Well, Christmas knitting (as much of it as I'm going to do this year), has been begun.

While I was up at my parents I made a "notebook cover" (actually, more of a "notebook cozy") from the new "101 Designer One-Skein Knits" (which is not a great book, production-wise, but does have some interesting patterns). I made it for a longtime friend of the family (I went and stayed with her when my mom was in the hospital having my brother - and he's 33) that I exchange Christmas gifts with.

It turned out pretty well. (No picture; I left it up there so my mom could send it with her gift to "Mrs. D.") The biggest challenge was finding a 5" by 7" notebook in the stores I tried - I guess I was trying too "upscale" or something. (For the next one, I'm going to try the office supply aisle at the local Mart of Wal first). And I am making another - they're fast and kind of unusual and I think it's probably an okay "practical" gift for those gift exchanges where you don't know who will wind up with what you bring. (This is for the AAUW party). I'm going to get a couple of nice pens to go with the notebook so it's a little bit of a fancier gift. (For my other "anonymous" gift exchange party, we're supposed to bring a white elephant to exchange - and I have a perfect one; a big decorated Christmas cookie jar. It's a regift from an "anonymous" exchange last year. It's very nice and all, but I can't use it - no counter space and I don't really do that much elaborate decorating for Christmas. Hopefully someone with kids or grandkids will get it and will be able to use it).

I've also started the first fingerless mitt from the pattern in "Not Another Teen Knitting Book" (they're the Band Geek pattern - the whole book has as its conceit that there is a pattern for each of the "cliques" or stereotypical groups in high school. Hence, a "nerd" vest with an argyle design, and a truly ugly scarf made of torn strips of fabric for the "populars" [hrm...a bit of repressed hostility on the part of the author there?]) It's kind of a jokey book but some of the patterns are kind of fun. And these gloves are nicer than a lot of fingerless mitts; they actually have finger-divisions instead of just one big opening.

I'm doing a trial pair (to be sure the pattern works and fits right) out of Paton's Soy Wool Stripes for me, and then I'm going to do a pair for my mom. She was admiring a pair of the (non-finger-divided) kind of handwarmers I had when I was up there, and commented she should make herself a pair. As I know she will not likely get to it before the holidays, I'm going to make her a pair. (I had been wondering what "supplemental" present to do - her gift was smaller and less expensive than all the others and although I don't live in a "calculator-based" family where "why is his gift bigger than mine?" a holiday sentiment that's expressed or even thought, I still like to be fair).

I bought some Caron Felt-It, after realizing there was nothing in my stash that was (a) the appropriate weight, (b) not super-scratchy, and (c) colors that would not clash too badly with her winter jackets. I realize Felt-It is not the luxe yarn ever, but the colors were right (it's one of the variegateds, called, I think, "Heath") and I don't have time at this point to try to find something to order and have sent.

It's nice to have some small projects to work on. I may have a photo of the first fingerless glove tomorrow afternoon; I'm pretty happy with how it's working up. It's a simple pattern, but like all gloves, it looks much more complex than it actually is.