So some of the Korknisse are finished. I decided to do a FO post since I've started to give some of them away (and besides, they all look about the same). So far I've made 13 of these little dudes. By the end of the holiday season I will probably have made close to 30.

we are legion

The Specs:
-Pattern: Korknisse, from Saartje Knits.
-Yarn: various aran and worsted weight yarns
-Needles: size 3 dpns
-Notions: corks*, skinny ribbon, permanent black marker, little teeny-tiny jingle bells and sequin pins.

*after I first posted about this project, Nova sent me a whole big bag of corks (along with an awesome Christmas mix). Thanks so much Nova!

ornamentized

Notes: I love this little pattern. On average, it takes about 35 minutes to complete a single nisse. That includes knitting, sewing in the ends, drawing the little face, sewing the bells on and attaching the ribbon. So it's one of the quicker gifts I've come across. Even when you add up how long it'll take to make 30 of them (17.5 hours) that's not too bad...and I'll have thirty cute little gifts when I'm done!

The only change I made to the pattern was to cast on three extra stitches when using worsted weight yarn. This makes it a bit larger to compensate for the thinner yarn and the hat decreases still work out nicely. I'll also admit to shortening a few of the larger corks, since I think they look a bit cuter when they're short and squat.

Ornamentizing: Most of these pics were taken before I attached the ribbons, but all of these have since been turned into ornaments. All I did was attach a 9-inch piece of ribbon to the top of the cork with a couple of sequin pins (those are the extra short ones they stock in the sequin section) and then thread the ribbon though the hat using a darning needle.

Final Verdict: korknisse for everybody!

Posted by Elli at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)

Thanks for all the very nice comments on Beau, everybody! You do realize that Thunk is going to be nearly impossible to live with now, right? If he leaves me to run off to New York and start his modeling career it will be All Your Fault. I’m just saying.

In other news, I’ve still got a few smaller projects to finish up before I take off for Christmas...and exactly one week in which to finish them. So here’s what I’ve got going:

Korknisse, the advanced guard

hello. we are a boy band.

There are actually more of them now…I took the picture last Sunday. I still need to add little eyes and things…maybe some spangles. The goal is to have the whole army ready by Saturday.

Branching Out

This will be Mum’s Christmas scarf. I started it on Sunday and I’m currently about a third of the way done. The yarn is Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool. Nice stuff. Good pattern. I am pleased.

Heirloom bag:

Sorry, no picture of this one. But I'm finished with all the knitting and just have to figure out how to line the danged thing. And here you thought it was a permanent fixture on the WIP list. How wrong you were...

And in the finished category we have...
Etched Glasses for Rosser

Nearly impossible to photograph, but you get the idea. These are for the other BIL. In case you can’t tell what the pictures are supposed to be, they are: the Greek flag, the four suits, his initials, the Parthenon, a skull and crossed hockey sticks, and a cricket.

They were a lot of fun to make…who doesn’t like playing around with acid and an exacto knife? The hardest part was deciding what to put on them. Instructions for making your very own can be found here.

That's it for now! Back to work with me...

Posted by Elli at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)