First off, I finally have a yarn swift and ball winder!
Secondly, my family has enjoyed their gifts so far!
My mom's socks still haven't been photographed (she keeps wearing them, sticking them in the hamper, and washing them faster than I can keep track of). My lil' sister received my overly colorful earflap hat whose picture I have misplaced. I felt kind of bad about not having time to line it, but she's still beyond thrilled and wears it everywhere.
My dad has always proven difficult to knit for, as he fears anything tasteful will make him appear overly feminine. He couldn't care less if anyone else dressed in such a way, and has befriended many a man to do so, but he himself will never be caught dead in anything metrosexual or stylish. I spent most of the fall inquiring about his opinions of various hat patterns (supposedly they were "for the boyfriend"). The final decision was that to be acceptable, a hat could have colorwork, if it didn't depict anything. Tassles were acceptable, as they served a practical purpose-they allow him to remove a hat swiftly and easily with mittens on. Cables were okay, maybe, if they weren't curvy (what kind of cables aren't at least partially curvy???) and allover patterns were preferrable to the focus bring taken by one panel. Colors had to be muted, natural, and masculine. With all of this in mind, I found the Groovy Cables Tuque (it said tuque, not toque-I'm assuming they're the same thing) pattern, and knit it up in Patons Classic Wool, Tree Bark Mix, on size 7US needles.
I do believe it turned out fairly well, and he'll at least deign to wear it occassionally. The family thought it looked like something from this designer or that, so it was definitely a crowd pleaser. (It does look better on than off, but no one was home to model).
I also snagged the book Free Range Knitter, and have been reading the little bits of knitting humor all throughout the winter break.
And knitting more hats. I've knit LOTS of hats.
