My Snowbuddies!
Every Christmas I make a new ornament or two… it usually has been my hand-sewn felt ornaments, but lately I’ve discovered knitted small dolls that pulled me in; last year was the 2020 knitted Nurse Mates, complete with mask… see post over HERE. In as I knew my time was becoming limited due to travel in early November, I chose the mini snowbuddies… they are a free download.
The Snowbuddies were a fun and easy knit from creator Esther Braithwaite on Ravelry, but you can also find Esther on her website, and YouTube… where she offers many videos on helpful how to’s! She knits her dolls flat and seams up… but I hate seaming! I chose to knit mine “magic loop”… and had no problem. My only suggestion is to flip your work inside out, and knit on the inside of the doll, instead of the usual outside. This helps your “floats” remain more loose (being on the outside) and not cause puckering on the body of the doll. I had that problem initially and this method was suggested to me… and it worked! I didn’t need to do this on the Mini Snowbuddy as I wasn’t carrying any yarn floats on the backside. (I have photos of how I knitted the Nurse Mates and carried floats on my blog post… over HERE)
I became very attached to my “littles”… wanting to knit one in every color!
When making ornaments in multiples, I like to knit all the pieces before assembling. I knit all the dolls, stuff, tie off their head, finish their face… then sew their leg and arm seams… and finally tying their multi-colored scarfs around their neck. They were a fun and easy knit… and like usual, I can never make just one!
I knitted these teeny tiny socks on wooden blockers earlier this year, but thought I’d knit a few more for the Xmas tree. They are such an easy quick knit… and soon multiplied before hubby could keep up in making the wood sock blockers to hang from. I have given the girls these before, but I’m sure they will enjoy an extra! The pattern is called Pet Sock Project and can be found on Ravelry. I free hand drew up a pattern for hubby to cut for me, so if you have a handy husband… you’re in luck! If not, she gave a link to Etsy for ones to purchase.
They are such a quick and easy knit as “no gusset”… just a tube sock which shows its shape after pulled on the wooden sock blocker! They were written for “dpn” but I quickly found that they knitted up just fine in magic loop… my go-to for almost everything!
Being it’s chilly outside… I decided my little animal friends needed scarfs. I actually like them better with the scarfs added… my own add from the mini snowbuddies pattern. I made a few changes from the original pattern… you can easily notice in looking at the pattern on Ravelry.
Before I began knitting Christmas ornaments I decided to try my hand at the little fox and raccoon pocket pals… I just knew the girls would love to keep them out all year so I didn’t give as an ornament. I offered to put a hanger on them… but they wanted to keep in their rooms!
After making No. 1… I knew I could never make 24, much less 48 for two households… and keep my sanity! I knitted a few days at the beach as the weather was still warm enough here in Connecticut during late October.
While originally planning to make these Arne and Carlos Advent Sweaters this year… but after beginning in late October, and after knitting just one… I quickly realized… that this is just not going to work! I do love the sweaters, but hate seaming and making multiples to attach. I’m not saying I won’t tackle these at another time, but only after finding an easier way of attaching those arms onto the sweater… seaming up the underside was so fiddly for me! I watched their daily Advent unveiling of all their sweaters… which they call jumpers in Norway… and looked so awesome on their wall. Arne is such a fast knitter! (I ended up coming up with another Advent Calendar idea this year… you can read about it over HERE.
Nothing like two days before Christmas and someone posts a pattern you immediately want to knit… at that very moment! I couldn’t resist making these knitted Christmas tree dishcloths… especially as I had a couple balls of cotton thread that had been calling for a project! I decided to use them as dish holders for the table instead. They are a quick and fun knit and I’ll be making more in the new year… great knit for the beach as the pattern is easy to remember. Pattern can be found at Grandma’s Favorite Christmas Tree.
All the girls received knitted Mermaid Tales for their 18-inch dolls in their Christmas bags this year. Thought they’d look nice laying on their beds with dolls they don’t play with anymore. Hope I received pictures soon!
Christmas crepe balls… not always so round!
My very last Christmas project was a “Christmas Ball” of wrapped toys and candy inside a crepe paper ball… wrapped with lots and lots of paper! It was fun to wrap and try to keep the gifts from fall out. Even though it took me time to make… I knew it would take them even less to unravel. I think I need to make this a harder process when making another one… maybe I’ll use Saran Wrap to make it more fun for me to watch! Don’t wait for Christmas, as I’ve done this for Easter also!
Their very last gift was a letter from Me… and while McKinley could read hers, Grace waited for Mama to help… as bad Gigi had written some of it in cursive!
Their Christmas letter was nestled inside these knitted tree pouch gift card holders. The pattern can be found Here. It was a fun knit, and I’m making extras to keep on hand for future gift card giving.
2021 Christmas “crepe” Angels!
Like to read more… click on Craft Junkie
© 2021, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved
Everyone Has a Story 