day 3: planned knitted gifts

These were probably the most planned gifts of any I made this year. I made a set of three white cotton washcloths in basketweave stitch for both my grandmother (Lib) and my stepmother. I thought they would both be tickled to have them & I think they were. I've said it before and I'll say it again, hand knit washcloths are just so great. They're both "spa" and utilitarian, and just oh so nice to use. It's possible that I'm a Washcloth Evangelist. Let me append that to all my email footers.

With the washcloths, I also gave a couple bars of soap which I bought from someone at Urbana Farmer's Market. This woman has both goats and bees and she makes soap with her goats' milk and beautiful candles from the beeswax. I am so in awe. The soaps come in pretty unisex fragrances like lavendar, tea tree oil and oatmeal. They are Elie's favorite and I like them a lot too, although I tend to stick to Dove most of the time. Yup, there's nothing like tallow to keep the sensitive skin smooth. I think it still has tallow in it anyway. It's a kinda gross thought, but it think it's why it works.