Print at will

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Feel free to leave as many copies of this around as you feel like you need to. Copies required may be inferred by how related your last gift was to your actual personality or lifestyle.

Dear Muggle Non-knitter who loves a knitter,

I know that shopping for a knitter can be hard if you are not a knitter. I understand. You have two shopping days left (assuming the gift occasion is Christmas.) and your knitter will have a birthday as well. I’d like to help you. Please know that even though I have written this and your knitter has printed it out (perhaps multiple copies) – that we are not judging the gifts from previous years. The small appliances and countless bathrobes have been wonderful. We’re all just ready to move on.

First, take a really good look around your house. Even though you may not be very interested in the wool arts yourself, try and recall the times you have seen your knitter with wool.

1. Did you see one of these?

Ballwinder

This is a ball winder. They can be procured from all reputable yarn stores and if your knitter doesn’t have one…they would like to.

2. How about one of these umbrella type action things clamped to a table? Perhaps in the dining room?

Swifttool1223

This is a swift. There are metal ones and wooden ones. Swifts hold skeins of yarn so that your knitter can wind it into a ball. Your knitter would like to have one, and more than that? You want your knitter to have one. Swifts replace the family member who has to hold the skein for them. (That might be you. If you buy this, then you can go back to whatever your hobbies might be.)

3. Your knitter wants this.

Yarn1223

Yarn. Buy yarn. I hear muggles say it all the time “But she has so much yarn. I’ll get her something else.” Hear me now. Your knitter has a lot of yarn because she LIKES yarn. Yarn is always a good choice. Go to a yarn shop, not a regular store and tell the nice people there that your knitter has lots of yarn, and that you would like to get some good yarn. They will help you. Yarn stores are just like other stores, and you don’t have to be afraid to go into them.

Further to that, if you go to the yarn store that your knitter goes to, then they will know him or her and probably be able to point you in the direction of whatever they almost bought last week. (Along with what they already bought.) If you still feel freaked out about the yarn store….two words. Gift Certificate. Yarn stores have them.

4. Audio books and something to listen to them on. Your knitter will love this. Seriously. Ever tried to knit and read? Well, no. You’re a non-knitter. Sorry. Still…I’m sure you can imagine that all “hands free” activities are going to be popular with people who don’t have their hands free.

5. Further to that…How about a headset for the phone? Your knitter would love to be able to spin or knit without getting her neck all crinked to the left like that.

Got a smaller budget? Gave a bunch of your money away? Need small things for the stocking? Knitters need the following, in pretty unlimited amounts. Even if your knitter has some of this stuff, don’t worry. She won’t have it for long. These items are temporary.

– Tape measures.

– darning needles

– Batteries for their digital cameras (your knitter likes to take pictures of his knitting.)

-Stitch markers.

-wool wash.

-ziplocks…of any size. (Big ones are good for stash management)

-small scissors.

-stitch holders.

-row counters.

-needle gauges.

All of the above can be procured in the aforementioned yarn shop, which is, as I have said, very friendly and nothing at all to be afraid of.

Now go forth and shop brave muggle, and we won’t talk about the time you bought your darling knitter a bathroom scale. (I know. Her other one was broken. I’m sure it all made sense at the time.)

Remember the magic words. Yarn Store. Go there. Ask for help.

Good luck, and please, when you see your knitter Christmas Morning? Wish them the happiest of all possible holidays from me and my family.

242 thoughts on “Print at will”

  4. Great ideas! My husband actually said “you can never have too much yarn” this morning. I think my jaw dropped and then I mentioned heading out to the yarn store later today. Bless him.

  5. Thanks for the great gift list and I truly hope you are feeling better…I will take blogging as a good sign you are on the mend!

  7. Great gift list! Thanks!!
    I have a real question, though. It looks in the photo like your have the cone of the yarn winder on upside down. Do you? Is there a secret knitter’s reason for doing this? If so, please do share.
    Happy, Happy Holidays!

  8. LOL! Wish I had this last year for DH. Don’t ask! Although I think he’s made an effort this year. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  11. My sentiments exactly. Well done. Hey, today the Google logo is covered with garlands being knitted by kangaroos. I don’t get it, but I like it.

  12. Great list! Although I think I may have convinced my husband to *make* a swift, I could use a ball winder. . .
    Merry Christmas to the entire Harlot family!

  13. Wonderful letter, DH totally appreciates the help. He has seen all of the above but hopefully this reminder (laying all over the house) will give him a push in the right direction.
    Happy Holidays to you and yours.

  14. I’m printing this! People laughed at me when I said I wanted a yarn ball winder for Christmas. While they guffawed, I didn’t bother to go on to mention I needed a swift to go with it. Besides, I’d have to describe what a swift is.

  16. Thanks for mentioning repeatedly that the people in yarn shops are welcoming and helpful. I think there are some husbands out there who equate going into a yarn shop on their own with being sent to purchase feminine products…

  17. Sigh. It doesn’t matter how many times I put “yarn” on my yearly wish list, or how carefully I spell out *exactly* what kind of yarn would be most appreciated (“Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, which you can find _here_” is evidently not specific enough), or how many hints I leave…no one ever gets me yarn. Even when I point out that more yarn = more handmade socks and other soft, wooly goodness for the gifter. Ah, well. Next year I’m printing this out and leaving it everywhere.
    Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday!

  18. Ok, I save a few sheets of paper and actually read this out loud to a muggle in the house just now. His eyes lit up with surprise and he said, “I never thought about an audio book.” Thank you so much! I’m still not holding out hope for the yarn, though…

  19. What an excellent list. For the last week I have been coming home from work and asking my boy if he got any sock yarn in the mail. We all know the answer is no! 🙂
    Happy Holidays!

  20. Happy Holidays to you and your family!!! Thank you for allowing me to share in your knitting life and see all the wonderful things you have done. Thank you also for all the good you do for so many who need it!

  22. What a great list, I love that you provide pictures for the uninformed. I will print it out and leave copies for both son and husband and maybe send one to my daughter.
    I hope you are feeling all better.
    Have a wonderful Merry Christmas.

  23. Good ideas!
    Look at that MSF total! Love it! I hope it hits $240K before you give the updating a rest for your family celebrations!

  24. Jodie told me I had to read this post, and I feel like a very proud muggle. I took your advice to heart when you were in Eugene, Stephanie, and I’ll say nothing more 🙂
    Merry Christmas!

  25. I’m thinking about sending this off to a certain family member (who actually did buy me a set of scales once) on the first of every month from now until next Christmas.

  26. Thank you for this note! When I told my husband I wanted 5 hanks of Colinnette (I would never have bought it for myself – at least not all at once) he looked at me like I was crazy!

  27. Bathroom scale, no. Digital kitchen scale, so you can measure sock yarn into relatively equal sized balls and not run out before the 2nd toe, YES!

  28. Perfect! Thank you so much for the list. My family and friends all think I’m certifiable due to my knitting obsession. It’s nice for them to see that I’m not the only one asking for and having to explain what a ball winder and a swift is. Why didn’t I think of taking pictures?
    Have a very Merry Christmas.

