end of the year already!?!

well, here we are at the end of the year. the last couple of months have simply flown by. so many thing have been made, and since Christmas has come and gone again, i can finally share those things with you! stay with me people, this is gonna be a long one.
we'll start with what was unsharable in september and october. september, if you'll remember, was the off month between tournaments (woo! love me some Nerd Wars!). i turned out a couple of things that simply needed doing.

i made this hat for the cousin christmas exchange we do with the hubster's family every thanksgiving. i used the ribbed hat pattern by Hannah Felting from one of my favorite pattern books, One-Skein Wonders, 101 Yarn Shop Favorites. simply love this book for so many reasons. anyway, the recipient really loved it and had been needing a hat for the coming winter! love how that worked out. :)

october arrived with the beginning of Nerd Wars: Tournament the Third. my dad had been asking for a Jayne hat for a while, so i went ahead and made one and stashed it away for christmas this year. for those of you who don't understand the reference here, shame on you. go watch Firefly and Serenity immediately. this will be still be here when you get back. this hat was made in answer to the technical challenge: colortastic. it required the use of at least two different colors. for team tie in (go Team Shady Cels!), i cited one the web comics i read almost religiously, Unshelved. actually, this comic in particular. anyway, i used the My Jayne Hat pattern by Erica Barcott (Ravelry page; login needed). my dad simply loved it. :D

in november, i submitted had a request (which turns out wasn't entirely serious) for a turkey viking hat that one of the cousins had seen online (ah, the wonders of the internet are vast indeed). well, i made it, much to her surprise and delight, using the Jive Turkey Baby Hat pattern by sewgeeky (Ravelry page; login needed). you can see what i fondly refer to as turkey head on the recipient here on his mom's blog. is he not precious!? anyway, i submitted turkey head to the nerd culture challenge: revenge of the nerds, in which you were supposed to explore another team's nerdery that you were unfamiliar with. i decided to look into Team UU, based around the Discworld series written by Terry Pratchett (link to the series map). well, i must say, i'm in love with the series, hands down. it is so much fun! as far as team tie in goes, well, it is turkey head, there are loads of cartoons with thanksgiving specials.

for november's technical challenge: from a different angle (make something involving angles), i made one of the flying keys from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (another one you should go read if you haven't already). i used the "Flying Keys from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" pattern by Kristina Gill (Ravelry page; login needed). for team tie in, i cited another comic read almost religiously, Penny Arcade. this one, actually. one of the creators (and subsequently, his comic counterpart)love the Harry Potter series. it turned out so well that i'm considering covering my Christmas tree in them one year.

for november's giving geeks challenge: it's hip to be a square (blanket square for charity), someone on my team found Project Linus. they only accept whole blankets for donations, so our team banded together to make an entire blanket. this one was mine. we decided to do them all in shades of blue as tribute to linus and his blanket. not all of the squares are quite done yet, but i'll let you know when there's a picture of the finished blanket.

for november's intellectual challenge: periodically scientific (make something inspired by, representative of all or part of an element on the periodic table), i made my mother's christmas present. it is a scarf, as i'm certain you can see, that is blue. it was inspired by the element actinitum. “Owing to its strong radioactivity, actinium glows in the dark with a pale blue light, which originates from the surrounding air ionized by the energetic particles emitted from actinium.” for team tie in, Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen by Alan Moore(yet another you should go read is you haven't) is both and radioactive.

for december's team spirit challenge: nerds in their natural habitat, i made these fingerless mitts for my grandmother for christmas using the 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts pattern by Jeanne Stevenson. i also used Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off for the... well... bind off. i call them forever summer because (and here's the team spirit tie in) they are inspired by Phineas and Ferb's backyard. they also strongly remind me of said grandmother's backyard. green grass, blue sky, and clouds with lots of sunshine. good memories.

this one was actually started as my submission for the november team spirit challenge: winter is coming, in which we were supposed to make something for a character within our nerdery for the coming winter. i finished the first week of december and gave it to my delightful sister-in-law for christmas. it is an infinity scarf from the Stockholm Scarf pattern by knittedblissJC (Ravelry page; login needed). i absolutely love the way it turned out. i'll have a better picture of it later (my camera decided to be less than cooperative for Christmas day), i just wanted you to see the stitch pattern. so lovely.
well, that about wraps up the Christmas items i couldn't tell you about before and the other miscellaneous items that i just hadn't told you about from november. it has been an absolutely crazy couple of months.

let me see, what else... oh! still haven't opened an etsy store, haven't really had time to give it the thought lately, what with all the holidays and family and such. i have, however, done some knitting on commission, which is very exciting. i did three super cuddly scarves for friend for Christmas gifts for her family.

i also did this bearded baby beanie for a friend's baby. he is entirely too cute for words in it. i'm very pleased with the way they all turned out. oh! i'm also giving knitting lessons! so much fun! my first student is the most excited, enthusiastic ten-year-old girl i've ever seen. we have so much fun.
so, it has been busy and crazy and wonderful for the last couple months. i'm reminded of how much family means to me (even when they drive me crazy). i'm reminded of all the wonderful gifts this particular season brings. however, i'm mostly inspired by the joy and generosity and overwhelming love that is Christmas to me. so i pray that we may keep this joy, this generosity, and especially this love alive in our hearts, minds, souls, and attitudes as we enter and live in the soon coming new year.
may Christmas truly live on in us, and in everything we do, everyday.