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I have two FOs to report today. Actually I have three, but in the interest of surprising the recipient family, I'm not going to post one of them, I'll wait until after Christmas. Of these two that I'll show you, one is a gift that I think I'm safe to post here, and one isn't for Christmas, so I'm not worried.

First, the non-Christmas gift, which is a hat for my niece. I saw Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Unoriginal Hat (pdf link) that she posted on her blog, and thought that looked fast and easy. I had some Lion Brand Landscapes in my stash that I thought might work, but I only had one ball of two different colors. Fine, I thought--I'll just make it smaller for T, and I should make it with just one ball. Um, I didn't make it. I needed 7g of another ball which I didn't have, so I had to run up to Joann to get more. This is after going to Michael's which is much closer, yet for some reason doesn't seem to be stocking Landscapes anymore. Joann had it. I needed to get supplies for teacher gifts anyway, but I was ticked to have to get another whole ball just for a few yards I was short!

In any case, the hat turned out cute. Here it is, being modeled by my reluctant 7yo. Isn't it cute? I've already given it to T and she loves it.

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As much as I don't really like knitting with Landscapes, I really love the colors in this one, Country Sunset.

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Pattern: An Unoriginal Hat (pdf), by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Lion Brand Landscapes, in Country Sunset. 57g used, just a smidge over one ball.
Needles: US9 / 5.5mm
Modifications: I shortened the hat by taking out the second half of the second repeat, on smaller needles than called for, to make a hat that would fit a 6-year-old.

Now, for a Christmas gift for my mom. It's not too exciting blog-wise, as it's extremely similar to my MIL's birthday gift from last year. I did make some additional changes to what I did last time, though, and I'm happier with it. I knit it in the round from the top down, and at the bottom I did some rounds of garter stitch before grafting to make a more solid bottom on it. I went back at the end and picked up stitches for two handles. I tested it out while doing some shopping today, and I declare it fully functional!

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Pattern: Saturday Market Bag, by Jodie Danenburg, from MagKnits - with modifications, see notes below
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream, in Sage. About 1.5 balls used
Needles: US10 / 6mm for garter stitch sections (top band, handles, and bag bottom); US15 / 10mm for lace
Modifications: I knit this one from the top down, starting with (I think) 70 stitches. I knit garter stitch around the top, and then the lace until the bag was about 12-13" long. I switched back to the smaller needles and did some rounds of garter stitch before grafting, to make a more solid bottom for the bag. I picked up 6 stitches each for two handles. Handles are 72 rows (36 garter stitch ridges) each. They look short in the picture, but they stretch when the bag is full, so if you're tempted to make them longer, keep that in mind.

I have one more hat that's finished that I'll probably give to someone for Christmas, not sure who yet. It's still drying so I don't have photos of it yet. Will post that when I get the chance.

So my current count is three Christmas gifts complete, one more that's almost done, two more that NEED to be finished in time, a bunch of small teacher gifts that will be the same as last year (the gifts, not the teachers), and a whole lot of other ideas swimming around in my head that I may or may not get around to. I'll just have to see how it goes! So far I think I'm not doing too badly. Check back in three weeks and my answer might be very different!