The pleasures of gift-giving

This holiday season, I knit a hat as a gift for a special person in my life for whom I had never knit a gift before. It was a rather funky hat: two-toned with a royal blue base and a light blue top, with the top sewn into three little points sticking out. I was a little nervous giving it to him, since I wasn't sure whether or not he'd appreciate it. Well, as soon as he took it out of the box he was delighted. He immediately put it on and was grinning like a fool. He hadn't had a hat at all, and said that he'd been getting sick of cold ears. He loved the funky design too. When you get to see a six-foot-three guy in a black trenchcoat and a silly blue hat that you made him, grinning from ear to ear, it make the work more than worthwhile. I feel like I brightened his day a bit with the gift, since his holidays are usually a little blah and he has the added issue of being very broke this year, so making him smile warmed me from the inside out. He will definitely remain on the list of People To Knit For, that list that will only include those who appreciate the knit gifts I give them.

I have already become woefully bad with the updates.

Well. Since our last installment, I ripped Samus down to the band again and started her up again. It pissed me off no end, but I was determined to get it right. She's looking good now: I've done all the waist shaping AND I have the right number of stitches on my needles (can you say HALLELUJAH?) It's a little shorter than I'd expected it to be at this point, which is odd since my row gauge is absolutely perfectly spot-on at 25 rows per 4 inches, and the band width is exactly right as well. Eh. Anyway, no big deal: I think it'll fit me just fine as it is. I hope so!

My work holiday party is tomorrow afternoon. There's going to be someone there collecting donated gifts for local underprivileged kids. I hadn't bought anything, and was going to contribute to the canned food drive instead, but then I had the idea to knit some hats! I've done some hat knitting recently, and decided that with a bulky yarn, kids hats would knit up fast enough for me to have them done in time. I made two cute little beanies: one in a fuzzy pink variegated yarn with mohair in it, for a girl, and one in light blue Lamb's Pride Bulky for a boy. They should fit kids around ages 2-4. I put tags on them to say they're hand-knit and should be hand-washed, and wrapped them up. I'm really glad I did this. It feels good to know that my stash is going to a good cause! And I'm getting addicted to hats. I've knit myself a couple in the past, but they weren't very good. I think it may soon be time to make another.

In two days is the MIT Stitch 'n Bitch Holiday Party. We're doing a stash swap as a gift exchange, which should be fun. I'll have to see what I have that's swappable. I know there are at least a few things in there. I got a friend who works at MIT to agree to come, too. It's always nice to recruit folks, and I already know I like knitting with her.

I think that next up to receive some hand-knits from me as gifts are my boyfriend's parents. A wrap or shawl for his mom, perhaps, or comfy slippers. Maybe a nice thick cabled scarf and hat for his dad. Or something. But I don't have time for that before Christmas, and NO IDEA what to do for them this year. Oy. I'll figure something out. I am a creative little seed after all.