KNITTER MAMA: The Holidays are almost here! Do you know what you're knitting?

Only seven more weeks (OMG is that correct?) until Christmas! Do you know what you're knitting and giving as gifts this year? I have so many nephews and nieces I have to start knitting for the next year right after Christmas.

Well this year as always, I have procrastinated and now am behind on my gift projects. I've been concentrating solely on making items for the Pre-Black Friday Holiday Bazaar that I'm participating in that I have completely neglected my family's projects. My consolation is if my items don't sell then I can give them as gifts, which in my book is a win-win situation.

Last year's gifts for the fam were felted slippers - I made twenty-two pairs and was still mailing off slippers in March of this year. They were such a big hit that I have back orders that I still haven't filled. So this coming weekend will probably be devoted to back order items and finishing those pesky unfinished projects hidden in my upstairs closet (you know the old saying..."out of sight, out of mind"). Well that's where they've been for a couple of years, out of mind - but not anymore, it's time they saw the light of day once again and finally get finished - no more putting it off...well that's the plan anyway. Can you tell I'm trying to psych myself up for this endeavor? Is it working? Not really...but I know it must be done.

So last night I went through the bag I had hidden away upstairs and found that I had no reason to be intimidated - there seemed to only be crochet projects in the bag and only two knitted caps that I cleary had intended to give as a gift but never did. Apparently this is my MO, I get excited about a new hat pattern, knit it, and then squirl it away in a bag in the back of the closet. Well no more - these cute little caps will find a new home, once I make a nice matching scarf or fingerless gloves to go with them. So I pulled them from their hiding place and right now have them lined up across the back of my couch settled on styrofoam heads like the one you see here that a friend of mine is letting me borrow to display them at my table during the holiday bazaar. They look really kind of cool - but my son thinks that I've really gone off the deep end when he saw the heads sitting on the back of the couch with all these hats on them! He says I'm turning into a knit-a-holic, and that's a bad thing?

Well it looks like this year, hats and scarves and/or fingerless gloves are on the agenda for the fam - my first attempts at making hats was when I first began to knit several years ago. I only knew how to work on straight needles and had to sew a seam up the back of my hats. Well I certainly hope that I've advanced a little since then. When I discovered patterns that showed you how to make hats without seams using circular needles I was doing the happy dance - my hats now look so much better without the seam going up the back - as my mother (who was a seamstress that did piece work for a big manufacturing company) would attest I'm a terrible seamstress and I am very happy not to have to sew anything if I can help it. Thank goodness for circular needles!

So I'd like to hear from you about what's on your needles for the holiday gift giving season, post a comment and tell me what about your favorite pattern or item you like to give as gifts.