A stich in time [Part the Third]

Sadly it was a lean autumn for having anything of note on my knitting pins.  (I think my marathon single-sock-a-thon over the summer may have had something to do with that.  Is there such a thing as knitters burnout?)  Whatever the reason, I wasn't nearly as productive as I was last year and there weren't as many hand-wrought Christmas gifts as I'd hoped.

Things picked up slightly after Thanksgiving and a few items were completed and dispersed:

• a green buffalo plaid fringed fleece blanket for my brother [say that three times fast]
• a rich butternut-colored pair of socks for a friend
• an oatmeal tweed toque for a friend's husband
• dusty rose spiral tube socks for a friend's elderly mother
• tiger-striped fitted socks for a friend

Two projects are in progress now and will be finished by the weekend, in time for mid-winter birthdays:

• hunter green fitted socks for my aunt
• oatmeal tweed bed socks for my uncle

And then there are the yet-to-be-started projects glaring at me from the knitting basket by the sofa:

• pale turquoise bed socks for a friend
• mauve/lavender fitted socks for a friend
• hunter green fitted socks for a colleague
• chocolate brown bed socks for my sister-in-law 
• oatmeal tweed spiral tube socks for another aunt

It remains to be seen whether these last items will be finished in time for birthdays or Easter, or if they will simply be put aside in tissue and brought out next Christmas. (Talk about getting a jump on things.)

Ravelry.com

The spiral tube sock is a favorite pattern of mine from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush.  There are several variations of the pattern on Ravelry.com and it's a wonderfully cozy sock to wear paddling around the house.

Ravelry.com

I also have a lovely piece of tapestry that I hope to sew over a pillow and send out for a family member's birthday. And another pillow will be covered with a beautiful tea towel commemorating Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee. That one's for me.