Holiday Gifts – Twice as Nice

Are you giving hand knitted gifts to children this year?  You can make your gift even more meaningful by pairing your handiwork with an appropriate story book.  Most children, especially young boys and girls, don’t yet understand the time and love that you put into that sweater or blanket.  But you can help your little one appreciate your knitted gift by wrapping it up and presenting it together with a book that relates, in some way, to the knitted object.  At the same time, you’ll be supporting emerging reading skills and fostering the child’s awareness of knitting and what it means to give (and receive) hand made gifts.

 

Need some suggestions?  Consider the following pairings of knitted gifts and books.

Mittens

 Do hand knit mittens have a place of honor among the holiday gifts that you are giving this year?

 

 Try combining them with The Mitten by Jim Aylesworth.  In this delightful retelling of a popular folktale, a lost mitten becomes home to several woodland creatures.  When the mitten is found, it is ruined, but not to worry.  Grandma can knit another one.

The Mitten is beautifully told and illustrated – and adds a bit of extra special meaning to your gift of warm, hand knit mittens.

 

Hat

Maybe you chose to knit a beret or a beanie or a ski cap this year?

Shall I Knit You a Hat? by Kate Klise is a charming accompaniment to your gift of a knitted hat.  Momma rabbit knits a hat for her little bunny, who then decides that all of his little friends should also have a hat.  Shall I Knit You a Hat? celebrates love and friendship, the joy of making and giving gifts, and the importance of learning to gracefully receive those gifts.

 

Scarf, Hat, and Mitten Set

Perhaps you were ambitious and made a scarf, hat and mitten set?

 

If you knit a coordinated set, then Knitty Kitty by David Elliott is just the book to add to your trio.  Mother Kitty knits up a storm to keep her three frisky kittens warm.  One kitten gets a scarf, one a hat, and one a pair of mittens, which they then use to decorate a snowman so that he, too, will be toasty warm.  Knitty Kitty is an excellent story that will enable the children in your life to connect your hand knit gifts to notions of comfort and caring and sharing.

 

Socks

Socks are always a popular holiday gift.  Did you knit socks for a child on your list this holiday season?

 

 New Socks by Bob Shea is an ideal book selection for young children.  Leon, the little chick, gets a new pair of socks.  When he puts them on, Leon experiences a swell of self-confidence and the sense that a world of possibilities is open to him.  New Socks will enable your little cherubs to revel in your gift and in how they feel while wearing their new socks, too.

 

Stocking

Stockings are a special take on socks.  Did you knit up a Christmas stocking for a special girl or boy?

 

The First Christmas Stocking by Elizabeth Winthrop is the story of a poor young girl, Claire, who learns to knit her Christmas dreams into the wool.  Claire becomes the local stocking girl who, instead of fulfilling a customer’s order, gives away all but one stocking to a poor boy that she meets on Christmas eve.  Claire awakes the next morning to find the one remaining stocking filled with gifts.  The First Christmas Stocking is a tale of compassion and dreams fulfilled.  It is a lovely addition to your gift of a Christmas stocking – along with a ball of yarn and some needles, perhaps?

 

 Do you have other combinations of knitwear and books that you like to give as gifts?  Please share your splendid ideas in the comments, below.  Happy knitting with circular needles!

. . . Linda, the well-rounded knitter

 

 

Filed under: Knitting on Circular Needles

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