christmas present progress

I lined up seven projects for myself this Christmas. I now have three and a half done...hopefully I can make it four by tomorrow...? But I'm feeling kind of ok about my Christmas knitting list. Not great, but ok.

So, to my sisters, who poke around this blog every once in a while, and ESPECIALLY my middle sister, who totally used to snoop around for her Christmas gifts when she was little, please do NOT scroll down, because I am about to blog about your gifts. I mean it. Both of you. Just go to another web page. Seriously! GIT!

Ok, just in case my pesky sisters are still on this page, I'm going to give them one more chance to peace. out. and start by admitting that I bought a Christmas gift for myself. It took a little rationalization, but finally I couldn't stand it any longer and I ordered the Namaste Newport knitting bag in "peacock." I am always shoving different knitting projects into different sized totes, and...stuff falls out...and...(sigh)...ok, for real, I am just in LOVE with that color! I had to check several online retailers before I found one that had it in Peacock and now I can't wait for it to get here! I think we will be the best of friends. :)

I am SO glad that cowls are SO "in" right now! They are The Best Thing to happen to Christmas knitting since...I don't know what. It's just such a great way to be able to give someone a really special handknit. They're substantial enough to make a nice gift, but small enough that you can try out a fancy-pants stitch pattern or a fabulous yarn without killing yourself. Not that I necessarily went overboard on either...but you could, you see. Over Thanksgiving weekend I finished two Feather and Fan Cowls for two (non-sister) recipients. It was a free pattern from my LYS, and you can get the details on my Ravelry project page. I can't decide what I love most about this project; that it took almost no time at all, that the feather and fan pattern is so gosh-darned pretty, or that this yarn is absolutely delicious. Each cowl uses one skein of Classic Elite Lush, which is an angora/wool blend and if you've never used it, I suggest you do. Heck, just buy a skein and snuggle your face into it! That's even faster than knitting.

This week I finished cowl #3, Veronik Avery's Chevron Neck Warmer. When I first started, I was kind of "meh" about it, but now that it's finished, I. Want. It. This is for one of my no-good-dirty-rotten-nosy-scheming sisters (are you still reading this???) and I hope she loves it. I used about half a skein of Berocco Ultra Alpaca in "couscous" on size 5 needles and think I have enough yarn left to make another for myself! The cowl stretched out more than I thought it would when I blocked it, but I compensated by sewing the buttons a bit farther in from the edge. I think it will be ok. And if/when I make another I will definitely be getting more of the same buttons. They're really nothing too special---I found them at JoAnn!---but I just love the way that dark leather looks against the natural colored yarn with the chevron pattern. I'm pretty happy with this gift. Hopefully I will remember to take action shots of the neck warmer warming my sister's neck and post them after Christmas. For now, more sedentary shots of the cowl than anyone probably cares to see...

The one gift I'm worried about finishing is the Tapestry Cowl. It's still only about a third of the way done, and I'm SO slow at it. Which makes me procrastinate. Which is obviously not a good combination. So I guess I should go work on some socks now...