Needlework Tuesday - Knit Club of the Month

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

Last week I mentioned that I joined Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month. Well, my first kit came in the mail last Friday!!! I was ecstatic that it came so quickly. I love starting new projects. I knew it was going to be a gamble because you don't get to pick your project. It just shows up and it really can be anything. The project for this month is Christmas Placemat and Coaster sets.

Even though I was excited to get started, I had mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I don't do many Christmas crafts. I don't like storing stuff for 11 months of the year. I already have lots of decorations that I have to do that with and don't really need anymore. It would be okay if I was one of those people who LOVED Christmas and kept my decorations up for a lot longer (ahem...Tami...ahem.) ;) Second, I'm not fond of variegated yarns, especially the ones with high contrast colours. Besides all of that, I'm pleased that the first kit has a yarn that I haven't worked with before (Mary Maxim Sparkle) and has at least one abbreviation that was unfamiliar to me, kfb. It turns out that I'm really familiar with doing this increase, it's just that the abbreviation is new.

I love that the kit comes in a plastic bag with a zipper that not only keeps my project pieces all together, but will also be great for storing the pieces afterwards. I toyed around with the idea of making a table runner instead of the individual placemats, but I figured for the first month I'd follow the directions exactly. I'm pleased that the placemat knits up fairly quickly, even though I'm a slow knitter. I'm almost finished the first placemat and have started on the first coaster. Here are some photos:

Kit

Placemat, close up

 

Coaster

 

The pieces will have to be blocked when they are done, especially the coasters. I hope to be done with this one before the next one arrives in about 30 days.  

Because the kit is knitting up quickly, I should still be able to work on the green scarf I showed last week in between. I've already completed 56" of the total 65", so only a bit more to go on it. I also have a second scarf in the wings waiting along with my temperature scarf, which is ongoing.

That's it for this week.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts. If you've done any crafting this week, I hope you'll consider linking up so other can enjoy your creations.