No More Mysteries Part 1

MERRY CHRISTMAS BLOG READERS.  I hope your day made you feel as blessed as I feel tonight.  I have been right properly spoiled by my family today and yesterday and I couldn't possibly feel any more happy in my life.  That's all one can really ask for.

Well- I suppose you could also ask for me to reveal the mysterious knitting projects!  This post has to be split up into two posts, otherwise you are going to be picture heavy and load time is going to be slow.  I ask your patience as you'll have to wait to see surprise #2.

But first- before you see the surprise you need to meet 2 people.

This is my sister.  (pictured with my son this spring)

This is my sister's dog (Etta the Sheltie).

I can't put into words properly just how much my sister loves her dog.  My sister loves her dog to pieces and pieces and pieces.

So of course, for Christmas I made her these: (Christmas Mystery #1)

Pattern: I took motifs/charts from THREE patterns and used them to create this one-of-a-kind mitten which I charted out myself.

SHELTIE & PAW PRINTS: The Sheltiemitten by Brigitte Reiten (Ravelry Link Only)
SNOWFLAKES: First Snow Mittens by Aet Terasmaa (Rav link)
BONES: Dog Mittens by Jorid Linvik

Yarn: Black- Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 Ply White- Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4 Ply (Purchased at Pudding Yarn in Calgary)
Needle Size: Crap.  I didn't write that down!
Notes: NOTE TO SELF.  When knitting words into projects one must remember to do it in mirror imaging.  (At least the way I knit.)  Halfway thru the first "Etta" I realized I had to re-chart it backwards.  It was a 6 row rip out.  Boo.  But TOTALLY worth it.  :-)  Also the yarns I used for these mittens made them feel SO. SOFT.  I would 100% use them for these kind of mittens again.

Once I got into the pattern design (which took a little while)- this pattern moved along pretty easily.

   

And I couldn't be more happy with the results!

   

I think it's safe to say my sister LOVED this present.  I kept this on lock down secret.  I told no inside my family until at the last minute, I couldn't contain myself and told my mom, but she was sworn to secrecy.  I'd like to think my sister didn't see this coming and she was genuinely surprised and delighted by this.  I've given a lot of knitting gifts to people but I have to say, this is the first time someone was shocked by what was there for them.  She shared them all over her social media and immediately texted her friends to show them.  I know she loved them.  I've never made such a personalized gift before and I'm so happy they delighted her the way they did.

I don't have a picture of her with them.  Maybe I'll get one eventually but I don't think I'll forget the look on her face when she realized her dog was on her mittens for a long time.  Good warm fuzzy knitting memory to hold on to!

It's funny because I unsuccessfully attempted to knit her mittens a long time ago.  (Jog your memory here.)  At the time I was extremely frustrated and couldn't get a decent gauge.  In a way I'm glad these didn't work out because, after some time, the absolutely MOST PERFECT PAIR of mittens were made for my sister.  I had to be a better knitter in order to make them.  The pattern I was going to knit at the time is cute, but you can't beat the actual breed of dog on the mittens!  And so- I'm really glad (now) that they didn't work out.

And that solves our knitting mystery #1.  There's much more to tell you this Christmas, so stay tuned!