Get in the Giving Spirit with Knits Gifts 2021

I tend to get my best gift ideas in the final weeks leading up to Christmas—those weeks when it’s too late to try to make things and when anything shipped probably won’t arrive before the holiday. It’s during these frantic, last-minute moments that my creativity really shines. (Turns out I’m not alone! Check out the Ravelings in the Knits Gifts 2021 issue: The Year of Sock Knitting.)

Featured above (left to right, top to bottom): Mistletoe Socks by Aud Bergo, Dash Away Slippers by Emily Kintigh, Tomte Slippers by Meghan Jones, Taiga Hat & Mitts by Laura Barker, Boreal Hat & Mitts by Mone Dräger, Coniferous Hat by Lisa Carney-Fenton, all from Interweave Knits Gifts 2021. Photo by Molly Stevenson.

Ambitious Knit Gifts of Years Past

Take, for example, Christmas 2013. A few weeks before we all gathered to exchange gifts, I went down a Mary Maxim vintage-pattern rabbit hole. I became obsessed with those bulky zip-front sweaters featuring kitschy intarsia designs. There was a design for everyone: a motorcycle for my motorcycle-riding boyfriend, a skater for my synchro-skating mom. It felt like the stars were aligning. I had to knit everyone a sweater. 

My mother, who also happens to be my knitting partner in crime, talked a bit of sense into me. That year, everyone got a pattern, hinting at the magic to come the following year. My mom and I spent that next year furiously knitting bulky sweaters. We cheated and ordered a few vintage ones to fill in the gaps, and one sweater had to be pinned together for our holiday photo, but what will always be remembered as Sweater Christmas was a resounding success. Unfortunately, not every sweater was well worn. Next time I’ll use this chart to decide who is sweater worthy. 

While I’ve never tried anything that ambitious again, I do still crank out somewhat last-minute knitted gifts. Sock Christmas and Slipper Christmas were slightly more manageable, and in recent years, I have let go of the need to knit something for everyone on my list and focused instead on a few special projects for the folks who I know will appreciate them most. As you look through the pages of this Knits Gifts 2021, I hope you’ll be inspired to make a few special handknitted gifts this year, too.

Look Inside the Issue

Get inspired with these gorgeous giftable knits! 

Here’s wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.

Favorite Gift Patterns