Countdown to Christmas??

In the past, on my other blog, I've talked about the Christmas Countdown website.



The website offers free printable sheets you can use to keep all of your Christmas tasks organized. They also have a timeline so that you can get as much done in advance as possible and then sit back and enjoy the festivities.

I like having all of my to-do lists, gift lists, and project ideas in one spot. Last year and the year before I tweaked the suggested time-line, used what I needed, and added a few other things.

I checked out the website today and found out I'm already a week behind! I don't think I'm going to print out any of the organizational pages this year - with moving this month I think that it will be less stressful to start thinking about all of that after we are in the new house.

I should start thinking about gift ideas however. I'll have to do more driving to shop and will do more internet shopping this year and my son's birthday is Dec. 10th!

first hat, first pom pom

Last night I put the finishing touches on this hat that I made to match my daughter's scarf. This was my first attempt to knit in the round and this hat was an easy and quick project. I used a pattern I downloaded for free from Ravelry called rib-a-roni. (You need to be logged in to see the pattern.) I used size 7 circular needles and the magic loop method, since my cable was longer than the circumference of the hat.

The pom pom was easier than I expected. All the on-line directions I found said that it would be easy, but I really thought I'd end up with a big pile of yarn clippings. I followed the directions at this link.

I can't wait to see if it fits her!

Floorplanner

Too much time on your hands?

You can create your own 2D and 3D floor plans at this website: floorplanner.com

I'm working on building our new house and it is a lot more fun then doing actual important things that would prepare us to move!

Still more ideas!

I have two websites to share tonight, both are great for browsing. If only I had more time for following through with all of the great ideas.

Last year I was sewing well into the night before we opened family Christmas gifts and still had to finish a gift for each child after the fact.

This year I'm promising to take less on. We'll be moving to our first home in November and I know that will have me busy.

But it's going to be tough with all of this inspiration out there!

Check out:
www.readymade.com for a huge number of project ideas - gifts, home projects, and more!

www.ravelry.com is a great resource for knit and crochet fans. You need to sign up for an account, but it is free and so much fun to browse through finished projects, patterns, and types of yarn - most with comments and photos!

Finished - Rebecca's scarf

Last night I finished a cute striped scarf that is intended as a Christmas gift for my daughter. She picked out the yarn colors and I think it will suit her.


I used the pattern for the Striped Scarf from the Simple 1-2-3 Knitting book. Browsing through this book has given me many ideas for gifts, we will see how many I can complete before the holidays roll around.

The scarf pattern was written to create a 88" scarf. I modified it slightly to create a more child friendly 53". Instead of 20 rows for each big block, I used 14. I also took out 2 of the pattern repeats and made the fringe a little shorter. I hope that it is comfortable for her and not too bulky.

I used Lamb's Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair) in RPM pink, raspberry, and brite blue. This was actually the yarn suggested in the pattern, and reasonably priced, so I gave it a shot. I hope it isn't too itchy for her.

I think I have enough yarn leftover to create a matching hat!

As the weather gets cooler, I start to think about gift ideas and my project list starts to grow and grow. I've found that I like that I can make progress on knitting by doing just a few minutes a day. (This scarf was my 10:35 - 10:50 Conan O'brien monologue project.) On the other hand, sewing projects are great because you can sit down and accomplish a whole project in a couple nights if you have a few open hours. It's overwhelming to think of how many nights it will take me to knit a sweater!

On tap...

Unfortunately, unpacking and setting up our new apartment has left little crafting time.

Today I did use my hand-knit dish cloth for the first time and I really like how scrubby it is. It will be a good fall back project to make some more.

As soon as we are settled in here, I have a few projects I'd like to work on:

* I'm half way through a play dress for my daughter - it's kind of a cowgirl inspired thing I am throwing together from scraps.

* While packing I found an apron that I am nearly finished with that I started several years ago. It was misplaced when we moved from Iowa to NY and now I'd like to get that finished.

* I purchased yarn for several knitting projects before we moved - a scarf for my daughter, a sweater for my son, and yarn for two more BSJs - just because they are fun and easy. I also still hope to knit some play spaghetti.

Bags!

I've been procrastinating a bit in packing for my upcoming move by finishing up little sewing projects I have sitting around. I've also found excuses to create a few new projects as well.

I created these bags in recent weeks. All three were created using guidelines from the SewWhat! Bags book. The thing I really enjoy about this book is that it outlines directions for 18 bags which form a starting point for any number of projects.

The first bag is a small clutch that I will use as a purse, although right now it is working well as a bag for my sewing tools. I made this as a demonstration piece for some friends who had planned to get together for a sewing night.

That fell through, but I had already cut out my fabric for a 2nd bag that I would have made during sewing night. It's bigger - close to 14 inches square I think. I plan for to be a shopping bag or to hold odds and ends when I travel. It's canvas on the outside and polka-dot cotton on the inside.

Finally, I attended a baby shower last night and we were all asked to bring a frozen meal for the mom. I brought muffins and bread and wanted to put a personal spin on the gift. I was able to quickly put together this sling bag. The book mentions that it was originally designed to hold your clothes pins while you are hanging out clothes and it is also featured on the book cover. I had a hard time giving it away. It has a drawstring and 3 pockets in the denim fabric along the bottom. I can see myself making a few more of these down the line!
All of these bags were made from fabrics I had just sitting around. I just purchased the two zippers. They were all one-night projects that were very easy to put together.