my sister-in-law celebrated her birthday on Mexican Independence day, and i've made her a little sumpthin':
she and my brother have started to go mad for the wine drinking (and really, can you blame them?!?!?!) so i thought a wine cozy/coaster/trivety-thing set was in order. plus, it gave me another chance to work with the DELICIOUS Malabrigo (this is the Purple Mystery colorway). lordy, i love this stuff. i would love a big ol' sloppy sweater out of it, were it not for the fact that it would look like utter shite in 2 seconds because of the pilling. *le sigh* but really, would it matter if i just wore it about the house, using it like a wearable security blankie? i would like to add that this entire set took only about 3 hours to knit. seems that, after knitting the skully vest--i do colorwork with the yarn in both hands--continental knitting finally "stuck." which is awesome, since i've been attempting it off and on for, oh, a damned long time now.
between knitting this gift, the slew of impending birthdays, fast approaching yule time, and a post over at Craftster, i got to thinking about gift knitting. i guess it was really the Craftster post that started it all--i'll give you the gist of it. a craftster was questioning making gifts for someone that you don't necessarily *like*. my opinion? you just don't do that. to me, creating anything for a person, be it a meal, an intricate shawl, or a simple felted coaster, should be done with love in your heart. i won't knit on a gift project (or cook, for that matter) if i am feeling down or unhappy about anything let alone the intended giftee. i'm afraid that the negative energy will transfer to the recipient in some way. i dunno, do any of you have thought on the subject?