Christmas Craftiness 2015 - The Round Up

Well, here we are.  That time between Christmas and New Year's where I can sit back, relax for a few minutes and take a bit of a break from all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  Christmas was a lovely day for us, with everyone home bright and early in the morning for opening gifts and then having a huge brunch before they had to head off to their various Christmas dinner plans.  (although not as bright and early as the little boys felt they should have been here of course - they were up just after 5am this year, so had to wait a wee bit for the older ones to arrive)

Once again this year, I felt like I didn't get as many projects done as I had hoped.  Things went a bit crazy busy around here in the late fall, which set me back considerably, so there were a few things that got left off the list.  I'm not going to tell you about them though, because I'm saving those particular projects for next Christmas instead.   The silly thing is, last January I decided I was going to be super ahead of the game and start making projects then in order to avoid the "It's the week before Christmas, and oh my goodness I need to make sixteen bajillion gifts" panic.  I made precisely one project and then promptly forgot about my resolution.  Let me tell you, I thought I was still sitting smug and pretty until life got busy and then boy oh boy I regretted not following through on that "ahead of the game craftiness".  This coming year, I'm going to really try to do things ahead of time.  hahahahahahahahahahaha.  I know.  I know.  I live in a world built on delusion. ;)

Anyways onto the fun stuff!

The little boys set to work a few weeks ago making some new wall art for the holidays.  We did this last year and it was such a fun project we thought we'd try it again!  I think we'll try and keep up the tradition for at least a few years.  I envision down the road, years from now when the little boys are grown how precious it will be to have their teeny tiny hand and footprints hanging on our wall every Christmas!  They also did some art at school as gifts for us.

The top two are the ones we did at home, the "mistletoes" are Baby Boy's and the tree, Little Man's.

For my craftiness, I'll kick off (see what I did there?  ha ha!) with some hand knit socks I knit for my beautiful girls - G and Nick's lovely girlfriend, A.

These were my "ahead of the game project", Piccolo Mondo Anitco socks
I have no idea why I took a picture of just one. G does indeed have a pair of them!

A pair of Water for the Elephants for A to commemorate her trip
to Cambodia where she rode an elephant!

Next we'll move onto the knits for the "big boys" - J, N and G's boyfriend, B.

This one was for J - a Lansbury cowl, modelled by the handsome Baby Boy

And for B - Little Man is modeling the ever popular Oats pattern by Tin Can Knits

N's Wooly Bear Freestyle Cap almost didn't make it on time...
I cast off and wove in the ends at 3:30am Christmas morning! 

Of course no holiday crafting would be complete without some fingerless gloves in the project list (or so it would seem given my lists for the last few years!)

The first pair are "Leaves" for A, then the remaining four pairs were teacher's gifts
from top to bottom: Clary Mitts, Give em the Slip, Diamond Hand Wristwarmers and Magic Loop Mitts

That wraps up the knitting, so lets move along to the sewing!

The girls both wear scarves all the time, so I made them each a cozy flannel and lace infinity scarf
(my own pattern)

Earlier in the fall my nephew, who had requested "footie pjs" last Christmas, told me he'd outgrown his pair from last year and would really love a new pair.  I found out my niece also needed a new pair - not surprising since I think I sewed her pair almost two years ago!  So of course I obliged and they wore their cozy new jam jams home from the family Christmas Eve party.

The kids will be cozy warm this winter for sure!
Pattern is Kwik Sew #2704

Every Christmas I make the little boys a new pair of matching pjs for Christmas Eve.  I love surprising them with them, but this year I was really worried I was going to run out of time.  I even looked at some pjs at the store but held off buying them in hopes I could miraculously get the mama made ones done despite the time crunch.   Somehow I did manage to get a pair started for each of them on the 22nd of December and finished them up late the next night (Ack!!!! Moment of panic ensued when I found absolutely no buttons in the button jar to match.  How is that even possible!?!  Thank goodness I had snaps that would work!).  Taking a photo of two overly excited, overly tired little boys proved to be quite the challenge, so this is about the best view you get!

Wearing their new Batman pjs!
Pattern is a vintage Simplicity #6427
(How can it be vintage?!?! It's c.1974, which means its YOUNGER than me!)

