FOs, yarn, and the promise of Christmas

So, with Christmas looming in the very distant future, and two Christmas '07 presents lingering unfinished on needles that I really need to be using for something else, I have decided to get a head start on Christmas. Yeah, I know, highly unbelievable. Though, I'll let you in on a secret- I did start my Christmas crafting at about this time last year too. But, the one thing I started got frogged at the end of April because I didn't get a good gauge with the stupid G (4.0 mm Boye hook), so I switched to a 4.5 mm Susan Bates hook, not to mention I put the project in a "place I knew I'd find it" (the top pocket of one of my suitcases) and promptly forgot that it was there, then looked all over for the stupid project, finally just re-started it with another hook (5.0 mm Susan Bates H hook) but not until August. Whoops....
Anyway, so what do I have on the needles currently??
1. Feather and Fan Dishcloth and a Feather and Fan dish towel that I created on my own by modifying the dishcloth pattern. I am making that out of Peaches N Creme cotton, Article 930 Worsted Weight Yarn in the Pink Lilacs colorway. This dishcloth/dish towel set is going to be a belated Easter gift for my grandma.
2. A Diagonal Throw that is a way belated Christmas present for my sister. I am using the recommended yarn, the Lion Brand Homespun, which, while it is not anywhere near my favorite yarn to work with, I LOVE the finished product. The blanket is soooooooo soft and warm. I am using the Colonial colorway, which is a dark blue. So far I've used about 4 skeins, I think I'll probably end up using about 1.5 more skeins. I have no idea what I'll do with the leftover Homespun- any ideas??
3. A boring garter stitch scarf that I am making for me! I am using the Bernat Bamboo Yarn in the Water color. It is beautiful yarn, soft and warm, but the scarf is just getting tedious and boring. It is basically just 20 stitches, all knit stitches and I am using the size 10 needles from my Denise set.
What's on my upcoming agenda?
1. Feather and Fan bedspread/afghan as a gift for one of the upcoming summer weddings! I am using Red Heart Super Saver...DEFINITELY not my favorite yarn by any means, but I love the colors and since the bedspread is going to be rather large, I need to fit it into my budget. I also had some of the colors I picked out in my stash already. I am using the Buff, Windsor Blue and Painted Desert colors. Those colors look lovely together, and I am excited to get started, but I am using size 10.5 needles and my large 10.5 circulars are being used right now. I am madly trying to finish up the Diagonal Throw because I am using my 10.5 47" Addi Turbos on that project right now and would like to have that needle free!
2. More dishcloths!
3. I am waiting on some more Peaches N Creme yarn to get started on a baby-related project (note: NOT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
4. Along with the baby-related project (note: STILL NOT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I ordered a few more single skeins of P&C Worsted Yarn. I am getting at least a head start on my Christmas knitting and so I ordered 1 skein each of the Mistletoe Ombre, Victorian Christmas Ombre, Christmas Ombre, Red and Christmas Green. I am going to do some "test" dishcloths out of those colors and see which color scheme of theirs I like the best when it comes to Christmas colors. I like the Sugar N Cream yarn but I like the variety of colors that Peaches N Creme provides (WAY more than any chain store every carries!). I am excited to see their different color varieties of Christmas colors.

Finally, there will be pictures of FOs coming soon. I already have completely 1 of the feather & fan dishcloths and the feather & fan dish towel- it only needs a button, I also finished a bag out of cotton yarn, and I previously blogged about the Navy Eagle dishcloth, I have a picture of that too...hopefully I will get those soon (I took the pictures on an actual camera with actual film, the leftovers of a disposable camera I bought for my Cedar Point trip back in September!)!

Still sort-of slumping...

Since my last post, I actually finished one of the aforementioned projects! Hooray for me! I finished the hat for my hat swap buddy (the night before I mailed it out, hooray for me!).
Note: I am not modeling the hat, but I think it turned out pretty cute! Not bad for a first attempt at a hat!

I got the pattern out of the first Stitch N Bitch, but I made a fair amount of modifications. Instead of using the recommended Brown Sheep yarn, I substituted Tahki Cotton Classic in green and white, and I double-stranded the yarn. I also used size 11 needles instead of the recommended size because I couldn't get a proper gauge with the recommended needles (10.5, I think), and I cast on 76 stitches. I'm also fairly certain I didn't use the correct number of rows, I just measured as I went along using my basic math skills (math? shudders!). But, it turned out pretty nicely, and I already have another request to make the hat! :)

In the true exchange form, I also came up with some other goodies to send along. I picked out two skeins of KnitPicks' Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Dye Yarn in the Ireland colorway, two skeins of KnitPick's Felici sock yarn in Arugula, and what kind of a person would I be if I didn't send along some of the areas finest chocolate? Unfortunately, a major time crunch didn't allow me to get to Seroogy's, but I did have time to go to Wilmar's for a chocolate bunny and some other chocolate-y goodness!