  29. Wonderful advice.
    This year OH decided to actually ask me what I wanted…and meant it.
    I got new wooden needles for my birthday, and a fabulous knitting bag for Christmas. Sadly Christmas knitting madness has stopped because of my hand, but that is life. Couple of days, nice Hogmanay presents instead!
    I don’t know if it counts on your MSF total or not, I have signed up to give £5 a month for the next year. I have a very fluid income, and I thought it best to spread the donation. I haven’t emailed your Knitters Without Borders.
    Have a wonderful Christmas and my best wishes for the best Hogmanay ever!
    JudyMac

  30. What a great list; I’ll be sure to pass it on to my family members.
    I’m so glad to find I’m not the only one who loves to listen to audio books while I knit. I was afraid I was just a big nerd; it’s good to know there’s a like-minded community.
    Do you know of the website Librivox (www.librivox.org)? They provide free audio recordings of books in the public domain. Granted, they’re not all the quality of a professionally-recorded audio book, but they are free and some of them really are good.
    I’m listening to “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde right now and will move on to “A Tale of Two Cities” for my plane ride tomorrow. And they’re free!
    Happy Holidays!

  31. Excellent!!
    I’m adding “dishwasher” to your list when I print it out. (Less dishes = more time with my beloved yarn)
    Happy happy to you & yours!

  32. My husband is good at buying gifts for me, but I read him the list, just to make him laugh. He did.
    Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano. Am I the first to wish you “Happy holidays” in Spanish?
    I still want to know the stitch you used for the keen pink thing in yesterday’s post. I have some pink and grey merino, now that I think of it, that would suit the pattern well. It’s left over from when I sprained my thumb last summer, and knitted my own compression bandage. Seriously.

  33. I think my muggle has been properly trained. At any rate, I’ve not been allowed to get to the mail first for two weeks now, there have been all sorts of secretive emails and cell phone calls out in the yard and cursing of PayPal, and this all started shortly after I gave him a list beginning with Bosworth or Golding spindle in native hardwood; Spunky Eclectic roving in anything but yellows; Crown Mountain Farms Corriedale roving; etc. Here’s hoping!
    And have a lovely Christmas yourself, dear. You bring such laughter and joy into so many knitters’ lives; I don’t know what we’d do without you. Housework probably, which simply won’t do.

  35. Admirably and charmingly presented. I suspect this list will do as much good in its own particular quarter as your wonderful efforts on behalf of humanity via MSF. I say this with a certain amount of survivor guilt (or do I mean pride?), because my own muggle is a pretty special case: not only did he recently encourage me to “invest” (his word!) in an obscene amount of beautiful yarn at a moment when I was struggling with temptation on a much smaller scale; but it now appears he has boldly ventured to KnitPicks all by himself and ordered something for me for Christmas. It almost doesn’t matter what! but I will be surprised if it isn’t wonderful. (He pays attention; I like that in a guy, don’t you?)
    Merry Christmas, Stephanie and family; Merry Christmas, all; here’s hoping your muggles do as well by you.

  36. Perfect! I was just thinking about how the family doesn’t get it… and POW! Perfection! And the wit doesn’t hurt one bit…

  37. Love this post. At last, someone who knows what I really want. Not much hope of getting it, but still, a great list.

  38. I’ll print it, but sadly, it won’t help. He loves a good bargain which means most of what I get will be from a “Dollar Store,” used book store or garage sale. I wouldn’t mind that, but most of it is stuff I’ll never use.

  40. Great suggestions, though I would be careful about the “buy yarn” suggestion. Not because of buying yarn, but because yarn is like clothing or perfume – it’s personal. You and Denny love Sea Silk; I think it smells like shrimp scampi – something I would eat, but not knit. If one is a non-knitter buying yarn for a knitter, ask about color, weight and fiber preference. Or chicken out and get a gift certificate. It will get used.
    And Happy Holidays! Pick your favorite, or pick them all.

  43. Hee, my niece (about to turn 10) told my father once that she was going to save her money and then buy me yarn for Christmas. Then she helped me move. She waited until I left that day and told my father, “Grandpa, I think Aunt Tracie has too much yarn already.” He told her, “Sweetie, you only saw half of it.”
    I’ll get her, I’m teaching her to crochet for Christmas (Grandma already has taught her to knit and she is now making the ever widening scarf ’cause she won’t ask for help…but she’s already one of us ’cause she’s promising everyone scarves).

  44. This year I sent my father an email with links to the yarn and knitting books I want (including your most recent book). I think he took my advice. He says he even “threw in a few goodies” that he saw on Knit Picks web site. My husband, on the other hand, just likes to send me to the yarn store with a dollar figure in mind. It’s a good tactic, but I do miss the surprise element.
    Happy Christmas to you! I hope your muggles follow your advice and you have a very good time with family and friends.

  46. Lovely idea Harlot. Might I make a few other suggestions? Small digital scale (got mine on eBay) for weighing skeins (and WIPs), can be taken to yarn store to weigh skeins when buying, you would be surprised to see how many come up short. Sweater Wizard or some such programs. Books, books, books, the recipient to be can set up a Wish List on Amazon and everyone can access it to see just what said knitter wants. Knitting DVDs, like EZs and Meg Swanson’s. And it would be quite clever of the LYSs to set up a Wish List system for their customers. One could simply ask if they would keep a wish list on file. May you have a wonderful Christmas!

  47. I’ve gone even further down this route and now I arrange for the perfect presents to be delivered and then leave them out for him to wrap for me. I get exactly what I want and he doesn’t have to worry about it. Sending mine to a yarn shop would be a waste of time as he’d go in for sock yarn and come out with double knit cotton (as did happen once)

  49. Great idea. It’s printing now.
    I did leave the KnitPick catalog out with book markers sticking out and smiley faces next to large black circled items.
    Harlot book, Options set, sock pattern book, and several other “Get me this pleeeeeez” Hubby is colour blind so a gift certificate for yarn was suggested. Otherwise I end up with tons of pink, (he thinks it’s tan or brown) and ugly shades of brown that he thinks are green.

  50. Perfect list. Thank you! May YOU have the happiest of all possible christmas’ (christmasses?) (and your family, of course).
    🙂 Ursula

  51. It felt so good to read that, but I’m not sure I dare print it out for my MIL. But at least I could, and that feels wonderful. Thank you! I’m so proud of my DH for telling her, when she asked, that what she really should get me is Sea Silk yarn. Her reaction was, essentially, I would die before I knit what I had, and she emphatically was not going to buy me any yarn. As my daughter put it, GrandmaH is utterly clueless but we love her dearly.

  52. Bwahaha. ALL TRUE. Happily, my husband mostly shrugs and goes about whatever he was doing when it comes to my yarn. Heck, he got me a wheel last year:)
    Merry Christmas.=)

  53. Great list! I’m sure it will be a great help to countless knitters’ families.
    I’m one of the lucky ones who already has trained male muggles. My husband gave me my first spinning wheel, with an IOU for spinning lessons, after he saw a wheel in someone’s house and he just thought it looked like something I would enjoy. Over the years since, he has given me a 4 harness loom, a rigid heddle loom, spindles, and once brought a bag of angora fiber back with him from Maine. He met a breeder there, picked out a color he thought I would like, and carried it in his lap on the plane so that it wouldn’t get compressed in his luggage. (He was questioned by numerous people as to why he was bringing a bag of hair to his wife)
    My son sent me several sets of dp needles in size 1 and 2 each Christmas that he lived in Tokyo (light to ship). I break them or lose them with great regularity, so they were always welcome.

