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.
7 comments:
So awesome! I can't believe the socks fit so perfectly! You already got the girl out of the candle?? Was it okay to burn??
Dragonous! Rawr!!!!
Wheee - nice to have a different female character :D
amazing gifts and gets! I bet you pulled that sucker out of the candle without buning.... hmmm?
Yes, yes I did. I actually burned the candle down to within a centimeter of it, but then I got scared, and fished it out. I did a little trial on one of the others after and found out that the plastic isn't so happy about being close to the burn-zone of the candle wick. So for the others it looks like I'll probably go with the same strategy of burning half the candle, taking out the mini, and then burning the rest of the candle.
Sweet stitch markers! Inspiring...
Oooh, I love the geeky stitch markers! I have seen other maillers make chainmaille ones but I thought.. jump rings, yarn... seems snaggy to me. But maybe it works, I dunno. I could send you a set and you can tell me!
I think that chain maille should work, as long as you don't use it with a really splitty yarn, or very fine yarn like laceweight. If you ever want a 'beta tester' I'd be happy to oblige ^_^
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