A solution for the frazzled holiday knitter

Silly knitters. Every year, we race against the clock as we knit gift after gift. As the result, our loved ones are flooded in dish cloths, and we have ulcers.

It's quite simple, really. Even the fastest, smallest knitted gift, like a hat, dishcloth, or bookmark, takes, what, at least three? five? hours. It's hard to accept, but sometimes, there just isn't enough time to knit a gift for everyone you love.

That's often my problem. I love giving handmade gifts, and most people I know love getting them. However, most people I know have no use for small knitted projects. For some reason, everyone I know has conspired against me to never wear hats, use knitted dishcloths, or like mittens. It's all about the more time-consuming gifts for them -- which I'm happy to provide, but not last-minute.

Here's where I brag. Last week, I went home, pulled out my beading box, and in the matter of three hours or so, I made gifts for 7 people.

Earrings for coworkers:


(Left: green jade and Bali sterling silver. Right: porcelain, Bali silver and Swarovski crystal. Both with sterling hooks and wires.)


(The best shot I could get of these Swarovski crystal beauties. See how they swing.)

Bookmarks for friends:


(Sterling, Swarovski, fluorite, and green jade, from left to right.)

And a pearl and crystal necklace for a great little girl. However, I've already given her her necklace, and the only pictures I had of it were awful, so you'll just have to imagine.

So, the moral: next time I'll remember about my beading supplies sooner. Plus, this saved me quite a bit of money, since I already had all the supplies, and they were quite inexpensive then, too. I think each pair of earrings, made in high-quality materials, cost as much as a ball of Sugar'n'Cream cotton.

ETA: That's not to say I'm not knitting gifts this year. I'm making a nativity set for my in-laws (remember that project? Still haven't finished. They're just getting the Holy Family, and I'm gifting them the rest of the characters over the next couple of years.), a shrug for a dear friend's beautiful baby girl, and a sweater for my husband. On a whim, I decided to try and publish the sweater, so I'm not showing it here, but he's SO excited about it. He got to design it -- he picked the color, style, and stitch pattern. He goes over and pets it, and gets a nice dreamy look on his face when he's thinking about it. It's the cutest thing.