  55. Stephanie A blessed, peaceful and a Merry Christmas to your entire family. Thank you for the advice for muggles .

  56. Great list, even better with pictures! (And you reminded me how badly I’d like a Chibi….)
    Wishing you and your family the merriest of Christmases and a “good slide” into 2007.

  58. Thank you for sharing this with all of us. More than that, thank you for the warm holiday wishes. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  59. I am totally bookmarking this to save for next year since we’ve already done gifts for Yule.
    You need to do one for spinners as well, though, because I want a spinning wheel. 😉

  60. Bingo, babe! Even with my birthday and Christmas just three days apart this year, I still didn’t manage to convince Those Expected To Yield Gifts to buy any of those things. Not even the rechargeable batteries for my camera. Instead I got gift cards to book stores (clearly to spoil my budget for knitting books) and no yarn. None at all.
    This will come in handy next year. Merci, madame!

  62. Printing. Laughing. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas. Hope there is lots of dancing!

  63. Hope you get some of these things under your tree as well! I’ve gotten to the point where I just buy myself what I want, but it sure would be nice to be surprised by my non-knitters once in a while. I’ll have to print this out for next year.
    Finally did my donation…that’s a gift to myself as well.

  65. Merry Christmas! I’m putting that list everywhere. The Swiffer gift last year was a bit “too much” if you know what I mean. I hear the excuse: Don’t you have enough yarn? Not on your life Buster! Don’t YOU have enough nails?????

  66. Wonderful thought! My muggle husband actually got it, one year there was a COMPLETE set of bamboo knitting needles under the tree, after I’d complained that the metal ones made my hands ache.
    My best friend however….. she lives near a wonderful yarn store, she’s BEEN to the store with me and seen my reaction to the wool (“ooh, what can I throw out of my suitcase to fit more of this in”) and she persists on buying me “grown-up” earrings. Even when I gently explain I don’t wear them. She’s getting this list!

  67. I asked for a swift and ball winder this year!! My secrect spys at my LYS assure me that all is well in the gift department this year! I can’t wait until Christmas morning!! Thanks for the wonderful post!! I hope everyone gets what they want and has a great Christmas.

  68. I love it! This one is a keeper for birthdays, mother’s days, and any other feel-like-giving-a-gift day. I think you need a permanent sidebar link to which we can direct our loved ones on a regular basis!
    Merry Christmas.

  70. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So freakin’ funny. So true too. Especially the part about relieving the human swift of his/her duties!!!!!
    I hope your non-knitter friends and fam follow your advice!!! Merry Christmas!

  71. Yours is indeed an excellent list. I have the first three already (well, #3 is never completely purchased), but GREAT ideas for the audio books.
    With a husband who just returned from a 10-day hunting trip out west (my gift to him) and told me yesterday, “Gett, I feel really bad, but I didn’t get you anything” (it’s not the first time), I think I may have to print this out.
    Your thoughtfulness just made my Christmas…

  72. I just sent him the link. Thank you! I’ve a birthday next month. *L*
    Ya know, my darning needles live in my jewelry box. That’s not strange, right?!
    May you and your family have the happiest of holidays.

  73. You know what? I remember one year looooong ago when a small appliance, bathrobe or scale would have been welcome gifts. It was the one where my honey presented me with a copy of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. And he was surprised that I was offended.
    Over the years, he’s improved a thousandfold. Bought me a gift certificate so I could buy myself enough cashmere for a sweater for my birthday.
    The muggles CAN be taught!

  74. Made me and my Muggle laugh – also reminded me of the post where you were saying how someday, someone would have a dig in Toronto and find a gazillion tape measures at your house…

  75. Thanks!
    I’ve emailed the link to my dad and my brother-in-law.
    While chuckling to myself that my husband and son have mysteriously disappeared for the afternoon, two days before Christmas.
    They’re so cute.

  77. Ohhhhh Yummy yarn! That blue is calling me!!!! Oh yea, sorry, I got distracted…Dear Yarn Harot…THANK YOU!!!! Perfect list….making copies…putting in page protectors…attaching to Frig and Bathroom mirrors…Front door and Back door…also sending to many friends and relatives!!! But you forgot….”any of the Yarn Harlot’s books!!!”….that’s ok…I will add that in bright red!!!
    Happy Holidays!

  78. What a great list. I am very spoiled. My dh got me a Kromski Symphony for a Yule gift. But I had to be very specific and careful not to ask for anything else. In any case, the man did good. But my birthday is coming up… so I’m going to save this as a bookmark…lol. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

  79. Oh, Stephanie…you’ve done it again. 😉 Knitters worldwide will be thanking you! And their muggles. And yarn stores. [g] Catching up w/yesterday’s post, too (I’m in the throes of holiday kolache baking these days): 1) Carolers? At LettuceKnit? I’m so envious! 2) Denny’s scarf looks fantastic. 3) Christmas knitting – you got the *flu*. I’m fairly sure this consitutes an iron-clad excuse. Besides, your family no doubt knows which side their bread’s knitted on, to mangle a phrase.
    You and the family have a very Merry Christmas, with lots of dancing and other good stuff, and I sure hope you’re recovered enough to enjoy it all! Thanks for all the hysterics this year. Oh, and the sock obsession. 😉 And yay you and us for the total!
    (Notes to others: Dez – tempeh-jigging? ROFL! Rams – thanks much for the links!)

  84. Have to add mine to the chorus of comments to wish you and yours a very, very, merry Christmas.
    And thanks, dear Harlot, for the entertainment!

  85. I’m proud to say that my muggle DH, on his own, gave me a winder and swift for Christmas a few years ago. I had attended Knitting Camp a few months earlier, and had mentioned the tools I had used there to wind up my purchases. I didn’t really mention the products by name, but he remembered (I can only imagine the phone conversation when he ordered them.)
    He refers to the swift as a “husband substitute” 🙂
    Merry Christmas to the whole Harlot family!!

  86. Great Suggestions!! I’ve printed out a copy for my “muggles” and will leave it in a place they can’t miss it. And in case i lose it…i’ve saved a copy for next year. Happy Holidays (hope the concerts went well)

  87. Bathroom scale, no. A postal or other small-scale scale, however, can come in extremely useful, especially if your knitter has other fiber-related vi– er, hobbies.

  90. oh!!! you get me, you really get me.
    I`m sure that this was meant to be cute and humurous (and it was, really) BUT , it actually made me feel just a bit verklempt….. I don`t really have any knitters to hang out with and at least through this blog (and a few others) I can *bond* with people who are passionate about knitting. I can feel comfortable and not feel bad about going on and on about yarn. a place I can sit around and just be me.
    thank you. and happy holidays.
    peace.

  91. Re: “what side their bread is knitted on…”
    At least they’re getting a high-fiber diet.
    Or, is a “high-fiber diet” what you have when you lose weight by spending the grocery money on yarn?
    Murray Christmas

  92. List printed…..check!
    Hubby sent off to shop….check!
    Getting yarn….doubtful!
    You see, even if you print it out for them, they look at the incredible stash of doom and think…”she can’t POSSIBLY want MORE!!!”
    Ah, the folly of men….*sigh*
    Thank you for trying! And the very Merriest of Holidays to you and your lovely family, all the way from the heart of Texas!

  96. What a hilariously entertaining read. I found myself having to do something quite similar this year (although nowhere near as clever) by creating an online wishlist, with pictures, and links to various stores to buy such items.
    I just couldn’t imagine trying to explain to, say my mom, what a niddy noddy is.

