An idea kicking around in my head, which, if I start it very soon, should work:
Knitting some of my Christmas gifts this year.
I think my mom needs a couple more pairs of handknit socks. And I see at least one yarn in my stash that would be ideal for her, and I am quite sure I have others. I'm thinking one plain pair (I have a Continuum Striping yarn in colors that are ones she likes and wears a lot, and I have so many striped socks already) and one with a knit/purl pattern (maybe one of the Erica Leuder patterns, those always seem to turn out well for me - and a lot of them work with variegated yarns).
My sister in law would probably like a pair of fingerless mitts. I have something else for her already, and I may see yet another thing somewhere. And again, I have a yarn that is colors she likes and is easy-care (someone with a toddler at home doesn't need to be handwashing gloves).
The bonus: I get a few things out of my stash.
No plans yet for my dad or brother, but they don't wear knitwear as much. And no real plans for my niece unless I go a little crazy and decide to knit her a sweater. (She wears a 3 T right now, no idea how long it would take to make a sweater that large or slightly bigger - she is tall but a bit slender for her age). Though I now also kind of want to get her some kind of little-kid-appropriate book on nature or animals, seeing as she is interested in (toy) slugs and frogs. (Or, oh....make her a set of the "flapjack frogs" from Mochimochiland and find a book that would go with them.)
(Update: The more I think about that the more I like that idea. The pattern has been obtained. I'm thinking, make the lily pad and three frogs and then get one of those DK books on animals or pond life or something like that, and give her the set. Yes, she's going to have a lot of books. That's part of the plan.)
(Her birthday gift is already set: an R is for R2D2 t-shirt and a miniset of Beatrix Potter books, the most famous ones/my favorite ones - there's Jeremy Fisher and Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin and several others)
I've already got part of my dad's.
A lot of all of this is that I shop opportunistically - when I see something that makes me think, "Hey, I know someone who would like that" I buy it and put it aside until the next gift-giving situation.
2 comments:
I used to shop like that and I miss doing it. It was so much fun to get all my gifts out of the closet at Christmas and see what I had for each person. Two years ago my family went to drawing another family member's name and only buying for that person plus the kids. At the time, we only had one kid in the family. Now my youngest nephew is in a serious relationship with a woman who has four children. I don't know them well so that makes buying gifts for them difficult.
If you or anyone else is interested, I've started posting a "Fab free five" (five interesting, little-known, or free) knitting patterns on Ravelry every Tuesday and Friday.
You can find them in the group "The Chocolate Teapot" (a great group of people, mostly British) in the thread "Bag a Bargain".
Usually at least one of the five is silly and at least four are practical. ;)
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