yarn along

Just two more gifts to knit before Christmas!  Last night I started this pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter.  The yarn is an organic merino by Becoming Art in her "Neverland" colorway.  My daughter has a hat in this colorway but doesn't wear it as much as she'd like because none of her mittens or gloves match.  So I'm hoping she'll be excited to get these mitts.

I'm still reading The Other Boleyn Girl.  It's entertaining and easy to read a couple of pages at a time.  I've seen so many of you in these Yarn Alongs mention Simplicity Parenting that I finally got a copy for myself yesterday.  I'm hoping to get through it over the next couple of weeks, while acknowledging that a book about simplicity is an interesting thing to read during what I think is one of the least simple times of the year.

I hope all of your gift making is coming along well.  As always, please feel free to leave a link to your yarn along post in the comments.  And thank you to Ginny at small things for hosting another yarn along.

my newest favorite craft

I have always loved making paper snowflakes.  They're fairly easy to make and they're simple little decorations for the windows.  But mine have always left a little something to be desired.

Last week, I saw this tutorial by Michele of Michele Made Me.  In it, she describes how she folds the paper for her snowflakes.  I've just always folded the paper in quarters and then folded the quarter into a triangle.  But she folds hers differently and that makes all the difference!

It's really the simplest craft.  All you need are scissors, paper, and a free minute or two. I love that Michele makes them with recycled materials.  I've been using catalog pages from the many pounds of catalogs we've received so far this holiday season while my children have used brightly colored origami papers.  Either way, it feels like a new twist on an old craft.

Yarning Along

Hello, little owl!  I made him as a gift for my sister for her Christmas tree.  Last week he was unstuffed, but just an hour of extra work and he was done.  I made his eyes out of felt and affixed them with hot glue.  And next time I'd add a little fringe on his scarf, but I do think he's just right anyway.

I'm just about to start working on the second fingerless mitt for my oldest.  It's the only thing I'm knitting for her for Christmas.  I'm actually doing more sewing this year which is beginning to make me a little nervous given that I am a much better knitter.  I'm hoping to start the sewing projects soon.  All the fabric is here, I just need to prewash it all.

By the way, I'm really anxious and excited to start the sewing.  I'm in love with the fabrics I chose.  But I need to prewash them.  Prewashing fabrics is, in my opinion, the equivalent of knitting and washing a gauge swatch.  They're pretty necessary steps if you want the item to actually fit and look right, but they just seem like obstacles.

And I began reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  I found it for $1 last week at a book sale and like that I don't have to worry about returning it to the library, given that it's rather long.  I like historical fiction--although I don't know how accurate this novel is--but I'm enjoying it anyway.  It's perfect for picking up and putting down in between things.

What are you knitting and reading this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

weekending

Joining Amanda at the habit of being for weekending.

Celebrated an early Christmas with my family.

The littlest was afraid of Santa when he stopped by for his annual visit.

The girls really got into decorating their own gingerbread houses, made of graham crackers.

A lobster quiche, delicious, maybe the start of a new tradition.

yarn along

I'm happy to say that I'm in good shape for my family's Christmas get together this weekend.  Last week, I was feeling a bit panicked about finishing my niece's In Threes cardigan in time, along with all of the other gift making and preparations for this weekend.  But thanks to a stomach virus, I was able to stay home for most of last week and just get things done.  Not the way I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving, but here I am way ahead of schedule this week!

(The exclamation point above is my trying to put a positive spin on this stomach bug that hit us right before Thanksgiving and derailed our plans.  Plus, it had four of the five of us sick at the exact same time, making for a sleepless night.  But here we are, healthier now and without the added 5 lbs. I usually gain over Thanksgiving.)

I'm so ahead of schedule that I took a detour to make an owl stuffed ornament.  That first picture above is my unstuffed owl and the start of her scarf, because owls need scarves too.  I had to make one after seeing these.

And I picked up a copy of Buddha in the Attic to read this week.  I had read a positive review of it somewhere.  But I'm not getting hooked, and I don't think I'll finish it.  The story is about a group of Japanese women who come to the U.S. as brides early in the 20th century.  The narrator speaks for all the women collectively and I think that is what has kept me from really engaging with the story.  The collective voice mirrors the anonymity and invisibility the women feel here in the U.S., but it's also keeping me from connecting with any of the characters.

What are you reading and knitting this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

yarn along

Thanksgiving isn't even here yet, and already I'm feeling slightly panicked about Christmas.  My family (including my parents and my sister's husband and children) celebrates Christmas the week after Thanksgiving here at my house.  So that means house cleaned, presents made or bought, and food prepared for my family to come visit overnight.  And it's 10 days away.  It's always a lot of fun, but my heart starts to race just about now every year.

I've got a spreadsheet started that includes gifts and deadlines and I'm off!

I was able to check off the first gift earlier this week.  I finished the Koolhaas hat I made for my husband's birthday on his birthday.  I'm thankful he likes to open presents at the end of the day on his birthday.  And now I'm onto handmade Christmas gift #1 for my niece Brooke.  I'm making her the In Threes cardigan.  I'm second guessing my choice of size--she's a little 1 year old peanut, and I'm making her the 18-24 months size--but I'm going to run with it anyway.  I'd rather the sweater be too big than too small.

I managed to finish We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson earlier this week too.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was suspenseful and engaging without being too scary.  I don't have anything new to read right now because I'm focused on holiday preparations, but I should probably find something light to read to help me relax at night. Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you participating in the Yarn Alongs.  I'm thankful for Ginny at small things for hosting these weekly gatherings and please feel free to leave a link to your knitting and reading here if you'd like.

yarn along

I realized on Monday that my husband's birthday is rapidly approaching.  So I started making him a Koolhaas (pattern by Jared Flood).  I fell in love with the Koolhaas that Joy at You Know How We're An Art Family made last week, so I was sold on making one for my husband.  The only appropriate yarn I had on hand is a black superwash sock yarn, so I've doubled it up and I'm hoping for the best.  So far so good.  But my goodness is black difficult to photograph!

I picked up We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson based on Erin at Wild Whisper's recommendation.  I love suspenseful stories and Shirley Jackson too.  Her book The Haunting of Hill House is fantastic.

Thanks for all of your recommendations last week on a toddler girl's sweater.  I've decided on In Threes and I'm just waiting for the yarn to arrive.

What are you knitting and reading this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another yarn along.