Christmas shopping - Make it in America

[Jolt]

If you get lucky, there are some sweaters (even store-bought) where the fabric isn't knit, cut and sewn, but it's knit so that the body up to the sleeves is a single length of yarn. You can take the sweater apart, unravel it, and use the yarn for your own nefarious purposes.

Or take 100% wool sweaters, wash and dry them in the machine (exactly what you should NOT do with wool sweaters!) so they shrink and felt, then cut out mitten-shaped pieces and sew them together. There are patterns that put the thumb in a better spot by using separate thumb pieces sewn onto the main part, to avoid the awkwardness of having the thumb out to the side, but they are also more complicated.

[Brandi]

I am knitting scarves with yarn spun by my friend who got the yarn from friends who raised the sheep and alpaca's. Oh and she dyed it herself too. She also has a great herb shop. The shampoo bars are awesome! Here is her herb store site http://www.prairielandherbs.com/ oh the lavender vanillia linen body spray is sooooooo good! I am getting all my friends a bottle for christmas.

[Tri Girl]

I made two pairs of mittens already (one for me and one for a colleague). They were made for my winter commutes and they are the WARMEST mittens I've EVER had!!!! I lined mine with fleece to make them extra-warm, but they would be fine without the fleece lining, too.

Yup- I felt wool sweaters to make them. It's a 3 piece mitten that you sew. I'm not a great sewer (seamstress) but these were really easy to make. I used this Youtube video to guide me. I made my own template since I don't have a printer to print out a pattern.
When I made the mittens for gifts, I'll use 3 sweaters for each one, making the three pieces out of different sweaters that color coordinate (to make them unique and special).
It's really a fun project. I made a pair for a colleague and she loves them! Hers have pretty buttons as decoration on them.

[bambu101]

I make bags, pouches, quilted kindle covers, coasters and all kinds of fabric creations... just sayin

Obviously, I am a big supporter of locally hand-crafted artisan goods!