It's Both Cozy AND Fantastic...

Welcome to December---the month with the shortest days and the longest to-do lists. 

But we can do this, right? If we focus on keeping the lists as short as possible and making the long nights as cozy and restorative as possible, this December could end up being fabulous! Or at least way above average.

One of the tools that helps me keep my lists short is not letting myself think I can make a whole bunch of handmade gifts in these last few weeks of the year. I do need a project or two to keep me from stressing out...and they MIGHT turn out to be gifts...but they need to be fairly simple. (See note on cozy, restorative evenings, above.)

Of all the things I've knitted over the last oh-so-many years, The GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley remains one of the easiest, fastest, and coziest. We had this cowl sampled in a lovely lavender yarn during the first several years the shop was open and it was popular---with both staff and customers---for its easy wearability.

It's an almost endless series of knit 1, purl 1 in a big ol' loop. So, in other words, the kind of knitting you can usually do in front of a silly holiday movie. Or while chatting over hot chocolate.

And, if you pick your yarn right, you'll hardly ever want to take the GAP-tastic off. Because cozy + gorgeous = your new favorite winter accessory.

I highly recommend keeping it for yourself...but if you're tempted to make this as a gift, I truly believe you've got time to get it done...even if you knit while watching silly holiday movies.

In fact, Kelly has a stunner of a GAP-tastic on her needles right now. Check it out in the photo above! I'm predicting she'll have it done before Hanukkah, despite the fact that she's one of the busiest people I know. Her cowl is in the Flor de Jade colorway, but there are so many good ones to choose from!

The yarn is Malabrigo's newest: a gorgeous bulky weight called Vientos. It's 100% superwash merino and feels so silky, you'd swear there was a bit of that lovely fiber mixed in. It's yummy enough to sit on a sensitive neck and be cozy without being itchy.

In this season of too many decisions, we've created bundles in our online shop to simplify things as much as possible. Kelly is knitting hers on a US10 to make it super snuggly, but choose a US10.5 or US11, if you want it to have extra drape. As you select a color, the total skeins in your cart will jump to 3, as that gives you the yarndage to make a perfect GAP-tastic Cowl.

A bundle would also make a sweet gift for the knitter in your life. Anyone who knows how to knit and purl can do this one!

In either case, be sure to grab the FREE PATTERN here (or on the bundles page).

December can be rough. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But if we can rein expectations in a bit, promise not to say "Yes" to everything that comes our way, and be at least as kind to ourselves as we are to others, I think we can have some fun this month. There's a lot of joy waiting in the wings.

Warmly,

Gaby