There are three types of people who start preparing for Christmas in August: department store managers, musicians, and knitters. I’m two of the three, and so I’ve been working on some of my handmade gifts while humming Christmas carols.

I love giving gifts, and I love making gifts even more. There’s something sacred about crafting an item with your hands — pouring tangible time and energy and thought into it — and gifting it to another person.

For Michael’s first Christmas, I’m knitting him the Hobbit Vest (with pocketses) designed by Frogginette Knitting. I chose a wool that reminds me of Hobbiton: forest green heather with hints of yellow and blue. It’s hard to capture on camera, so I added photos of it in different light so you can get a general idea. I’m knitting the 18 month size (since he’s already wearing 12 month clothing).

I just have the button band and arm ribbing left. Unfortunately they take a lot of time and focus, and I’m in short supply of both. I’m hoping to finish it on an afternoon where I have childcare and silence.

My sister has entered her self-proclaimed “cottagecore” era, and I fully support her newfound love of tea and florals. I’m making her a pair of lacy lilac fingerless gloves to keep her hands warm while she writes all her philosophy and theology papers.

This is the Rowan Lace fingerless gloves pattern by Fox & Folk. I’m still a novice knitter in a lot of ways, and found this lace chart easy to read and enjoyable to make. I’m excited to see how the lace blooms after blocking.

Finally, I was inspired by Lindsay of A Wooden Nest to make some more generic handmade gifts for other loved ones in my life. I’m knitting up her dish scrubbies pattern — they’re simple and ever so practical, and I like using them in place of sponges. I’ve been making sets of three: garter stitch, basket weave stitch, and seed stitch. I can knock out two or three in half an hour. I love these because they give my brain a break, but keep my fingers busy.

I have grand ideas for other knitted gifts, but I’m unsure if I’ll be able to complete them by Christmas since my knitting time is limited to a couple hours in the evening once Michael goes to bed. For now, these are my current works-in-progress: we shall see how many more I can make before December. So many projects, so little time!