December 2017 Gift Knitting

December is always a busy month and with that usually comes lots of knitting!  I tend to prefer to give useful handmade gifts like wearables or helpful household items when and if I can. We don’t often have much money to spare when it comes to store-bought gifts and gift cards and have always found handmade a bit more doable with a smaller dollar amount but a larger sacrifice of time. 

I’m going, to be honest, that time was really hard to come by with the end of the year home purge, homeschooling, activities and place to be, lack of sleep ( the little one has never slept through the night and takes short naps) , and illnesses (one person after the other caught what was going around) that went through our home but I by God managed to get everything done and gifted to the intended recipients.  I didn’t knit everything I wanted to but I think what was given was enough and well-received.

My nine-year-old is showing off the hat she made for a friend from church in the picture above. She wanted to gift something special and loom knitted this in around five days. This is her first hat ever. It gave out well. She did have a few bumps but as do most knitting projects when you are starting out and even after sometimes!

 The washcloths and hat pictured above were knit for my sister-in-law. I picked the red and black colors because she loves the Portland Trailblazers Basket Ball team and the orange and brown cloths because she’s a fan of the Beavers Football team here in Oregon.

The set of four red, white, and blue themed cloths went along with a Gooseberry cookbook I got for my mother-in-law. I found these cute little labels online to print, cut out, and tape around each of the cloths. They came out looking so nice and professional on these Granny’s Favorite Dishcloths.

My endeavors of packaging and presenting knit goods have just begun as I plan on getting my online knitting store up and running again in 2018. I not only discovered labeling but a great place for buttons and leather tags to add to all my knit goods.

The hat at the very top of this post is made from yarn I got on my 11th wedding anniversary early this month. I wanted to practice jogless stripes for hats and I feel I did really well. The hat is for my 19-month-old daughter and it fits her will with plenty of stretchiness to carry her into even next winter. The peacock, purple, and white Brava Worsted Knit Picks yarn was a delight to work with. So easy on the hand and very soft and comfortable when worn. I don’t usually add a pom-pom but I think it looks very nice!

Maybe next year I can be more ahead for knitted gifts to friends and family. It’s been a long year with many challenges but things are looking up and I am predicted more yarn projects in the future.