Wednesday at the mall

I spent the day before yesterday finishing up a few Christmasy things I needed to get done at the mall - I bought a couple more gifts that remained on my shopping list (with the exception of my nephew, whom I still don't know what to get) plus I mailed out a whole bunch of packages.

Normally I only have one or two to mail, like for swaps or destashed yarn from ravelry, or a sale from etsy. But between the care package of gifts I was sending to France (for mom, dad, brother, and grandmother), the scarves for the Special Olympics, a ravelry destashing swap, and one other package that I was kind of ticked off of having to resend, my arms were full!

This package that I had to resend - it was an etsy sale I made, and thought I had packaged it rather well. It was sent mid October, and it should've arrived to its destination in the US long before Wednesday, but on its way down the packaging somehow broke open! I've no idea how, considering how well I always package things, but still. And it already made it to the state it was supposed to be mailed in! One would think it would've gotten delivered nonetheless, but it required so much effort to mail it back, and of course it was!

Luckily nothing was lost from the open package, but it ticks me off not only that I've had to spend another $30 to remail it, but it's taken so long to have to resend it, and I just hope the customer receives it before the holidays!

On another note, I'm a bit thankful that I knit this year for the holidays. I've got everyone taken care of except my FIL and DH. I've no idea what to knit either of them, but I've a sneaking suspicion that FIL won't wear anything that I knit anyway, based on past experience, so I may not bother.

I love putting together care packages as gifts, and it's what I've done for everyone this year. Each person got one knit item, plus a couple other things added to their gift bags. DH and I had no idea how to narrow the gifts down to one single gift per person, but figured that a few small gifts all together would hopefully be a treat!

I'm just waiting for my SIL to write me back on some ideas for my nephew, and we'll be done. I hate shopping @ the mall in December, which is why I've all my holiday shopping done so early, but now that practically all the gifts are bought and made, I can't wait to hand them out! eesh! I'm a little excited for the holiday!

wrapped gift dishcloth

IMO, an 8" square dishcloth or bigger was always a bit too big for my own use, so I wanted to create a size a bit more comfortable. Plus, I can more comfortably make 2 or 3 dishcloths from 1 skein of yarn, since it's a smaller size.


needed: 1 pair 4.5mm knitting needles, 0.6oz/19grams red cotton
(I used Lily Sugar n Cream in 'red' - 3 dishcloths can be made with 1 skein with a bit left over)


finished size: 7" x 7", blocked, 6.5"x6.5" unblocked


CO 32 sts.

Make 4 rows of seed (or moss) stitch: Row 1 - K1, P1 across; Row 2 - Knit the purled sts, Purl the knit sts.

Follow the chart for the next 31 rows, by knitting the white squares and purling the red squares on RS, and purling the white squares and knitting the red squares on WS.

Continue the seed (or moss) stitch on 4 sts of both sides of the dishcloth.

Finish by making 4 more rows of seed stitch, and BO in pattern.

My cousin and her fiance are getting married in November, and are having their Buck & Doe party the weekend before Halloween, therefore having a Halloween themed costume party for it. It's no secret that Halloween is my favourite holiday of the year, so I'm rather excited to put their Buck & Doe gift together for them.

Traditionally, wedding and Buck & Doe gifts tend to be housewares, and DH & Iwill likely gift them a gift certificate somewhere for the such (since they already live together and have pretty much everything they need, a gift certificate can help get something they want) - but I couldn't resist knitting something. And the most appropriate thing I could think of is Halloween themed dishcloths. Homely indeed, with all the fun of the spook of the season.

The 5 patterns I used were a bat (purple), ghost (white), kitty (black), jack o' lantern (orange) and skull (yellow) - a great way to eat up a lot of miscellanious dishcloth cotton I had laying around the house. I found some printable cotton-twill label paper at Wal-Mart, which is excellent for customizable labels, where I was able to print the care info, fiber content, and names for the dishcloths as well.

The great pumpkin-shaped and bat-shaped ribbon I found at Michael's; and a while ago I found a great price for gift bags at Zellers (13 for 4.95!) to which, in that collection, is yellow gift bag with a bit of an antique yellow Victorianesque print to it, which is vintage enough looking to be holiday appropriate for the gift.

grammatically speaking...

To be honest, I'm a bit of a stickler for grammar. I may not always be perfectly grammatically correct, but I consider myself better than most.

Up until recently that is, when someone on ravelry.com started a thread debate about using the word 'gift' as a verb. (As in, "I gifted my MIL with a handknit scarf.") We all are familiar with 'gift' as a noun, but is it proper to use it as a verb?

Most posted that they'd never use it as a verb, because not only does it not sound right, but argued that it was grammatically wrong. I've often - for the last few years anyway - noticed I was using it as a verb. I've no idea why I did, I just did. Probably picked it up from television in passing, because I doubt someone I know would use it this way.

A few random replies to other threads prompted other ravelry posters to emphasize their using 'gift' as a noun only and not a verb. This motivated me to look into whether or not the whole gift-as-a-verb issue is valid.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary (copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company), 'gift' is both defined as a noun and a verb:

gift (gĭft) n.
Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.
The act, right, or power of giving.
A talent, endowment, aptitude, or inclination.

tr.v. gift·ed, gift·ing, gifts
To present something as a gift to.
To endow with.

Although, despite other searches, including google, the word 'gift' remains defined as a noun only.

I've mildly studied language on occasion, and always came across something that surprised me. What I thought to be grammatically correct often wasn't, and what was often sounded funny. I suppose if we use a term often enough, it eventually becomes grammatically correct. New words are formed to describe new things that enter our lives daily. New expressions are formed to describe what we see and do. Despite how something may sound odd at first, it's the evolution of language.

In the end, I suppose, despite how it may get under the skin of (it seems) many fellow knitters, I'll continue to use 'gift' as a verb. 'Tis the season to use it, anyway.