I Heart This Pattern

I know, it's a cutesy title. But look at this sweet little thing:




This was a last minute cast-on, to do something fun before Christmas. I hadn't intended it for a gift at first, but now I think I should give it away because it's so cute. I fully intend to make many more of these.

Heart Sachet
Pattern: "Heart Sachet" from Interweave Knits Holiday Gift Issue
Yarn: Fleece Artist Basic Sock yarn, no colour number.
Needles: 2mm Aero DPN (only for convenience of size - this was knitted flat).
Tension: as usual on non-garment projects, I don't know. Probably about 9 sts per inch in stockinette - the finished piece is only 3 inches wide.
Modifications: I accidentally knitted the wrong chart twice, making two of those little mitered squares 2 rows too long. And, guess what? it totally doesn't matter. I LOVE non-garment knitting. Also, the book called for stuffing this with lavender flowers, but I dismissed that in favour of stuffing it with mulling spices. (Stroke of genius, by the way. It's perfect for the yarn colours and the holiday-ness of this item.) I also added some batting, so it would be nice and pillowy, and I wouldn't need to use so much cinnamon and clove. It worked well.

I will knit this again, and again, and again. It used a tiny amount of sock yarn, so I can easily whip off a few of these with scraps I'll have left over from every pair of socks I make. I am kind of dreaming about my next one - patchwork-style, I hope, maybe delft blue and white? I think it would look unbearably adorable.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It's now 11:00 at night on the 23rd, so my little Christmas counter (on Eastern time, unfortunately) now says "Tonight is Christmas Eve". I got a little shiver of excitement when I saw it - I didn't know it would do that, and had expected to see "1 day til Christmas" instead. I like this better.

Thanks for all your nice comments on my gingerbread train. I hadn't intended to leave that post up so long, but it worked out nicely anyway, as a Christmassy theme for while I was away. We took the girls, on Monday, back to Victoria for a few days. We had a nice time, for the most part - went to the Empress Hotel's Festival of Trees, which is always cool. The kids liked it. We did a bit of shopping, but mostly hung around looking at shops without buying anything (except at Munro's, of course - I can't go in there without succumbing to the chamber music and the creaky floors, and shelling out for at least one book, and a few cards).

The hotel was quite excited about its "Free Wireless Internet for Guests!" but this turned out to be a complete bust.


S

L

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as molasses. So I wasn't able to post or comment, or email, for the whole four days. What a complete drag - I hadn't realized how much I would miss blogging. It's good to be back.


Tomorrow morning, I plan to hurl myself into a frenzy of cooking and wrapping. I am trying to get as much of The Dinner done as possible on the Eve, then I can relax a bit on the Day, while the turkey roasts comfortably in his little toasty oven. There's a possibility I won't be back here at HSB until after Christmas, although I have a Christmas Day post in the works, so I'd better be on the safe side and wish you all a very Happy Christmas now.

So, Happy Christmas. May it be Joyful and Triumphant at 9:00 AM, then Silent and Holy by 9:00 PM.

XOXO