LMKG #5-6: Matryoshka and Braided.

When Susan B. Anderson was visiting Loops yesterday, I kept thinking that pretty much her entire book, Itty Bitty Toys, was the ultimate Last Minute Knitted Gift source. Really, I could feature a different tiny toy from her book every day, get this whole LMKG blog thing wrapped up, and get back to my own knitting! But yeah, that would be cheating, a little. So I sucked it up and picked a favorite: Matryoshka.

Even though I've already knitted both my girls' Christmas presents, I may have to knit up these adorable Russian nesting dolls. I couldn't keep my hands off of them! They just take one skein of Blue Sky Dyed Cotton, plus a tiny bit of skinnier cotton, and some embroidery floss for the faces.

Here are some other shots from Susan's book signing event at Loops. Lily, clutching the highly huggable Giraffe:

Ruth got two books signed, and showed off her new Louisa Harding fingerless gloves. She had just come from an event at the Garden Center, where everyone oohed and aahed over these:

Many customers came in wearing Susan's designs. This scarf, "Braided," is a free pattern from the Spud & Chloe Blog and is a quick knit using 3 skeins of "Outer" yarn (hey lookie, there's another LMKG idea - let's call that #6!):

Here are two runners-up for my Favorite Itty Bitty Toy, Princess & The Pea:

And Wrap-Me-Up Puppies:


Thank you so much to Susan for a wonderful event! I have yet to meet a sweeter, more gracious Knitter Superstar. We asked her to return soon for a workshop - hopefully when her next book is released! We can't wait!

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com