A boy and his dog

Lots of puddle jumping and hot chocolate :o>

Friend gifts

We have two families that we always get together with for New Year's Eve. We have dinner together and play games and then watch the ball drop on TV. This is such a fun tradition to have with some of our best friends. Each of these families have 3 kids a total of 4 girls and 2 boys. This year I made them a little something.....

The girls got these key chain bears all made with crochet cotton. They were very fun to make!!

Pro Bono Hat for one of the boys

Modelled by DD#2

Marjan Earflap hat with out earflaps for the other boy.

All the gifts laid out together.

And all wrapped up!! In pinapple cans to boot :o)

itty sweater

I finished knitting this awhile back but couldn't decide on a closure for it. I finally decided to use velcro squares and sent it off to the recipient - another of my nephews!

I have heard back that the sweater still fits - I am relieved!!

4yo holiday baking

With minimal help he did everything from the mixing of the batter to rolling to cutting out. I put the pans in and took them out of the oven.

He mixed up frosting and colors.

And decided how to decorate them.

They were yummy too!

Hats

These hats were made awhile back, but I thought they would be perfect for a couple of cousins. The one who received this hat was totally thrilled!!

The one who received this hat was less boisterous (as is her manner), but put it on right away.

Now for the fun part .... the wrapping!

I read about this on another blog and have since forgotten which one, but basically any can with a pop top can be used. Open the "wrong" side of the can, the side without the pop top.

Take the label off (don't get rid of it - use it for a template for the wrapping paper) and clean the can inside and out.

Attach wrapping paper with hot glue, wrap present and place inside, hot glue the bottom of the can closed. It doesn't take very long and is great to see the faces of the recipients when they are handed the gift. It was so funny!!

Big Bears

These bears are so fun to make and by now I can knit them in my sleep.

I like that there are an infinite number of options for them. Pretty much any yarn works and then everything else is up for grabs.

I particularly enjoyed making the above bears because I loved the yarn. It is from a shirt that was knit for the 11yo daughter

These two were knit for two of my nephews. They are larger than the other ones as they were knit using a bulkier yarn and size 9 needles. The one on the left is my favorite - his body suit is so-o-o soft, but I like the color of the one on the right much better. I realized this year (I guess last year now) that I really, really like to give gifts. All the gifts (except those from Santa) were handmade and for the most part well received. There are lots of ideas swirling around in my head now for next year - a blanket has already been started for the 14yo. I will share that later. There are a couple more holiday gifts to post about. I seem to be short of time so posting is a little limited - just a snippet here and there, but for me to look back and see a little journal of what has been worked on and thought about for the past year is great! Happy First Week of January :o)!

Finished coasters

For our annual Hannukah family gift exchange I made felt, embroidered coasters. Since this is not an exceptionally exciting gift, although I love them and am planning some with a Christmas motif for my mother-in-law and possibly myself, we decided to do some creative wrapping up of them:

First we rolled them up....
S - t -r - e - t - c - h....

Put the coaster in.....

Push it all the way in there .....

Blow up the balloon (it was a challenge to get it in there!)

Oldest makes a box for the gift table.....

Message in the top of the box .....

Cousin who picked the smallest box on the table .....

Uses the pin to pop the balloons - 8 balloons for 8 coasters!!

The finished coasters (I couldn't get this picture to go the right way)

The backs - 4 were in the bright blue and 4 were in the country blue. The coasters were a big hit, but the wrapping was the best!!

The Last of the Towels

Happy New Year!!

I love the New Year. Such a time of fresh starts and a time to reflect on all those that are so important to me. On the couch right now are my wonderful husband (who is the best thing that ever happened to me - I am ever so lucky to have met him and be sharing my life with him) and my 8yo daughter. Both of them reading. I will go over there and join them in just a moment - with my knitting of course! Then one by one the others will join us and pretty soon we will all be sitting on the couch this wonderful morning, sharing a few precious quiet moments together before we embrace the rest of our day.

These are the rest of the towels that were given out this year.
All the kids that were near and dear to my heart got one.

Each one was personalized.

My husband thought the solid ones were the best and most striking. I'll have to think about that if I ever make these again.