A couple of weeks before Christmas, I realize I won’t have time to knit anything I thought of giving as gifts. Now this could be reason enough to panic, but what’s the point? Christmas stress will arrive anyways. Instead of stressing about knitting, I can stress about burning the ginger bread cookies, or that there isn’t enough food (could feed a small army most likely) or I forgot to buy the oh so important Christmas flowers! 

I take a deep breath and study the situation. I consider what can I really knit in a couple of weeks. I usually overestimate my knitting speed, so I try to take this into account.

Of course, first I should decide for whom is the present. Are there one or more recipients? I know that I can forget about sweaters, I am not that fast. Plus gifting a sweater is always a risk. It might not fit as easily as a hat. Therefore  I focus on the little things like wool socks, mittens and beanies. I like to knit colorwork socks with the smallest possible needles. Since knitting socks with 2.00 mm needles takes almost as long as knitting a simple stockinette sweater, I just remove them from my list. 

How about mittens? If the design is simple enough, it could work. Or maybe fingerless mitts? Yeah, they could work too. However, just like with mittens, I would need a pair, not just one.  Considering the time limitation, I would prefer knitting something that doesn’t need a pair.

Hence I come to the conclusion that the best option is a chunky beanie. Fortunately, Tiina designed two chunky beanies, one called Tunturi and the other Kukkuu. Now all I have to do is follow the pattern, hooray! Both patterns are btw free! 

Both beanies can be knit up in one night or maybe two if you’re a beginner. I’ve been dreaming of a really thick beanie for a long time and I think I will cast on the Kukkuu beanie. Right, I am gift knitting! :) Anyway, I think I’ll start now! Hope that with 8 mm needles the hat will knit up really quickly. Maybe I should time myself?! 

Happy (gift) knitting!
- Enikö 

If you are in a hurry, try knitting these:

Hats

Kukkuu hat - Tiina Huhtaniemi (Free)
Tunturi hat - Tiina Huhtaniemi (Free)

Mittens
Ensilumi - Tiina Huhtaniemi
Toivola lapaset - Tiina Huhtaniemi

Cowls

Tuku Warmer - Tiina Huhtaniemi

Hallanvaara - Tiina Huhtaniemi
Seashore  - Milja Uimonen

Something small and warm:

Fingerless mitts
Rolling Stones - Tiina Huhtaniemi