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Fourteen Knitting Days Until Christmas!

© Suzanne Griffith

Yes, you can do it! There's still time to charm your friends and family with handmade socks, hats, mittens, and scarves and teddy bear sweaters, too. I know some knitters who still have time to make a couple of sweaters before Christmas, because they're so proficient at their craft, but I'm not one of these people. For me, it's time to check out the free patterns.

The great folks who belong to the KnitList have contributed free patterns to the Knit List Gifts for 1998, where you will find cute and quick projects, like this teddy bear by Sarah Bradberry or this Countrywool Roll Brim Hat by Claudia at Countrywool. I'm making this one myself as soon as I finish my other holiday projects. This could be in March.

You'll find lots more at Woolworks, including the much-acclaimed pattern for Joan's Woolease Socks by Joan Hamer, with a comfortable gauge of 4 stitches to an inch using two strands of Woolease yarn. There are plenty of dishcloth patterns for stocking stuffers on this site, too. Here's another stocking stuffer for someone who suffers from wrist pain: Wrist Warmers by Mary Hunt.

A simple pattern adaptation: I decided to make some spiral rib socks this year as a gift for my cold-footed sister-in-law Shirley because I have enough to think about already, and I thought they would be pretty simple. I'm using Rae's pattern for Spiral Socks, which calls for US #4 needles. This is based on an older KnitList pattern, which calls for 48 stitches and a gauge of 6 stitches per inch. I adapted this pattern to knit with Plymouth Encore, since I seem to have a lot of it around. The baby sweater I just finished with this yarn looks fine at a gauge of 4 stitches per inch with US #7 needles, so I divided 48 (total stitches around the calf) by 6 (stitches per inches in the pattern) and came up with 8 inches. If I multiply 8 (inches) by 4 (stitches per inch in my gauge), the result is 32 stitches. Other than this one change, I can follow the pattern as written.

Charitable Knitting: If you find yourself with extra caps and mittens, remember those in need. If you live in the U.S., Emily Way has put together a list of locations indexed by state where you can donate knitting.

If you live in Canada, the following is an announcement from The Toronto Downtown Knit Collective: We will be collecting hand knit hats, mitts, scarves & sweaters for children at our meeting on Dec. 17th at the Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W., 7.30 pm. The donated items will be given to the Salvation Army for distribution. Knits are collected at every meeting because charity goes on all year round. For more information, please visit the Knit Collective web site. Katherine Matthews, of Plain Vanilla Designs, is looking for Canadian charitable knitting organizations outside of Toronto. If you know of one or if you're interested in starting one, you can contact Katherine at mailto:matthews@yesic.com

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