A Knitter's Guide to the Holiday Season

If you have a good friend or family member who knits, I'm gonna bet you have at least one hand-stitched, beautifully crafted, thoughtful item that took hours of time, gifted to you like it was nothing. We knitters are often modest, normalizing these hours of handmade labor as no big deal.

As the holiday season grows near, you may be fretting about how to provide for the knitter in your life who is most likely going to make you something thoughtful and time-consuming. Let me rephrase-- you SHOULD be fretting. The average sock takes about 17,000 stitches. Not to mention there's two of them-- that's 34,000 hand crafted stitches, for the math nerds out there.

Never doubt the knitter. We are able to create magic with sticks and string.

Oh, and if you know that you are the type of person who doesn't see why hand knit goods are any better than store bought products, tell me now. My holiday knit gift list is limited to those who deserve it, and I hear books make lovely last minute presents.

If you are yourself a knitter, start planning now. We have a tendency to underestimate the time it will take to finish our projects. Over half of my gifts were being finished during the car ride to the event.

Depending on your knitting speed, this list will vary, but here is a general planning chart for those knitters who may a questionable relationship with time management.

Hat
Give yourself two weeks. I usually finish a hat in under a week, but the time it takes to pick a pattern and yarn, find the needles, rip back mistakes, and complete the project means you should rethink the "simplicity" of this project.

Socks
If you are a sock knitter (which I am not particularly), give yourself twice as much time as you think you'll need. Then double that, because socks are twice as much work. Plus you may get "SSS" or "Second Sock Syndrome", and lose your motivation for a good period of time in between socks.

Mittens/Fingerless Gloves
Ditto.

Scarf
Two weeks, I'd say. Here's my main tip: bring your scarf in your bag and NO OTHER KNITTING PROJECT. Scarves are notoriously for being somewhat boring and tedious, so sometimes the only way to make progress on one is to tell myself it's scarf knitting or sitting quietly at the restaurant. You can guess the outcome.

I am taking requests for gifts for the holidays, so if you would like one of the above items wrapped under the Hannukah bush, feel free to comment your desires on here.

Happy knitting!