  97. hehehehe. Those temporary items? They sure are! Once in a while something resurfaces out of the morass/abyss/ether, but I have bought so many wool needles that I should sit on one every time I sit down.
    Merry Christmas to you and yours, Steph.

  98. Thank you for what I think should be a Public Service Announcement!!!! (Poor dear has my birthday to deal with in January.) While reliving gifts(?) from Christmas past…one year I got a diet book and an aerobics video. Thank you, Stephanie for all the MERRY MERRY you give us all year!

  99. You read my mind, ALL of these were on my list, and I think that I actually got some of them!!!

  100. Thank you for this funny and very useful (!) post, and merry Christmas, dear not-so-local Harlot. May all carols apply!

  103. Ha!I loved the part about the small items being temporary. I don’t know how many tape measures, darning needles and small scissors I have but I can never seme to find one! Oh and my new boyfriend of not quite 3 months bought me jewelry AND a gift certificate to the yarn store near his house. He might be a keeper, eh?

  104. My husband’s response, when I unplugged the laptop, carried it upstairs to show him, carried it back downstairs trying to find him, carried it back upstairs when I heard him in the bathroom, and finally cornered him by the closet? “I’ll read it later. Like, never.” He also calls my fondness for yarn my “heroin habit”, keeps trying to pin me down about the actual cost of all that yarn in the guestroom closet, and rolls his eyes when I knit in public. (He doesn’t complain about the hand-knit sweaters and socks that I make for him in public, though.) I would consider him completely untrainable, if it weren’t for that set of interchangeable needles he broke down and gave me last Christmas.

  105. I cracked up…I’m adding a codicil to the list for my hubby. For each skein of yarn he brings home (the good stuff) he will get s-e-x and it will be very very good. Merry Christmas a a wonderful New Year.
    Linda

  106. very early in out relationship, david bought me a ball winder and swift for my bithday. nice ones.
    i have been his love slave ever since.

  107. Inspired writing. It’s printed, and will be distributed widely.
    The happiest of holidays to you and your family Stephanie. And to all of you knitters out there.
    One question – Is that tall pile of yarn in the photo currently living at your house?!!

  109. Steph….you are the best! Great, great list, many thanks….I’m sure it will help.I’m printing many and leaving them EVERYWHERE, I have a birthday in Feb. I don’t allow my children to circle it on the calendar any more, my husband forgets, I get much better presents from guilt! Have a happy, joyful, wonderful holiday to ALL!

  110. before I left for work today I left my family with a Dear Santa letter. Please bring Lantern moon circs size 7 or 8, and yarn: washable merino, to make a blanket, with the pattern I want to make!
    My kids are very specific: ex. hot pink IPOD, Princess perfume by Vera Wang,
    MariocartDS, etc., etc. KNITTERS, WE NEED TO BE SPECIFIC TOO AND NOT DISAPPOINTED!
    I will still print out your blog and hand it around for my birthday.
    (And they ARE afraid of yarn stores! What is up with that? Knitters are some of the nicest people in the world, unless you give them a blender or some other gift with a plug…)

  111. I’ve sent the list off to my hubby, though he really doesn’t need it since I already bought a new sock pattern and accompanying yarn to go into my stocking. 🙂
    Happy holidays!

  112. My muggle husband is very sweet…both he and my mom followed my suggestion and ordered from the Knitpicks catalog. His portion is currently sitting in this very room, in a box visible from the computer, protected by only a strong warning not to peek. Auuugh…
    And all my Christmas knitting is done! w00t!

  115. Regarding the knitting Google kangaroos, click on the kangaroo logo, click again on the logo and it’ll make more sense. Not complete sense, but more sense. Happy Holidays!

  116. Merry Christmas, to bad I didn’t have this for Albert days ago… oh well, I’m going to print it and put it up for him for next yr.

  117. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year. Thanks for the great list to leave out, but unfortunatly we don’t have any yarn stores around here.
    Lynn

  118. MY muggle is sensible. He managed to remember (though many reminders 😉 to rent me a flock of sheep from NY. I’ll be getting some nice handspun yarn from them next year. I already “have” the sheep, since Channukah is over…The kids and I are debating (read, arguing) over what I should name them! http://www.nysfarm.com/ (to find the sheep, click on “currently…”, then scroll down to the rent-a-sheep program link). Best Channukah I’ve had in a while!

  119. Ha, ha. Thanks for making it easy for other people to buy something for us. I only just found your books and I think they are very funny. I was just googling something and did you notice they have a picture of two kangaroos knitting!!!
    Happy holidays, Shin

  120. Will I get trounced if I brag about my roommate? Over the last few years she’s bought me yarn, a 3 lb bag of merino roving, and a drum carder. She’s the best.

  121. wonderful.
    I hope that all the muggles read it.
    Merry Christmas dear Stephanie – and know that all of us out here are going to be knitting right along with you tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night (trying to finish that one last sock 🙂

  126. As always, you have left me in stitches! 🙂 Merry Christmas to the Harlot, Mr. Harlot and young Harlots 😉 I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and that yours is filled with lovely yarn!!!

  127. Excellent! This will be printed and saved for every birthday, anniversary and christmas from here forward. One could even substitute “crocheter” for “knitter” and all is still perfect! Love the photo guides as well, my husband needs the visual aids!

  128. I have a muggle who asks and then listens to what I want.
    This year I asked for extra bobbins for my WooLee Winders on two of my wheels. They came today.
    I stopped by my LYS tonight to pick up needles for my sister and to show off my completed lace shawl and the most gorgeous shawl pin in the cabinet caught my sweetie’s eye. Darling that she is – she said – “Don’t you NEED one of these for that new shawl?”
    It’s very pretty – hand made and one of kind – and ALL MINE now.
    Hope you and yours have everything that brings you happiness – especially joy!
    Thanks so much for the nudge to Doctor’s without Borders.

  129. LOL! Love the list! Though I have a well trained Muggle. He even buys me yarn when on trips! 😉 Tho he’s now nagging me as to why I haven’t started knitting with the gorgeous wool he brought back from his last trip..
    Merry Christmas! Merry Holidays! Happy New Year!

  131. what I wouldn’t have given to be able to give him this list last week on my birthday!!!! Poor DH was sooo clueless he bought me everything I told him I wasn’t interested in. Maybe next year?

  132. stephanie- thank you and more importantly, I LOVE YOU! you just made life so much easier for my dear, beloved boyfriend (who doesn’t understand the knitting but loves the socks)

  134. Dearest Harlot – thank you so much for the inspiration you have given me over the past year. And, what an excellent list! 🙂 I am here raising my glass of Christmas Cheer wishing you and your a very Merry Christmas!

