Crowdsourcing for Xmas gift projects

[woldy]

I am stumped for ideas about what to knit for Xmas gifts this year, and since browsing Ravelry has not helped so far I'm asking for suggestions! Ideally I'm looking for projects that are smallish, knit on 4mm needles or larger, and relatively quick (max 4-6 hours, though I knit quite fast).

In the past I've made a lot of the Burberry inspired cowl , Irish hiking wristwarmers, the Calorimetry headband, and dozens of ribbed hats. I've never got into socks & suspect they would be tricky for gifts, but perhaps the right pattern would change my mind.

Any suggestions? Favorite projects that fit the bill?

Comments

[labellementeuse]

The Bow-knot scarf is pretty cute and quick.

[woldy]

That is cute! Thanks :-)

[sciarra]

Oh my, I love this!

[james]

How about slippers? I like Nola's slippers as a super fast and really nice-looking slipper. They're easy to adapt to knitting in the round, and they stretch length-wise so the fit doesn't have to be perfectly like with socks.

[woldy]

Oooh, that's a great idea. I could see quite a few people loving slippers, plus me, so I'll give it a try. Thanks!

[hobbitbabe]

Do the people you're knitting for already have some of the hand-knit things you've mentioned above?

One Christmas I made a lot of Jared Flood's Noro striped scarves - out of Noro Silk Garden and Mini Mochi for people was willing to spend more money on and out of Bernat Mosaic (striped with Mosaic or with a solid) for other people.

Another Christmas I made a lot of toques out of different patterns, Boystown Beanie for simple ribbed ones, but also Knotty but Nice, Berruti, Turn a Square, Windschief (a pay pattern), and others.

Only very special people on my list get socks, and only those who have already given me a tracing of their foot, so socks aren't generally a surprise.

[woldy]

Most of the people I'm knitting for do already have a ribbed hat, & some of them have a cowl too. It's getting tricky to find small knitted items I haven't made, but I might try the slippers mentioned above. Thanks for reminding me of the Noro striped scarf, too - I'd wondered about trying that out, and it sounds nicely relaxing to knit :-)

[havocthecat]

Honestly? I made my mom a scarf and she now wants another one. And she wouldn't turn up her nose if I made her another shawl either. I've made my dad the same exact hat twice, at his request. So making something similar-but-different might not go amiss, depending on the person.

[woldy]

That's a really good point - I guess hats and scarves are the kind of thing that it's good to have more than one of. Thanks for the input!

[liseuse]

I like knitting socks, but unless you are far more motivated than I am, I wouldn't hail them as a wonderful Christmas present choice. If only because Second Sock Syndrome is A Thing.

Kindle/iPad/iPod covers?

[woldy]

I've done some ipod & iphone cosies in the past, but everyone seems to have fancy cases now. I think I might try some mittens...

[liseuse]

Mittens are fun!

softies/amigurumi!

[untonuggan]

What about amigurumi? They knit up *so fast* and are really cute. A lot of the patterns call for sock yarn, but since if you knit in a larger yarn you basically just end up with a larger knit animal...win? Also - no swatching necessary. The only real rule of thumb is that you should knit at a slightly tighter gauge than you normally would, so that the stuffing doesn't show through.

Rebecca Danger has a ton of awesome patterns, some of which are free (I recommend "bunny nuggets").

Owl Puffs

Chibi Totoro if you're into anime

Chu Totoro if you're into anime and colorwork

You can also just sort of knit a ball and dress it up with fun fur, eyes, etc.

ETA: bonus: great stashbuster

Re: softies/amigurumi!

[woldy]

Thank you for the suggestion. I suspect that amigurumi would not fulfill the Christmas gift expectations of most of my giftees, but it's a great idea for using up small quantities of colourful yarn.