Those long awaited gifts

Head on over to the Gift Knitting 2014 link to the left to see some of the gifts that were handed out yesterday.
Or just go here:
I am very proud of these buckets.
They came out a lot cuter than I thought. And they were a huge hit at the Christmas party.

Let's do the math

Math has never been my strong suit. I hate it actually. 

Now here I am, years and years later, working with numbers for a living. 

Go figure. 

I have been working away on the cloths for the gifts and I am up to 22 cloths. 

2 more to go and I am finished!

As I was plunking away at it last night, the numbers started running around in my head. How many cloths I have made vs. how many stitches I have put on, just to get these gifts finished in time for giving away. 

Let me tell you, by the time I figured most of it out in my head, I seriously thought about keeping them all for myself. 

That is a lot of work!

So to put it all out there for you, let's do some math (I know, but it won't hurt too much)

38 stitches X 60 rows = 2280 stitches X 22 cloths = 54720 stitches

and to take it down a little further

54720 / 2 (purl row, knit row)= 27360 purl stitches and 27360 knit stitches

27360 / 2 (stitch, slip)= 13680 purl/knit stitches and 13680 slipped stitches

 

That! my friends, is a large amount of stitches. 

You would think I would be sick of the linen stitch by now. Especially considering the dish towel with two matching cloths, three 5ft scarves, two cowls and two hats. 

That is a ridiculous amount of linen stitch, and yet I am still in love with the stitch.

Of course right now it could be more to do with habit than anything else, it's just such an easy and versatile stitch, you can do anything with it, and I have done allot. 

You have to try some dishcloths in the linen stitch. The density of the fabric is absolutely perfect for washing dishes and cleaning counter tops. 

Anyway, just had this running around in my head all night as I watched NCIS plugging away at the final few cloths so I thought it would make an interesting post.

See ya on the flipside!

Time to make the donuts...oh, no, wait.......

Thanksgiving holiday is over and it is time to get down to some serious knitting.
 I finally found some Raffia that I wanted to tie the cloths up with  on Ebay


I opted for the synthetic instead of the real thing because, let's face it, they are just going to be ripped off and thrown away. I think I will get more enjoyment out of how cute the little bows will be than anyone I give the baskets to.
I still need to find five of the perfect baskets for the cloths. I am trying to find little square baskets that will hold about four cloths rolled up.And then I need something cool and interesting to put my MIL towel and cloth set in.
I think I am pretty close to having enough cloths finished so I can start on the scarf for the ole man, a coaster set for my Aunt and  the wrist warmers to go with my Mom's set.
I don't know if I can finish all that and still have time to whip out a small box of cloths to take to my MIL's Christmas party this year for all of my SILs but I am going to give it one hell of a try.
I know I gripe, often and loud, about Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving but when you are doing all these gifts by hand, you really don't have much of a choice. So yeah! It's non-handmade presents I am against purchasing before Thanksgiving. ;0)