Some Christmas knitting - better late than never - part 1

As I mentioned last Fall, I had the brilliant idea (rolls eyes) of knitting each of the Bachsters Christmas presents.  This idea of mine came to me around mid-September.  There are three Bachsters.  Oh, and just for the heck of it, I decided to add knitted presents for my parents and two of my Aunts.  Did I mention mid-September?  (Completely delusional post can be found here.) 

Yes, well, in mid-September this seemed like a very nice & quaint idea - knitted handmade goodness under the tree, wrapped with handmade paper and these cute little Christmas tags I had purchased.  I'm sad to say that there was no handmade paper, no little Christmas tags and no handmade goodness waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.  No, I had completely finished two out of three Bachster gifts by Christmas, but didn't feel it was fair to give my oldest DD her unfinished, still-on-the-needles, ends-to-weave-in-everywhere present.  So, the Christmas presents have morphed into 2012 presents, to be given, I'm really really hoping, sometime next week.

However, those last minute additions to the knitting gift schedule, the presents for my parents and aunts, were given on time, and I wanted to share pics of them...finally!  Remember this yarn?

I used it, along with some Red Heart Eco-Cotton yarn, to make knitted hand towels.  The pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, which was a birthday gift I received in the Fall from my parents, so I especially wanted to knit them something from the book!

   
The two towels on the left are the Seedling and the one on the right is the Eco-Cotton.  I was really pleased with how they all turned out, and loved that the pattern seemed to pick up speed as you go along.  (Ravelry notes here.)

I finished the last towel on the day after Christmas, which was the day we celebrated the holiday with my family.  I had just enough time to do a quickie photo shoot with all three towels before I had to wrap them up & head out the door!

I made special tags for them, wrapping a little extra yarn around the tag & handwriting the care instructions.  I saw this idea in More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson & really wanted to make them.  It's a sweet touch, I think:

 
I had some of the Eco-Cotton yarn left over, so I've been making another towel for us to keep.  It's a great portable project, & one that I can work on when the kids are awake & I don't want them to see the covert project I'm working on for DD.

It's my hope that next week, the Bachsters and I will have a little 2012 celebration, complete with all sorts of handmade goodness.  Better late than never, right!?

-Cheryl