I finished designing our family calendar (each page from scratch), and found an “early bird” coupon code to print them before Black Friday. I thought you guys might appreciate the cover, with Ada looking sassy AF.
I filled in everyone’s birthday and anniversaries with custom pictures, and even a bunch of random silly holidays like National Quilting Day, National Strawberry Shortcake Day, etc. I think it took about 8 hours of work, so I’m counting it as crafting.
I also managed to take pictures of Ada in her Christmas sweater, so I could order Christmas cards before the coupon Shutterfly sent me expired. The coupon expired on the 24th, and I managed to get my order in around 8:30pm. Nothing like squeaking by at the last minute!
@MistressJennie I think anything with kid pictures is going to be a hit for the grandparents!
I’ve finished the front and back of the snowman sweater, now I just have to knit the sleeves and put it together.
I still haven’t made anything for Mr. Imma and I may not get around to that this year, but I have been working on framing old pieces. So at least we’ll be able to put up half a dozen of new pieces of decoration this year.
Life has been chaotic this week with a work emergency, the discovery of a million mice in the house, and a trip to see a family member last weekend, so I haven’t been crafting too much. Hopefully this week will be better.
I bought the yarn for Kidlet’s yearly sweater but still haven’t settled on a pattern (yes I broke the rules and got yarn before pattern. Again. I thought it would be easy, but patterns dor cardigans in chunky yarn for kids aren’t plentiful and apparently i’m picky. I’ll likely just do the weasely pattern if I can’t settle on something else, just so i have it for Christmas.)
My second sock is on the heel flap, though, so that’s something.
I was cat-sitting for my mums cats the last week, and thus I managed to finish a couple of xmas gifts. And a laaate birthday gift.
Here are two cross stitch embroideries I have done for my nieces, the words Atlas and Vinga is the name of their dog. I have now washed them and will mount them in a frame.
I made two crochet bookmarks
They are to be paired with books selected for 2 women in my extended family. Both are based on the Annette Bookmark pattern but with my own modifications (diy yarn tassels, blue one is extended to about 20 rows shell then boxed out with dc) . Both are made with a yarn given to me that was tangled in a box without a label. It feels like it might be cotton. I just think the colors are lovely and I untangled most of that mess.
The people they are for don’t exactly hate handmade gifts but aren’t always thrilled either. Hence, a simple less time-consuming project that I enjoyed making. I might make some more because they work up so fast and pretty.
—- One of my daughters (soon to be 7) has requested an elephant amigurumi and drew me a picture of how she’d like it to be. It’s really just a basic elephant with blushy circles on cheeks. She has a December birthday just before Christmas. I’m not sure if I’ll attempt the elephant or not. Perhaps. Could be for her birthday or Christmas. I did get her name in our “immediate family gift exchange” so I might attempt the amigurumi. I’ve not made many and certainly haven’t made any in a looooong time (like 10 years or so) and am a bit intimidated by lack of skill to complete it for her. We’ll see.
I bought 3 2-yard precuts of diaper cloth from Walmart, and cut that into 8.5" squares. It gave me 96 squares that I then serged the edges of. There were 6 less-than-perfect ones, so overall I ended up with 9 sets of 10 Unpaper Towels. I wrapped them up with scrap ribbon, that had been taken off of other things. Gotta make a piece of paper to slide under the ribbon that explains what they are… They will likely be paired with the jars of Friendship Soup Mix I made just before Thanksgiving.
Just learned that I misspelled the name of one of the dogs. Her name is Winga not Vinga as I wrote it. And the girl who owns the dog is picky. I un-wrap and see if I can turn the V into a W or if I must re-stitch it.
Oh well. More fun as I get to cross stitch even more?
We were discussing emergency supplies in my family and it turns out no one except for us has even the smallest amount of basics. Now, I can’t go and take care of my whole family, they’re all adults and live far way from me, but I’ve added a few things to the gift list for everyone: a big homemade candle, a bag of tealights and matches, plus a card with a simple drawing how to use tealights for heating in case of a power outage. We used tealight heating when we were renovating, it’s not an alternative to real cooking but it works fine for heating canned food. I’m not a fanatical prepper, but I do think our governments have a good reason to ramp up the emergency supplies campaigns. We shouldn’t bury our heads in the sand.
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AIMR
(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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What a thoughtful gift idea! I know a lot of people are not even prepared for even a day of being snowed in or losing power! Tealights and candles as well as batteries and led flashlights would also make good gifts. My dad used to give us small but useful tools like adjustable screwdrivers and pocket knives. Also, those emergency hand warmers and light sticks for our cars.
Those are great gifts your dad came up with! But I think he was in the military, so I’m sure he knew a thing or two about preparedness.
We’ve already received Christmas cards from some people, so I wrote the first ones for our family last night. Honestly, most of my family get dollar store cards I save the handmade ones for crafty friends and family members. Sometimes I wonder why I still send many people cards but it’s also so easy to fall out of touch, and a card is a nice little reminder. I always get a card from my aunt Mandy for example, she’s only about a decade older than me, and was in life for my entire childhood, but my uncle and her have since divorced. She moved quite far away but stayed in regular touch with my grandma until her death. I haven’t seen her in years, but I still like getting a card from her and always send one back.
I got some nice things at our local Christmas market - a small market with non-professional and charity sellers only, and performances by local choirs and music groups.
I got these potholders for €1 each from the church craft circle, all profits go to hunger relief. There were hundreds of them, apparantly all crocheted by a very old lady who crochets these all day. They’re really well made.
Wood block painting from a crafty lady in the neighbourhood, only €7. The houses are so cosy and I like that it stands on its own.
Not pictured, I also got a few jars of homemade jam from an old lady, and a bottle of non-alcoholic limoncello from a local non-profit.
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AIMR
(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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I adore those crocheted items! I know I have seen a pattern for them…they look like they would be fun to use or give!
What a lovely painting as well!
I really need to send out some cards…I have lost touch with so many people, but mostly out of choice. So many people I used to know got on a train that I can’t accept, either political or religious. They are not the same people anymore so it wasn’t that difficult to let them go. I need to keep in contact with the ones I truly care about. The good news is that both of my college roommates and I are still in touch and I am sure they both would love to have a handmade card!
Nearly there!! I hope you guys are all doing a bit better after a week of recovery.
@AIMR Sometimes we need to let go of people, when their actions are things we just can’t agree with. We had to distance ourselves from a former roommate who decided to join a biker gang (one known more for their criminal activities than for their motorbikes) But sometimes we just lose touch because we’re so busy living our own lives, and we don’t live close, and suddenly a year has passed.
And a laaate birthday gift.
She has a December birthday just before Christmas. I’m not sure if I’ll attempt the elephant or not. Perhaps. 
Could be for her birthday or Christmas. I did get her name in our “immediate family gift exchange” so I might attempt the amigurumi. I’ve not made many and certainly haven’t made any in a looooong time (like 10 years or so) and am a bit intimidated by lack of skill to complete it for her. 
We’ll see. 
