Knitting: family presents

For the first time in my crafting career, I offered hand-made gifts to members of my family, and (to my surprise!) they all adored their presents.  So much so, that I now receive orders from other (neglected) family members and repeat orders as well!

Without further ado, here's what I made:

For my lovely sister, a cowl:  I like how it "hugs" the shoulders and keeps a sensitive and beautiful neck warm and protected.  I used the ombre pattern and I'm pleased with the end result (so was my sister...)

(from the scrap yarn, I made her this cute little neck scarf by Martha Stewart)

For my niece, I knitted a cowl of her own in the very exciting colour of ... mouse grey (her choice, not mine...).  I used the canaletto pattern and I  was surprised by how beautiful the lace pattern - discreet but making a difference!

For my nephew, a classic men's scarf (he's actually the one who started the trend:  he made a specific request for this!).  He already knew the colour and, when I sent him several patterns to choose from, of course he chose the difficult one - but also the better-looking one: Kyoko Nakayoshi's men's scarf introduced me to the world of finger-twisting knitting.  I didn't expect to manage it, but manage it I did and now I feel much more confident about new techniques in the patterns.  Bring it on, I say!

Now, as to my mother:  she's old school, so her request was a simple, two knit, two purl kind of scarf... You can imagine my disappointment that I would not get to showcase my "talent"... So I got to choose the yarn:  a beautiful purple-grey chunky yarn and I got to choose the ends - ruffled!  At least something to get me interested in the knitting!

Before I start the next rounds of gifts, I'm now knitting for me... a cardigan in the making!