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.