Then there are the gifts that take a little more time. A scarf knitted over several evenings, a bottle of homemade coffee liquor, a jar of preserves made with fruit picked at just the right moment. These are things that could easily be bought, but making them yourself adds something that money can't quite account for. There's the time spent choosing ingredients, following a family recipe or getting the last few stitches right, all with someone else in mind. And perhaps that's what makes these gifts particularly special: the thought isn't simply behind the present, it's in every step of making it.