I love my little boy. You may know this. I'm a little obnoxiously in love with him. You may also know what it's like to be a full time parent and understand why I would want to send him far, far away once in a while!
Well....not really THAT far, but our lives have all improved SO much with a few hours here and there at his preschool/day care. I get three mornings a week to catch up on things like cleaning, errands, and...ahem...hygiene (showering had dropped in my list of high priorities. Deal with it.). I am filled with gratitude every time I pick him up from his patient and lovely teachers, seeing my smiling boy's face full of the fun new adventures he had that day, be it slathering "shaving cream paint" all over some unwitting surface, dunking his head into the water table (not technically part of the activity), or taking a walk to say hi to the trees and birds and lizards outside. You know...wholesome childhood things that I'm usually too tired to actualize for him at home (I blame the fetus).
So, I was delighted to see upon the big white board that it was Teacher Appreciation Week recently! I could have used a little bit of a heads-up (although, let's be honest with ourselves, they probably did provide that), but I wanted to get started on some knitwear for them tout de suite (side note: who doesn't like saying "toot sweet!"? Nobody I wanna know.). You all know the usual problems with this course of action, though...the time and effort, the chance that the individuals will even want something you've made or consider it a burden to carry home with them (it happens), the potential cost if your stash isn't being cooperative...Not to fear! I designed four completely different and yet all AWESOME and stylish cowl/infinity scarves for the four ladies who interface with my little guy the most. Admittedly, I'd finish one and be like, "yeah, this one will be the favorite," and then the next one would be even cooler. When you're used to designing a bunch of flops before something you really love, getting four successful projects in a row is a huge boost!
My husband delivered them all this morning when he dropped off our son. I am usually too shy to give people stuff myself and prefer to leave it conspicuously on doorsteps or desks or something and hope nobody mentions it, so he took that bullet for me. When I picked the little man up, though, they were all very effusive and thankful. I really hope they all found something to their liking that speaks to their personal style!
I hope you also find them appealing and beautiful because guess what??? They're so dang easy to memorize and create! And are mostly reversible! And can be made with basically anything in my stash! Seriously. They're going to be go-to gifts and stash busters for me from now on. So, without further ado...
Meet "Miss Ellen," a delightfully simple twist stitch cowl that requires almost no brain power whatsoever yet retains a sense of subtle class and sophistication. So lovely in DK weight yarn!
Meet "Miss Maia," a graphic punch of color that only requires knitting with one color at a time. Oh, the beauty and wonder of slip stitch patterns! This one is meant to be noticed and admired. She's cheeky, that Maia. :)
Meet "Miss Brittany," a Pinterest-worthy puff of hands-all-up-in-that-skein deliciousness. I love the super bulky roving style yarn and how it highlights the "cocoon" stitch pattern in little reverse stockinette pockets. This is a longer one, too, so it can really give you that high volume look that is so on trend right now.
Meet "Miss Hayley," my wild card. I had the Cascade Sierra in my hand, armed with a distrust of cotton yarns and a dwindling confidence in my creative output for the night, when all of the sudden....a ribbed cable effect came into my life and swept me off my feet. I don't think I'm entirely alone among textile enthusiasts by feeling wooed by textures in an almost romantic way, but I could gaze upon the undulation of this scarf for hours. She was my unexpected love!