This week here at About.com Knitting is going to be all about knit gifts that you still have time to knit for the holidays (honest!). The key to quick knitting often is the use of thick yarn and really big needles.

The Favorite Color Scarf doesn't use really thick yarn, but it does use many strands of thinner yarn and just about the biggest needles out there -- size 50 US. Grab four medium weight yarns of the same color in different shades (or different colors if you like) and you'll have a super-long scarf you can knit in an afternoon.

Another quick-to-knit scarf that has the added benefit of using up bits of stash is the Horizontal Scarf. Each row of the scarf is 200 stitches long (or the length of your choice, the cast on determines the length of the scarf) and each is worked with a different ball of yarn, leaving the tails free at each end to make fringe. It sounds like a row of 200 stitches would take forever, but it only takes about 12 rows to make a scarf, so it's pretty quick knitting.

If you're looking for a really quick and easy Christmas stocking that can easily be customized for different recipients, check out this Striped Stocking. Worked in two colors of bulky yarn with an easy short row heel and round toe, this stocking knits up in no time.

You don't have to stick with classic holiday colors for this one. If you're making a bunch for different people, why not try their favorite team's colors? Or embellish the stocking with a bit of duplicate stitch or embroidery to make it a little more individual.

The first day when the weather was a little cold where I live, I tweeted (by the way, you do follow me on Twitter, right?) that I wanted a cup of tea and to be able to sit and knit some heavy-weight socks.

I couldn't do it immediately, and I settled on worsted weight socks rather than something bulkier, but I'm quite happy with the results.

These are really quick to knit as socks go, given the larger yarn and needles involved. They've got more purling than any circular knit project ought to have, but it's worth it to see the cables really pop running down the front and back of the leg. Now that they're done, I want a pair for every day of the week to keep my feet cozy throughout the winter.

Here's a sad story about a huge knit art installation. Knitters in Australia covered the Footscray Stockbridge with pink and orange knitting as part of the Big West's Big Knit celebration, only to have the project destroyed by vandals. American artist Dave Cole along with other professional artists and members of the community spent six days making over the bridge, but vandals were able to destroy the work by cutting it up in a matter of hours. What a shame.

In happier acts of public knitting, folks in Edinburgh are enjoying a signpost cozy on a pole in Bristo Square. The brightly colored knitting appeared on the pole last week, and while no one has claimed responsibility, there are reports that the incident was filmed by the people who did it.

And now for the charity news roundup:

• A church group knits hats and scarves for the homeless in New Jersey
• Seniors cover a Giving Tree with knit hats
• Vermont women knit for soldiers
• An Iowa knitter starts a charity to help premature babies
• Arizona students knit for the homeless