Well, I guess it's time to start thinking about Xmas. Bah! Humbug! Well, the selection boxes have been in the shops for aaaages and it's amazing the number of my friends that have started their shopping already.
Makes sense, I suppose - especially here, where bricks and mortar shops are few and far between, so much has to be done on the Internet. With the proposed Royal Mail strikes, the early birds will be nodding sagely!
If you're making your own gifts, which many people are in these recession hit days, then it also makes sense to start now - even if it's just the planning stages!
so............ my thoughts so far:
I'm planning on making a few of these. I think they make a nice change from the traditional long scarf and, depending what wool/colourway you use, could be quite dressy i.e. in a glittery yarn. On the practical side too, a buttoned down scarf is quite a good idea in the windy Hebrides in winter :-) The pattern is for Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica which is an Aran weight yarn, so knits on 5mm needles.
I'm also toying with the idea of felted bags - maybe even with felting some of my handspun. Need to do some research tho, as I've only ever felted by accident before - lol.
And for the guys, I'm checking out some of the stuff on here:
This is a great newsletter to sign up for. They quite often have free pattern ebooks to download. This week's had 7 really nice designs for men. I've got one request for an Aran or gansey - will probably take me til Xmas to knit one of those. But there are some nice 'manly' wrist warmers and scarves, if a jumper is too daunting or time consuming.
