....and here's why:
I did 2 pairs of mittens for my mom ('man' size, so I didn't have any in stock - special order). There was a time limit, so I knitted my fingers to a nub to get them done by the date she needed them. This is the 'order' that "broke" me, so to speak - took me a week to recover & pick up my needles again!
I just did another pair for a cousin's wife who had a terrible fall with injuries. I let my mom take what mittens I had in inventory to her church Circle meeting last Thursday so the ladies could pick out a pair of mittens for themselves. I had one pair of dark purple & doggone it, someone got that color. When I asked my cousin his wife's favorite color, of course, it was 'dark purple'. Being the nice person that I am, I went & bought yarn last Friday, knitted all weekend, & got the mitts in the mail Monday. Per USPS tracking, they're out for delivery today.
Meanwhile, back at the "ranch", I decided that my nephew would be getting 2 pairs of mittens for Christmas. His school has two colors, orange & maroon & they tell the kids what color to wear for each game (football, basketball). He'll have a pair of mittens for whatever color is the scheme for that game. He begged me for mittens when he was a little guy - wore them to school every day, so I hope he's going to be ok with school color mittens for Christmas.
Once I finish his two pairs (one pair just finished this morning), that will be IT for knitting presents. I will have to finish up the horse blankets (crochet) & the Christmas stocking for my little great-nephew (which is knit but in-progress, not a new project & at least it's not a 'mitten'!!). Everything else I'm giving is in the food category, so once I get to that point, it should be smooth sailing.