What to do when you've run out of time for gift knitting

We’ve all been there. Watching the days tick down before the holiday period - acutely conscious that your pile of unfinished WIPs seems to be increasing as the big day approaches. Panic starts to set in as you realise that you have drastically over committed yourself and you start to send up fervent prayers to the Knitting Gods that next year, you promise you’ll start earlier. If only they could just grant you a few more hours of knitting time.

I have to confess that I abandoned the concept of gift knitting a few years ago. It helps that my children are older and no longer expect the elves to bring striped socks on Christmas Eve -also their feet are much bigger than mine. I knit for loved ones throughout the year and if it happens to coincide with a birthday or special event then so much the better. But I don’t place that pressure and weight of expectation on myself anymore. It feels like a way to be kinder to myself at what can be an extremely stressful time of year.

If you are gift knitting though and keeping a firm eye on the diminishing hours, may I present my firmly tongue in cheek suggestions to power through your gift knitting.

1. Knit faster. Yes, I know it’s blindingly obvious but for me I know that I can speed knit in short bursts if I need to or if a deadline looms. I remove all the distractions, leave my phone in another room and put on a tried and tested box set to watch. Setting myself a goal of solid knitting for 1 or 2 episodes of Schitts Creek for example is an excellent way I’ve found to really get some solid inches in.

2. Stop cooking. Drastic, yes but desperate times call for desperate measures. More than once I have suggested we have a ‘picky tea’ - which is generally an invitation to raid the fridge/cupboards/leftovers and compile a meal from the harvest. When the kids were small I would put a picnic blanket on the living room and call it an indoor picnic. Either way, it freed up precious knitting time.

3. Crying and stress eating - not recommended obviously but I’ve definitely done this in extremis. It doesn’t get the knitting done any faster though.

4. Give an IOU. This is obviously the one I have had most success with and the one that I recommend most heartily to you. Unless the recipients are very small (and their gifts are also correspondingly tiny) I recommend taking the pressure off yourself. All good things come to those who wait, after all. By all means take a photo of what the intended item will be - or gift wrap half a sock if it makes you feel better. Those who are truly knitworthy in your life will appreciate that good knitwear doesn’t just fall off trees. And if they aren’t truly knitworthy then you could save yourself the trouble and just buy them a box of chocs instead.

Whatever you choose to do, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy and peaceful Christmas, however you are spending it and to say a sincere thank you for being here with me this year.

How much do I love a cowl?

Tap to buy patterns

The answer is lots...apparently

I've written about my love of cowls versus shawls a few times before - at length - but it's really at this time of year that they come into their own.

Something you can just throw on in a morning as you dash out of the door. Those first few frosty mornings that catch you slightly unawares and can leave the knitter feeling exposed and slightly draughty at the bus stop.

Until I had knit a few I was unpersuaded by the joys of cowls, I thought they would feel bulky or constraining (I have an irrational fear of polo neck sweaters and anything too tight under my chin) but they have turned out to be a surprisingly versatile and well-worn addition to my wardrobe.

They are also pretty quick to knit - compared to a full on shawl - and 1 skein of DK can go a long way when you pair it with a stretchy, squishy stitch pattern.

As a winter treat I have put together a bundle of cowl patterns with the discount code COWL15 on my website. You can buy as many as you like - just add the code at the checkout.

Happy knitting

If you knit something set it free

Fuss Free festival Shawl

For todays #Blogtober post I am re-sharing an older post from the archives, prompted by a discussion that has been circulating on Twitter. A lady in her late 60s crocheted a blanket for a young man, only to be hurt when the gift was rejected.

There are many ‘hot takes’ on this and undoubtedly there are more gracious ways to deal with an unwanted gift but at the heart of this lies the central tenet that handcrafters tend to overemphasise the significance of handmade items, whereas for non crafters it tends to be the opposite and they underestimate their significance.

Anything handmade involves a significant investment of time and energy and it makes sense, upfront to determine what you are hoping to achieve with a handmade gift and to take the time to ensure that it is something the recipient will actually want and use.

The original post on this subject: If You Knit Something Set It Free was written in 2017 and apart from an outdated Ravelry reference it’s still just as relevant today as it was then.

A Friday FO

It isn’t often that a Finished Object coincides with a Friday but here we are with a genuine FO.

A combination of illness and a super addictive project - thank you to Amy van de Laar and the Ravelry Giftalong - meant that this Beeswax Hat practically flew off the needles.

