Reflections on a Knitted Christmas Part 1, The Menfolk

Determined to give my family and close friends a knitted gift each for Christmas 2017, I set out a plan of action to select the ideal design, with a very definite criteria.

The chosen pattern(s), must be

Quick to knit
Use double knitting weight yarn or above
Take less than 200 metres of yarn
Suitable for many recipients
Easily customizable
Knit using stash yarn

My menfolk are all hat wearers, even Kye now (yes!!!) and as I tend to knit them hats throughout the year ‘just because’, it didn’t feel quite right handing over another. Which was is why I was chatting about the Bandana Cowl in my December post.

That particular one I made using Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter from my stash. In the pre-Christmas panic, I forgot to take a photo of the finished cowl before it went to England to be gifted to my best friends hubby. He in his usual manner, thanked me for his ‘man cowl’, which I’m well informed, he wears whilst walking the dog – result!

Points a – f could be checked off one by one for that version, but that’s where things sort of fell apart.

I knitted four more Bandana Cowls, one for the hubby, one for each of my sons and one for the ‘sort of’ son-in-law, he’s practically part of the family, so it doesn’t feel quite right just calling him my daughter’s boyfriend.

I digress (what’s new?)

All four met points a-e, which just leaves point f? Maybe that should be the letter f in this case? That’s where you open your purse and it tells you politely to ‘go away’, as you’ve your Christmas budget spent.

You would assume that with a yarn stash that would rival most yarn shops (and I should know), that I would possess a few balls of a tweed type yarn? Whilst this is in fact true, there isn’t that much that’s soft enough to be worn next to the skin, particularly round your neck where it’s super sensitive. Any other tweed yarn languishing in my Yarn Museum, has been earmarked for other projects and whilst I love my menfolk, that could be a step to far.

The other option and possibly the more frugal, would have been to knit the cowls in another aran yarn from stash. You know how it is though, once you’ve got your heart set on something, there’s often no budging it and the thought of knitting in one of my favourite yarns was far to enticing.

I have unashamedly declared my love for Soft Donegal by Studio Donegal on at least half a dozen occasions that I can think of. So, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to know that it’s the yarn I used.

Beige

Warm Grey

Navy

and Teal

Strapped for time as I was, they were all gifted unblocked, worse still two of them were only half finished 😱 So I wrapped them up complete with the needles and the ball.

Rest assured they provided the perfect accompaniment to post Christmas dinner lazing in front of the television, with the rest of the family.

In case like me, you love Soft Donegal? They plan to launch several new shades this year.

Be still my beating heart. A knitted patchwork blanket could be in my future.

Happy Making