Merry Knitsmas

By some miracle, I managed to knit three whole gifts for family members in time for Christmas this year!

It all started in October, as I thought that three months would give me enough leeway. I asked my family if they wanted any small knitted gifts this year, and their requests came in hot and fast:

For my Brother-in-law: an alien plush

My husband’s brother is obsessed with all things extra-terrestrial and cryptid, so it came as no shock that he wanted a stuffed alien. What did surprise me, however, is that there wasn’t a single knitting pattern anywhere with the classic little green men. So I had to freehand the whole thing, tapering a giant flat head down to a complete point and making a teeny tiny body to go with it. I embroidered the nose and mouth and cut out felt scraps for the eyes.

For my Father-in-law: a hunting buff

My father-in-law is an avid bushman, and he requested a cowl (or a buff, as he says it’s called for men) to wear during the bitter cold that is hunting season in Alberta. He’s colour blind, so he insisted it needn’t be anything fancy. So I took some of my bulky-weight acrylic yarns and made a large, simple buff for him that could also be easily washed if needed after weeks percolating in wilderness funk.

For my mother-in-law: a colourful cowl

Last but not least, my mother-in-law wanted a cowl, as she was enamoured with the Autumn Doodle Cowl I made for myself. I decided to make her an All Together Now Cowl, also designed by Jamie Lomax, to create a colourful mosaic using my vast collection of DK yarn. I had originally intended for it to be longer, with the two ends sewn together to create an extra-thick cowl, but as my time grew shorter I pivoted to make it single-sided with ribbing on both ends.

I consider myself a fairly organized person, but even so when my offer for knitted gifts was taken up so quickly and with such enthusiasm by my family, I was both honoured and terrified to meet their expectations and the deadline.

The ensuing months weren’t exactly smooth sailing for our family either. My mother-in-law found herself in need of emergency surgery to repair a perforated bowel (on the eve of her 65th birthday, no less) at the beginning of November, followed by just over a week’s stay in the hospital. I pivoted from all my holiday knitting to make her a stuffed pig.

Then, not to be outdone, my dad had another health crisis at the end of November, being diagnosed with Post-Transplant Lymphoma after a litany of tests. I’m also one of his admin assistants, so it was up to me to step in and keep the ship afloat in his absence. (Dad, if you’re reading this, I’m gonna make you something too!)

So while Christmas, and the latter half of 2022 as a whole, felt a bit different this year, I’m grateful to have spent it with our families intact.