Thank you!!!!

I received my two Custom-made Felt Matryoshka Doll Ornaments, made by the ever so talented clumsy_chord, the day before Christmas.  AND THEY ARE BRILLIANT!!!!  #11 and River!  I asked for her to make them traditional, but if you look close, you can see the fandom, and they couldn't be more perfect.  She even added a fez!!!!






The squeeeing was deafening when I opened them Christmas Morning and they are hanging on the tree, to the right of the Plushie Tardis, just above the fez and bow tie, to the left of the Helter Skelter (Not really, what is a Helter Skelter anyway??)





Thank you clumsy_chord!  We love them!!!

Spreading the love!!!

In keeping with our continuing mission to spread the love of all things Harry, we made two young friends Gryffindor scarves for Christmas.






Each scarf took about 2 hours to machine knit on my Bond Fashion Knitter.  I used Red Heart Super saver yarn in Burgundy and gold.  It isn't the softest yarn, but it works very well in the machine.  50 stitches wide, 304 rows long, with 6 inch tassels.  They feel wonderfully thick and are about 60" long, just right for little people who still have to wait a few years to board the Hogwarts Express.

K and I wrapped them in brown paper and strings and covered the packages with Owl post and Madam Malkins stickers.  "Harry" started to bounce as soon as he saw the package.  He wouldn't take his scarf off, even during church that night.  "Hermione" danced around the house and told me about how when they play Hogwarts, sometimes she's Hermione, and sometimes she's Ginny, but sometimes she's herself and that is so much fun!!!!   But they aren't allowed to cast unforgivable curses, cause then they have to go to Azkaban, and that's the basement and that's scary.  She didn't wear hers to church, because it clashed with her dress.

Happy Christmas!

Tardis Pillows have been gifted!!

A tardis pillow fight broke out the moment after I took this picture.  The fez, bow tie and suspenders came out this morning.

Mission Accomplished!!!!

Tardis Pillows!!!!!  

The original Tardis plushie is on the right.  K made the very first for a friend and then made one for herself, I can't remember how long ago.  She's slept with it ever since.  Today, I helped her make 2 more for her New Whovian friends.  Machine stitched, not hand sewn, but we only had a few hours.

The girls are in the living room as I type, emitting high pitched noises.  I guess they're a hit.

Guess WHat We're making!!!

Wanted: Good home for sweet little Angel.

I put this sweet little angel up on ebay last week.

I bought her for K a few years ago, but K was never really into dolls.  I found her the other day, carefully packed in a box, and decided she needed a new home.  She really is soft and cuddly and cute as a bug, I'm sure some little girl or boy would just love her.

If you're interested, you can visit the ebay listing here.

Spiral Christmas Tree Earrings for Grammie

Every year, K and I try to make something special for K's Grannie.   We've made her all kinds of things:  hats, cookies, scarves, pillows, ornaments,... but we think her favorite is always the jewelry we've made her over the years.  She wears it all, and enjoys calling and telling us what she wore where.

This year, we decided to make her some earrings based on a pair we saw at a craft fair here in town.  I bought the supplies, K worked on the prototype, and I helped her make the finished pair.



We used glass beads, and green jewelry wire, which we shaped into a cone by twisting it tightly around a pen.  It was just the right size, and had a rubber grip, very handy.

I'm mailing them today!

Gifts for Grannie.

Just finishing up some gifts for my MIL.

I made her some Christmas dishcloths.

I really wasn't impressed with the wreath when I saw a picture in the pattern, but it turned out really well.  I had to try a couple of patterns before I found the The starpattern I liked, though I just sc around the outside edge, I wanted it kind of simple. The rest I just looked at the pictures and made it up as I went.

And a tawahsi scrubbie.

K and I made her a pair of earrings.

Mr. Man got us some Trappist jam from Monastery Gifts last year and we have had such a wonderful time tasting it over the year.  The quince is wonderful and the burgundy wine is amazingly bizarre. So this year we sent her some Trappist jam and preserves and a fruitcake made by monks that is fabulous.   I also made her some oatmeal raison cookies, chocolate chip cookies and rum drops. No picks yet, I'm washing tins.

And I'm making some CDs of K.  I think that covers it.

One down, 2,606,300 people to go!

When holidays collide.

