Finally Get To Share!

Finally I get to share the lovely things I made to give as gifts this holiday season. I'm going to start with the most unexpected since I have already said that they scare me, but I made socks! More surprising than that even was that I found them to be almost easy to make!

The yarn that I purchased online on cyber Monday was all intended to make a cute pair of ankle socks with fun fur cuffs, but the colors were not as good of a match in person as I thought them to be online so I did have to make an extra trip to get fun fur that went with the sock yarn. Don't worry, I definitely found something to do with Martha's glitter eyelash...

So here they are! I think they came out pretty good for having to modify this pattern for Sock Monkey Socks to make them shorter. So now I am addicted to making socks, which is a good thing because these only took one skein of the two I purchased to make them. Plus, I got a couple of skeins in my stocking; Santa knows what I like!

I gave them to my Aunt Mary for Christmas and she wasted no time putting them on and wearing them the rest of the day.

There will definitely be more socks to come!

Last Minute Gift Ideas

There are less then three weeks before Christmas but thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, I have yet to panic. Right now, everything seems a little slow moving to me, except the calendar, so I'm working through my gift list, but with no real urgency, the decorations are still mostly in boxes, and I haven't even begun to think about baking.

This is highly unusual for me. I generally enter December in a state of anxious list making and a frantic decoration of everything from the tree to the sugar cookies, and last year I remember knitting well into the night to get everything finished for Christmas day. Maybe it's the fact that for a change I went shopping on black Friday and actually bought a few presents, or it could be that I'm in 3 polyannas which cuts my gift buying in half. (Check out Elfster if you're looking for a fabulously easy way to organize your own gift exchange) Whatever the case I'm thankful I don't feel stressed right now, and I'm hoping it's not gearing up for a horrible 2 weeks of holiday all nighters.

So, if you are feeling the way I usually am with 19 days to go before the big day, but still want to give your loved ones some handmade coziness, here are a few quick projects that make great gifts, especially when the real winter weather hits.

Hats are great, everyone needs one, and there's so much creative freedom you can have with them. Hannah's hat has an interesting pattern, and on size 13 needles, you'll fly through!

 

A cowl is another great gift and is perfect if you don't think you have time to get though a whole scarf. The name says it all for this Quick Cowl.

How cute are these Christmas Mitts, all dressed up with a pretty ribbon. Fingerless gloves are becoming more popular, especially for the frequent texter.

If you think your giftee won't want something to wear, how about something like this Coffee Cozy? Any coffee lover would appreciate this quick knit to keep from burning their hands on their favorite brew.

These are just a few patterns available on Ravelry so you can also go search their site for the perfect gift, or make make one of my easy original designs.

What are your favorite handmade holiday projects to give?