Penny's Knitted Top

I just finished up a little knitted top for Penny. It is a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn called Child's Sun Top. I didn't use Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn, however. I used some really pretty, soft yarn that I found on clearance. It is Classic Silk from Classic Elite Yarns. The color is Primrose, with Stream used for the flowers. The french knots are just Peaches & Cream cotton yarn in Natural.

I really love this pattern because it was so easy for me to do! It wasn't stressful or too complex and I still ended up with an adorable baby top. I think that she has a good deal of room in it so it may last till summer when it would actually become a sun top. Until then, it layers nicely.

String Spiderweb for Mom

Here is the little quilt that I made for my mom for Christmas. It is bigger than a mini quilt but a small lap quilt. It would have been bigger if only for time! I thought it would look nice in her new kitchen on a bench that is beside the window. And it does fit well there without looking too small. It is just over 3' square.
I used the tutorial for making a string spiderweb using paper piecing found here.

I used various off white fabrics for the star like shapes, to add to the scrappiness of it and to add more interest. I made 36 triangle shaped pieces which equals 9 squares, 3 across and 3 down. The fabrics are various shades of blues and white and off white. The binding is pieced from remaining scraps and the quilting was my first attempt at an all over loop pattern.

I had a lot of fun trying this style of quilt and would like to try another at some point. I have a little store of Christmas fabric scraps that I keep adding too because I think that this would make a really pretty Christmas quilt with off white and Christmas colored spiderwebs.

Merry Christmas

I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas! Ours was wonderful, and continues to be with gathering after gathering. Penny learned to sit on her own just in time for a fun little Christmas photo shoot!

Christmas Centerpiece

I found something to ward off the cleaning for a little bit longer. I had nearly forgotten about making the centerpiece for the table. I put this together last night and I really like how it looks. I think that white and green are such a nice wintry combination. The lighting isn't good for taking pictures these days. The sun just doesn't fill the rooms the way it does in the summer. Now, I fear, it really is time to clean. I think that my Christmas crafting is over for this year. Merry Christmas! I will be back in a couple of days to share pictures of my Mother's Christmas gift once it is no longer a secret!

The last of it

I finished up the last of the Christmas baking this morning. I made a batch of pumpkin bread. There is a regular sized loaf (not pictured) for the kids to eat on Christmas morning because they are not fans of Cranberry Nut Bread which I made two days ago. These little loaves are gifts. Now all I have left is the "real food," you know, the main course stuff that I can't start yet. I guess that means that I should be cleaning now but that is by far my least favorite part. And the kids undo it all in about 15 minutes anyway!

Christmas Baking

Today we had the first of many family holiday parties. I put together a cookie tray, as I do every year. It was a small gathering so I only put out a few of each but the tray was demolished in five minutes! No kidding. The tray includes:
Snickerdoodles
Molasses Cookies
Tiger Butter
Pizzelles
Cranberry Shortbread
Chocolate Fudge
Chunky Peanut, Chocolate and Cinnamon Cookies
Gingerbread-White Chocolate Blondies
Crazy Judy
Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Crackles
Many of the recipes are from my new Martha Stewart cookie cookbook and from the Holiday Cookies magazine that she published in 2005. There are also some family recipes and a couple from friends. I normally make a few more kinds but I feel fortunate to have fit this many in during my baby's very short naps.
Tomorrow I have to make Cranberry Nut bread. It's our tradition to eat it Christmas morning!
I put everything in the freezer till the last minute.
What are you baking?

Last Felted Eyeglasses Case

I used Palette Yarn, 100% Peruvian Highland wool, 2-ply fingering in Garnet Heather for this one. It is a little bit bigger than the last two that I made because this one is meant for regular size frames rather than reading glasses. My husband made another toggle button. This was made from a dogwood tree that we had to cut down on our property a year or two ago. I learned how to make needlepoint flower petals for the embroidery here. I think it looks sort of sunflower like, though that wasn't intended. I just picked colors that I liked against the red. I think that this is the last handmade Christmas gift for the year. Phew! I might fit in a couple of ornaments though if I find some inspiration. Mostly, I will be baking.

