In response to the absolutely shocking lack of holly shaped dishcloths on the interwebs.

During K's Youth Orchestra rehearsal I sit with Mr. Man and a friend of mine, on the floor, in the back, behind the timpani.  Sometimes we are offical chaperones, but most of the time we just sit and listen.

Mr. Man works on his computer, and my friend and I play with sticks and string.  She's completing a cross stitch that she has been working on for a few years, and I spent December crocheting dishcloths for friends.  One day she saw me crocheting one of the wreath dishcloths and she said "Have you ever tried to make a holy leaf dishcloth.  I just love holly."  No, but hey, what a good idea.  I searched the web, couldn't find what I had in mind, quite frankly there is a shocking lack of holly shaped dishcloths.  Loads with holly motifs on a square cloth, but you know, I like cute little things, that look like... well cute little things.  So I decided to design my own.  Took a few tries, but tadaaaaa......  Holly Dishcloth, with a scrubbie berry!



This is actually the second complete one I made, the first was a little longer and thinner.  I'm really rather happy with how it turned out.  I haven't heard if my friend liked it yet, I was wrapped when I gave it too her and we had to run.

I'm very much in a dishcloth mood at the moment.  Toying with the idea of organizing dishcloth swap.  Anyone interested?

More Origami!

While K was doing homework last night, I sat with her and made these.

They are origami skeletal octahedron Christmas Ornaments. You can find the instructions here.

I've always wanted to make a tiny origami covered Christmas tree. And now I have.

Last Christmas to decorate a tiny Christmas tree for K's 5th grade teacher. I bought the tree last year on clearance. I had some sparkly miniature balls at Target a few yeas ago for a buck. I used Hobby Lobby coupons and got the lights and some foil origami paper for next to nothing. After a couple days of folding, not whole days, hour here, hour there, I finished something I always wanted to make...

I just love the way the star and dove turned out.

And the little ornaments

And of course, the fur babies had to check it out.



I'll be giving it to Mrs. M. on Monday.

Sick day, Knitting and Kitty Mania.

We have been experiencing "flu like symptoms." Well K and I have, Mr. Man seems to just have had a bad cold. Funny, K and I got the flu shot and Mr. Man did not. Coincidence? Hum....

Anyway, in between laying around begging for Motrin and hot tea, K and I did a bit of knitting. I though it was high time she learned to knit on double points so we made little Santa Hat Ornaments! And Miss. Susan helped, of course.

K made the little one with the snow flakes. The pattern for the big hat is by Julie-Bird. I just cast on half as many stitches and winged it for the little hats.

Monkey looks just too cute in his new chapeau.

Oh dear,...



Bad Kitty!



Yes, I forgive you. Octopus and hippo came to join in the fun.




And then Miss. Susan decided she needed to sit for her portrait.



Yeah, she looks sweet, but she is one crazy ball o'fur. Climbs drapes, window screens, clothes hanging in closets, walls. Chews on anything, mostly me and K. She's driven poor Miss Kitty stark raving mad with her wild antics. Miss Kitty keeps giving me this look that screams "Why did you bring that thing home?!?!"

AND WE LOVE HER! She will lay in your lap for hours and let you pet her and cuddle her and roll over on her and all she does is purr. And then, when you're done, she jumps up and attacks your toes. Funny! Right now she's in my lap, purring like a truck, watching me type. Love her!

Tiny Lil' Weasly Sweater.

I'm taking down my Christmas tree today and I found the tiny Weasley sweater I made for K this past Christmas.

I borrowed Charmed Knits from the library and followed the pattern. It wasn't hard and turned out really well.

Yes, I said my Christmas tree is coming down today, March 12Th. Oh Honey, this is nothing. (Imagine a thick southern accent.) One year we just took all the Christmas ornaments off and put on painted eggs and felt bunnies and such. It looked real nice Easter Morning.

It's not that we really like Christmas or anything,.... it's just that,... well,... it's Miss. Kitty. You've seen Miss. Kitty. She loves that tree so much, we just haven't the heart to take it down. She waits all year, well the 8 or so months it isn't up, for us to put it up, and then she crawls under and stays there till the last branch comes down. Only comes out to eat and chase dust bunnies. I think at this moment y'all can imagine the dust bunnies around the Christmas tree, now can't ya'? Oh yeah. And yes, now and then we do turn the lights on in March. Looks real pretty.

This year I'm taking it down a bit ahead of schedule. My friends and neighbors will be so surprised, and should stop giggling and pointing.

Handmade Christmas 2008! Scarf for Uncle R.

K made her Uncle R a fleece scarf to match the fleece hat we made him last year.

No picture of the hat unfortunately, but the scarf turned out very nice.

Handmade Christmas 2008! Grammie's Necklace and earrings.

K and I made her Grammie a necklace and earrings for Christmas this year.

I loved this set and Grammie did too. We've made her a few pieces of jewelry, as well as hats and scarves and such, over the years and she always makes a point of wearing our gifts and telling us how others like them. This set was a big hit.

Handmade Christmas 2008!

We made most of our Christmas gifts this year. It was a lot of fun and the receipients seemd to really like their gifts.

Grammie's favorite gift was a Christmas pillow.



Quite simple to make, just two 15" squares of material with a bit of gold ruffle around the edge and stuffed with polyfill. She told me she put away all the Christmas decor, except the pillow, which she is going to keep out for a while. Made me smile.

Hum, Valentine's Day is coming... :)

Obligatory Pre-Christmas Freak Out!

I am sooooooo behind on everything I wanted to make/do for Christmas!!!!

*Calming breath*

I really shouldn't fuss. Last year this time, I'd just had my accident and I believe Christmas happened, though I don't actually remember much of it. Something about a wheel chair...?

So really, big picture, life is good, even if I don't finish everything I'd planned before Christmas.

It's like a wedding, right, you have an entire year to send a gift, Right?

Just nod your heads people!!!!!

*breathing into paper bag and feeling much better*

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

Stuck in a cast... Make something!

K is doing great! The pain is mostly gone, the itching is survivable and she's sleeping just fine. She spent most of the long weekend lying on the couch with her foot up. And what have we been doing to keep ourselves occupied...

Too much time on Club Penguin...

And of course, Potter Puppet Pals are our favorite subjects. Bit orange. We're working on that.

We've been making window clings for years. After a while, the clings are nearly impossible to remove, in one piece. We're just going to take the windows with us if we ever move.

What do you get when you put Harry Potter and Veggie Tales into a particle accelerator? Yup, Hermione Carrot!

Life is never boring!

Advent wreath

My Goddaughter is a little sweetheart. I try to write her as often as I can, send her pictures and little things. K writes to her Godsister every couple of weeks and really enjoys drawing pictures for her and telling her about her life and times.

For Christmas we wanted to send her an advent wreath kit. K made one from Oriental Trading company last year and we all loved it, especially our cat.

So we got out the fun foam and dowel rods and came up with a reasonable facsimile. I'll send it tomorrow so she can make it next weekend.

Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. And a nap in the sun. What more could you want.