I so enjoy making these little knitted wash cloths. It's a very portable take-along project. It's cheap (the Sugar & Cream yarn is around $2.50/skein but periodically goes on sale at Michaels for $1/skein). Free patterns can be found on Google, or you can do a simple stripe (to use up yarn scraps) or block design that requires very little thought.

I give a wash cloth with a bar of homemade soap (I buy the soap) as a gift and it's always appreciated - in fact, it's not unusual for the recipient to ask me later if they could buy another wash cloth (no, I just give them one). I can pick up my needles and yarn and knock out a washcloth in about about 2 hours.

Linking to:
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/07/sunday-showcase-party-w-purple-trail.html