Knitted gifts

I have decided to make quite a few of the gifts I give for birthdays and for Christmas this year. Some will be sewn and others knitted. I've not been knitting all that long really. I was taught as a kid and knit about three sweaters, all from the same pattern, when I was in my late teens, but hadn't knitted anything since then. However, I had a fancy to knit a sweater last year, and couldn't find my one sweater pattern, bought a new pattern, and I was hooked. My niece who is twelve next month, was staying with her gran a few weeks ago and saw her gran and I knitting and wanted to learn to knit. Well, we tried to teach her, and she was picking it up really, really well, but her patience left a bit to be desired and she got rather frustrated with it. However, she was obviously keen so to encourage her a little, I decided a knitting themed birthday gift was in order.

I have got her a children's knitting kit, which has really short needles. She was having trouble manipulating the longer needles we were using so I was hoping the short needles would make the learning process simpler for her. I have also knit her the mittens and hat you see above. The mittens are from a pattern I got on Ravelry called Fetching. The pattern is from Knitty Sumemr 2006 and was designed by Cheryl Niamath. The hat is from a Twilleys Freedom Spirit booklet, the code number for which is so obscurely placed as to render it invisible. The yarn is Twilleys Freedom Spirit wool. I know the hat will fit, as she tried mine on, but I am a bit unsure whether the mittens will be a little large for her.