Caught unawares by the early date for Hannukah, plus the realization that Christmas isn't far behind, I take a detour into knitting small gifts for friends, family, and other deserving folks.

[Side brag] The Older Daughter just finished her second project - the classic Cleckheaton Gusto 10 42-stitch hat. She learned to knit on DPNs in the round, and I got a great hint for a flock of small presents.

Gusto 10 is a very dense superbulky yarn. It's not very expensive, but at $9.00 US per hat (55 yards), it can add up quickly. I'm making several of the same hats, but instead I'm using Brown Sheep Burly Spun.? It's just a tad less dense than the Gusto, but at $14.00 for 132 yards, I can get two hats from each skein with a bit left over. Last night I did the first two in about 45 minutes each. I've planned to make four - two deep red and two royal blue. I may get an extra skein in another crayon color and make three more - two more solids, plus one striped one from the leftovers of all three skeins. Or I might make a couple of earwarmer bands from the red and blue leftovers. All in all, not an exciting set of projects, but a satisfying and quick one.

Other gifts in the works - several pairs of socks, knit at sport gauge rather than my standard personal-consumption teeny gauge. (Again the time factor). Plus I think I'll give the Spring Lightning Scarf as a gift.

On the kid's knitting, she's getting too quick to keep feeding her superbulky yarns and giant gauges. I won't be able to afford both our knitting habits. [grin]? So I've started her on a set of wristlets, done in sock yarn in the round on US #2 DPNs. We're adding purling to her skills set with this ribbed project. Those should keep her out of trouble for a while.