Yarnsoft: Christmas is coming!

And are we all prepared....nope! My Christmas gift giving will be mostly achieved by post, as 3 children and 4 grandchildren live in Canberra which is about 3000 miles from me in Perth. I live with my daughter and her 16 month old son Liam so we will be having a quiet Christmas day at the beach with Liam's aunt and her brood. Ya gotta love summer Christmases!

So, what to make for christmas presents that is quick and easy?

Dish or washcloths come to mind. These little cloths are an awesome way to test out new yarns and stitch patterns. Once you have a couple of standard patterns in your box of tricks, they can be whipped up in an hour or so and matched with some lovely handmade soap for a gift for a teacher, daycare leader, workmate or anyone you can think of who would appreciate a small gift. Knit up a small stash and you will never be short of a last minute present.

Leaf Lace Washcloth

The best yarn to use for cloths is cotton, bamboo or a cotton/acrylic mix. These dry quickly and can be thrown in the wash or soaked in a mild bleach solution to clean. They may fade over time but as they are a working cloth, we can forgive that! I have cotton washcloths that I have been using for over a year and they are still doing their job, as long as I am there to direct them!

Some yarn suggestions - Heirloom Cotton, Heirloom Bamboo, Twilleys Freedom Sincere, Wendy Sorrento.

Here are some handy links to free washcloth patterns -

Knitting Pattern Central - pages and pages of free patterns for almost anything you can imagine! Their sister site Crochet Pattern Central is another mine of information.

Ravelry - This is probably the largest knitting and crocheting resource in the world. Although you need to be a member to use and view the site, joining is free. Once you're in, you might never want to leave!

Knitting on the Net - another free site that includes a brief description of each design.

Dish and Wash Cloth Mania - a blog dedicated to this noble pursuit!

Washcloths and dishcloths are fairly forgiving so you don't have to use the recommended yarn if it isn't available where you are.

Other gift ideas are socks, shawls, toys, gloves, hats and scarves. Socks and shawls can be quick and easy or intricate. You can choose to make a simple design using a self-patterning yarn which does all the work for you, or go all out and use a luxury yarn for a special gift.

Scarves and cowls are hugely popular gifts. A small scarf like this design from Tikki's blog takes a couple of hours and is a great stash buster. I made mine from Naturally Aran Tweed (I did say in a previous post that I was going to use Filatura di Crosa Lovely Jeans but picked up the Aran Tweed instead!)

Paula's Scarfette Naturally Aran Tweed

Some lovely sock yarns from our shop are -

Wendy Happy - A 4ply blend of soft bamboo and nylon, great for warm weather as the bamboo has antibacterial properties to help keep your feet sweet;
Heirloom Jigsaw - A 4ply self-patterning wool/nylon blend that is hard wearing and looks great;
Naturally Waikiwi - A super soft 4ply blend of Merino wool, nylon, alpaca and possum make for a very special gift.
Twilleys Freedom Gorgeous - 8ply bamboo/nylon blend, again wonderfully soft to work with.

Crochet Amigurumi Tiger

Toys are another popular gift item. Amugurumi, which originated in Japan, is the art of making small, crocheted (they can also be knitted but crochet is more prevalant) whimsical toys. Some of them remind me of the manga style of cartooning, where heads and facial features are exagerrated. There is a great tutorial here The best yarn to use for toys (in my opinion) is a basic wool or acrylic. These yarns are hard wearing, easy to use and buy, and come in a huge range of colours. Some of my favourites are -

Naturally Loyal - 8ply 100% wool which is soft and easy to work with;
Heirloom Dazzle - 8ply 100% acrylic in a large range of plain and variegated colours;
Heirloom Easycare - A 100% wool crepe which is ideal for toy making.

Filatura di Crosa Solo 1 Minuto Scarf in Boysenberry

If I was in a real hurry I wouldn't even knit! I'd just give people a no knit scarf that they can make themselves. A brand new one that has just arrived in Australia is Filatura di Crosa Ci Piace and Solo 1 Minuto. Each 6m hank of soft squishy furry yarn can be made into a lovely narrow scarf (keep an eye out for narrow scarves as they are the next big thing). You can mix and match colours and even plait them as a variation.