Day 5 - Keeping it simple Christmas tree garland

This is the view I had from my kitchen window this morning so lovely and crisp feeling, than I thought if something as simple as snow can make a tree look so wonderful ...why every year do I spend so much money creating a "theme"?

 So keeping with the idea of keeping it simple I broke out my 4.5mm dpn's and set to work.

I cast on 4 stitches, started to work in I-cord and around 20 or so feet I realized this is going to take more time than I thought...I tried to talk N into it but he just wasn't buying my it's so relaxing speech (hmmm...) I guess I'll have to keep at it and in another 20 or 30 feet I should be done ...right?
 

The "almost 20' pile". Looking at this picture I think maybe I should wipe the toast crumbs off the table before knitting on it or at the very least before taking a picture.

Day 4 - Hand Sewn Ornaments

Just a quick post today to share a few of the felt ornaments I've been working on, I love to make these quick projects they involve such a small time commitment that once finished they always make me feel like I accomplished something!

Warmest weekend  wishes!

Handmade Gift with a Family Tie - Day 3

Following our rhythm N and I began our day together discussing our families before he left for work and I set about completing my daily tasks. Family is such an important aspect of our lives that for this reason I feel so strongly about this gift. As simple as it may be this all purpose salve has a history to it, N's Opa has always spent every moment of his life doing something to benefit his family, one of these pursuits happened to be Bee Keeping and until quite recently we have all enjoyed the lovely honey and beeswax which he harvested. Sadly he is no longer capable of such activities and we have all gently rationed out what is left of so may years of love. N and I happened to be in possession of one of the few liquid honey batches ( he usually preferred solid) that he ever made as well as a tiny amount of beeswax, this morning over our coffee we finally decided how best to share this gift with our families.

                           

Packaged along with small jars of honey I made a batch of all purpose salve simply by shaving the beeswax and adding the honey to an apricot oil over a double broiler until melted. This may seem basic and easy but I think it's rather fitting to make a gift that is meant to soothe and protect us when that's what he spent his days trying accomplish.

Day 2 - A little bit of knitting

So yes this post is about knitting but it's also a little bit about giving back to your community and sharing what you can. Even small things make a difference and this is one of my simple favourites all you need to do is knit squares! There's nothing easier than a 40 stitch square (4.5mm needles) right?

 I knit these out of 100% acrylic yarn for easy washing and care they're the perfect stash buster, I've already used up a couple of part skeins that were too small for other projects. I was originally just going to drop off the squares at the Huntsville (Ontario) Hospital where volunteers sew them together into blankets to take to the Chrysalis Women's Shelter, however I have so much stash yarn that I'm trying to work these up quickly so I can donate fully completed blankets instead. I'm really hoping I've got enough yarn and time to get at least two finished. If anyone is looking for an easy way to clear up some yarn mounds ;) .....just knit squares and make a difference!

 Of course that's not all I'm knitting I still have some Holiday gifts left on the needles like the Old Shale Blanket which is planned for some good friends who are expecting their first baby! I love how easy this is to work up, the pattern repeats are easily memorized and I can still cart it around with me in the car to work on because of it's tiny recipient's size.

 I'll have more projects to share in the coming days but for now of course I'm off to knit!

Handmade Holidays - Day 1

This year N. (Hubby) and I are making a fully committed attempt at creating a simple and joyful handmade holiday season. Throughout December each day I will post one or more of our ideas and projects in the hopes to eliminate some of the stress that seems to come during the season. Each year I always try to go bigger and better than the last...and the end result is always disappointment, stress and fights! Last year was the first year we decided to cut back and slow down and we had a much nicer holiday and really enjoyed each other and so this year we're going even further.

A simple holiday to us means no new ornaments except for the single yearly ornament we pick to commemorate a special memory from the past year, a major cutback in budget, a lower carbon footprint, less waste e.g. reusable wrapping and no paper gift tags (I'll share my ideas for that later).  And especially using what we already have I have so many stashed craft supplies and yarn that there is no reason why I need to buy more.

So that's our plan use less, buy less, slow down a lot, enjoy the season more, simplify and above all else appreciate the blessings of our home and families.

In preparation of this year's change I began very early to plan our budget, gifting and donation lists and decorating ideas. Which brings me to one part of our handmade gifts. This summer I made in addition to my regular batch of strawberry jam an extra batch to be stored and used as gifts for the holiday season.

