Gift knitting

Lion Brand Yarn Studio

Gift knitting.  It's one of those topics in the knitting world that is talk about a lot, especially in the fall as everyone is frantically knitting hats and scarves for the holiday season.  The question I posed was "are there strategies that make gift knitting easier, is there a way to plan ahead?"  I asked my local knitters if they had any advice on this topic.

Nancy of Nangellini said  "In the past I have made x number of the same item and given them as gifts, like big flower pins…and then picked from all the finished ones which one I think would be best fro each recipient."  This idea is great for making sure everyone on your list gets a little something hand knit.  Another twist on this is knitted or crocheted Christmas ornaments.  I've also seen knitters and crocheters who make quick flowers and bows that they use to wrap their gifts with.

What about that special person you know would love something with love in every stitch.  How about a warm accessory to wear.  "I make tons and tons of hats, and my only thing is that I prefer to knit for people who will wash properly" Nicole from NoTwoSnowflakes comments bringing up two great points.  Hats can be easy and fast, faster than scarves.  Other quick knits, cowls, fingerless mitts, and anything that requires bulky yarn.

Bread and Butter Men's Hat Patter, NTS

Nicole's other point is to make sure you know who you're knitting for.  For example if I knit my brother a hat out of alpaca and wool it would be ruined as soon as he felt the need to wash it.  There are a few ways to remedy this.  The first is to not knit my brother the hat, but that would be cruel for both of us.  His head gets cold up in Rochester and I really wanted to try out that Crenellated Hat Pattern.  The second way is to tell him how to take care of his new hat as part of the gift.  One of my knitter friends told me "The first time I give someone something that I’ve knit, I include a bottle of Soak."  This works if your gift recipeant will remember how to care for their knit item.  The third way is to choose an easy to care for yarn.  In my brother's case I would choose a super wash wool.  This way I know he won't have to remember to hand wash his hat.

What if time is running out?  Sue Ellen had a great solution to that problem "If time is short, I’ve given the yarn and an image of the FO one year, and the FO the following year.  That also lets me spend a little more because I spread it over two years."  If you just must knit the Color Affection for you mom, but your deadline is a month away.  Buy the yarn, wrap it up in some pretty paper (with your yarn ribbon/flower/knit ornament) and give her a gift that will last two years.

Another idea that came up to solve the "I need a gift now!" dilema was the "Gift Closet".  You may not need a closet per say, but a bin or basket will do the same job.  The gift closet is when you have a few gifty items all knit up and ready to go for any last minuet gift giving.  You can stock your gift closet with a few scarves and hats, a couple of cowls, a spare baby blanket or BSJ and any thing you love to knit.  This way when the time comes to give out some hand made love you aren't frantically knitting till the wee hours of the morning.


Thanks to all the knitters and crocheters who joined in the discussion.  I truly appreciate all the input.

Day 10: Quick Yarn Embelished Picture Frames

These frames are easy and quick to make.  They are perfect for a last minuet gift and take only a few materials and only a few minuets to complete.

Materials
Frames (mine are some wooden frames from Ikea that I painted earlier)
Yarn (I had some recycled sari silk sitting around that I wanted to use up)
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun

While your hot glue gun is heating up cut your yarn in the appropriate length and play around with the layout of the yarn on the frame. 

Once you find a layout you like best glue the yarn to the back of the frame.  Be careful not to block where the picture goes so that you can close up your frame. 

Continue gluing your yarn to your frame until you have used all your cuts of yarn or are satisfied with the overall look of the frame

Insert a fun and meaningful picture and you are set!  I chose one of my brother and me at my wedding.

Lebowitz Cactus

When my friends moved into their new house we hatched a plan on what they would put in the giant picture window in the living room.  The plan involved me knitting a cactus, not just a knit version of a smallish house cactus, this cactus needed to be well interesting, weird, I mean it was going to sit in the picture window facing the street, it had to be a bold statement piece.

After about 6 months of trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this, along with a few failed attemps on the way I give you the not quite finished Lebowitz Cactus.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but this lovely pile of color will soon be a stuffed and potted cactus.  My friend Mike who described the cactus to me only really said a few things.  It should be knit, it should be "patchy" and that it shouldn't look like a cactus except in shape.  So here we have it the outer shell of what I think is a pretty good interpretation of what he was asking for, and a good use of multi-colored eyelash yarn on my part.

All I need to do know is sew up the strips, stuff it, knit the base, stuff that and then gently hot glue it into its pot.

Gift Knitting

It's barely into November, Thanksgiving is still a few weeks out, and its not even close to Christmas yet, but it is "that" time of year and with "that" time of year comes the rush to knit Presents for most of my close friends and family. Along with this race to finish knitted goods also comes the strong desire of knitting for myself. (Also at this time of year try to convince Simon that he would like an knitted item.)

So my question to knitters, crocheters, or any crafter out there is what do you make for your loved ones?

What patterns do you use? Who do you knit for? Do you pick one person to knit and epic project for or try to churn out a bunch of smaller projects for all your love ones?

P.S. I still haven't decided who or what I am knitting.

Sad face

I broke my favorite knitting needle tonight. My favorite needles is robin's egg blue and are vintage size US 11. I was using them knitting this lace banana silk scarf and dropped one on the marble floor at the knitting circle and the nub broke off.

I found thepiece that broke off and will super glue it back together.

I'm working a lot this week, not that i'm complaining, but I really want to work on my designs and knit. Monday is the holiday party for the kniting group and I need to make a present for the polly anna. Last year I brought my hand dyded. This year I think I will make something, maybe fingerless mitts, or a scarf. We'll see what comes to mind.