  135. Syd said it – Yarn Harlot books! My brother braved the craft section of the bookstore to get me Stephanie’s latest book, which he saw on my Amazon wish list. 🙂

  136. Great advice for non-knitters. Fortunately I have a knitting daughter. I’m pretty sure she has bought me yarn & I have bought her some (I won’t say exactly what because there’s a small chance she might read this – not too much ’cause she has a newborn) & I suspect she has bought me some. We had our extended family Christmas party today (my sibs & their children & a few grandkids). My nieces were all delighted with the felted oven mitts I made them (as I figured that’s something everyone needs). My 10 year old (going on 21) greatniece loved the elbow length fingerless gloves I made out of florescent colored Regia & her 2 little brothers loved the double thick hats I knit for them – one in red & yellow Regia nations & one in Opal – they put them on & didn’t take them off. My nephew’s 1½ little girl loved the soft cotton pink Wonderful Wallaby I made her – she toted it all around & didn’t want to let go of it. Unfortunately, she had grown a ton since I last saw her & the size 2 is obviously too small (I was afraid it might be when I got their XMas card & saw how much she had grown). So I will make her a larger size in the same yarn in purple (her favorite color) & my newborn granddaughter has a lovely pink Wallaby for future use. It is so great to knit for these children – they love hand knit gifts SO MUCH. Monday we will have our family Christmas (SO, my DD’s & son in law & grandkids & me) & exchange gifts then. But I love the big family get together with everyone bringing something to eat, the adults hanging out & talking & the kids having fun playing with cousins they get to see only a few times a year. It’s just like it was almost 60 years ago when I was tiny – the gifts are almost secondary to getting to spend time with loved ones. I hope you all have as warm & loving a celebration as we did.

  137. *sigh*
    If only. I’m getting books and chocolate for xmas. Then again it gives me something to read while knitting (I have several projects that don’t need to be looked at) and something to eat while knitting so I don’t pass away from lack of nourishment.
    I bought wine. I think we’re pretty much set. But I’ll try printing this one out for next year, thank you!

  138. Merry Christmas Stephanie, Joe, Amanda, Megan, and Samantha. I hope you have the holiday of your dreams!
    I’m imagining all the wonderful, lovingly made handknit gifts under all our Christmas trees all over the world. Its a marvelous picture. Merry Christmas everyone!

  139. It is official. Stephanie, I love you. This is the best list I’ve ever seen. I want to print it out, cross out the items I have and send them to anyone that will ever buy me a gift. Ever. 🙂

  140. I work in a LYS and had several husbands come in today for either gift certificates or a set of Denise interchangeable needles (the cute pink breast cancer research edition ones). Earlier in the week, some darling hubbies bought a whole project’s worth of yarn for their wives. It’s so much fun being a part of the surprise! Merry Christmas, everyone.

  141. Stephanie, you ROCK. My in-laws asked me what I wanted for Hanukkah. I said a gift certificate to a knitting store would be nice. I got a gift certificate to a knitting store. Woo-hoo! Now to get the same message across to Dear Fiancé… That list is going to be pasted all over the house! Have a very Merry Christmas!!

  142. What a lovely list! I have only one issue… My husband, who is always and truly flumoxed by what I assure you is only a small yarn stash (only two 40 gallon tubs and maybe a dozen plastic shoeboxes… and some bags…), bought me At Knits End for my birthday earlier this month. I was surprised and delighted that my ubermuggle of a husband was able to choose such an apropos, if slightly sarcastic, gift. However, I note that there is no hands-free edition…

  144. Dear stephanie,
    thank you very much for the list. I’ve printed it and gave it to my DH and he laughed. Ok but he gets it… i hope…
    There is no time for him to buy me anything for christmas. He’s a truckdriver, we’ve our own truck and he works many hours for many day’s so when he’s at home the shops are closed.
    I’ll have my birthday at the end off january and i think he’ll remember this and there’s hope. I’ve bought my own pressents this year and it’s yarn from regia and lana grossa, so very beautifull and some bamboo neeldles so my hollidays are perfect.
    Ik wens jou en je familie prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig 2007 toe.
    I whish you and your family a merry christmas and a happy 2007.
    take care and my best wishes to you all also the bloggers and all the people who write here because you also make my day when i read all your comments.
    From Valeria from holland/the netherlands.

  146. This is a great list!! I already have most of the items on the list, but made my husband read it anyway. I especially hinted about the stocking stuffer items. His answer? “Yeah, but you have all that stuff already…” My reply? “I have eight or nine tape measures and can only tell you where one is right now. I have one stitch marker. One small stitch holder I can get my hands on right now…” He is really great, but doesn’t quite grasp the vortex that sucks my knitting tools out of their places. Merry Christmas to all the Harlot crowd!

  147. I read it, I laughed my head off. I showed it to DH… he said “Dear Stephanie: Please give this to me two weeks ago, so I can actually use it. Sincerely, the Angry Muggle.” (BUT — he also looked at the pictures of swift and ball winder and said “You want these? How much are they?” and nodded appraisingly. I’ll save the list for my birthday, toward the end of next year. We will both be very appreciative then.) Thank you for all the laughs and inspiration, and happy holidays!

  148. Awesome! Too bad my birthday is about two weeks before Christmas. lol
    You forgot to make a side note under the yarn…to buy things that are preferably NOT acrylic. Yes, occasionally, we knitters use acrylics. But, it’s not something we stash, horde, and lust after.

  149. LOL!!! This is good! LOL
    Thank you! I couldn’t have written better myself…
    I am printing… right now! 😉
    Merry Chritmas to you and your family as well!
    PS: Don’t stay up too late finishing Christmas Knits… 😉
    Isabelle, in Maine 🙂

  151. I love this! Believe me its 6 am in the morning and I read it to my husband. Yes I did. Its Chrisrmas Eve and has bought me nothing yet! He waits till the last minute. Thank you for the laugh. Jeanie

  153. You are so generous and thoughtful. The very essence of Christmas spirit. Unfortunately 24hrs too late to work on my adorable husband (Australia here, we’re waaay ahead of you).
    The knitpicks options needles are on their way, but sadly, there is a lack of yarn under the tree 🙂

  154. ‘tape measure’ *snort*
    my lys has a wish list: i wrote mine and they keep it in a box for people who are shopping for me. get this: if i want to add anything to it i have to call them- they won’t show it to me. they know knitters are a sneaky bunch, i guess.

  155. Yesterday my 7yo daughter and I were in the local bead/yarn shop making necklaces for family when she wandered into the knitting section and found something for me. She made arrangements with the shop owner to ring it up (on my bill; well, she’s only 7) with our necklaces, but to keep it well hidden from me.
    I have no idea what it is, maybe a tape measure. But I’m pleased that, at 7, this girl knows what makes momma happy. 🙂
    Merry merry.

  156. Love the list! In this house we are Very Organised and DH (muggle/non-knitter) reeives a list of items that can be purchased as knitterly gifts 🙂 Even better they can all be acquired online so no venturing into yarn stores is required. Mind you around here they wouldn’t have most of it anyway, we are not well served in the “nice yarn” department. The only side effect he isn’t sure about is that he now gets newsletters from said online shops 😀

  157. Knitter/daughter had birthday on Dec 17. Your advice is right on target – I got her a ball winder and swift. We wound everything in her stash and mine playing with it! Dog started looking nervous. Best of the holidays to you and yours.

  158. 😀 love the list! I should take it into work today for all the men anxious to get their wife a last minute Christmas gift!
    Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas/holiday and Happy new year!

  159. I love you! I feel we are so easy to buy for. I love your wit and this list is so cool. I only had one item on my “list” and it was knitting related….EZ’s DVD….would like it for the annals of history in my house! (aka, books, books, and more books….knitting and quilting related, of course) There is such a calm over me cuz I finished muliple gift items before they were due…this might be a first! Stay well and is there a birthday coming???