These little jars will be topped with scraps of Christmas fabric and tied with ribbon as part of family gifts and unexpected guests and hostess gifts. And because I spent the preparation time in the summer, in less than an hour these will be fully ready to be gifted!  And really who doesn't love homemade jam?


Wishing you all a simple Holiday season!

I LOVE this thing/ AKA ereader cozy

I am absolutely in love with this thing! My sweet, dear hubby picked it up for my birthday and I haven't put it down since. Kobo ereader was just released from Chapters this month and has pretty much sold out everywhere and now having used it I can understand why. But of course thats not the point of this post...ok well partly anyways. Loving my Kobo so much I just couldn't toss him in my bag (p.s. he is now known as kobo jim....don't ask) knowing all the wear he would be exposed to, so I whipped up this cute little cozy in an evening and now he's safe and sound :) and that makes everyone happy right?

New Pillows!

 Soo... it's been awhile and my throw pillows definitely needed some refreshing. I've had them for awhile and they just didn't match our home anymore. I think I'm happier with these new ones...the dogs sure seem to like them anyways lol.  A bit more relaxed and cozy thats for sure, our old ribbon and satin ones were stuffy and itchy and not so cozy.

I have to admit I used a thrifted bed sheet for the base of the blocks and it's sooo soft and worn in perfect for a cuddly pillow and even better for a sunny spring nap ;) I used raw edge circles for the quarters cut from scraps out of my bin and just made a basic envelope back to slide the pillow form in...easy right? 

Sweets Mat

These little mats are just as the name suggests sweet... and easy too! I wanted a cute little mat for coffee that wasn't a coaster and not as large as a place mat so of course I turned to a Japanese craft book, makers of all things sweet and cute. Perfect.

Not only are they adorable and practical they're ridiculously easy within a couple of hours I had a set of 4 completed and ready to use and that's including interruptions.

I love these books "Linen Wool Cotton" by Akiko Mano and "Patchwork Style" from Suzuko Koseki are Japanese style craft books written in English. Both books offer plenty of inspiration and the sweet factor.

I hope everyone had a lovely, crafty weekend.

Donuts

I saw this super cute felt donut tutorial here and had to give it a try and if I do say so myself I am quite pleased with the results! My husband thought it looked good enough to eat

The sprinkles were pretty time consuming but worth it






And the best part about this project is not only the cuteness factor but that I actually had everything I needed on hand to complete my yummy looking treat!

Softies

Alright with the millions of things being said about softies and with my Japanese softy book on the way I thought I would try my hand at making a few..okay now don't laugh Howard was my very first attempt and without a pattern he's not that bad is he?

Oh my he is quite angry looking isn't he?

I suppose I would be angry too if I knew my fate was to be a..*gulp* pincushion!

And this friendly little guy was my Dad's 50th birthday present. Perhaps when I make the next one which will also be a gift although not a profane one, I'll make a tutorial as I go.

Look at how sweet he is :)

How odd


Oops guess we should have listened.

Japanese Craft Books and Local Craft Stores

Last night I made my first foray into the much talked about www.yesasia.com from which I am now excitedly awaiting my first shipment of craft books. Bring on the end of March!

Today I also took a little trip to my local craft shop with my Grams and my mom, came home with a few treasures of which I am now eagerly plotting their futures. Although my fave is a single fat quarter of the Grinch, I just happened to look over as I was ringing out and HAD to have it I love the Grinch! Unfortunately there was only the one so I am now faced with the daunting task of finding the perfect project that doesn't involve a lot of cutting I want to keep as much of the pattern in play as possible. Any Ideas? Me either.

Later this evening I think I will start a set of quilted coasters for my living room. The other day the idea just came to me that I wanted fabric coasters and so that was the inspiration for my fruitful search today. Along with the unexpected Grinch find I also came across a lovely piece of cotton that I plan to make a new softy out of. So good luck to me on that. Anyways I'm off to get crafty.

Fabric Beads

Sorry about the crap photo..who knows. Anyways this is my latest project and after some bruised fingers and a little swearing I think it turned out pretty well. Definitely something I'll make more of it's great for using all your scraps up actually most of these are made from fabric left over from my sister's baby quilt but all you see are the sweet girly mix of colours. I've already started a black ribbon necklace. I'll post pics once I'm finished.