Christmas knitting and a give-away

With the beginning of December arriving this weekend, it really is crunch time for Christmas knitting. So I couldn't be more pleased that this pair of socks is almost knitting itself. The pattern is Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks. You've seen the yarn before - it's Alley Cat BFL in a colourway called "Badlands". Several Ravelers warned in their notes that they needed slightly more than a skein so this yarn was the perfect choice as I have one skein plus almost 15gr leftover from my Archer socks. That should do it!

The pattern is simply K2P2 rib (and P2K2) rib which shifts back and forth between bands of stockinette. The result is very deeply textured and REALLY stretchy. It's going to fit beautifully! As you can imagine it's also very mindless knitting that's working up very quickly. That's awesome  - looks like I can finish up this pair before the end of next week.

Now, about that second picture ... With the addition of a loom it's clear that I have too many craft projects. Time to sort'em out and give some away! This lot features a cross stitch pattern called Gathering Place (Leaflet 91) from the Stoney Creek Collection by Leisure Arts with backyard birds like cardinals, chickadees, a woodpecker, blue jays, finches and wrens gathered around a feeder in a snowy pine tree. Along with the pattern I'm including three lengths of cotton cross stitch fabric and an assortment of DMC embroidery floss. I'm guessing much of the floss was purchased for this pattern so you'd be off to the races. Please leave a comment on this post if you're interested. Next Wednesday I'll draw one name and contact that person to arrange posting the lot to them.