dichroic | Sinterklaas planning

Because I need to tell *someone*, can't tell it anyplace that people in my knitting group would see it, and would welcome suggestions....

My local knitting group is having a Sinterklaas present swap, with a 10 euro limit. The thing about Sinterklaas presents, as opposed to the sort of Secret Santa swaps I'm used to in the US, is that apparently the wrapping is big deal; people will make someone go through something that feels gross (e.g. jello and gummy worms) to get to the present, or wrap something deceptively or in multiple layers, that sort of thing. You're also supposed to write a poem to go with it, but I'm not so worried about that part. And of course, since this is a knitting group, it's good to have a gift or wrapping that is somehow related.

I drew a fellow American, so I don't even have to worry about trying to do the poem in Dutch. (In fact, I wrote my first Dutch poem yesterday - on the Ravelry forum thread discussing very swap, a haiku talking about why I don't have the vocabulary to write anything longer :-) My gift-ee is from Texas. What I was thinking is this: for the gift, a knitted Texas washcloth (with the shape of the state picked out in purl stitches - I even found one pattern with "Don't Mess With" and then the state of Texas knitted in. ("Don't mess with Texas" is the state's very popular anti-litter slogan.) Then I'd add some nice soaps or bath beads or whatever I can get under the price limit. I think I do already have some of the cheap cotton yarn I prefer for dishcloths / washcloths. If not I definitely have mercerized cotton that might be OK for a washcloth, though it wouldn't be a good dishcloth.

For the wrapping, I was thinking I could lay out the washcloth as a mat for the base, then stack the soaps and wrap them in green paper in a Christmas tree shape. I can get a knitting needle tip protector for the tree topper, then make some beaded stitch markers (quick and I have all the wire and beads) and tape them on as ornaments.

Any other ideas? Nice soaps are 3-4 euros, so it's going to be hard to keep under the 10 euro limit. I'm not counting stuff I already have materials for.