"What is this that morning sunshine gilds with golden beams?"

My little sister recently "hired"—and by "hired," I mean our mom will be reimbursing me for supplies—me to do my first commissioned knitting project. She wanted me to make two more of the Amy Gaines owls to give to her sorority little sisters as initiation gifts this weekend at their super-secret Chi Omega initiation (yes, there will be a dead owl in the coffin, girls). For those not up on their srattiness, the owl is one of the symbols of Chi O. I had made one of the owls for my sister's birthday back in the fall. Anyway, here are a few photos of the finished product. I switched the colors from my previous effort just to keep them distinct. And I embroidered their names, Xavier Roberts-style, on the back as well.

Shameless branding:

Woolgathering

Woolgathering was yesterday's word of the day on dictionary.com, and though I didn't have time to write yesterday, I thought it was an appropriate title for a knitblog post. And to use that word of the day in a sentence — it means "indulgence in idle fancies or daydreaming" — I am currently woolgathering about all the free time I'll soon have for knitting. But until that glorious time (about two days from now), here's an update of the super-secret gift I made last month for my sister. Her birthday was last week, and I think the starry-eyed surprise was a big hit! I slightly modified Amy Gaines' "Woodland Animals" owl pattern and added a few personal touches. Stuffed animal toys are fun for all ages — especially if there's sisterly significance!