Normally, I am a fairly selfish knitter. I have knit a few things for other people (usually my sister, who loves the hats I made her), but in general if I’m going to knit something, I’m going to keep it for myself. I’m not the fastest knitter out there and I don’t like feeling pressured to finish something… it takes most of the fun out of the whole process, and since I knit to relax, what’s the point?

This year, however, I decided to knit some holiday gifts. I think it’s because I’m so far away from my loved ones… I haven’t seen any of my family since May and may not see them again until at least February 2009. :(

For my mother-in-law, I knit a pretty lace cowl from Dream in Color’s worsted weight yarn, Classy, in the color “Good Luck Jade.” I think I made it a little too big, but it’s still going to keep her warm, and that’s the important thing. :) Dream in Color yarns are so soft! I really enjoyed knitting with them.

For my mom, I knit another cowl with Dream in Color’s sock weight yarn, Smooshy, in “Dusky Aurora.” I am really in love with this particular colorway — it’s so pretty. I still have a little over half the ball left, and I’m wondering if I can get a pair of socks out of that. Maybe armwarmers. Maybe a matching cowl for me… who knows!

My LYS was having a really big sale a little while ago, and I picked up a few skeins of sock yarn for 50% off — what a deal. One of them — Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK in “Dusk” — was so bright and colorful that it made me think of my sister. I decided to knit her some fingerless gloves, but it took me a while to find a pattern that could stand up to all those colors without getting lost. The Flying Gloves pattern worked very nicely, and I am really pleased with how these came out.

And finally, I wanted to knit something for my dad. He loves handmade gifts, but does not wear things like hats and scarves; I vividly remember him walking into the front yard, which was covered in two inches of snow, barefoot and in shorts, to get the newspaper on winter mornings. He just doesn’t get cold. I spent some time thinking about what I could do for him, and then I remembered his love of Japanese monster movies… especially Godzilla.

I found a pattern for a knit dragon and went from there. I used some of the green yarn from my mother-in-law’s gift to knit his body, and some brown yarn for his belly. Seaming him together took a while, but I think I did a pretty good job. I stuffed him carefully, sewed on two button eyes (with red thread, so he looks scary), and then sewed two toy cars onto him too. He is packaged with a set of little toy soldiers from the dollar store. I think my dad is going to love him. For a big scary monster, this Godzilla sure is cute.

Oh, and I finished my first RPM sock back in October. I’m a few inches into the leg of the second one, but it got put on hold for a bit while I got the holiday knitting out of my system. :)