The last project I sewed for Christmas this year just about did me in.  It's nothing untoward with the pattern, it was that I was tired and somehow between that and checking out my topstitching and just plain old not paying attention, partway through the back seams I sewed through my finger.  Bonus points go to me for not dripping blood on any fabric, but holy doodle that hurt like a son of a gun.  I've not had a "sewing through a digit" incident in almost 30 years and it's one I'd rather not repeat EVER again, thank you very much.  I almost gave up right there and then.  I also then had issue with the pockets and the zipper facing - not injury inducing, just pulling out my hair type issues.  The end result was worth the heart ache and hassle though, but I really felt it could've been a better experience.

G in her Greenstyle Creations Sundance Jacket

There were also a few other crafty projects for the holidays!

Some festive mugs done with Sharpie Oil Paint pens
for G and B to sip their mulled wine from

Every year since my kids were born I have given them a new ornament for Christmas.  I always tried to stick with a matching theme, which was significantly easier when there were only three of them.  Now that there's five plus the older one's significant others trying to find a matching theme became quite a challenge, so a few years ago I started making the ornaments instead.  This year's ended up getting done just under the wire - mostly because I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do.

Indecision.  It'll be my undoing some day.

Anyways - I finally made a decision and dashed outside shortly before we had to leave for the city on Christmas Eve and cut my branches.  Then at 11pm when we got home my wonderful husband carved the tops and drilled the holes for me while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, doing some hand sewing on G's jacket, wrapping presents, and putting presents under the tree and doing other miscellaneous odd jobs on my to-do list, then I set to work with some acrylic paints and an oil paint sharpie.  Sometime just after midnight I had seven cute little Santa ornaments ready to go!

Ho ho ho!

The little boys had two very special gifts that they had me help them make this year as well.  It was very hard for them to keep them secret and they were pretty much bursting by the time they were finally able to present them to Daddy on Christmas morning.

First up was a mug for him to use at work on his coffee breaks - I think this is likely going to become yet another tradition as they did one for him last year too and they're already talking about next year's mug.

Various views of the Daddy's new coffee mug

They also made him a new painted t-shirt.  I'm a bit worried that I didn't put enough fabric medium into the acrylic paints because it faded a whole lot when I washed it, but hopefully the initial fading is as much as it's going to do, because they really did work hard on their shirt and I'd hate for it not to last!

So that's it for the Christmas craftiness this year, but  I do have another project to show you that I just made as a birthday gift for my little niece.  I used pajama fleece and shimmery stretch satin for this  and it was a really fun project - fairly quick to make and low stress.  She was really pleased with it too I think, putting it on as soon as she opened it.  It's from Rissa's Mermaid/Fish Tail Lounge Sack pattern from The Plucky Butterfly Designs and I can definitely see making more of these in the future!  Unfortunately all the pictures I took of the little lady wearing her mermaid tail turned out blurry and out of focus.

As we approach the new year I'm going to work on some easy, relaxing projects.  I've got an Andi Satterlund cardigan, Anouk, on the needles for her latest knit along on Ravelry.  I've also got a Paprika Patterns Zircon Sweater on the sewing table that I'd planned to have done a few weeks ago and didn't manage to get done due to a bit of a fabric choice mishap.  And then?  I'm going to start on the those gifts for next Christmas.  (go ahead and laugh, we all know how likely it is that I'll actually follow through on that plan... LOL)

I hope you've all had a peaceful holiday season,  with whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate and that your New Year is full of happiness, good health and wonderful adventures!

You Know Dasher and Dancer...

... and Prancer and Vixen.  You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.  But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all, Rachel the Red Nosed Reindeer...

I'm really excited to be over at the Scientific Seamstress Blog today, where I'll be talking about how I've had some festive fun with their latest pattern, Rachel Reindeer!  I hope you'll stop by and visit me there!

The 2014 Christmas Crafting Round Up

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!  We had a fantastic Christmas.  All of the kids, plus their partners were able to join us Christmas morning.  Nothing is better than having everyone under one roof together!  We opened presents, then the little boys played with their new toys, the big kids played cards and I made brunch.  It was merry and festive.

Now that Christmas has come and gone once again and all of the crafts have been given and received, I can take a few minutes to show you what I've been up to over the last month and a half!

