Summer Birthdays

One of my circles of friends gathers for birthdays and winter holidays. Sometimes for birthdays we plan something special for the birthday person, and sometimes we just get together for dinner. Today, on the first full day of Fall, we celebrated the Summer birthdays with dinner at the recently opened Cheesecake Factory in the Danbury Fair Mall. We spent the hour wait, which we knew there would be, catching up.

This particular circle of friends also tends to exchange gifts when we celebrate birthdays. Since I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately, I decided I'd give handmade gifts this time. And rather than wait for the Hanukkah/Christmas/Solstice gathering, I figured warm gifts before the cold weather set in would be good. So here is the hat I made for Mike. It's pretty basic--half double crochet using a size I hook. I've finally figured out a way to make the seam less noticeable when I'm not using a pattern that works in the round.

This is my first cowl, which I gave to Lisa. It's a Möbius strip done in half double crochet. I used a Red Heart Super Saver color called Artist Print. I really like the way it came out. It's wide enough that it can be pulled up to be a hood, too.

And here's Lisa modeling her cowl. So much of the knitting and crocheting I've been doing for the past months has been for Grace's Shawl Ministry, so I don't really get to see what I've made on the recipient. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of Mike with his hat on.

I already had this set aside to give to Rachel at the winter holiday gathering, but she has a couple of work-related events that will probably be before we actually have our get together. I've done this pattern before for the Prayer Shawl Ministry, but this is a single color (Caron Simply Soft Iris).  For some reason, it shows a bit more blue in the photos I took than it is in person.  This particular shawl is pretty versatile--it can even be scrunched up and worn as a scarf.

Now I need figure out what I'm going to do for the the Winter Holiday presents. I have a few ideas. I've been working on some of them, learning new techniques in several of the different crafts I dabble in. There have been some failures, but each one helps me learn.

And if nothing comes together by the Holiday gathering, there are always gift cards!