Well, even though I said I didn't want to think about Christmas this far in advance, I made my first gift yesterday - a huge stripey dishcloth for my Dad. He loves my dishcloths but ones I have made him before are a bit small and ladylike for his big hands I would really like to make him a matching cover for the washing up liquid for a laugh - anyone know where there is a knitting pattern for those? I can only find crocheted ones on the internet

I have now started a facecloth for DS15 - all our facecloths are in 'girly' colours, so I plan to knit him a few in shades of blue, and buy him a couple of bars of the nice soaps he likes from Lush or the Body Shop. I also have a small cross stitch picture I want to sew for DS, and I may make him a scarf too.

For my friend and her two children, I am thinking of a gift basket. They love hot chocolate, so I am thinking maybe a hot chocolate mix in a jar (there are some nice recipes on the internet), some nice cookies and marshmallows. What else could I put in the basket to go with that theme? They like games, especially cards, so maybe a new card game that they don't have. Any other (inexpensive) ideas?