First up, along the left here are two of my new and very favourite holiday decor items!  At the beginning of December the little boys and I picked up some paints and blank canvasses at the Dollar Store.  I painted up their hands and they made their masterpieces together!  We've got new ones already planned for next year!  I know that years from now as they hang them on the wall I'll look back and think that I can't believe they were once so small!

Before I get to the more recent Christmas giving, it occurred to me that I never posted about the Christmas in July swap that I hosted over on Ravelry in the 2009 Summer Mother's group.  We had a huge sign up for participants, so I divided the names up into three groups, then each person was responsible for making an ornament for each member of their group so that each participant would end up with a collection of ornaments for their tree.  The group I was in was the largest with seven participants.   I want to share the collection of beautiful hand crafted ornaments that I received. I love that each one of them is so unique!  Betz White's Peace Dove is the ornament I chose to make for the swap.  It was a fun, but somewhat daunting undertaking as embroidery makes me feel somewhat less than competent having not really done much of it at all since I was about eight and Mom helped me make a sampler the year I got my sewing box and embroidery hoop for  Christmas.  I was really happy with how they turned out, but have yet to make one for myself.  Maybe now that all the hustle bustle has calmed down, I'll pull out the wool felt, the embroidery thread and set to work on one for us.

 Now that the house and the tree are covered, let's move on to the gifts that I made.  I started late this year so not everything I hoped to make actually got done and at the 11th hour (December 21st to be precise) I had to get a grip on reality (more of a choke hold, truth be told, than a grip) because it was way out there in left field.  Stringing me along like I had all the time in the world.  As soon as I realized I didn't, adjusted my list, swapped out this pattern for that etc. I felt a whole lot better and a whole lot less panicked.  I actually got back to enjoying making gifts instead of heading down that slippery slope of OBLIGATION.  Eeewwwww!  Nothing takes the fun out of crafting faster than a perceived sense of obligation.

Anyways - I was quite happy with my efforts in the end and the reactions to the gifts made every single minute spent doing them more than worth it!

Pajama Party

As per usual there were some pjs made for Christmas!  We'll start at the top and move left to right.  First up is our nephew, Ethan, modelling his brand new footie jammies that he specifically requested with "feet, a hood and pockets".  I was a little worried, come Christmas he'd be a bit disappointed to open pjs instead of a toy like the rest of the cousins were getting, but I needn't have worried.  He dropped everything to go put them on before he opened anything else.  His mom told me that they rate right up there in his favourite gifts, so I'm, of course, absolutely tickled!

Next we have Little Man and Baby Boy in their new Christmas Eve pjs!  Flannel and fleece kept them cozy in the truck on the way home from the city that night.  We always take pjs to change them into before heading home if it's going to be late and they certainly were surprised when I pulled Angry Bird pjs out of the extra clothes bag!  (BF)G was also pretty surprised when he went to get ready for bed later that night and couldn't find his pj pants he was sure he'd left on our bed (ha ha! I'm so sneaky - I'd hid them before we headed out for the evening) so reached into his dresser drawer to find a matching pair for himself too!

G had be moaning the last time that she was out that she needed new pjs because her's were all so old and tattered.  I knew as soon as I spied the glittery leopard print flannel at Fabricland that it was meant to be PJ pants and a sleep mask for her!

Holders and Such

I love making little wallets and holders for stocking stuffers and small gifts! They're fun, quick and I get to use awesome bits of fabric!  From top left to bottom again, we've got Superhero notebook holders for the little boys, who love to take notebooks everywhere they go!  A funny story about those - when I was buying the fabric the clerk cutting it asked me what I was planning to make, and I said that I would be making notebook holders for my four and five year old.  She looked at me rather oddly when she asked what kind of notebook and I told her just the cheap ones that come three to a pack for a dollar at Dollarama.  It took me a moment of confusion at her confusion to realize that in a sign of the times, she was picturing the computer type of notebook, not the old fashion use a pen or pencil with, stash in your pocket kind.  We had quite a chuckle over "how times have changed"!

Next up for our university student/waitress G,  I found a great little tutorial online for an organizer wallet that I thought would be perfect for either when she's at work, or for throwing in her bag for going to classes.  I was really excited to find leopard print notebooks for her too!

