2020 Christmas Gift Round-Up

It’s that time again! Here’s another roundup of the handmade gifts I made for family for Christmas this year. This process always starts at the beginning of the year due to that post holiday high I get after coming off of working on a Christmas show and finally having some time off come the beginning of January. But due to this disappointing year and the less than traditional Christmases I’m sure (or hope?) we’ve all had, I don’t know if I’ll feel that high come January. So this may be the end of the road for the handmade gifts for a while. Or maybe it won’t be since it seems as though we still have a long way to go before the pandemic is truly over and we can all go out safely again, leaving me with almost too much time on my hands at home to knit and sew. But I guess that’ll just be the overall theme of 2021, the unknown.

Having been quarantining in our one-bedroom apartment for the better part of a year, I didn’t really want to give up valuable real estate to a Christmas tree. So the only tree I put up this year was this wire hanger Christmas tree that I made for FaveCrafts.com. You can find the tutorial here.

Now onto the gifts!

This Free Your Fade Shawl by Andrea Mowry was gifted to my sister.

I made these Terracotta Socks by Woolfield Studio for my mom and my sister-in-law. The yarn for the socks on the left is by Toad Hollow NJ and the yarn for the socks on the right is by J.K. Fibers. I made the lavender spray using a tutorial from Public Goods and I made the lavender sachets using an embroidery tutorial by Floral Stitch. I purchased the lavender for both of these projects from Shop Asha Joy.

I made The Slacktide Socks by Larkspur Knits (formerly Lost and Fawned) for both my brother and teenage nephew. I actually made the pair on the left very early in the year and completely forgot about them. So when I dove into the bin I keep all of my handmade gifts in when it came time to wrap everything, I was surprised and relieved to find them because I didn’t have anything else for our nephew yet. They must have been made with him in mind though because they are the same colors as his favorite football team, The Eagles? I think that yarn is by Malabrigo but I can’t remember. The yarn I used for my brother’s pair on the left, though, is by Chelsea Yarns.

I made these Basecamp Socks by Fancy Tiger Crafts (free pattern!) for my father. I actually started these over a year ago for our teenage nephew but working on them wasn’t bringing me joy so they sat in a bag for a very long time. And then at some point during quarantine I figured I should finally just finish them just to get them off the needles as gift for my dad instead because shopping for him is always the hardest. However, after finishing the first sock, I cast on the second sock in a different size because it had been so long I had forgotten what size the first sock was. I didn’t feel like starting over so I just kept going because I figured it wouldn’t matter since I’d given my father socks two years in a row already and he seemed to never wear them. I wasn’t offended by this, I think he just thought they were too precious to wear. But I guess he must have REALLY liked this pair because he wore them Christmas Day. My parents dropped off gifts and food on Christmas morning and Kevin and I noticed he was wearing them tucked into the front pocket of his shirt, which we thought was funny (wish I had gotten a picture of it.) And then I found out from my mom later that he did that because he wanted to wait to put them on until they got to my brother’s because he didn’t want to stink them up 😂. I was just relieved they fit!

My best friends and I held a Secret Santa party over Zoom and I drew my friend Sara’s name. I made her these Lyne Socks by Dawn Henderson and the main color yarn is by Marianated Yarns and the contrast yarn is by Mockingbird Fiber Co.