Keeping Secrets

How do you keep a secret from your best friend?  I've been working hard to make hubby a scarf for Christmas, trying to crochet in secret.  The problem is that I love spending my free time with him, so I'm not getting very far.

While I love the idea of surprise gifts, I have to admit that sometimes it's near impossible.  So last night, I officially caved and asked if I could scrap the secret and just make him a scarf.  His response? "Sure.  I'm not really big on surprises anyway."

Two Christmases ago, I made him a really funky scarf from a soy-wool solid.  This WAS a secret, but it was a little easier to keep, since we weren't married at the time!  I spent several nights out for coffee with friends trying to crank it out in time for December 25.  (I think I may have even crocheted at the movies, but I made the deadline!) High end yarn like that looks good, but apparently it's a bit itchy.  The scarf was black to match his grey winter dress coat.

Here's the scarf from 2009, ridiculously wrapped in tinsel, with a copy of A Tale of Two Cities wedged inside.  Those blue foil stars ended up everywhere around his apartment for months afterwards!

Now he has a new black jacket and he needs something with a bit more colour to it....and something that itches a little less.  So, I'm going back to the basics...and the economy yarns...to put together something that's mostly manly and a little bit funky.  I'm leaning towards the subway scarf on Vicki Howell's blog, but I'm also toying with the idea of something tweed-y or houndstooth-y.

Yep, this is as far as I got in secret.

Speaking of secrets, I've got another ball of yarn waiting in the wings that's set to become a gift scarf for my Secret Santa draw at school next week.  We're road-tripping to a wedding this weekend, so I should have time to finish both scarves.

A multicolour ball of Homespun that should match any jacket.

Two more secrets to round out this post.  One is about the gift for the afore-mentioned wedding.  It's about 30 stitches and a few woven-in ends away from completion.  Of course, it's a surprise, but here's a close-up sneak peak:

The other gift is finally ready for its full reveal.  My Northern Friends had baby #2 yesterday and were waiting to open the gift I mailed up to them.  Here's the blanket and beanie set I made for the little guy.  (Red Heart soft is a great yarn for baby projects in less-than-traditional colours.)

Star stitches up close.

The blanket and beanie combo.

Crab stitch edging

Manly set.

The pattern for the beanie is available in an earlier post on my blog.  Save for the crab-stitched edging, the blanket is the star-stitched baby blanket pattern I found on ravelry.