On the bottom right we have a tea wallet for M, who is studying like a mad fiend working on her master's plus works approximately a million different jobs.  I don't know how that girl does it!  I went back to my very favourite pattern - I always think it's the perfect size to toss in a pocket or a purse when you're busy and on the go!

Last but not least is A's make up brush roll.  I thought it would be handy for when she travels or just throwing in her bag for freshening up after a long day in the classroom if she's got somewhere to go after work.  I used the same tutorial I've used in the past for it as well (which, like the organizer wallet, comes from {lbg studio})

Odds and Ends

Here we have a flax seed heat pad - I absolutely love mine and think everyone should own one.  This one was for M.  Then whenever G gets overly stressed out about school I tell her she should take a break and have tea and chocolate.  I decided a great gift for her would be a mug that I wrote out the recipe for chocolate mug cake on (I used Sharpie Oil Paint pens, then baked in the oven at 425F - start out with a cold oven and don't remove item until it is cold again!) along with the pre-mixed packages of the dry ingredients needed.  On the other side of the mug it says, "Need a Break? Have Some Cake!" and the handle says "Love Mom" I hope she enjoys it and it reduces her stress at least for a moment!

The next thing is a modified Working Girl Laptop bag.  I made this one quite some time ago, but have been holding onto it specially!  I paired it with some charcoal pencils and a sketch pad for Mom.  I envision her sitting at the park on a warm spring day sketching in the sunshine.  I hope that this bag will help her to just pick up and go when the whim hits her!

Last in the odds and ends is this year's ornament.  Every year since J was a newborn baby I have included a new Christmas ornament in the kids' stockings.  I used to buy a new one each year and tried to keep it a theme.  It was easy to do when there was only three kids, not quite as easy to do when there were five kids and last year when I had seven kids to get an ornament for I gave up looking in the store and decided to make them instead.  I was very glad to have made that decision given now there are eight "kids" needing ornaments! Because I'd left things a bit late in the game, I decided to do something fairly simple.  I thought these little trees from Life after Laundry were quite cute!  Although I didn't get them done quite in time for stockings - I hit the wall at 3:30am sewing the last two, so went to bed and then ended up sewing the strings on and gave them to them after brunch Christmas morning.

Keeping Cozy!

In this grouping I've put some of the "cozy" knitted gifts!  At the top is (BF)G's Fox Point hat that I finished within a half hour of him walking in the door for his Christmas holidays and G's slippers that she actually sent me a link to on Facebook as a hint.  The second row has two "Beer Mitts" (the black and grey one was actually (BF)G's birthday present on the 27th!) and a White Leaf cowl for A. And on the bottom a Sweet Memories cowl for Baby Boy's preschool teacher!

Teacher Gifts

This year I decided to once again let the boys pick out the patterns and yarns for their teacher's gifts.  All the teacher's received fingerless gloves except for the preschool teacher that received gloves last year from Little Man - so this year Baby Boy decided I could knit the cowl above to go with her gloves.  From top again we have Give em the Slip, Staghorn Mittens (a super fun, quick knit in bulky yarn!) and at the bottom, two pairs of Farm to Market designed by the very talented Aimee Alexander - one of my "Octo-mama" friends on Ravelry.

 Colourwork

Last but not least are three of my favourite projects for this holiday season!  I really do love everything about colourwork and it's so addictive making these projects really fun to do!!  First are J's War of the World inspired Robots vs. Downtown mittens, and beneath them are N's Zombie Mittens - I love that the palm and thumb have depict the bones - and to the side are M's Fireweeds! I've never met a Rose Hiver pattern that I didn't love!

So that's it! Phew! Are you still with me?  Give yourself a big ol' pat on the back if you've made it this far! Ha ha! It was a lot of work, but as I said, worth every minute of it given the appreciation.

For now I'm going to focus on doing a few things for myself and some other projects that I put on the back burner for the Christmas crafting marathon, but I already have some plans up my sleeve for next year and think I'll get a jump on them throughout the year rather than trying to do it all in the last month and a half before the holidays - because that kind of procrastination can drive a person a bit crazy if they're not careful! ;)

I hope that the coming new year finds everyone happy, healthy and enjoying life to the fullest!

