Holiday Favorites

I've been a naughty, naughty blogger: I haven't posted in a while and I never posted pictures from last Saturday's (semi-disastrous) holiday baking session. I spent the week finishing Christmas gifts, stressing over lost and/or delayed packages (grr), hopping on a train to visit my Great Grandmoter for her 94th birthday, helping my Mom host Christmas Eve dinner, and throwing a very festive Merry Krampus party yesterday.

Here is a collection of photos that represent some of the more memorable aspects of this Holiday Season...or at least those that I had the time and energy to take.

1. Our Christmas Tree

...and its many eclectic ornaments.

2. Mistletoe

3. Gingerbread Man gift tag


4. Semi-disastrous holiday baking session

5. Holiday Candy Wreaths


6. My poinsettia and the Abominable Snowman

7. Evan and our new afghan.


8. Krampus cards for our Merry Krampus Party. Handmade by XXXLittWear and they arrived on Christmas Eve.

9. Christmas M&Ms. Minty goodness.


10. Embroidery floss. This floss belonged to my grandmother, who was an excellent craftswoman, master cook, and beholder of all holy handmade knowledge. Apparently she would get embroidery thread through friends in Mexico and saved every last scrap. When she passed away 5 years ago, her children--my father and his sister--inherited her belongings, including knitting needles, crochet hooks, and embroidery thread. And now some of its been passed onto me.

11. Christmas: An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art, Vols. 31, 35, &36 (1961, 1965, & 1966, respectively). History, music, poetry, art, cultural anthropology.


12. Vintage Pyrex: an early birthday gift from my Grandmother.


13. It's a Marshmallow World by Dean Martin. Definitely in my top 5 Christmas songs.


14. Krampus Festivus beer Christmas tree. All 400oz consumed.


15. New little friends: piggy and alpaca finger puppets procured by our friend Jordan from a woman in San Francisco.


16. Post-Krampus Festivus breakfast: mini boyfriend-made pancakes with peanut butter and satsuma oranges.

Week of Hats: Day 4

Festive cable knit beanies with detachable pom poms. I am so excited about these pom poms! They just open up a door of possibilities--for myself and those who buy/wear my hats.

Festive Cable Knit Beanies

I made this hat in two sizes because the first one came out too small (like they often do). Anna is wearing the child size, but sports both versions of the pom poms. Ah, the beauty of innovation...

More Christmas Crafts: Felt Stockings!

I can't believe its been a month since my last post! Preparing Christmas gifts definitely got the better of me this year: I made a felted purse for my mom (my first felted item ever that I had to re-knit and re-felt due to the first one shrinking too much in one direction), a scarf for my kid brother and aunt, and hats for my other brother and boyfriend. They all turned out really well; hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon.

In the meantime I have pictures of the stockings that I made for myself and my boyfriend. This is the first Christmas that I spent away from my childhood homes and in my own apartment. After finding myself faced with the realization that I wouldn't have Christmas morning access to my childhood Christmas stocking, I decided to make one.

I had a hard time finding pre-cut felt that was big enough for making a good sized stocking. Then I discovered that fabric stores carry felt by the both, something that I had never thought of before, mostly because I'm new to sewing. So I bought 1/2 yard of red and 1/4 yard of white felt and got to work. To make the general shape of the stocking I drew a sock shape on a paper bag that I had split open and laid out. I then cut this out and used it as a template. I first tried using a disappearing fabric pen to trace the shape, but that didn't show up too well on the red felt. A soft graphite 2Bpencil worked much better. I traced and cut out four of these sock bits. Then I repeated the process for the white fluff portion of the stocking, but made eight of these to both hide the seam between the two pieces and give the stockings a more three dimensional top.

I worked mostly with applique and simple embroidery to embellish the stockings. Evan requested Dracula with a Santa hat, which I was able to accomplish thanks to a stencil booklet that I picked up a the fabric store. Not quite the traditional Christmas motif, but it's what he wanted. I modeled my stocking off the one that I have at my mom's house: a snowy scene complete with a snowman. The cupcake, however, is a new addition.

After embroidering our names I sewed together the fluff pieces and then attached them to the stockings. I then paired up the stocking-and-fluff pieces and sewed them together . As a final touch, I used embroidery thread to create a loop from which they could hang. Together they took about two weeks to make, but I think the final product is definitely worth it.

Holiday Crafting

The holiday season is upon us. Although I've been working to start and finish hand-knit items for my family and friends, I've also been experimenting with my felt creations. I'm quite proud of my latest work.

Last year I bought a giant rawhide bone for my mom's dog and made a catnip pouch for our cat, Oscar. I'm pretty sure that it was the first time that he had encountered catnip, and he couldn't quite decide whether or not he liked it. He had a curious and somewhat distressed, but interested, look on his face when he took his first whiff of the green stuff. He even played with the pouch a little bit, but never got so excited as to pursue it when it fell out of reach.

But I've kept on making catnip toys (mostly because I still have catnip left over), but also because I enjoy the process. I'm also driven by a little economical incentive: I just know that there are others out there who--like me--give their pets a little gift for Christmas. I hope to help fill a niche with these holiday catnip buddies:

The Gingerbread Man Catnip Buddy

(I just put him up for sale on Etsy)

And in trying to be fair and equal opportunistic, I also made a catnip buddy for those who celebrate Hanukkah:

Star of David Catnip Pouch

(on Etsy as well)

I've also been busy experimenting with combining embroidered felt pillows with magnets. The holidays have presented me with a perfect opportunity to play with shapes, colors and themes. So far I've made two sets:

(on Etsy soon)

Each set presented its own minor roadblocks. I wanted to maintain a balance of color and variety of motifs in both. But I have to admit that the Hanukkah set was the most difficult. I had a hard time thinking of more than 3 motifs that would be both representation of the holiday and aesthetically pleasing. I'm happy with what I came up with.

Right now I'm working on making Christmas stockings for the apartment (finished product pics of those to come!). I'm also toying with the idea of making Christmas felt tree ornaments--one of which I already have nearly complete. Lots of projects. Lots of projects...