Thinking about my holiday knitting already...

I know, I know, nobody wants to hear about the holidays this early - when we are barely into the summer season! But I found each year, no matter how early I start my holiday knitting I never seem to get it all done in time.  So, I decided to work on a few gifts in between my summer projects, just so that I'm not too far behind when August rolls around and I'm trying to decide on patterns, colors, and who is getting what.

This weekend, I worked on this really great slouchy hat/beret pattern that I found on Knitty.  This was a test run on this pattern to see how long it would take to complete.  And well I was able to complete two of them over the weekend.  The first one, I had almost completely done on Friday evening, but when I transferred it over to double-pointed needles (dpns), and was getting to the end of the decreasing, a few of my stitches slid off one end of the dpns! I couldn't seem to figure out how to get the stitches back on the needles, so I frogged the whole thing and started over again at around 7 p.m. and finished at around 3 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The second hat was easier than the first, because I didn't have to have the pattern right there, I could easily remember the steps, because they were just that simple.  I worked non-stop on Sunday afternoon, starting around two in the afternoon and by 11 p.m. was posting pictures of the completed hat on my Ravelry page. That is how quick and easy this pattern is. The only tricky part for me was when it got down to the last three decrease rows and I had to make sure I didn't lose any stitches off the dpns like my first time around.  But I worked carefully and a bit slower and the pictures below shows you how spectacular this pattern looks in many different color designs.

From the Knitty Spring 2009 edition
Reverie by Amy Swenson

Used Caron Jumbo Prints in Country Basket Ombre

And since these slouchy hats seem to be really popular with the teenagers they will be perfect for my three nieces this Christmas.  And now that I have the pattern pretty much memorized, I can whip them up fairly quickly without having to keep referring to the pattern. I'd like to give a shout-out to Amy Swenson, the designer of this fabulous hat and for more of Amy's wonderful creations, check out her website at Indigirl.

So, how many of you out there have already started on your holiday gift-giving projects?  What is on your holiday knitting list? And if you haven't gotten started yet, when do you start knitting for your holiday gift-giving?  I can't wait to hear from you, stop by and drop me a comment.