Better Late Than Never : A Holiday Crafting Round Up

I've been meaning to get to this post since Christmas, but just haven't had the time yet. The little boys have been plagued with illness after illness since Christmas - colds, stomach bugs, ear infections, even a trip to the ER to celebrate the New Year. It's been insane. However, better late than never, I'm finally sitting down to do a round up of the holiday crafting of 2013.

This year I was determined to accomplish two things. Increase the amount of handmade gifts and to not have a major meltdown as a result of it.  I'm thrilled to tell you I succeeded on both accounts.  Not one single tearful, gnashing of teeth, toddler worthy tantrum and over thirty crafts made for gifting.  I was the queen of calm this year. I actually enjoyed the gift making.  Really enjoyed it.

So, without further ado, here's what I was up to during my absence from the blogging world.

"Accessories"

I went a little mad with the accessories this year.  Hats and mitts and scarves oh my!  My favourite, I think, are the Lotus Mittens I knit for Mom.  She almost didn't get them.  I was sorely tempted to keep them all for myself.  Such a pretty pattern! Oh! But I also loved Salt, the cowl I knit for J's girlfriend M and then there was the Give 'em the Slip Mitts I knit for Little Man's preschool teacher.  He chose the pattern and the yarn for them and the purple Cafe au Lait mitts I knit for his other teacher. I also knit a pair of Cafe au Lait for M's stocking. J had requested an Inishmore Cap like I'd made for N last year - little did he know I'd been planning it all along! It's a great look for my big boys!  I also knit a Fisher Cable Hat for G's boyfriend B's stocking. I had a slight issue with that one. Something went a bit wrong with the decreases and in the end I ripped back and reworked them using a online decrease calculator instead of how it was written and I couldn't be happier. It looked much more hat like and much less tea cozy like.  A few other things that made their way into Christmas stockings were Amaranth, a headband I knit in linen, and Boot Candy boot toppers for G, a neck warmer using the Oats pattern for N and a simple garter edged toque for M. Phew. I think that covers the accessories...

"Dancing Queens"

I decided early on this year that I really wanted to make dance bags for three of our little nieces who all take dance classes and G had already asked for a new dance bag on her Christmas wish list so it was just a matter of deciding what design to make.

I had found the idea for the bag online, but of course decided I couldn't leave well enough alone and did my own thing.  Two of the nieces are highland dancers so ghillies were a must on their bags.  The third takes tap, but unfortunately my drawing abilities did not extend as far as tap shoes - they just looked weird, so I went with ballet slippers instead. The bags are lined with an 8" zippered pocket in the lining on one side and two gathered, elasticized slip pockets the width of the opposite side on the highland dance ones and on the ballet one has pleated slip pockets instead.  I decided to do tie handles so that the girls could adjust the length if necessary. A magnetic snap closure finishes each of them off. I knit each little girl a pair of legwarmers to go with their bag, using Beanstalks for the two highland ones and Zeg Warmers for the ballet one.  All yarns were hand dyed Patons Classic.

G's dance bag happens to be my latest test bag for Anna of Charmed Liebling. When Anna sent me the test request I knew right away it was a perfect dance bag. Roomy, lots of pockets and stylish. I'm really happy with how my Rhine Valley Bag turned out - and if you'd like to make one for yourself hop on over to Anna's site for more information.

"Pyjama Party"

Using a few old patterns I created to sets of pjs for gifting.  The first set was matching Christmas Eve pjs for the little boys. I used an old Simplicity pattern for the flannel bottoms and an old Kwik Sew t-shirt pattern for the fleece tops that I appliquéd the bear shape onto to complete the look. The boys were so excited when I surprised them with them.  Little Man was especially appreciative, telling me over and over how much he liked them and how soft they were.

The second set were again made using the same pattern for the little bottoms, but this time I modified to add a contrast cuff.  (BF)G's were made using another Simplicity pattern.  I took the easy route with the tops, choosing to purchase three black t-shirts and one orange one that I cut the sleeve extensions from and attached to the black ones. These pyjamas were a birthday gift for (BF)G, who's birthday happens to fall right after Christmas.

