Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! We celebrated by eating pumpkin and squash in various incarnations – pumpkin waffles, squash soup, squash lasagna and of course, pumpkin pie – and taking a walk through the beautiful Thornton Bales King Trail. I wasn’t prepared for the 5-degree drop in temperature just north of Toronto, and had to fight the urge to wear my latest FO on the trail, the cozy, merino Fetching Mitts (intended as a gift).

Fetching is another pattern by Cheryl Niamath, available for free on Knitty, Summer 2006. The pattern is extremely popular (12,268 projects currently on ravelry), but it only occurred to me to make them now. I’m already planning my next pair! They’re so sweet with the cables at the wrists and picot bind off.

[Ravelled]

Last week’s post got me to thinking about more stash-busting projects. Patterns that would make great holiday knitting with the added bonus of using up small amounts of yarn. I took a trip through ravelry and came back with these great patterns.  Some of them old favourites, some of them new (at least to me!):

Fetching (L, courtesy of Knitty) and Emerald Fingerless Mittens

Fingerless Mitts

CanCans by Erica Lomax

Upp by Védís Jónsdóttir (from Einband, available from Schoolhouse Press)

Fetching and Dashing by Cheryl Niamath

Purl Beret (L, courtesy of the purl bee) and #24 Lace Beret (courtesy of Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2009)

Hats

#24 Lace Beret by Kate Gagnon Osborn

Purl Beret by The Purl Bee

Ripley by Ysolda Teague

Herringbone Cowl (courtesy of Lauren Osborne, Hungry Knitter)

Cowls

Herringbone Cowl by Lauren Osborne

sev[en]circle by Kirsten Johnstone (free ravelry download, login required)

Cabled Cowl by by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

mara (courtesy of madelinetosh)

Shawls and Other Shoulder Warmers

DROPS 108-53 by DROPS design

shadow[]box by Alison Brookbanks

mara by Madelinetosh

Otto (actually, I like to call her Churchill)

Toys

Otto by Ysolda Teague (or any of Ysolda’s toy patterns, really)

Pile-able Pups by Anna Hrachovec

Rotary Dial Telephone by Katie Park

My bear knit for the Mother Bear Project

Charity Knitting

Good for stash-busting anytime of year, but especially now in colder climates like mine…

afghans for Afghans sends handknit and crocheted blankets, sweaters, vests, hats, mittens and socks to the people of Afghanistan.

Blankets for Canada creates blankets for Canadians in need.

Mother Bear Project sends handknit or crocheted bears to children affected by HIV/AIDS.

I knit these Dashing Mitts to go along with the Woodman’s Cap I made for my cousin’s birthday. They are a perfect, quick knit, and take a little less than a skein of Malabrigo Worsted.  I love wearing them so much that I’ll just have to knit a pair for myself! The pattern was published in the Spring 2007 Knitty and was Cheryl Niameth’s “guy-friendly” answer to the immensely popular Fetching.

It’s getting to be the perfect weather for mitts like these. This is definitely my favourite time of year in Toronto. The days are bright and the air is cool. I walked across the valley to Cabbagetown today, an area that got its name from the cabbages growing in the front yards of the Irish immigrants that settled there in the 1840s.  The neighbourhood is particularly pretty in the autumn – the tradition of cabbages in front yards seems to have continued. Although now mostly in decorative planters on front porches.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I broke three – count them, three – birch knitting needles making this little heart. Oh, the perils of knitting on size 0 double-pointed needles. This was a very satisfying project nonetheless – designed by Kristin Ledgett of The Knit Cafe. The pattern is available for free on Knitty. I made this one with Smooshy sock yarn from Dream in Color.

Doesn’t it fill you with love just looking at it!?