  161. Stephanie – The wonderful man in my life gave me a swift & winder for Giftmas (with a Yule birthday in the family, we’ve declared a new holiday!). He said he’d been holding his tongue for days because he kept wanting to share stories he’d heard at the knit shop but it’d be a giveaway regarding where he’d been shopping.
    Glad you’re feeling better – take it easy during the festivities.
    Wishing you and yours Warm Fuzzies ~

  162. Stepahnie: What a wonderful idea. I did not print it out, but brought my husband over to the computer and said: “Read!” He was here a long time so I asked if he had finished. No, he was reading your entire oeuvre! Such a good writer–irresistable to any reader. Merry Christmas.

  163. Thank you, Stephanie — what a lovely Christmas present for us knitters! Rest assured that a printed version will find its way into various nooks and crannies of my house, too. I hope your holidays will bring you and yours as much happiness as you bring all of us in blogland.

  164. My dear little brother wanted to get me more knitting needles and was nixed by my husband who said that I already had them… but they were bamboo, which is my new obsession.
    Never enough!!
    Merry Christmas, all.

  165. I already mentioned the gift certificate at the end of November. He nearly turned around and bought one right in front of me, God love him. I told him he had to wait until I wasn’t around to buy it so I wouldn’t know how much it was for.
    Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

  166. Thanks for the great list. I would add to this by telling the muggle to “Check your knitter’s wish list at Amazon.com” heh, heh. Unfortunately, my son is computer illiterate (=does not have a PC! Can you imagine!)
    Best wishes to you and yours during this holiday season. May you enjoy some “balance” and some good old-fashioned Christmas joy 🙂
    Peace,
    Beverly

  167. I just know the MSF total is way over 240K and you are holding out for your Xmas or Xmas Eve posting.
    Steph, you make me smile every day and you are improving the world just by being in it.
    A very Merry Christmas to the entire population of Chez Harlot.

  168. I see the new total for MSF and it makes me weep. You bring out so much good in us all. Maybe you’re one of Santa’s elves, disguised in Big Hair.

  169. I love the google thing because those Kangaroos were knitting the sweater up until today. It’s so true to life.

  171. Dear Stephanie,
    How did you KNOW that my husband bought me a bathroom scale for a gift once upon a time?
    The Village Weaver (and darn good knitter,too)

  172. Ah! Great list of ideas! My muggle gave me a Wooly Board (a couple of years ago he gave me a Warping Board, having misunderstood me – I do not weave) However, in the sober morning, we could not get its arms to stay up by poking that threaded pin with the nut into the notch, whatever. Will have to call Camilla Valley next week. I kept him from putting the whole thing into the woodstove – there must be something we do not understand. Merry xmas! Thanks for blogging some sanity for us!

  176. Thanks for the excellent list. I have already emailed it to my husband and MIL and am keeping my fingers crossed for my February birthday. 🙂

  177. My DH may be a knitting Muggle, but he’s an observant one. He surprised me on my birthday last week with a sock-sized Yarntainer stuffed with a 100g ball of Trekking XXL sock yarn in purples & blues.

  178. My DH asked me this morning what he had bought for me for Christmas so he wouldn’t be too surprised when I opened the package. It works really well – even better than when he had my sister shop for him. I would go with her to make sure she got the right sizes and colors. I asked my Mom and Sister for a new ball winder this year but the lady at the knit shop said they are over $100. What was this lady thinking?? I am printing out the list..

  179. Don’t forget spinning wheel (that is at the top of my list!)….and interchangable circular needle sets like knitpicks changes…
    Heidi

  180. Hope you’re feeling better!
    Thank you for the wonderful print-ready list! I was just e-mailed by a friend who drew my name in the “secret Santa” exchange (I know, I know, he wasn’t supposed to tell me, but he did!) and I pointed him in the direction of the yarn shop. Your list puts it much more eloquently than I did . . .
    My hubby bought me a swift and a ball-winder for Christmas — get this — ON HIS OWN. Keeper.
    Love to you and the family. You make me smile every day.

  181. What a fabulous letter! I feel very blessed in the muggle-husband department—my cute husband actually got me a ball-winder and swift a few years ago when I asked for them! He said he went into the yarn store, asked for them, and NO ONE looked at him funny! After that, he was easy—he even came with me to see you at Third Place Books in Seattle a couple of months ago…..What a guy! But after all, he IS a Canadian from Ontario, and he answered your Smartees question correctly as well! So, he’s a natural convert…:)
    Merry, merry Christmas!

  184. I’m getting the impression that I have an exceptionally supportive husband when it comes to yarn purchases. Not only does he buy me sock yarn from ebay, without complaining, but he also takes me to yarn stores, the latest one being in East York, which was a bit of a drive from our house. And he helped me choose colours with enthusiasm. There may be an ulterior motive there (he doesn’t want me getting on his case about how many model trains he bids on from ebay.)He has trains, I have yarn, everyone’s happy. Merry Christmas to you, Harlot, and to your family. And a healthy and happy 2007!

  185. I have another addition to your list. My husband preordered your next book for me. My copy is already reserved and should be here in March. Lucky me!!!! Merry Christmas!

  186. You are wonderful! It’s printin’ right now – you kin bet yer….well, anyway. Thanks for the help; hope hubbo actually picks it up for his reading pleasure. I know just where to put it…
    Have a wonderful holiday! As with everyone else, you never fail to make me smile (no pressure). :))

  190. Love it!! 😀 It’s too late to buy Christmas gifts any more, but I’ll still print this out for my husband. 😉 Thank you and have a merry Christmas!

  191. LOL! What a riot! Your list is great! I have to agree with a previous comment, everyone needs a digital scale. It would be hard for me to measure dyes accurately without it. I also use it to weigh roving so I have about the same amount to ply on each bobbin. I just hate it when I have what looks like the same amount of singles on each bobbin, but one has a lot more than the other. What a pain.
    As for gifts, I’m one of the lucky ones with a very well trained and generous husband and son. Come to think of it, my friends (being mostly fellow fiber junkies) are pretty good too. Over the years, my DH and son have bought me a spinning wheel for Christmas, a warping board, fiber related books, lots of roving, and all sorts of other textile junkie things. They really support my addiction/passion/hobby LOL! I hope you and your family have an absolutely wonderful and very Merry Christmas!

  194. Oh, my husband and I had a good giggle over this post. Especially since we had just unwrapped our Christmas gifts. In which he presented me with a US$72 (left the tag on) camoflage-patterned Leatherman tool featuring pruning shears and a saw, with a matching belt holster. Which he is going to return tomorrow. Right before we head over to the LYS.

  195. merriest day. just wanted to let you know that i got “yarn harlot” from santa. i’ve well launched into it.
    and considering i do not knit (i have knit. i am just very bad at certain forms at fabric medium. very good at others though.., you see, i have a “green afghan” every time i try),
    i am captivated and appreciative.
    good job.
    and thank you.
    and maybe you should come read at st. john’s knitter club, ‘knitwits’????

  196. I notice that Google has a “knitting” Holiday Doodle on their main search page. Your influence stretches down to the dark heart of Silicon Valley. Woot!

