Christmas Knitting?

Knitting for others is always tricky.

Taste and fit are very personal, so, if it is not a beanie or a scarf, I usually inquire as to pattern and yarn choices.

Thus, there's very little surprise knitting going on at Casa del Feisty.

Input is very important.

In addition to the Ranger Sweater for the husband, I have the next couple of projects ready to go for the girls.

First up is Bedford for the older daughter in a yarn whose name I shall not mention, but note that I have 17 skeins that I no longer believe equal 1,700 yards, but 20% of that or 1,360 yards.  As the pattern calls for 1,245 yards, I think I will be fine.

Secondly, Winnie is a sweet little cardigan for the Wee One.  I love the stripes and the younger daughter chose lovely colors. However, I must note that it is knit on US 2 needles with fingering weight cotton yarn.  Hmmm... I do really like the swatch...  And, it needs buttons.

While my Breckon is not Christmas knitting as it is for me and I started it ages ago, back in March, I would like to get it done in time for the cooler weather. Both sleeves are complete, and I have about seven inches into the conjoined fronts and back, as they are all knitted at the same time to the armholes.  It *is* really lovely.

Never at a loss for projects, I swatched for the Highlander today.  It is a cardigan/jacket with a lovely textured pattern. I have no idea when I will ever get to it (there are three super secret new designs that I also have on the needles!) But, it is nice to dream, no?  I even found the most superb buttons to work with it!!

Speaking of buttons, I found the perfect Breckon buttons, too:

As they have a flat mirror-like surface, it is really hard to see their iridescence (for the wordsmiths out there it is also known as goniochromism).  They actually pick up the colors in the sweater beautifully.

For the keen eye, one might notice that the back (which is splayed across the top of the two sleeves) is more purple and less fuschia than the sleeves.  I bought four skeins of Yarn Carnival's High Wire in Amaranthine.  Three of the skeins were the darker purple and one was lighter with more pink.  I opted to knit the sleeves in lighter skein.  Once I cannibalized my swatch, I had just enough out of that one skein for both sleeves.

Looking at this now, I really want to pick it up and finish it...

But, I have oodles and scads of not-so-secret-Christmas knitting to accomplish, and it is already October!