"Perhaps With A Bag to Put Them In"

I love that J's Christmas wish list had two requests that were handmade. One was that he wanted a set of dice for Dungeons and Dragons "perhaps with a hand knit bag to put them in" (the other was the Inishmore Cap) - it made this crafty mama's heart sing to read that I tell you!  So I knit him a little dice pouch one evening while I watched the old classic "White Christmas".

Months ago I'd found the "Bowie Case" pattern on my favourite bag making site, Emmeline Bags. The pattern isn't by Janelle, but by a German designer, pattydo. Janelle sells it  in her shop though and had high praise for the cute little cel phone clutch it makes, so I purchased it with the intention of making G and J's girlfriend M one for each of their stockings. I love this little bag, although it was a bit crazy as the instructions are in a German (with English subtitles) video.  It went smoothly until I was trying to put it all together in the final step. Trying to watch where I was to do the folds, while reading subtitles all the while the video kept pausing and having to load because of a dodgy internet connection. Oh boy! But the end result is adorable.  I so want one for myself!

Our youngest niece doesn't dance yet - she's just three - but I assume she gets dragged along to her fair share of dance classes and competitions, so I thought I'd make her the Playdate Back Pack from Fishsticks designs so she can take along some toys or books with her.  A overwhelmingly pink, girly Barbie one (I'm so not used to overly girly anymore in this house being surrounded by menfolk! ha ha!). I think she liked it.  She wore it most of the evening, Christmas Eve, after opening it.

"Santa"

Every year Santa brings an new ornament in the kids' stockings.  This year I just couldn't find any that I liked. And given I was filling seven stockings now with the addition to our family of B (G's boyfriend) and M (J's girlfriend) I was having a really hard time finding a theme with that many different choices. So I decided to put my crafty little self to work and make them.  I adore these little felt Santas and really loved making them. So much fun!

So there you have it. The round up! I may have left a thing or two off the list, but I think that's pretty much it for Christmas (and one birthday) 2013 crafting.  I'm still so pleased with how everything worked out and how much I enjoyed the process.  I'm already plotting and planning for next year, but for now, I've been enjoying doing a few projects for myself.  It was brutally cold for a spell causing me to feel the urge to knit all things. I'll have to tell you about that another day though.

Sustenance is Necessary...

I've been quiet for a little while now. Even Mom commented on my blogging silence. It's just I've been so busy with my crafting that I haven't had time to post - ssssshhhhh! Top secret! Can't tell you about anything I've been working until after Christmas, but I can tell you I just put the finishing touches on gift number 17 this morning!

I'm hoping this means that I will complete the last few gifts in plenty of time before Christmas is upon us so that this year, instead of having a crazed lunatic marathon of crafting and melting down on December 23rd like I did last year, I can just relax and enjoy the time with my family during this festive season.

Of course with all this craftiness, sustenance is necessary. Tasty, tasty sustenance.  And do I have a recipe to share with you!

I met my friend, Betty, years ago, when we both had little kids and were muddling our way through early motherhood in those first few years. I remember Betty always bringing awesome treats when it was her turn to bring snack for playgroup! Over the years due to various reasons we lost touch and then several years ago picked up our friendship through the magic of Facebook.  We live several hours apart so we haven't had an opportunity for coffee dates or in person visits yet, but we do keep in touch via the net regularly.

The last few weeks she's been posting photos of delicious looking treats on Facebook, including whipped shortbread. I had a pound of butter in the fridge that was relentless in its calling of my name, just begging to be used. So a quick message to Betty and I had the recipe in my hands.

Yesterday was shortbread day. Tomorrow maybe shortbread day again. Perhaps the next day after that.  I can't see these lasting around here very long! These are delicate, melt in your mouth, morsels from heaven. Yum. Yum.

Happy Holidays!

So here's the recipe! (Don't worry, I'm not divulging any ancient secret recipe here although it's tried and true, she's been using it for over twenty-five years for her own family - Betty told me to go ahead and share it with everyone! )

Betty's Whipped Shortbread

1/2 cup corn starch
3 cups flour
1 lb butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Heat oven to 350F/175C

Combine flour and cornstarch in a bowl and set aside.

Whip butter until fluffy then add powdered sugar. Whip again and add vanilla and salt when it looks creamed like whipped cream. Add the flour mixture a half cup or so at a time, whipping in between each addition.