Yesterday we took down our Thanksgiving decorations, started baking Christmas goodies, and carved our pumpkins.

Tardis Pumpkin!

More goodies!

If you would like to see the etzy listing, just click on a picture.

Etsy fun!

My friend Tracy and I are starting to put a few things on ETSY.  Tracy is a talented potter and she's starting make a few pins and pots for sale.  I'll be putting up a few little oddments from time to time.

Just a few of our bits and bobs.

These are available on our ETSY.

These are coming soon!

My kitties have chosen their costumes.

Miss. Kitty is going to be a mandrake.



Susan is going with a more general potions theme.



Oh dear, someone seems to have changed her mind.




Silly Kitties.

Finally!!!!!

I finally, finally, FINALLY finished "The Hat!!!!"

This hat has been on the needles for decades!!! OK,... no, only about 5 months, but it feels like forever!!!!

K takes piano from a wonderful woman, Mrs. J. She not only plays piano, but also drums and I think something else, maybe trumpet, not sure. She is also a painter. I love Mrs. J, she can take a grumpy teenager and in 1 short hour, using only a piano, paints and paper, send home a cheerful kid. K loves her too.

Well, Mrs. J has seen some of the little things I make and wanted to make something of her own. She was a first time knitter and chose this pattern, Cable Newsboy Cap. Yes, she likes a challenge.

Unfortunately, she had a bit of trouble starting; she cast on and then twisted about 4 times before joining. She made it almost to the first cable before she realized something was very, very wrong.

When she showed it to me, I gently explained what had happened, and worse yet, what had to be done. She just just laughed and decided to give up the sticks and string. I offered to take it home, and get her back to the same point, without the twisting, and she regained her will to craft.

She did an amazing job from that point on. The first time I tried cables, it didn't go nearly as well. She made it all the way to the top and then she realized the pattern she had chosen switched to crochet. O.o

She didn't let it phase her. 30 years of teaching piano to small children prepared her to stay positive, think on her feet, and keep kleenex handy. So she just looked for a similar pattern, found Cabled Chapeau, with only knitting,  and went on.

Unfortunately, the patterns weren't perfectly compatible, and she got to a point where she just couldn't finish. So I said I'd finish it for her.

And then things got ugly. Turns out she is a very tight knitter, and I am a very loose knitter, so when I added the ribbing on the bottom, it was not pretty. It took me three attempts, but I finally got it to look right. I don't even want to talk about the brim. Nightmare!

In the end it worked out, and looks very nice, but what a process.

As always, Kitty approved.

Guess who K wants to be for Halloween?

I found them at Target.  They aren't patent leather, burgundy or >200$, but they are close enough for Halloween.  K was over the moon!

Until she put them on and realized she would not look even remotely tough teetering around with Mr. Man holding one arm and me holding the other.  She couldn't even stand let alone walk without us. And she figured the trip to the ER would be no fun at all, though at least this time she would probably get a boot, instead of a cast.

She wisely decided against the killer platform pumps.

We are now in the process of figuring out how to make an eye patch.  Polymer clay and wire to attach to her glasses.  Yeah, that'll do.

What to give the fan WHO has everything.

A Tardis Snuggie of course.

Mr. Man and Mr. D have been friends since high school.  Both are huge Doctor Who fans, and Mr. D was mostly responsible for K becoming a fanatical Who fangirl.

We wanted to make something special for Mr. D and it had to be something Doctor Who realted and unique.    We had a friend make him a ceramic dalek a few years ago and we made him fez and bow tie ornaments for his Christmas tree.  He, of course, put them on his ceramic dalek.

After Christmas last year, we were in Kroger and saw Tardis blue snuggies on sale and it just hit us.  It took almost 6 months to figure out all the bits, but last July, K and I put it together.

I did the machine work and K did all the hand sewing

Yes, it is Miss Kitty approved.

And Teenager approved as well.

For the signage, I typed up the words and found the St. John Ambulance symbol online.  Irons and fleece do not mix, so I ironed T-shirt transfers onto cotton panels.  Turned out rather well.

Mr. D was,... surprised.

The white hat was a last minute addition. We thought it added the perfect finishing touch.

Thanks Mr. D, for everything.  And you won't mind if I submit this picture to Doctor Who Insider, do you?  Nah, you won't mind.