Friendship Star Potholders

Last night and this morning, I was madly stitching away at these Friendship Star potholders to give my friend for Christmas. She came over today and I am the lucky recipient of Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook in return! Yum, yum! It's funny that both gifts had a baking theme.
I had been wanting to try the Friendship Star quilt block which is featured over at the Block Party blog right now. http://www.blockpartyquilting.com/2009/11/friendship-star-tutorial.html I thought it would be perfect for this gift. The off white fabric is Kona Bone. The green is Moda Paisley. I'm not sure about the dark red but I do know that it is a near match for my friend's dining room walls. I went with two layers of Thermolam because I wanted to make sure that the potholders really worked but they are quite thick and could hardly fit under my presser foot. I'd really rather be safe than sorry in this case though. It's awful when you are holding a pan and the heat starts seeping through before you are able to put the tray down!
The potholders took longer than I expected but I do like the results and she did too.

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

I squeezed in a quick craft with the kids a couple of days ago. We made ornaments with cinnamon dough. They make your house smell so lovely and festive! There are lots of recipes out there if you search the web. Basically, you use cinnamon, applesauce and white glue. You can roll the dough between sheets of wax paper and cut it with cookie cutters, or you can just shape it. We made some balls and threaded ribbon through them. Mostly we used the cookie cutters though because the kids had more fun choosing them! The kids are giving these ornaments away as Christmas gifts, except for the two chosen for our tree above.

Toggle Button

My husband finished making the toggle button for his grandmother's eye glasses case last night. Isn't it a beauty? He's a keeper, I tell you!

Felted Reading Glasses Case

My friend surprised me with this felted and embroidered pouch for my birthday a few weeks ago. She found the directions on Ravelry. It is called the Beginner's Lucky Pouch, by Hattie B. Holtapp.
She inspired me to try my hand at felting for a few Christmas gifts.

These are the two projects that I have made so far, resting on another birthday surprise, a scarf knit by my mother in law. Isn't it pretty? I modified the Beginner's Lucky Pouch a little bit to be the perfect size for a pair of reading glasses.
I purchased my yarn from Knit Picks. The yarns are Palette Wallaby and Palette Clematis Heather, fingering weight 100% Peruvian Highland Wool.
Here is what I did:
I cast on 45 stitches on size 4 needles.
Using the garter stitch, I stitched 4 rows.
On the next row, I knit 19 stitches, cast off the next 7, and knit the remaining 19.
On the following row, I knit 19 stitches, cast on 7 stitches, and knit the remaining 19.
I then knit until my piece measured about 10 inches and cast off.
I folded the bottom edge up, stitched it to form the sides, and threw the piece in to the laundry with some towels in hot water and hoped for the best!
When it came out of the laundry, I pulled it into shape and rested it on my radiators to dry in a jiffy.

I decided that I wanted to learn a proper needlepoint stitch, besides a French knot, so I learned the chain stitch to embellish these cases. I have one more case to make. This one will be slightly larger for bigger glasses. I am going to cast on 50stitches and make my piece 11 1/2" long.

The piece of partly shaped wood in the picture above is going to be a toggle button. My husband is making it for the eyeglass case with the bird on it. It will be a present for his grandmother.

I fear I have another crafting addiction.

The Tree Is Up!