  197. Great list! My oldest child has learned well, as this is the second year that he has given me a gift certificate for my favourite yarn store. That headset idea sounds good to me, too. I will show it to DH, who, this year, gave me a lamp to clip onto a book so that I can see (and knit) in the dark.
    Katherine

  198. Cool list! However, I got a ball winder a couple years ago, hated it,…sold it on ebay, hopefully someone else was thrilled. I like to wind them myself, and I place my skein around my knees while sitting indian style. It’s much faster for me. I put yarn on my list this year, I’ve received 3 skeins and a gift certificate. Woohoo!

  199. Excellent list. I have an amazing muggle. And a budding fibre enthusiast. He ran his ideas past her, (she’s 10 years old) and I recieved a brand new spinning wheel (Lendrum portable) and a swift for Christmas. And then I read your post.
    I am an embarrassingly lucky knitter! 8-D
    I bid you and your family a joyful, peaceful Christmas!
    Gwen

  200. While my DH did not give me any fiber-related gifts (it’s ok, though; jewelry is always a close second to yarn), my Mom & in-laws did. Thank goodness–they finally get it!!
    Merry merry and peace to you & yours.

  201. I am fairly new to knitting… I laughed out loud reading “Knitting Rules”, because that very morning I had found myself at a roller rink in Kentucky with roller skates on my feet (in case my 7yo fell, I could run/skate/fall to his rescue) knitting a beautiful raspberry-colored cotton. Reading your descriptions of how to knit in theaters, I had to share this with you! Have a very happy holiday and thank you for a very entertaining way to learn more about knitting. I’m addicted already!

  202. Merry Christmas! I can’t get your email to work (what am I doing wrong?) but wanted you to know i sent $20US to DWB. Love your blog!

  203. Steph, this is my first time commenting, so I just have to say: I LOVE the blog and the books, keep doing what you’re doing. Second, Happy whatever to everyone. Third, my brother-in-law didn’t read this, but I got THREE skeins of awesome sock yarn that he bought himself, I am SO impressed. Maybe he has absorbed stash enhancement through osmosis? Hmm… He’s getting sock for Christmas next year.

  204. Stephanie, Merry Christmas to you and yours! My muggles did such a good job…and I only just saw your list tonight so I couldn’t print it for them! They got me knitting books, a knitting calendar (2 different ones actually), a yarn swift, and a dyeing kit from Kaleidoscope! I think they have been listening this year as I dropped hints. I am such a lucky woman. I actually think that my 19 year old son was at the heart of a lot of this. I hope that there are others who had such nice gifts!

  206. This year one of my BILs asked me if I still had a wish list set up at Amazon. I did and I do, and at that moment I was grateful at having built up a DVD list, a quilting wish list, and a knitting wish list. We won’t have Christmas with them until the end of the week, but my brother and his girlfriend raided the wishlists for me and my kids, with the end result that I can knit away to season 3 of Ballykissangel and season one of Remington Steele (be still my heart). No yarn, needles, winder, or swift gifts yet….but even better things may be on my horizon.
    Merry Christmas to all!

  207. Something has been bugging me about this list – like something was missing. I finally figured out what it was: needles! I think every knitter can attest to the frustration of losing needles thanks to dropping, stepping, or sitting on them, or wanting to start another project, only to discover that the only (surviving) needles of the right size and type are currently on another WIP. We knitters can never have enough needles! And while most of us knitters are very picky, it’s not too difficult to specify brand name, type, or size. And, of course, we can always refer them to aforementioned LYS staff, who doubtless know what we like.

  208. And one of the adult children even had the good sense to buy a gift certificate while at that local yarn store… guess his mama did something right after all. Merry Christmas!

  209. Love it! Fortunately all I had to do is hand my family a list of the exact fiber-related items I wanted and, lo, they appeared. Merry, merry Christmas to you and yours.

  210. I have to get my husband to read this! I did get a ball winder and yarn for Christmas, but it’s stuff I bought for myself. Not a bad thing, but this could help for future occasions. Definitely!
    Hope you had a great Christmas!

  211. I DID print it but it was AFTER I received my swift 🙂 My muggle/non-knitter did well this year!!! Next, on to the ball-winder (I’ll supplement my own stash . . . not sure I trust their taste!)

  212. I have been winding skeins off of chair legs onto my thumb for 20+ years now, and asked for a LYS gift certificate specifically for a swift and ball winder. It’s like you read my mind. Hope you and your family had a great Christmas, Stephanie!

  214. Want to know how much knitting stuff I got for xmas? None. Nottasinglething. *sigh* I want(ed) a swift so I guess I’ll just have to go buy myself one next month. LOL
    My husband is exempt from this non-knitting stuff xmas because he bought me a diamond ring … yes yes, exempt until Valentines day. *lol*

  215. Great list! Santa (in the form of 3 lovely ladies who I work for) was very good to me this year. They know I knit, and they know another gal at work and I sometimes knit together at lunch, so they cospired with her and got me . . . be still my heart . . . a $150 gift certificate to one of my favorite LYSs! Not only that, bless their hearts, two of them actually went to said LYS and picked out a Lantern Moon needle case to wrap the gift certificate in. Now the only problem is, with all those wool fumes I’ll probably do what I always do when I have money in a yarn store and pass up the (useful, even necessary now that I am buying 1350-yard skeins of laceweight) ball winder and swift in favor of (lovely, but I positively have no more room for it, even with the Harlot’s helpful hints on how to hide the stash)yarn!
    BTW, re reading and knitting, I was just reading Elizabeth Zimmerman this weekend re how to train yourself to read and knit. Then, when this morning I offered to teach one of the generous boss-ladies to knit, she said OK, but only if I could teach her how to knit and read at the same time! I’ll be forwarding her that link to the nice audio book people . . .

  216. I have the best of both worlds in that my birthday is January 1st! So I get to ask for those few items that I didn’t get for Christmas. Love your blog….Merry Christmas to all.

  217. Last year my very thoughtful muggle got me a swift. He was unable to drive at the time due to his illness, so he got on the phone and called the LYS and they mailed one to the house.
    This year he can drive again. He did not go to the LYS this year but he did something equally awesome. He bought me a Brewmaster coffee station. Now I feel like I have my own personal truck stop. Woo-hoo! Also got some other goodies.
    Dez, who finished Mom’s vest, but did not finish her Einstein. She will get that for Twelfth Night.

  218. My mom, the wisest of the three generations of Oklahoma knitters you met, (Trixie also says hi! and waves cutely) gave me new sock needles and sock yarn, and FIL gave me a cardigan’s worth of dark grey merino. (Well, he gave me money but that’s what I bought with it.)
    As a child (okay, as an adult too) I thought Boxing Day was something to do with pugilism. I just learned that it didn’t a few years ago, and I have to tell you I was a bit disappointed.

  219. that’s so funny! I got an umbrella swift for my anniversary this year, and a new ball winder for my birthday after the kids broke the old one!!!! My husband thinks that’s hysterical!!! (And a happy holiday to our favorite knitter, Steph–hope your holiday was light on stress and influenza and heavy on screech and giggling:-) (We’re working on the ‘giving the money away’ part, but right now, any suggestion that doesn’t have ‘nap’ in it for my husband is just nagging, but I’m hoping for a donation before the new year:-)

  220. P.S., what’s a muggle? I can tell from context that I don’t have one, but I’m unclear as to the exact definition.

  221. I am printing it for him. Sadly he does not have a clue. Less than a week before Christmas, he asked me what I wanted . . . I replied “knitting stuff.” His eyes glazed over.

