Monday, November 24, 2008

Kicking it into high gear . . .

While other bloggers are posting daily as part of Nablopomo, I seem to be posting less often in November!  That sounds just like me.  So for my own small personal challenge, I'm going to post every day this week.  To both of my blogs.  It's time to kick my blogging into high gear.

With Christmas just 30 days away, it's also time to kick my Christmas knitting into high gear.


That's right.  A whole pile of barely knit stuff,  most of which I can't even blog about lest I spoil the surprise.  That should make for some great posting, huh?

Well, here's where you can help.  Melissa asked for some suggestions of quick and inexpensive knits for holiday gifting - and I'd like to ask the same.  Leave me your suggestions in the comments, and I'll share them in posts all week long.  And since I think I've finally gotten the hang of crochet, I'd love some easy crochet gift suggestions too.  Heck, any hand-made gift ideas at all would be great, regardless of the craft.

In fact, since the holidays are about giving, why don't we make this into a little contest.  At the end of the week, I'll randomly draw a suggestion for a little hand-made prize!  So get those suggestions rolling!

12 comments:

Julie said...

A friend of mine wrote a little free hat pattern that she uses for charity knitting. I made three of these lickety split for my guys last xmas. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/helping-hat

I also love the Log Cabin slipper socks as a quick easy knit and folks are so impressed with those cables.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/log-cabin-socks This one is not free but there are several pages of free worsted weight socks on Ravelry so maybe there's something else just as nice.

Melissa said...

Oh! Worsted weight slipper socks, I hadn't thought about that. Great idea!! I think I'm going to cast on a washrag or two today to get some little spa-themed gifts for my co-workers, the ones of us left during the "economic downtime" anyway. :)
I'll be checking back on these comments to see the suggestions!

kathy b said...

Cowls cowls cowls baby! Can you knit in the round? Can you knit around town? Can you knit with only one foot on the ground?

Then you can whip up some warm and wonderful cowls. I think I may make a few smalls for the neighbor kids who wont wear hats. Better than a scarf falling off them and going into the lost and found pile!

Qutecowgirl said...

I am doing hats and mitts
(with and without fingers) and everything is being knitted in worsted weight! Oh and for crochet my fav is washcloths. I know it sounds simple but crochet wash cloths are nice and thick and I love them. Plus a a ball of cotton is not exspensive and there are lots of colors.

Theresa said...

Anything from stash is frugal - no matter how nice the yarn, it's already a sunk cost. I'm making cowls with leftovers here and there. Even easier than hats - no shaping!

sheep#100 said...

- Miniature socks and/or mittens for Christmas tree decorations

- Fingerless mitts

- Hats (but it looks like you've got that covered)

- Felted coasters

Anonymous said...

I'm doing a couple of mohair scarves (stash busting and they go FAST on big needles) and I love to do dishcloths. They are fast (1 or 2 in an evening of tv watching) and look so pretty in a stack of 2 (or more) tied with a ribbon bow. Everyone pretty much expects a dishcloth from me for the holidays!

Anonymous said...

How about easy felted slippers (not felted clogs) by Robin Smith. I found the pattern on Ravelry.

Anonymous said...

I just finished Porphyrias (http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Spincerely/porphyria) by Cissy Black which I found on Ravelry. They are pretty quick, use less than 50 grams of fingering yarn, and they are ribbed and ultra stretchy so they fit many sized hands.

Jenn said...

Fetchings and Calorimetrys are great, quick, one skein projects - I've made so many for gifts I have to think of something new!

Vicki said...

My new fave quick gift project is the "Hat Fit for a boyfriend" (http://stephanieknits.blogspot.com/2007/03/keeping-boyfriends-ears-warm-since-2006.html). I knit it in about a day with under a skein of bulky yarn (I chose Cadena from Knit Picks which put the cost at around $7) and Jaime loves it.

Anonymous said...

TAWASHI!!! You can make up a few of them and add a bar of soap or a little bottle of body wash to make a spa basket. I've gotten a great response from everyone I've given them to. You can use acrylic for tawashi that clean the dishes, but I usually make mine out of cotton leftovers from dishcloths and turn them into facial scrubbies and bath things. A fun knit tawashi is the "Wishy Washy Fishy Tawashi" and there are all kinds of crochet patterns, one of the easiest being the spiral tawashi.

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