Is this the beginning of Holiday Knitting??

As the autumn has arrived I have been reviewing my closet and resolving to wear my handknits more. Yesterday saw A Cardigan for Scotland/Apple Strudel being worn with dark denims and a long sleeved black t-shirt with a red necklace for colour; but today's dismal start of thick fog made me not want to wear grey, so I dug out Kristi Porter's Intoxicating, from No Sheep For You, and layered it up for the cold weather:

I did this in the colours suggested by the pattern, but used bits of yarn I had in stash - the green is Rowan Hand Knit Cotton, the purple Debbie Bliss Cathay, and (not able to be seen in this self-portrait) the orange on the back is Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.  The silks add a luxurious feel and the fit of this sweater is particularly good; I don't know why I don't wear it more. 

I was planning, when I saw the weather, to spend most of the day knitting today and I have a great deal of obligation knitting to get through at the moment, so the first thing I did was make a list, and try to make a start.  In the end, however, I have spent a lot of the day hanging new curtains in 3 of my downstairs rooms, and as a watery sun came out in the afternoon, giving the garden an autumn tidy-up, but I did get a chance to address the first two items on my list - Linda's Spring Cloud and stole. 

Here is Spring Cloud, complete:

It is pretty, and fits fairly well now.  I am not sure I like the sleeve length (although I am taller than Linda), or the eyelet increases, but I have fiddled with this so much now I think I just need to show it to Linda and see what she thinks.

So I cast on a stole for her as well, from the other yarn that came with this Gedifra Samina:

This is kind of a bobbled, popcorn type yarn that is shades of brown, orange and green.  I am planning a simple stole - garter stitch, 30 stitches, work until no more yarn is left.  I don't mind no-brain knitting, but this is VERY basic... but as the yarn is so textured, there is no point putting in any pattern.

Next - and long overdue - a hat for Julia and her girls.  I am planning to surf for an old Steph Japel pattern that I have used for families before.  I'll do a grey one for Julia and pink ones for the girls, with co-ordinating buttons (perhaps a pink button on the grey hat, and grey buttons on the pink ones!)

Linda has also ordered hats, and I am planning a button up vest for my dad, as well as christmas baubles and a meerkat for another friend, a scarf for another relative, and a few other things besides what I already have on the needles (two sweaters and an ongoing spinning project, plus my sewing and crochet experiments).  I don't generally holiday knit - but it seems I am this year!