house ready for another year.

    Thank you

  30. Happy New Year to you!!! I hope this will be a great year for you and your family.

    Cameron’s hat is darling! The colors are great for a child. Happy New Year to him, too!!!

  31. Happy New Year Stephanie. Your story about Cameron was very touching. He obviously “gets it”. He has caught the knitting bug in a big way no doubt from having such an excellent teacher and example to show him the way. The consistency of his gauge is very impressive.

  32. I learned to knit for my nieces. I had four and after knitting really wretched hats for a few years, I graduated to sweaters and toys for them. They’re a bit old for the things I still want to knit for them now, but my sister has been kind enough to send their old sweaters and hats back (they kept the toys) and now my daughter can wear them.
    Knitting for children is addicting because the projects are so cute and easily finished.

    I think I’ll run along and knit that wolfie hat now…

  33. Go Cameron! And congratulations Steph! Now looking forward to shirtless knitting selfies from Cameron next time he needs to move a meeting.

  34. Yay for you and your year end tidy (I did a big push too, but it was mostly diaper laundry) and hurrah for Cameron and his gorgeous hat and new craft!

  35. Love this! Cleaning out for the new year, converting Cameron — brings smiles to my New Year too! And, I just knitted up 10 pairs of those old-pattern slippers as a gift to a man who became addicted to them 2-3 years ago when the ladies who owned the now-defunct LYS used to produce ’em. I got the pattern on Ravelry when looking for a free & easy slipper pattern, and they are both! Also toasty warm! Happy New Year, happy clean house (ach, I’ll start tomorrow), and happy bike meetings with your new student, Cameron!

    • I’ve been looking on Ravelry and cannot find the slipper pattern. Can you help me locate it? There are pages and pages of slippers….. Thanks.

  36. About two years ago a young man, new stay-at-home dad, asked if I would teach him to knit. In those two years Kyle has become a fantastic knitter. He knows all manner of cast on/off methods, has written some of his own patterns, and is completely obsessed with knitting socks. He is a wonderful friend and is about to become a dad again. Fun stuff!

    Just one thing….when we go to a yarn shop he wants to just look at all the needles! I tell him, “Kyle, look at the YARN!”

    • I don’t wish to perpetuate stereotypes, but perhaps it’s a “man and tools” thing going on with Kyle??? I tend to be tool-oriented myself, (I love good tools, knitting and otherwise) but then both my parents enjoyed good tools so I shouldn’t really be surprised, should I? Kyle must be looking at yarn at least part of the time though if he’s knitting, so it must balance out at least a bit.
      Chris S in Canada

  37. Stephanie – I love this!
    Apologies in advance…I am a crocheter who loves that dark art with the same passion that you love knitting.
    However, this does have knitting resonance. I taught my lovely friend Erin to crochet this year, then handed over Jan Eaton’s ripple stitch book (Erin really wanted to make a chevron scarf). Having mastered the crochet version, and with me explaining a couple of knitting basics, Erin is now zipping out beautiful work in both crafts.
    It delights me that I have now taught four people to crochet, and that Erin has found a wider highway for herself by adding knitting to the adventure.
    I think a celebratory yarn order is called for! All the best to you and yours for 2016, and thank you for the Blog.

    Lynda (in Australia)

  38. What a lovely story, welcome to the fold, Cameron, a blog next, maybe?

    Oh gosh, we have a Seamus in the family too, also a bit of an inappropriate nosher!

  39. A very happy and healthy New Year to you and yours, Stephanie! Congratulations on the beautiful knitting you share with us and on the knitTER – and wow, is Cameron a natural! Peace and joy in 2016.

  40. That hat is the first thing I knitted for real, too, way back when ravelry was a baby and I just had discovered your website.

  41. Cameron: Amazing first project. Such even tension AND colourwork. I started knitting a year ago and quickly experienced all the same stages of knitting addiction Stephanie describes. It’s a profoundly satisfying craft & this blog is my go-to destination for inspiration. Oh, and my husband owns a bike shop which made this post even sweeter.

  42. I have, in my mother’s collection of her 80’s craft stuff, a photocopy of the booklet that the slippers probably came out of. “Patons Speedy Slippers in Chieftain and Canadiana by Beehive”. Ring a bell? If you’d like I could scan it and email it to you.

    • If you could scan and email the pattern to me, if be grateful. Would love to make a pair (or two or three), as I wear slippers all day long at home. Thanks.

  43. My cousin asked for me to teach her how to knit as she came to realize that she really didn’t have any hobbies. So she came over, and I was explaining how to cast on:
    “Through the hole, front to back, wrap around, pull through, up and over”
    And she said: “It sounds like you’re talking dirty.”
    I laughed so hard 😀

  44. Look at how even those stitches are! That’s amazing! Welcome, Cameron – you are definitely one of us!

    Also – the thing that proves I’m not a robot asked me to click on the “music note.” There was no music note, but there was a treble clef, which is closer than the airplane or leaf or truck but, still, not a note….

