Friday, December 28, 2012

handknit holidays, part I

I didn't really intend to do much holiday knitting, but I got carried away and knit quite a few small projects this year!

This is the third wee bear I've knit, each of which has been well received.
pattern: Mother Bear Project Teddy Bear, by Amy Berman 
needles: Clover US 6 bamboo 24" circs and DPNs 
yarn: leftover Patons Classic Wool Merino & Cascade 220

notes:
An easy knit, but the finishing is time-consuming and fiddly! I always anguish over how to embroider the face -- that's the trickiest part. This time I used seed stitch for the sweater. This guy went to my best friend's youngest son (his older brother already has a bear).
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The kitties spent Christmas in the lap of luxury at a friend's house while we trekked to snowy, beautiful Minneapolis to visit my family.
Lucky Sugar! Jauntily perching atop an Hermès scarf just doesn't happen chez Caffeinated Yarn.
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More holiday knits soon -- I turned into a virtual hat-knitting factory while listening to the first Game of Thrones book on tape! It has been years since I read the book, so the audiobook has been enthralling. Ned Stark is such a great guy -- noble and idealistic, sometimes to a fault. I will say that some of Daenerys' story among the Dothraki makes for uncomfortable listening -- Paul has suggested penning Fifty Shades of Dothraki, sure to fly off the shelves.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to seeing your knitted gifts! I'm also dragging the big reveal out a bit :P

Hilary said...

That little bear is so adorable! Lucky guy who got him. :)
The "Fifty Shades of Dothraki" suggestion made me laugh out loud!! I haven't read any of the Game of Thrones books, but got completely sucked into the tv series when we got free HBO last year. Ned Stark was my favorite character (probably also because he was played by Boromir) and I'd love to get to know the literary version as well. Listening to it on tape is a great idea! Except, uh, maybe I'd need to wait until baby's nap time for the Dothraki parts. Is the Dothraki language part of the book, too?

peaknits said...

What a sweet bear! I just got the third game of thrones books today. I like to read while I watch the series so I can keep the story straight. I loved Ned too! Noble indeed. I kind of loved the hate the whole Lannister clan

Nutmeg said...

I'll be interested to hear what you think of listening to the books versus reading them. I don't let myself read for pleasure, so all my fiction is in the form of audio books, and I've gone through all of the Game of Thrones books on audio. There are certain things about Martin's writing style that really bother me in he audio books, and I wonder if they wouldn't bother me so much in print.

Anyhow, the bear is adorable! I have never really gotten into making stuff like that -- every time I try, I'm never happy with the way it looks. But the patterns are so cute, that I just want to keep trying. Oh well.

Katie M. said...

Such a cute bear! And those kitties -- definitely enjoying the lap of luxury! My sister is really in to the Game of Thrones books right now ... I'll have to suggest the audio versions, too ...

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

The bear is really cute! I forgot that I own that book, too. Perhaps I'll have to make a bear. I have a knitted Gromit and a knitted mouse named Wocket (I knit him for my son about 16 years ago; they had matching sweaters).

50 Shades of Dothraki sounds a bit terrifying!

Rachael said...

Such a cute little bear!!!