More Hooded Towels

This is a burgundy strip towel with a solid hood and bias tape in the color of denim. I thought the contrast looked very nice.

Blue & Brown strip with blue hood.
"All wrapped up"

How it looks from the back.

Names all embroidered

Close up of the hood and embroidery

Closeup of the blue hood

I loved making these and giving these. So much fun!!

Hooded Bath Towels

Hooded Bath Towels were "The Gift" for the holidays this year. They were so much fun to make and didn't take all that long.

Some of the monkeys modeling....

They are a very nice size and hopefully absorbent!

Each one is personalized by hand - my zig zag stitch could use some improvement!!

These made their way all the way to New York.

I used this tutorial to make them: http://www.makeandtakes.com/easy-hooded-bath-towel

and it was very clear and easy to follow.

Bijouterie

These are my first go at wire knitting. It took most of one day to figure out how to get it to work. They still do not look like the pattern picture, but I think they are very pretty and the recipients will love them!!

Made for 14yo daughter
For 11yo daughter

For 8yo daughter

Bijouterie

from Knitty.com

I used regular dead soft 28 gauge craft wire - single strand

Size 5 triange beads (instead of the pearls-I liked the colors better)

Very fun to do, but also very hard on my index finger. It is bruised!

Blended

We have a blended family. I celebrate Christmas and my husband celebrates Hanukkah. Makes it kind of great for the kids :o) Every year my in-laws host a Holiday party and all the cousins (or most of them) come. We only give presents to the kids and then we have a gift exchange for the adults. It's one of those games where all the gifts are piled up in the middle of the room and each person who brings a gift gets a number. Then we start opening the presents in number order - the person with number 1 opens a gift first, then #2 and so on. When your turn comes up, you can either choose an unopened gift or "steal" one from someone else who has already opened up a gift. Choosing a gift for this exchange has been kind of a stressor for my husband and I. Some of his cousins truly have everything. This year I decided to make our gift - it will be interesting to see how it is received.
We chose Hanukkah coasters because the majority of the people at this party celebrate Hanukkah. The total cost (I am planning on making 8) is approximately $12.

One finished coaster. These are very easy and so much fun!!

In the end there will be two of each design.

5 more coasters to go!

This is a free pattern over at The Purl Bee

How to keep the 4yo busy.....

while helping older kids with homework...

scissors, wrapping paper, & glue.....
regular paper and a tray to protect the table from the glue.

lots of glueing and fun

some of these I helped cut out - because I was "playing" with him.

He decided to start cutting the animals in half and putting them on the paper like a puzzle. He really thought this was a hoot!! It also bought me 30 minutes of time for one of the other kids to read out loud to me. Phew!!

Poor baby.....

My poor baby is sick. Lots of fluids, reading of books and some TV.

Another Santa Cross Stitch update

Frantic and furious would be the description of the work being put in on this Santa Christmas stocking that was supposed to only take a year to complete. The general thought was that consistent attention and by consistent is meant daily - it would be a cake walk to complete not only the stitching, but also the sewing together to make the stocking.

The above is the last progress shot.
Here is the top of the stocking - lots done

Here is the middle/part of the bottom - lots done.

This is the stocking progress in full as of 2 days ago. Lots done - lots still to be finished. While it is the journey that is important (and believe me, the journey is still so much fun), the finished product is important also. This is not a surprise gift, DD#1 knows all about it - she also now knows that unless by some miracle there are a few more weeks added between now and December 25th, there is no way the stocking will be ready. She is fine with that - "Mom, that's ok" she said, "I will love it whenever it is finished." With those words echoing in my head, and the understanding from such a young person, the race is on to see if the impossible can indeed be made possible!