  45. My very first knitting project was those slippers! They were knit from a little pattern book for beginners but I think it was from Bernat. (Probably before you were born!) I need to make some more of those!
    Welcome to the flock, Cameron! The hat looks great! (Your second project can be the slippers!)

  46. I think Cameron must be an absolute natural knitter. His first project turned out amazingly great. Perhaps it was due to the fact too that he had an amazing teacher. I hope that your dust bunnies stay under control whilst you do all your travelling. Happy New Year!

  47. I’m thinking back to the post about your “elves”, the ones you grew, and how they helped you save the gingerbread party. I mentioned then that if you wanted good elves, growing them yourself was the way to go.

    Having grown 3 knitters, I wonder if you might agree that “conversion” is easier? Especially if the convert is so willing and so talented?

    Great job Cameron, welcome to the amazing world of knitting. And great job Ms. Harlot in bringing him into the fold.
    Chris S in Canada

  48. I think making knitters is almost as much fun as knitting itself! Though I must say, I am very jealous of his even tension on is very first project. I donated to Cameron’s race page after he went back out and got your knitting. Hope that will count when Karmic gift time rolls around…

  49. Wow! Terrific eggplant…or should I say, ‘aubergine’. Aubergines may now be all the rage. Loved this post and it signals a great way, ‘to go on’. Happy new Year to all.

  50. I knew Cameron had knitting DNA when he heroically rescued your project bag.
    I love how you “talked him through” color work, magic loop and I cord bind-off. I’ve been knitting for 4 Years and just heard of magic loop and Icord for bindoff! So what’s his 2ND project? Fair isle socks? 🙂

  51. I love this post. 2 years ago I made a crocheter and every time I receive an update from her it makes my heart sing.

  52. I am incredibly jealous of Cameron’s ability to knit a hat as his first project. It took me ages before I felt confident enough to make the very hat that he gave as a gift…and mine did not look as professional as Cameron’s.
    Welcome to knitting Cameron.

  53. Going by his first project (and clues), Cameron is a born knitter if ever there was one. Welcome to the dark side, Cameron, welcome.

  54. I am IN LOVE with that picture of Cameron and his nephew! Great work! Thanks, Steph, for another year of carrying the banner, bringing us all forward into another knitting year. Best wishes to you and your fam for 2016.

  55. I just love that hat. It’s my go-to knit for newborns and my own daughter is on her fourth. That’s good going for a first knit. In orange, with a purl stitch every 8 stitches it makes an awesome pumpkin and the child is easy to spot at a distance… Just sayin’

  56. Oh my goodness how exciting! Did he end up getting to knit something else? Did you steer him towards a yarn store in the town he was in?

  57. Welcome, Cameron! I am very overawed at the hat — I wouldn’t have been able to knit anything half as complex for my first 3-4 years of knitting … but then I didn’t have the Harlot as a teacher! Well done, both of you!

  58. Happy New Year, Steph. Well done on adding a new (and talented) knitter to the fold. May 2016 bring happiness, health and joy to you and your family, and may your stash never diminish.

  59. Wow! I just finished a pair of those slippers. My gramma made them for my mom as she grew up. Cameron certainly didn’t shy away from jumping right in. Kudos to you both. Also, is it just me, or is he very cute with that knitted hat and sweet baby?

  60. You are very right to be proud of your new knitter. Please be sure to keep us all up on his future adventures! And — those fox hats are seriously cute!

  61. Those were the same slippers that I used to make years ago! I still get requests from the (grownup) kids once in awhile.

    I made a knitter, too, but not nearly as impressive, as she was already a crocheter, so was used to working with yarn. Still, she made an alpaca hat for a friend, done in time for Christmas. 🙂

    The best to you and yours in the New Year!

  62. i so enjoy your updates when I see what you have to knit for Christmas and get done it gives me the inspiration to get my knitting done I look forward to your next post Happy New Year

  63. “He’ll need (the photos) for his Ravelry account.”

    I’m still laughing over that one!

    Who doesn’t remember our younger, more innocent, learning-to-knit selves, once trying to learn a simple cast-on and not realizing that ohhh, so soon we’d be awash in hand-dyed, silk/wool blends (“I’m just going to learn on the cheap, acrylic stuff. It’ll be fine.”), circular needles (“What’s a circular needle?”), and knitting charts (“Is this Morse Code?”) while trying to keep a curious cat at bay, refusing to admit just how much those last three skeins cost, and meticulously inventorying our stash on Ravelry?

    (My first run-on sentence of the new year. I am very proud.)

