I wish there were 15 days! There are actually only 11. Does it sneak up on you like it does on me?? I don’t know how I let it happen and I swear every year I’ll change, I’ll start sooner, I’ll plan carefully, I’ll use my time better. (Let me know how that works out for you, Cheryl.)
I guess the short story is…I’m behind. I have so much deadline knitting to do for other things that I almost can’t add another thing to my list. It seems such a shame, though! I do love giving knitted gifts and everyone on my list is deeply knit-worthy. Soooo….here I am on Ravelry looking for the quickest, cutest last-minute knits I can find! This process is almost as much fun as the knitting itself 🙂
Here’s the best of the lot. Designed by a friend of mine, the talented Laura Chau, this adorable pattern is written for super bulky yarn which means it knits up in no time. The pattern includes the rolled brim hat and the mittens. Clean and simple, Laura’s pattern adapts itself beautifully to yarns that do all the work, like the new Noro Rainbow Rolls. Rainbow Rolls can be ordered quickly and easily and delivered right to your door from Yarn.com. They stock 7 magnificent colors.
Prefer solids? How about one of these?
If your tastes, skills and timelines run more to cowls, here are some great gift ideas. Cowls are fast, fun and easy to make and require little to no shaping or sizing. Find a soft yarn in the giftee’s favorite color and you’re halfway to wrapping it up.
I love the simplicity of each of these chubby cowls. The Chunky Knit Cowl by Mary Legere is worked in jumbo garter stitch and calls for Aran weight yarn. Looks like the yarn is held double. The Malin Chunky Cowl by Leoni Morgan is worked in super bulky yarn using Fisherman’s Rib, soft, spongy and warm.
How about a hat? I’ve often said I could sit right down and knit nothing but hats for every more! I love the bite-size quality of knitting a hat and I like that I can experiment with scale, ease and stitch pattern in the humble hat. I’m in love with this one by Cathy Carron. I could see myself doing this hat with removable, pompoms in different colors to match my mood 🙂
Wrist warmers and fingerless gloves and mitts are some of my favorite quick knits and something that I wear every single day of winter, indoors and out. These wonderful, generously-cuffed hand toasters , Saturated Fingerless Gloves by Larissa Brown, would be such fun to knit in variegated, hand-painted or self-striping yarn. They’re stockinette so they’d make the perfect TV project. I could see myself tuned in to TCM watching “The Man Who Came to Dinner”, “The Bishop’s Wife” and “The Shop Around the Corner” wonderfully ensconced upon the sofa, hot water bottle in my lap, happily knitting away 🙂 Ooooh…that sounds nice! Better go raid my stash, make some tea and get to it!
