Secret Grinch

So, with our local knitting group, instead of having a Secret Santa gift exchange, we had a Secret Grinch. What is the difference? You get to mutter grinchy things to yourself as you're making the presents. Here are a couple of the gifts I made for the person whose name I drew:



Manly socks! Guys are notoriously hard to make gifts for, but you can't beat a comfy all-purpose pair of handknit socks. The pattern (Thuja from Knitty) was pretty basic, although the seed stitch rib required just enough attention to keep this project from being boring, which is good because mens socks take a good bit longer to knit than womens socks, bigger feet and all. I sized them based on my brother's feet, hoping that they'd be the right size, and they turned out just right! Whew.

I also made an adjustable mug cozy, with three buttons to be able to fit small Tim Hortons cups, regular mugs, and large mugs respectively. I liked this pattern so much that I'll probably make it again. I used a self-striping yarn, and the gradual colour changes matched really well with the mug. Sadly, I only have a picture from one perspective, but if I make some more I'll take better pictures.



Now, onto my loot that I got! So, hilariously, the guy whose name I drew, also drew my name, so we ended up making gifts for each other. He's not really a knitter, more of a socializer, so everyone had been expecting that he would just purchase his gifts for the exchange. However, he completely exceeded everyone's expectations, and came up with these wonderfully creative handmade gifts for me.

First off, he made me what will forever be my most favourite set of stitch markers. He scoured the city to find a set of mini dice, and assembled them into stitch markers, so now I can geekify my knitting works-in-progress. Aren't they the most adorable stitch markers you've ever seen?



The other gifts were candles, but not ordinary candles. These are gel candles, with DnD minis embedded inside them! How cool is that! One of them was a female character that I have already freed from it's jellied home so that I can use it in an upcoming DnD campaign. It fits the character that I have planned perfectly!



Here's a closeup of the dragon, by far my favourite of the set.



Overall, I couldn't be happier with this gift swap. I was completely surprised, and the gifts for me couldn't have been more appropriate.

Tagged (delayed reaction)

Yes, Aesderina tagged me way back in December. And since then my poor little blog has been languishing in neglect, thinking about all the wonderful things I've been knitting that it hasn't had a chance to display. But no more! Very soon, this little blog shall proudly display the various and sundry items of knitting made for Christmas gifts and those received over the holidays. But I digress. Back to the tagging.

The rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

So, here are my six random things.

1. I've been to the East Coast, and to the West Coast, but somehow I've never managed to get to those elusive in-between provinces. I almost made it to Manitoba one winter, but then we totalled our car right before the border at 4am, and had to take buses all the way home. I also nearly made it out to Winnipeg this winter, but due to Greyhound being silly, I ended up flying straight to BC instead.

2. I love Hello Kitty pyjamas. I probably would never wear anything Hello Kitty outside of my house, but somehow the pyjamas are strangely addicting.

3. My favourite chocolate bar (or biscuit, depending on your terminology) is the Penguin, sold in the UK. Mmmmm, penguins. One time my friend and I bought a whole pile of them, and took pictures of them all over her city.



4. I have a fondness for heavy metal music. My older brother got me into it in highschool when he was in a metal band, and I found I rather liked the genre.

5. Being in large crowds makes me feel claustrophobic. I'd take the open countryside over a city any day.

6. I've never been 'rebellious' per se, but I sometimes like to show a blatant disregard for certain rules. As such, I'm only going to tag two people. Mwahahahaha!


Now, I shall tag Sean and Susan!