  64. Awwww… Every time a new knitter is created an angel gets its wings! Love this post Stephanie! Happy New Year to you and your family!
    Julia
    justjulia on rav

  65. Welcome to the fold, Cameron. And is it just me, or does that guy have the most amazingly photogenic face. What a smile.
    Happy 2016 to all my fellow knitters out there!

  66. Steph –
    Congratulations on the excellent New Knitter you made. It’s both practical and stylish, and should provide many years of warmth and comfort, particularly for one very lucky nephew.

    Well done – and Happy New Year!

  67. Stephanie you are, without a doubt, my favorite knitter! I have followed your blog for some time now, I don’t comment much, I have searched out several patterns that you have made and purchased them as well as yarn. I do chose my own colors but I digress, I am trying to say that I am so glad each time I read your blog. I enjoy being a part of your family even though I am not actually a part of the family. I love seeing the pictures and reading about the traditions and the friends.

    I am also very glad that you helped a knitter come to be a knitter. He was there the whole time he just needed you to help him believe and become. I actually cried when I saw how perfect that hat turned out. And for a first project! Totally blown away.

    I tell my friends and family that they can keep their fictional super hero’s because I have a real life one and if they want proof then they can read your blog too. So now my mom and my sister read your blog and with your help, a promise made to her sister before her passing and my encouragement, my mom has become a better knitter.

    Thank you Steph….you really are awesome,

    Alexzandra

  68. Steph, that is AWESOME! I did that too, once. And just to prove it to you, I’m bringing her with me to Spring Fling this year! Can’t wait!!!

  69. The first thing I learned to knit were the old fashioned slippers you made for you mom for Christmas. I made many pairs over the years and am getting ready to pass the pattern on to my daughter. Happy New Year to all.

  70. Congrats on your new/fellow knitter. That hat is so perfect it’s hard to believe it’s a first project! The even tension, the stranded work and especially the fact that he was able to recall and carryout your instructions days later is all awesome. That is definitely not what my first project looked like and my stranding is still not up to Cameron’s quality.

  71. It doesn’t look like I’ll make any knitters around my part of the world, although there are a few Appreciators of Knitting in my house. But I understand your pleasure, as what I have made are two Farmers. Not quite the same, but pretty good in my estimation.

    Knit on, Cameron!

  72. Teaching someone to knit and seeing them “get it” is just the best feeling ever. The little hat is so cute, and I bet he’s already thinking about what his second project might be. Might I suggest a trip to a yarn shop (Romni’s would really get him inspired) to get his stash started and purchase a skein winder, a most necessary item for a new knitter.

  73. The story of the making of a knitter is so touching and delightful. And as I type this I realize, I made my (now 24 year old) son into a knitter too. It snuck up on me. I kinda made him knit a “stuffy blanket” when he was 8, and then last Christmas I got him the wool to make a full length Griffindor scarf and he knit the whole thing without my help. It’s over 5 feet long! Now he is looking around for hatless babies to knit for. Hmmm.

  74. Congratulations Cameron!! What an excellent first hat! You have more yarn, start another one!! You’re sure to find another little soul who needs a hat. Then when you get back to Toronto you can go on a yarn expedition with Steph and plan your next project! And don’t forget that Ravelry account… Thanks for a great year of blogging Steph!

  75. Cameron is a keeper! I think he might have been a knitter in a previous lifetime or is genetically related to a great knitter. That wonderful hat as a first project! So glad I donated to his ride. Way to go!

  76. Lots of wonderful things you made! Thanks for the new knitter story — there’s hope for a couple of potential knitters in my life.

    A practical question: With all those differently shaped feet and legs in your life, how do you keep straight the details for each pair of feet? At what point in a relationship do you ask, “Hey, let me measure your feet?”

  77. I found two patterns for those slippers pattern on Ravelry, and they’re both FREE! One is called Grandma’s Knitted Slippers (here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grandmas-knitted-slippers) , and the other is Aunt Maggie’s Slippers, here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aunt-maggies-slippers. For those not on Ravelry, Aunt Maggie’s Slippers is also online here: http://bevscountrycottage.com/maggieslippers.html.

    Also, yay Cameron (!), excellent work!!!

  78. Like fix framerate issue you just need some tips to help you.
    This variation of the shirt is usable in a classify of diametric colors, and also has a periodical of diametrical indicant designs getable.
    The full collection includes a sleeveless hoodie, varsity jacket,
    hybrid jersey, elephant print tank, elephant fade tee, basketball shorts as well as socks,
    snapback caps and a scarf.

  79. Hey there, You have done a great job. I’ll certainly digg it
    and personally recommend to my friends. I’m sure
    they’ll be benefited from this web site.

Leave a Reply to Cheryl Brake Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.