Holiday Gift Knitting

I think this is the first Christmas since I began my knitting obsession where I can safely say that I’m not stressed at all about gift knitting! I set out thinking that I would knit for a lot of people, then decided that wasn’t going to happen (it was, after all, only 5 weeks until Christmas at that point) and instead just focused on the few people that I knew would appreciate a knitted gift. Of those, I knit for about 90% of them, so I’d have to call that a success! Does that mean I’m done with gift knitting? Errr… no… but it does mean that I’m down to two gifts and have one 60% finished (should finish tonight) and the other one I will start either tonight or tomorrow but since I already bought the recipient a very nice non-knitted gift, I am covered should I not be able to finish the knit in time. No harm, no foul.

I must say I am really surprised and shocked that this happened as I only began knitting Christmas gifts on November 11 and managed to come out with 6 (perhaps 7 if you count the one that may or may not be finished by Christmas Eve) gifts in the end! Not too shabby all around, I must say. And as some of these recipients have already received their gifts, I can share these knits with you now! The first one was the Sugar Bear Hoodie that I already shared with you last time, which I knit for the handsome Tudor. The second gift is actually two things (so does that I mean I’m knitting 7 or maybe 8 gifts???) and went to Tudor’s lovely mother and my dear friend.

Those are the Dyade Cowl and Mitts, designed by Vanessa of one of my favorite stores, The Fiber Fix. They were an incredibly quick knit and a wonderful gift. The recipient loved it and is so excited about finally owning fingerless gloves (she’d been eyeing the ones I had knit for a while now) and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to knit for as she always is so appreciative of my work! 🙂

Pattern – Dyade by Vanessa Smith (project link – Cowl | project link – Mitts)
Yarn – Earthly Hues Cashmere Seedling in Poppy (rav link | store I used)
Needle – US6 (4.00mm) and US1 (2.25mm)
Cast on – November 26, 2010 (cowl), November 29, 2010 (mitts)
Cast off – November 27, 2010 (cowl), December 1, 2010 (mitts)
Modifications – None

I also knit for Tudor’s father who received a lovely Windschief in Malabrigo Worsted (mmm, Malabrigo!). It was SUCH a quick knit as well and it turned out wonderful! I loved it on him (looks better than on me in this picture, LOL!).

Pattern – Windschief by Stephen West (project link)
Yarn – Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Olive (rav link)
Needle – US6 (4.00mm) and US7 (4.5mm)
Cast on – December 3, 2010
Cast off – December 5, 2010
Modifications – None

I also made a hat for another friend of mine. This one was sort of a request. She wanted a beret in pink. That’s all I knew. So I got some yummy (and oh so soft!) MadTosh MCN worsted in the gorgeous Fragrant from my stash and knit up a Crooked Paths for her. And I just LOVE how it turned out! She received it on Friday and is totally in love with the hat, so I’m happy!

Pattern – Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre (project link | pattern link)
Yarn – Madelinetosh 80-10-10 MCN in Fragrant (rav link)
Needle – US5 (3.75mm) and US8 (5.0mm)
Cast on – December 12, 2010
Cast off – December 13, 2010
Modifications – None

I think that’s enough projects to show in one post, though, so I’ll finish this up later this week. I hope everyone else is having a stress-free holiday gift season like I am, and if not that you soon will be stress-free! 🙂