(Betty says if you have a kitchen aid mixer use paddle attachment and at the end give it one good whip for 30 seconds. I don't, but found my electric hand mixer worked just fine!)

Spoon onto cookie sheets garnish. Betty's were so pretty - she used glacé cherries, cutting red ones into a small dot and the green ones lengthwise to make it look like holly! So festive! I didn't have cherries, so I just used colored sugar.

Bake for 6-10 minutes (start checking at about six minutes). Shortbread is done once the bottom is delicately browned. Cool on racks, then make yourself a cuppa, sit down, put on some festive tunes, relax and enjoy the season (and your shortbread)!

A Round Up Of Christmas Crafting - The Sewing

Since I showed you the knitting portion of my holiday crafting yesterday, I thought today I would do a round up of the sewing!

I took leave of my senses sometime in early October and decided I just had to sew each of the little nieces pjs and matching doll pjs. Now, if I'd acted on this notion right away I would've been in good shape come Christmas time. However one thing led to another which led to another, which led me to not even buying fabric until December. Now, I've had to come to accept the fact that sewing when Baby Boy and Little Toddler Man are awake is just not a wise idea. There are just far too many interesting things for toddlers to do down in the basement, none of which include playing with the toys that reside in my sewing area. It's hard to sew and keep toddlers out of trouble at the same time. Unfortunately, once the toddlers went to bed I was so tired that I often followed close behind them into the Land of Nod, which was equally as detrimental to progress. Eventually, the week before Christmas I was able to start. (BF)G's first day of holidays I woke up, said good morning and hightailed it downstairs by 7am to start sewing. I was like a woman possessed. Sanity was left in shreds, but progress was made and by 10:30pm, December 23rd, all gift sewing was DONE!

Flannel Nightgown 1

Flannel Nightgown 2

I used a vintage nightgown pattern and modified a remake of a vintage Simplicity
Pattern for two of the nieces' nightgowns and matching doll nightgowns. I think the girls were happy despite the fact both nightgowns turned out much bigger than intended. Both little girls donned their nighties shortly after opening them on Christmas eve and proceeded to wear them the rest of the evening. It really made all the last minute sewing frenzy worth it!

Flannel PJs 1

Flannel PJs 2

Waldorf Style Pocket Doll

I used a new pattern for the other two little nieces pjs - its the same pattern I used back in the fall for the Two Year Old Birthday Swap present. It's a fun little pattern. The only thing I modified was to do a button with an elastic loop rather than buttonholes. The pjs for dolly were modified slightly from the remade vintage Simplicity Pattern to match and the Waldorf Style Pocket Doll was from a tutorial on the Bamboletta website. I hear from my sister that my niece loved her monkey pjs so much she just finally got her out of them yesterday to go out. Glad to hear they were so well received. The little two year old niece who got the doll with her jammies seemed pretty pleased with her "baby" on Christmas eve, giving it lots of love when she opened it.

I really had fun making the doll. I bought a needle felting needle last time I was at my LYS and thought I'd give the needle felting method a whirl for making the head. It was amazing! It makes such a nice firm, cohesive inner core for the head, and the puncture wounds I gave myself during my learning curve have all healed now so I can look fondly on this method and say without hesitation that all Waldorf style heads made by me in the future will be aided by a needle felting needle (and perhaps some protective gear for my hands...). I suspect I will be making more of these little pocket dolls in the future. I have several baby gifts needing to be made (the baby boom continues all around me it would seem) and both Baby Boy and LTM were quite enamored with it as well. I have to give kudos to (BF)G on the suggestion of the ribbon bow. It took the doll from being Plain Jane ordinary to super cute I think! He comes up with some pretty good suggestions. It's why I keep him around. Or at least partly why anyways. ;)

Superman PJ Pants

I dragged N with me the day I went shopping for flannel and while there he saw the superman print and hinted broadly that he'd like a pair of pjs out of it. So, my next trip to the fabric store included a couple of metres just for him! He was happily wearing them when he left on Christmas morning to go back to the city so I'm going to say they were a success. (although clearly he missed lesson #552 when growing up. Pjs are for at home. Not out and about! Even if a bajillion teenagers and far too many adults would disagree with me...)

