Hand Knit Gifts

Over the years, I've given a number of my hand knits as gifts and I've decided that giving hand knits as gifts at Christmas is fine, but not for birthdays.

Here's Why

I always think that a birthday celebration should be about the person with the birthday, and not be hijacked by someone because their gift is fabulous.

I have made some exceptions to this rule, but not many (there was one time I went to a surprise birthday party for an acquaintance, and it was held by two extremely wealthy men...our gift to the birthday guy was a spectacular bonzai tree...a miniature maple tree that totally impressed the hosts, which was all we really cared about).

A number of times, before I had this rule, a birthday gift recipient would open up a fabulous hand knit and the rest of the time it was all about me, the knitter rather than the person who should be getting the attention. 

Ever since, even if someone has asked me for a birthday gift of something hand knit, I usually give them the gift, but not as a birthday gift. 

Current Knitting

With the completion of a few works in progress, I thought it might be a good time to start a new project.  One of my on-line knitting groups was considering a Knit-a-long, and I really liked the project he chose, so I decided to start my own version of it.

The pattern is Cascade Scarf #4 by Brian Smith

 

I decided to do a more muted version in dark gray and camel, and also do a finer gauge version in DK weight instead of worsted.  I also made the scarf/now wrap about twice as wide, although I'll probably go with approximately the same length of 72"

 I need to start a third color soon...any suggestions on what I should add in to make this scarf as beautiful as the original (or at least beautiful)?

Readers' Comments/Questions

Regarding my last pair of socks I completed, Hayes writes, "So if you were using up all the yarn you had for them, how'd you measure-out the yarn to get them both the same size?"

In a really stupid way.  I should have just written that I knit both socks at the same time...one from the inside strand of a center-pull ball and one from the outside...which is what I started doing.  I just got tired of constantly untangling the yarns and after I got both socks up past the heel, I re-wound the ball into a two-strand ball (pulling one strand from the inside and one from the outside) and then I broke the yarn at the end.  Then I re-wound each yarn-length into separate center-pull balls, untangling the mess I made frequently.  It's a good think I like knitting.