Just complex enough to hold my attention, but intuitive enough that my sleep deprived brain could follow along. It was perfect knitting from start to finish.

I enjoyed it so much that I also bought and cast on the matching Beeswax Shawl - so I’m sure there will be photos of that along shortly too.

If you haven’t heard of the Ravelry Giftalong please do check it out. It’s a week long 25% discount sale from nearly 300 designers - covering 1000s of their selected patterns. Far more than a sale though, it’s a whole community. There is a Giftalong Group on Ravelry with KALs, competitions and much more running through to the end of the year.

You can find the mega bundle with all the sale patterns here

And you can find my bundle here

If you do join in please do wave and say hello - and more importantly do let me know what you are knitting. I’m nosey like that

xx

Knit for Yourself this Christmas

In the past I've written about both a minimal knitters Christmas and also about gift knitting - and specifically about giving without constraints or expectations - “If you knit something set if free”

But it occurred to me that there's another aspect to gift knitting - primarily whether folks are worth knitting for in the first place.

I don't mean that in a negative or derogatory way at all. But rather, unless someone has at some point expressed an interest in or a desire to have a hand-knit item, they why would you assume that they want one.

If someone has expressed a desire for a warm woolly hat for example then by all means - all speed to your needles. Knit with a passion, a love and a burning desire to keep that loved one's head warm. If they haven't, why not save yourself the time, trouble and possible anguish and just buy them one? They won't know the difference and you will saved valuable time - and yarn

Let's face it, knitting takes time and effort and it's a deeply personal thing to do. It's an expression of our love and obviously as knitters we see that. But the average person with little or no appreciation of handcrafts might not, almost certainly will not.

You have to weigh up your time - after all that’s the most precious resource here. Even the simplest of knits can take a few hours to make and most items - scarves, shawls, cowls etc can take considerably longer. That’s time you can’t get back. Time you could spend knitting for someone you know will really appreciate it - YOU

A more minimal knitters Christmas

Please don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas. I love the warmth, the fairy lights, the candles (and yes - a bit of mulled wine). What I increasingly struggle with is the excess and the intensity of it all. Each year seems to bring a mounting sense of urgency, of the endless pursuit of seasonal perfection and a constant comparison between myself and others.

I know that the last point - the comparison - is entirely on me. It’s the way that I can respond to external pressures when I’m feeling less than positive about my own circumstances and that’s something that I am working on.

But, that minor personality foible aside I do feel as though every year brings with an onslaught of more - more Christmas “stuff”. There are some beautiful yarn advent calendars out there and some really lovely KALs and projects but sometimes it all just feels a little bit too much.

I’m really glad that I decided not to buy a yarn advent calendar this year. I was sorely tempted back in the summer when my favourite dyers were busy plotting and planning. But in the end I decided that I would rather not put that pressure on myself to keep up. I would inevitably feel that I had to keep up with the daily knitting (again - that’s entirely my own neuroses talking) and that it would just add to the general feeling of overwhelm that often threatens to overtake me at this time of year.

So instead, rather than wallowing in my own self-analysis I’ve decided to adopt a few principles for a more minimalist knitty Christmas.

• I am packing away my WIPs (and a sizeable chunk of my stash) - all of them - into the loft when I get the Christmas decorations down. Instead I am just going to have the 3 or 4 that I’m actively working on instead of the huge WIP basket that stares balefully at me every time I pass it.

• I will pick out a few suitably seasonal skeins of yarn to decide on a relaxing “Twixtmas” project - the lovely period between Christmas and New Year when nothing ever happens.

• I am doing absolutely no gift knitting, other than things I want to do (read: none)

• I have asked for no yarny gifts (or indeed any gifts) this Christmas. Both my husband and I have agreed that we have enough “stuff” and we would rather folks donate to Crisis or some other charity on our behalf.

• Rather than doing an advent knit I am going to use up some of my sock yarn stash and make a series of hats for a homeless shelter, ready for donation in the New Year.

  I am really sorry if this post comes across as “holier than thou” or in any way miserable. I promise you that isn’t my intention at all. But I’ve been writing this blog long enough now to realise that if I’m feeling a certain way there are bound to be others who are feeling just the same.

  I love seeing all the advent and festive posts on my social media feed but for this year I am giving myself permission not to get caught up in the seasonal knitting. But instead to relax, light some scented candles and just do some nice plain hat knitting with no pressure or expectations.