Inside view of make up roll

Outside view of make up roll

G, as I mentioned yesterday, makes gift making and giving so easy! I saw a tutorial online for a makeup roll and had found the perfect fabric for it. To top it off make up brushes were on her wish list. What better way to make a nice little gift?! And really, what says glamour better than 1940s Paris? I modified the tutorial ever so slightly doing a plush binding along the top of the pocket and an elastic wrap around closure using a satin finished narrow FOE (fold over elastic).

Sleep Mask and Flax Heat Pad

Using the same "glamourous" fabrics I made a flax heat pad and sleep mask for my 17 year old niece who often muses on Facebook that she wishes she had a weekend to just relax. I wanted to put together a "relaxation in a box" gift for her. I used a tutorial from Sew4Home for the sleep mask.

Earbud Cases

Last but not least, J had complained to me a while ago that he was always getting his headphones tangled in his pocket so I thought I'd make some funky cases for him and N to store their earbuds in. Unfortunately due to trying to sew with toddlers afoot, they're not as perfectly round as I would have liked them. Apparently, when sewing a circle it's a good idea to look at the seam you are stitching rather than continuing to sew whilst repeatedly craning your head over your shoulder to ensure two toddlers hell bent on mischief are actually still in the room with you. Lessons learned.

So, that brings us to the end of the madness that was gift making for Christmas 2012! I think if I'm going to plan on such a large selection of handmade gifts for next Christmas I had better start in January. I won't of course (start that is), but I should.

A Round Up of Christmas Crafting - The Knitting

So now that the gifts have been given I can finally show you what I've been up to for the last few months. Today I'm going to show you the knitting!

Moulin Rouge Mitts

These mitts were destined to be for G as soon as I spied them in my pattern search results on Ravelry. I love my Lilac Mittens I knit for myself last year from Hedda Knits, so when I saw the Moulin Rouge I had to knit them! I used St. Denis Boreale for the mitts.

Inishmore Cap

Next up was the Inishmore Cap for N. This pattern was a complete joy to knit! I loved every step of the process! The pattern features some really unique construction and is incredibly well written. I used an unlabeled worsted (similar to Briggs and Little's regal) for it. I was really pleased with the final outcome too!

Cambridge Socks

I love knitting socks for (BF)G. He's always so appreciative. I had the smoke gray Durasport in my stash already so when I found the Cambridge Socks pattern I figured they'd be a great match. Knitting in secret took a lot longer than anticipated. At one point I stooped to actually being a bit glad when he'd say he was just heading outside for a smoke. I did a whole heel flap one Sunday during his "smoke breaks" alone.

Blue Leaf Headband

G makes gift giving so easy! One of her requests was a knit headband. I used some super soft recycled wool held double to knit up the Blue Leaf Headband to include in her stocking. I could have probably finished it in one sitting, but I was knitting it in bed late one night. When I set my knitting down on the bed to check my pattern (BF)G rolled over on it and continued snoring. I had to wait for him to roll over again to unearth it. Sleeping on 6mm needles without noticing! That is a talent not many would possess - perhaps only the very overworked and overtired. I quickly finished up the next morning though and happily checked it off the to do list.

Marsan Watchcap

J requested a Marsan Watchcap after seeing his brothers' caps sitting on the counter when he was home. He asked for blue or black and I had some Briggs and Little Regal in navy blue sitting tucked away in my stash. Perfect! Marsan really is my go to men's hat pattern. I've knit it five times now!

Hobby Horses

Last but not least is the Hobby Horses. Knit from various worsted wool mostly in my stash, they came together pretty well. Unfortunately I ran out of time to finish them. I was stuffing heads, adding sticks and stitching on d-rings for the bridle at about 1:30am Christmas morning. I realized I hadn't bought enough d-rings, and didn't have the energy to finish up the manes or do proper bridles. So I left them as is. The little boys were thrilled with them as is and they've logged tons of playtime already. They've been donkeys and reindeer mostly and on the very odd occasion horses too. Whatever they are, they've been fun, so finished or not, I guess that's really what counts in the end! The pattern is from the book Knitted Gifts by Ann Budd.

So that's the knitting part of my holiday craftiness. I'll have to show you the sewing another day!