We went to a local tree farm and cut our tree after school let out on Friday. It is all decorated now, from the angel on the top to the train running around the bottom. The kids had a great time hanging all of the ornaments. There are some branches that are rather heavily decorated. Every now and then, we sneak an ornament off and move it elsewhere. So far, they are not on to us.
I made the angel when we were first married. I bought the porcelain doll head at ACMoore. It is attached to a sturdy, cardboard cone with hot glue. Then I made the dress and some lightly quilted wings. I love the lace that I found for the bottom. I never did attach a halo though. I thought of a gold pipe cleaner but it doesn't seem delicate enough. Any suggestions? She has been without one for 12 years. I suppose she can stay that way!
I will let you in on a little secret. We don't string the popcorn each year. We save it in a brown paper bag. My mom did that when I was a kid and it works so well. In fact, she still uses the popcorn that my brother and I strung as children. Unfortunately, last year a squirrel gnawed its way into our attic and ate the popcorn. Really. Therefore, this year it is newly strung. My husband strung most of it as I was involved with another project. That will be my next post!

Christmas Decorating

We finished up our outside decorating today. The top decoration is on my side door. The bottom image is the Williamsburg style door topper in its place above the front door. The window boxes have greens in them. Even the barn door has a wreath and evergreen garland. We are not doing any outside lights, mainly because our shrubs are still too small. We might in future years. We will be putting candles in the windows though. I haven't started on any of the inside stuff yet. That's what we will be doing this weekend!

Williamsburg Style Door Topper

I made a Williamsburg style door topper for my front door today (with the "help" and patience of Penny and Lily). This is my second year making one and I learned from some mistakes. I still have room for improvement but I have a better feel for it now! I thought I would share the steps I took to put it together in case anyone is interested.

First, my husband cut a curved piece out of plywood (the bottom edge should measure slightly less than your door width). We attached two screw eyes at the top with wire between them for hanging. Then I arranged long nails to hold the fruit. The nails in the picture above were from last year. I ended up moving the majority of them around as I went this time around. The important part is to hammer them in at an angle so that they hold the fruit when the board is vertical. And you need to place three nails in a triangle formation at the center bottom to hold the pineapple.
First I collected Rhododendron leaves and stapled them along the upper edge. Then I filled in the background with greens in case it showed through. I found that you can buy these boards all spray painted green with nails in place. I might paint the board green next year--that seems like a good idea.
Then I placed the fruit onto the nails. I started with the pineapple. Then I did the arc of red apples, then green. It would have been smarter to work from the bottom up because I had to remove the red apples a couple of time in order to change the nail positions for the green apples. I will try to remember this for next year too! Then I pushed short segments of Japanese Holly into all the gaps.
A lesson that I learned from last year's experience, is to use small apples. Buy the type that come in bags rather than individually. The smaller size makes them easier to work with and fit closely together. Also, buy more fruit than you think you will need. I could have used a few more apples this year but I was not about to go grocery shopping again.
My house is an old, circa 1840 New England Colonial and I really like the way this style of decoration looks on it. I plan to work on the wreath next so I can get them both hung!

Folksy Flannel Matching Cuteness

I asked Lily if she would like Penny's dress to match her dress or be different and, my heart be still, she said "matching!" I used Butterick 4009 in a size small for the jumper. It's a great pattern. They have you finish the bodice nicely, without the use of bias tape at the armholes. You turn the garment right side out and then stitch the shoulder seams. It involves a little hand sewing to close it up on the sides, and a bit inside to attach the lining, but I think it is worth it.
If you choose to use Village Plum Path-Folksy Flannels for a garment, make sure you buy extra yardage to match the print. It is such a strong horizontal design that you really have to be careful. I didn't dare try an A-line but went with two patterns that had gathers to mask the seams where things might not line up precisely. I was able to get Lily's side seams to line up nearly exactly as you can see in this picture.

Penny's side seams didn't end up matching quite as well, due in part to the cut of the skirt. But the center back seam worked out really well. All in all, you don't notice it a bit because of the full skirt, and the fact that the baby is cute!

This time, my model was much harder to work with. It will be so much easier when she can sit on her own or stand! However, I am in no way wishing away this period with a stationary baby. In fact, I am dreading her moving around in a house that is now full of Legos!