  222. My muggle husband and son did quite well this year! Son gave me Knit Lites, size 6, 8 and 9, and my DH gave me a Dazor floor lamp, which I did not even ask for!!! I do a lot of lace knitting, and my eyes are not getting any younger, so the Dazor is a much needed gift.
    I just had to get them in the right frame of mind about knitting equipment, thinking of it, not as things in some secret archaic ritual, but as cool gadgets and fun toys.
    I do know better than to ask for yarn, however.
    Happy Boxing Day.
    Ann-Marie in Texas

  223. Dave did well this year. I got a super-duper limited edition of Scrabble, DVDs galore and…
    …a $40 gift certificate to my local yarn store.
    You know, for yarn procurement.
    Of the Malabrigo type.
    That is why I am marrying this man in 10 months. 😉

  224. I got a good gift from a non-crafty male friend of ours.
    A Gift Certificate to a Craft Store.
    I’ll be ransacking it tomorrow. 🙂

  225. Noted, for future reference. I’m lucky though, my dad loves being my swift. And playing with my yarn winder. He’s a little silly that way.
    Lots of socks coming his way.
    Best to you and yours in the new year. I love the return of the light as much as you do (if not more).
    Misty

  226. I was not able to print this list out before Christmas. However I did find money specifically labeled for YARN and a lovely suprise from my man of yu Knitting Rules Book, that I have been wanting for eons. Shopping today at my LYS with your book in hand the owner ( who knows me as the one that feels up her yarn weekly and has seen both me and my man in her store) looks at me and my book and says “he bought that here you know.” Dang, a man that is brave enough to go in to a yarn store knowing what Knitting book I want. He is an enabler.
    I hope you had a Killer Holiday Season, that IT didn’t attack you too hard this year, and Thanks for your kick arse blog!!!

  227. I got a laptop and some stuff against acne. Luckily there was no soap (I still have some from 2003 when I got in total 27 bars of soap, something like two litres of shower gel and smaller amounts of hair shampoos and similar stuffs… dunno whether people wanted to hint that I smell bad….) but no yarn either.
    Oddly enough, Mom seemed to be happy of handknit socks making two comments, that she never had got any, how nice from me, and that it makes her nertvous that i can do something she hadn’t taught me.
    During the Christmas idling I decided to knit myself a Selbu sweater. There’s a pic of the first day’s progress on my blog, Mom ain’t making comments that I cannot knit at all so why the hell I insist on doing it and she even isn’t making comments about doing something useful.
    By the way, how do you hold the yarns when doing something in more than one color?
    As for reading and knitting, hard-bound books do. The binding doesn’t hold the pages together as in well done paperbacks so the book stays nicely open… how do you guess I can study and knit at the same time? Although, trying to get myself ready for exam on Baroque art which is taught by the strictest guy at the department doesn’t go too well with lace… but there’s always some handpaint that looks wonderful in stockinette (speaking of handpaint, I plan to make a new collection of sock yarn, check my etsy place next week)

  228. You know, the very first Christmas that I was a knitter, I mentioned offhand that people had these things called ballwinders and swifts, and maybe someday when I was a better knitter, I would invest in them. My boyfriend got me both that Christmas, along with a rocking chair to sit in while I knit. Every Christmas thereafter, my stocking is full of stitch markers, tape measures, needle protectors, and any other notions that catch his eye. On his own, he gets knitting books! He doesn’t buy me yarn (we don’t buy one another clothes, either), but is no stranger to the yarn store, and has never, not even when we lived in a one room studio apartment, never even suggested I might have too much yarn. He has even, on multiple occasions, said that it adds some welcome color to the decor. Every time I learn something new and show him, he is suitably excited, and even lets me go on and on about gauge woes, and contributes, wiith suggestions on how I could fix my problems. Once, when I was in a bind, he fashioned a stitch holder for me out of a wire coat hanger. I say all of these things, because I guess that I was taking all of this for granted, and thought that every knitter’s SO did these things, but I guess I found a rare specimen. I suppose I ought to tell him so.

  230. mas y mas …
    __needle cases/holders/organizers
    __photo cards for your camera
    __DVDs to burn photos of knitting onto
    __coffee/tea supplies
    __gift certificate for maid service for more knitting time

  231. I need a ball winder and a swift. I should just buy them for myself. I will eventually. In the past, I’ve gotten things like sweaters so “I don’t have to make myself one.” Dear man, doesn’t have a clue.

  232. The best present my husband bought me was a book holder with a beanbag attacked. Now I can knit and read at the same time. It’s wonderful.

  233. My muggle purchased a yarn swift for me a couple of years ago. I loved it. I’m amused that a certain knitting catalog still comes in the mail addressed to him 🙂

  235. LOL! My darling sister, a new knitter, listened when I said rather loudly that it would be VERY NICE TO HAVE A SWIFT and bought me a lovely wooden one on eBay. Then she secured her place in heaven by reasoning, what good is a swift without a ball winder? AND GOT ME ONE OF THOSE, TOO!!
    I listen to audiobooks constantly while knitting. Am working my way through Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, which I have already read in the conventional way, but I love hearing Davina Porter changing voices from Claire to Jamie to Murtagh to Fergus to Brianna to Roger to — well, you get the idea.

  236. It would appear that TGF read this entry as upon receiving an unexpected check, there appeared under the tree a paper indicating that she had just ordered a ball winder for me. So sweet! A knitting book had already be procured (though I may exchange it for a different one. Yes she knows, she offered me the choice. Yes, she’s a keeper!).

  237. For Christmas I got a “how to knit socks” kit my wonderful husband put togehter for me- MULTIPLE books with- some for DPN some for 2 circles- 3 sets of needles- enough yarn to make 2 pairs of socks! even a “beginner” pattern suggested by the dear at “the fancy yarn store” (his words) that uses bigger yarn and needles to get the feel of it!
    Couldn’t you just kiss him!

  238. This so makes me giggle. Wish I would have seen this before hubbo went shopping! Not that I didn’t totally love the muggle gifts or anything…

  239. Look at that sidebar total! Only 4,725 to go! I say we can hit a quarter million by the middle of January easy. Stephanie, you are truly an inspiration. Fellow knitters, so are you!

  241. Oh that was fabulous! My hubby is a muggle. He looks at my yarn and says something along the lines of, “You don’t need anymore yarn, you already have enough to fill a 13 gallon trash bag!” That makes me think…has he been stuffing it in there for practice!?!?!? *glares* In any case, that gave me a giggle and I appreciate the humour in it.

  242. it’s a proven fact. the tape measures are revolting and seceding from our knitterly lives. taking the tapestry needles with them, they hide in the Living Room Heating Vent (you know the place. the exact location that you lose all your spare change). in my abundant knitterly wisdom, i have deduced they meet there to commiserate with the ever elusive Spare Needles. why do they do this? to provide a reason for muggles to buy us more notions for us to lose, perhaps? or maybe, just maybe, to drive us out of our poor knitting minds? the choice is yours, dear stephanie-whom-we-all-adore-and-think-should-be-our-next-president.
    when you run the world, maybe we will have a chance to cease the ongoing Revolt of the Notions.
    in any case, we teen-age knitters must strive to overcome the pandemonium with our steadfast knitting patriotism. the day will come when it will no longer be necessary to buy more knitting notions, and that will be the day that KNITTERS RULE ALL!!!!!!

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