To all of you:

Merry Christmas

When I realized it was nearly December, and saw Ali talking about setting up this year’s pages, I thought I should probably finish up my December Daily album from 2010. There were just a few pages left that I’d been struggling with. Now it is the first of December and I am finally sharing my finished album with you.

When I saw Ali talking about this year's album I started thinking of ideas and questions. I was really torn between doing an album physically put together by me and doing the whole thing digitally and getting it printed. I decided it would be a good idea to cost out both methods (keeping in mind that Studio Calico was offering a really nice kit that included an extra think 8½" x 6" album) so pulled out last year's album to count how many pages I would need and discovered a few things:

1) There are a lot of pages to a December Daily album,
2) The costs worked out to be about the same,
3) I really liked the size of last year's album and a 12" x 12" photobook would feel too big, and
4) I really, really liked the little "mini pages" I had stuck in between layouts - things like postcards or pieces of packaging or recipe cards.

So I totally caved and ordered the Studio Calico kit and have been happily setting up my 2011 pages since it arrived. I'll share more about it another day. For now I want to share a few of my favourite pages from 2010.

Some notes:
- The cover was cut from a cereal box and covered with fabric held in place with fusible web and some stitching around the edges.
- I used mists for the first time and became completely hooked. I love the effects you can get using different things for masks. My favourite was the spritz cookie form.
- There were a few times I didn't have any pictures or my picture was a bit small and I did a "proper" layout instead of a full page picture. I found these days a bit more challenging (but not quite as challenging as the days where I wanted to write a lot).
- I always keep all of the cards we receive and for once I actually did something with them. Inspired by a layout by Ali (I think) I punched a circle out of each card and collected them all together (with a few circles of patterned papers I really liked) on the last page of my album.

It's a bit late into January to be sharing Christmas stuff but I only just got my last picture at lunch today. My Christmas knitting this year was all hats. I can't remember what put the idea into my head but it seemed very achievable so I went with it. It was a lot of fun to pick out a pattern and yarn for each person; I tried out three new yarns and two new patterns. Here's the run down:

For Mum:

Pattern: Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Quince and Co. Puffin in Winesap
Size: 22"
Yardage: The whole skein (except enough to tie the wrappings shut).
Needles: 5.0 mm

Mum's was the first hat finished. I did the whole thing in two sittings in the same afternoon (my Ravelry notes tell me that Zeke was on my lap both times). I've made this pattern up once before in a very soft alpaca yarn and it was really neat to see how different it looks in a wool. My gauge, sizing and needles were exactly the same for each hat but where the alpaca hat is decidedly droopy and soft, the wool version has much more body and really shows off the swirl. This was my first try of a Quince and Co. yarn and I was really pleased with the Puffin. Most of the very bulky yarns I've used have been very soft and fluffy; Puffin has plenty of loft but still feels sturdy - a little bit felted even - and works up into a fabric that feels both soft and strong. It would make a great jacket or a big blanket.

For Dad:

Pattern: Watch Cap from Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein
Yarn: Quince and Co. Osprey in Pea Coat
Size: Small (18") with 5 sts/in
Yardage: about 90% of the skein ( so about 140 m)
Needles: 3.5 mm

Dad's hat was the second started and the second and third finished - I had some issues. I initially made the medium (21") size at 5 stitches per inch (the closest to my 19 stitches to 4 inches swatch). The fabric was fantastic, dense and squishy, but the hat felt a little loose on me. I thought maybe this was just because I'm a girl but I got Rob to try it on too and it came down over his eyes. Ends were unwoven (yes, I had finished the finishing before checking the size) and the whole thing was frogged and reknit at the smaller size. Dad's worn his hat and called me at work to let me know how much he liked it (warm but not so snug it made his hair funny).

For my brother (modelled by Rob before it went into the mail):

Pattern: Koolhas by Jared Flood
Yarn: Tanis Fibre Arts Green Label Aran in Chestnut
Size: Men's
Yardage: probably 90% of the skein (about 180 m)
Needles: 3.5 mm and 4.5 mm

This is the second time I've made this pattern up (though I never blogged the first version; it was knit in secret and I never took a picture of it) and the first time I managed to cable without an extra needle. It really sped things up. Which was handy because I had to frog and reknit pat of this hat too. My row gauge was a little looser than the pattern and I thought I could get away with knitting the smaller size but when I was finished it didn't cover my ears and I had to pull out the crown and add another pattern repeat. Somehow, despite the way it had looked too small all the way through the decreases I still finished the hat before deciding it needed to be longer.

For Rob's sister:

Pattern: Felicity by Wanett Clyde (that's a Ravelry link - I'm not sure if everyone can view it)
Yarn: Tanis Fibre Arts Green Label Aran in Jewel
Size: Mostly as written, see notes below
Yardage: three quarters of the skein (about 160 - 170 m) Needles: 3.5 mm and 4.00 mm

This hat turned out so cute! Lots of people on Ravelry said they cast on 80 stitches instead of the 70 called for in the pattern and I took their advise. My favourite part of this hat is the gathering at the back. The Green Label Aran is really nice to work with (and can go through the washer!) and the colours are fantastic. It's nice to discover great Canadian yarns. I'm seriously considering knitting another one of these for me.

And for Rob:

Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in #2475 "Ireland" and Noro Silk Garden in #245
Size: A little smaller than written
Yardage: About 60 m of the Cascade and 40 of the Noro
Needles: 3.0 mm and 3.5 mm

This is another pattern I was working up for the second time. And once again I knit the whole thing, wove in all the ends and discovered it needed frogging (you'd think I'd learn after the first one but no). As it turned out there was a nicer section of the Noro skein to go with the Cascade yarn anyway. I knit my first attempt on the same needles as the first version I'd made a couple of years ago. I know I had swatched when I made that hat but I'm now very curious to know if it actually fit the person I sent it to. The one I made this year was so big there was no way it would fit any member of my family. I reknit it on smaller needles and ignored the increase round after the ribbing (I added two extra rounds before the decreases to compensate for the two that would be lost by having eight fewer stitches to decrease). I love the hat the way it eventually turned out. I think I got just the right portion of the Noro skein and Rob has been wearing it regularly as long as it is warm enough.

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A few final notes:

• I really need to check if things are fitting before I weave in all the ends ... especially if they look like they aren't the right size before I even get there.
• This would have been posted ages ago if I'd taken pictures of all these hats before giving them away. Trying to co-ordinate with people over Christmas holidays - when we've only got about three hours of usable light anyway - is not an easy process.
• I should really manage to get pictures of people and items in my own house more easily. Rob's hat was the last one to be photographed just because I kept forgetting until nine o'clock at night.