Have I ever told you about the year I decided to make all my presents? I was very new to knitting and crocheting, but totally in love with doing it and imagining all the great things I could make for my loved ones. I really don’t like shopping, but I absolutely hate it during the holiday season. The malls are crammed, it’s hard to find what you want, and to me, at least, it’s just plain stressful. And let’s be honest, I don’t much like anything that takes time away from making and being creative. With that said, you can understand why making my gifts was so appealing.
But if you aren’t laughing at the absurdity of trying to make ALL my gifts, you probably will laugh at this: I made this very ambitious decision after Thanksgiving. Yes, you read that correctly – AFTER Thanksgiving.
You can imagine how the rest of the season went. I started on my first gift with lots of excitement and started pulling yarn for others. Come December 10 or so, I realized I was only starting on my second project. I figured if I really put on a hustle, maybe I could make the next few quicker. Then it was December 20 and I realized I would need to prioritize what I could finish, plus make room for the dreaded shopping…I’m sure you know the rest of this story. The next year, I didn’t make anything and ordered all my gifts online before Thanksgiving.
Since then, I’ve learned to balance it out. For one, I only make things for people that value the handmade aspect and whom I know will treasure it and keep it for years to come. Second, I only make one or two items a year as gifts so I can enjoy the process but still produce something I’m happy with that hopefully the recipient will be too.
In that spirit, I wanted to let you know I just opened an Etsy shop. I was able to team up with Colinton Australia to offer kits of yarn with my Unfurled shawl pattern. Colinton’s yarn is completely pure fiber, and I designed this shawl with this exact yarn. These kits are extremely reasonably priced (this yarn was over $20 a skein when our shop carried it). I am really proud that Colinton was willing to work with me to sell it so much cheaper in my shop. Their colorist also picked out a number of color palettes, so if you don’t want to make it in the colors I chose, you have options. I’m posting this now because this is the perfect sort of project at the perfect price to make for the sort of person I mentioned – someone who appreciates the handmade and having an heirloom piece. All the details are on Etsy, but if you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear!
For those of you who are not knitters but would like to have one of these shawls, please let me know as I do take commissions to knit. But a girl can only knit so fast, so if you want it for the holidays, the same timing principles apply!
Whatever you choose to make for your loved ones (or yourself!), now is the time to start. I’d love to see your finished projects in my Ravelry group if you don’t mind sharing.
Also, I was thinking of doing a knit-along for this, so if this is something any of you would like to do with me, PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know! It would be the first knit-along I’ve ever hosted for one of my patterns, so lots of fun for me, but first I need to know if any of you want to do it with me! 🙂 Happy knitting!
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