christmas

I have been busy finishing up Christmas gifts for the wee ones. I thought I might spend some time this week sharing their gifts, plus a tutorial on the drawstring bags I made for the Little Lady and Pixie.

First off... every year I buy the grandbabies a piece to their 5" Fontanini Nativity Scene. For their first Christmas I get them the holy family. For their 10th Christmas (not there yet), I will get them the 3 Wisemen. In between, they get angels, barnyard animals, and various villagers. By the time they are 18, they will have beautiful Nativities to share with their own children some day. This year I bought Lady the Little Drummer Boy. It was her daddy's favorite piece in our set. Thought Drew would enjoy it :)

In the top photo is the rest of the Little Lady's gift. I started by making her a colorful drawstring bag. (I'll include the tutorial later this week.) I bought unfinished wooden eggs and cups. I watered down some soy paint, because I wanted a translucent look. When the paint dried, I worked in some of my beeswax and olive oil finish. It gave the wood a wonderful luster.

Little Lady just turned 1 in October. The size of these cups and eggs are perfect for pudgy little hands and pose no chock hazard! It is also a great first sorting and matching activity. Matching the egg to the cup is just right for a toddler.

Just think of all of the other uses she'll find for all these eggs. They will be perfect in her little wooden kitchen.

Then, I made a Flower Wand. I plan to make her several more styles for her over the year. I will be sharing this pattern with everyone in January.

Finally, I added the lovely book, Around the Year, by Tasha Tudor. Tasha has long been one of my favorite authors/illustrators of children's book. Her illustrations and stories are soft, gentle and kind. She also has a wonderful ability to share the wonders of nature with young and old alike.

Lady's gift is now ready to be wrapped and mailed. (Have I mentioned that Drew, Meghan and Little Lady will not be home this Christmas? It will be my first Christmas without one of my children. If you happen to hear muffled sobbing, you'll know where it's coming from!) Hope she'll love her gifts :)

We have this little "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree in our family room. The big one, with all the bells and whistles is in the living room centered in the big front window. It is beautiful and holds all our fancy ornaments but we like all of our nooks and crannies to be decked out for the holidays. Our family room is much smaller but we do manage to squeeze in a little tree by the fireplace. A fun thing about this little tree is that it changes themes each year, usually featuring handmade ornaments. This year it is my yarn tree!

Do you recognize the garland? It is the finished I-cord chain Tree Garland that I blogged about earlier this fall. One skein was enough to drape the little tree. I'm also addicted to making these little knitted ornament balls. The pattern is available in the book Handknit Holidays (which I got from my library) or you can download if for free from Canadian Living. I can knit the smaller size in about an hour. So my quiet time in the evenings as of late has been spent turning out these festive, fun, ornaments. I can't seem to stop knitting them.

Everyone I know will probably be getting one this year. I've played with stripes, polka-dots and other patterns... but to start with I needed a rainbow. I have been stash busting my 100% wool yarn bits and am loving the bright but non-traditional Christmas palette.

Several weeks ago a reader asked me for a applique block for a cardinal. I finally got it done :) Although we have cardinals in our backyard year round, they look their loveliest in the winter world. Here, we have a male cardinal perched in a tree. I'm sure he has his eye on his mate which is always close by. BTW... although it is very hard to see in this photo, his eye is made up of 4 black seed beads. In person, the light makes his eyes twinkle, just like a real cardinal :)

Our cardinal was designed to fit a 6" x 6" block, but can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. The pattern for the cardinal can be found HERE. Enjoy!

My mom bought a basket full of this yarn (Lorna's Laces Green Line Dk which has been sadly discontinued), with no real project in mind. I've been stealing skeins of it (shhh) here and there to make some Christmas tree garland. It is a simple 4sts I-Cord. The quick rainbow color switches work up beautifully this way and although I have miles to go... I am not growing bored of the color-way.

I-Cord Tutorial aka Christmas Tree Garland (Ravelry link)

Making an I-Cord is very easy. If you can knit at all, you can do it. You need two double pointed needles (alternatively you can use a knitting hoop or spool). I am making my garland on size 8 needles using a DK weight yarn... you can of course play with you needle size and yarn weight.

Cast on 3-6 stitches depending on the weight of your yarn and how thick you would like your cord to be. After playing with it, I chose to work with 4 sts. Knit across, do not turn.

Instead, slide your 4 sts down to the opposite side of the needle, keeping the yarn to the back.

Bring the yarn across the back and knit another row, pulling the first stitch tight to eliminate any gap across the 4 sts.

Continue in this manner (ie sliding after each row without turning) until you reach your desired length. You can either bind off as normal or cut the tail and pull through all 4 sts and tie off.

To make it into Christmas Tree Garland you will need to make several yards of it... well many yards of it if it is a big tree and you want lots of coverage. This is a great way to show off some of your favorite fun or funky yarns and add some wooly goodness to your holiday decor. To help break it up, have a lot of different family members add a few inches which will add to the charm and truly make it a family keepsake.