girl im so impressed by all your gift knitting plans!! also if you’re a selfish knitter and you’re making 3 whole adult garments for people then im scrooge mcduck HAHA im only planning to make 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of mittens, and 1 sweater and im already nervous sweating

I started making gifts for my family about a decade ago and settled on socks for my close family around the time of covid when it was harder to keep up the tradition of my great-grandmother who would make a bunch of winter accessories for my mom, siblings, and cousins when she was little and they would get a randomly selected gift in red and green tissue paper. But after how much my aunts and uncles loved them and wore them, in addition to it being so much easier on my hands than acrylic since I was using superwash wool- I found that it was the best thing. Plus, a lot of them have the same shoe size, so I will use the same patterns and notes but change up the colors and sometimes the pattern I'm using for a particular person (trying to find men's wide can be hard for sock patterns, so they get the same pattern every year). Like the amount of times I've used the time traveler sock pattern on ravelry is crazy. I can even get more obnoxious with the colors since they are usually on their feet and can really reflect their personalities a lot more than a neutral color beanie. There is a joy in creation and giving when it comes down to using colors that make me happy and remind my of them. But I do find that making hats, scarves, and cowls for people that I might not know are still good. Living in a cold climate, like we literally spent Christmas Day shoveling out my driveway cold, I know these gifts are going to be used. That being said, I will still make my relatives different things if they ask, though I would be too nervous to make a sweater for myself, but I now realize I have a WIP of a wool sweater for my grandpa I'm surprising him with since I thought it would be fun to make him something warm and larger than just the usual hat or socks (though it looks like he is getting a matching hat based on the amount of leftovers).

I make all my coworkers a dishcloth every year. For my other recipients I will generally let them pick between a few patterns (depending on the person it could be like 3 hats, socks and fingerless mits on the smaller end), and then give me a color family or chose from yarn in my stash I don't have plans for. I've found it lets me take on a manageable level of work while still ensuring that they will like and use the gift. It takes a lot of the suprise out of it, but that's fine with me.

I too participate in gift giving customs fellow human! Let the sun cycle celebrations commence! I also make gifts for people that I think they will enjoy and use and have long since given up on remembering literally anyone's birthday other than my husband. Everyone who knows me knows this and has accepted it thankfully. They are also obviously not required or expected to remember my birthday... except my husband lol

omg you are so selfless and generous - at most I would gift knit a slipover (which is what I will do for my mom), but if I was knitting gifts for anyone else they'd be getting hats or socks, not a whole a** sweater ahah I hope everyone you are knitting for appreciates all the time and effort you put into that :)

god that zipper sweater is gorgeous😩

Good luck with your gift knits! I am doing lots of small gift knits this year. It's my first year trying to do a large number of hand knit gifts so I'm keeping the investment low. Also, for fingerless gloves, I do NOT recommend the Natica Mitts pattern for any yarn with a halo. The texture of the lace is beautiful and it's easy enough to do, but it's super hard to rip back with regular yarn and impossible with halo yarn. I knit my sister a pair with yarn she picked out that was part pebbled and part cashmere and it was literally hell on earth.

My first year knitting, I gave a bunch of people miniature knit sweater ornaments with their initial embroidered on. That was a way for me to give them something hand knit, but also get a lot of practice with sweater construction. Now I cycle through about 2 people per year, and the gifts usually involve hats or something that I can practice a new technique on. If I make a whole garment, it's not going to coincide with Christmas gift time, lol. You get it when I feel like making it. I love the fluffy boucle sweater and the hot pink zippers are going to look so cool!

You have inspired me, love all the gifts but the cream sweater is so special. Please keep us updated. There are lots of vids on youtube on how to cut and sew a zipper in knitted items.

Thems some big gift knits! And it’s so sweet you’re making items based on fashion your friends have shared. Looking forward to see how it turns out

these are generous and beautiful gifts, and also I love your sweater paired with the chambray shirt!

That zipper sweater looks so tempting! I just wanna put my face in it. All my family wants from me are socks, which is good because I can estimate the time I'll need to make them quite well, but it's also a bit boring. Maybe I'll take your idea and mix it up with some handwarmers😊

Sooooo inspiring the photo's that you've shared and the patterns that you chose! That boucle zipper sweater, aaaah!! I have been dreaming about making the gia zipper sweater by sandnes garn in boucle (two different colors) for the longest time! The idea of a neon zipper is so cool :D

Wowww!! Hopefully you will finish all your giftknits in time... Good luck❤❤❤❤

Oh man... now I want a bouclé zipper sweater with a contrast zipper 🙈

Wow, 3 sweaters!! I’m going with socks and scrunchies this year. Everyone gets a pair of socks and a scrunchie except the nephews who get handmade Christmas stockings . Gotta keep them items small and trinket-esque for me to finish in time lol

Fun! I’m knitting the Ingrid sweater man for hubby as Xmas present. Although my approach was a lil different. I went “I’m knitting you a sweater as a Christmas present.” I’d like a vest “no it’s gonna be a full sleeved sweater” oh ok. Vneck? “No, it’s going to be crew” oh ok. In my defense I let him choose the yarn since he’s so wool sensitive and he choose 100% cashmere. Sigh

Love all the xmas projects and your wips💖✨ Also, 20:11 lmao😂 that was very spooky and on season tbh 🎃👻🍁

oh boy I can't wait to hear about the details of your csm there🧐👀

My gift giving rule is kind of similar to yours (but phrased less friendly): I will gift knit if I know the person receiving it will appreciate and use it.

Good luck on all your gift knitting! The way you thought everything out and you just do it, too, is so sweet!

The boucle!!!! I saw boucle yarn and was like yuck and then your sweater just completely changed my mind. I need it!

Actually, I don't understand all the English you speak! But I want to understand what you're saying, so I'm listening to it over and over again. Ingrid sweater sounds pretty🥰

I MUST buy boucle! Been thinking about it and now I’m inspired. Love your podcast!

This are so cool and thoughtful gifts ❤ your friends qre very lucky Jenny

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I can’t wait to see the pink zips. It’s a brilliant idea. Also, I have never liked that term selfish knitter. I knit for me because I love the process and love my FO’s. It’s my hobby. We don’t refer to other hobbies as being selfish so why knitting? I now only knit gifts for my grandkids.

omg im actually knitting my zipper sweater with the drops alpaca boucle. spoiler alert its coming out amaaazing. i knit mine in black and it is not as bad as everyone says boucle and black yarn is 😄. it is also pretty drapey and it looks see through but as you move it it kind of felts and is becoming a sturdier fabric 😉.

I'm making an ingrid sweater for myself lol (but I'm looking at your video for the modifications you made to yours) and I'm gonna make a LENU hood for my mom with maybe some fingerless gloves to match 'cause she's the only person I know that would actually take care of a knit. My brother's been asking for something, but he'll either throw it in the wash and it'll shrink or he'll lose it 😑.

I am knitting socks for my husband with yarn he chose, when we were on a trip to Paris. I usually knit him socks for his birthday and Christmas. What sweater are you wearing in this video?

second❤

what are you wearing? i love it!!!

May I ask what is the lipstick you wear? It looks so beautiful on you. Or I should say it makes you look more beautiful ❤

What is the pattern for the beautiful sweater you are wearing?

Jenny is that a sock knitting machine

Hey! What sock machine do you have??