Year of Knitted Gifts Coming to an End

It's Christmas Day evening and we have enjoyed a quiet day. Our first "wave" of Christmas excitement was over by 10:00 a.m. on Christmas eve. My son and his family and my step-daughter and her family were here with us the evening before Christmas eve. My step-daughter will be here for a couple of weeks with visits to some of her other family members during that time, but my son will not be back over the Christmas holiday. So we all ate a nice, big meal together and then, after gifts were distributed, had a bit of a "free-for-all." The kiddos were excited so we decided not to laboriously wait as each one opened individually. We just sort of let everyone open gifts at the same time. The chaos was sweet and fun, albeit, short-lived.

Today my husband and I decided on an outing to the only store that we could find opened, Walgreen's Pharmacy.

We needed a few groceries that have been depleted by 4 grandsons and 3 step-grand-children but the pharmacy was not the best location for grocery shopping. We only partially succeeded. And then we decided on a quiet, romantic lunch but, again, the only "show in town" was Burger King, which was neither quiet nor romantic. But I didn't have to cook or clean-up so I was happy with my veggie whopper.

On the way home, I spotted a bald eagle flying over a nearby creek. And to top it all off, we had about an hour of sunshine before our 4:30 p.m. sunset - the sun has been quite elusive for probably abut 2 weeks now. So I had to document the rare occasion with a photo:

Now to the knitted gifts that I have mentioned on numerous occasions and which have kept my fingers flying all year. Not all of them have made it to their homes yet, as we still have to gather with other family members for fellowship, food and giving.  But I think it may be safe to finally show this year's worth of knitted gifts all together in one blog post. So here goes.

I discussed the wraps I made in a couple of previous posts, (here and here). It is a purchased pattern so I am not free to share it but it is Carina Spencer's Far Away, So Close Shawl and can be purchased on Ravelry for only $5.00 USD. I have certainly gotten my money's worth from the pattern - I have made 4 of them so far and I'm not finished yet. 

The shawl on the left was knitted with Grignasco Knits Loden in color #637. The middle shawl was knit in Vanna's Choice in color 'colonial blue.' And the right hand shawl was knitted in Cascade 220 Paint, Superwash in color Tropical Sea.

Next there is all the Fair Isle hats in a variety of yarns, all the way from Plymouth Gina to Galway to Patons, Classic Wool, to Lion Brand acrylic yarns, for the ease of washing children's hats. I also knitted 2 of  the "Whimsical Tassel Hats" for which I shared the pattern on this post. 

And finally, there are the purses (or totes) that I explained here. I used chunky yarns for all of these. And I found the pattern for these adorable knitted flowers at "Mack and Mabel's" blog here.

I didn't make too much time for spinning this year but I plan to remedy that during 2015.

I would like to end this post with a link to a post by another blogger. Many of you likely read the blog titled Yarn Harlot. Her Christmas post from yesterday, Christmas eve, 2014 included sound advice to anyone who receives knitted gifts. It was so great. Her advice is found near the bottom of the post and can be found at this web address. I know for sure that knitters (and crocheters) will enjoy reading it whether or not the recipients will.

I hope you all have a great end of 2014 and a wonderful 2015 filled with happy times with your loved ones, new friends and lots of yarn and knitting.

The nativity set arranged by one of our 9 year old grandsons.
(Yes, there are two of them.)