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.

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!

New name and a new pattern!

I've decided to give my little blog a new name, knitting seems to have stolen my sanity so I might as well give in to it... it's always best to humour obsessions...especially ones as consuming as yarn and knitting. But I really do have to give credit to my hubby for the new name because he's the one who thinks I knit too much ( really what's too much?) and that I drink way more caffeine than I should (pshaw to that) so thus to him I became the Jittery Knitter and it just seems to have stuck.

Anyways on to the pattern bits, you know the good stuff. I was in Little Red Mitten and I happened to pick up the last skein of Wisdom Poems Yarn in colourway 172 ( they really are small balls at only a 109 yards) but it was sooo pretty in all it's pink and teal glory and I just couldn't leave it there alone now could I? So home it came and then I was left with the dilemma of deciding what to do with this lovely lonesome ball....and that's how My Poems Single Skein Wristlets came to be ( now don't get me wrong they are very simple to make so it's really a pattern in the loosest sense)

Poems

Materials: One skein of Wisdom Poems Yarn (109 yards), a set of 4mm size 6 dpn's and a needle for sewing in the ends.

For first cuff start working from inside the skein and cast on 44 stitches.
Knit in 2x2 rib for 5 1/2" inches.
At start of next row K2 P1 cast off 7 stitches continue in rib pattern for the rest of the row.  ( If you want a smaller thumb opening cast of a smaller number e.g. 5 stitches...just remember to cast back on the same number you cast off)
Next row K2 P1 re-cast on 7 stitches ( or same number you cast off) and continue in rib pattern for another 1" inch.
BO in rib pattern. Weave in all ends.

For the second cuff work pattern exactly the same only start working from outside of the skein.

Which will leave you with just enough to make two of these little guys! And no waste...even better! Perfect for gift tags which is what I'm intending to use this year.

Easy Peasy Valentine's Chocolate

In the search for Valentine's day gifts I decided to skip our local box store and make what I could in my kitchen. Besides whats better then homemade chocolate bark I ask you? Nothing. It's the perfect treat and one batch makes a lot of gifts.

I used a 250g block of Joe's milk chocolate and a 250g block of Joe's white chocolate, broke each into separate bowls and melted over a double boiler. Stirred until smooth and glossy and spooned the milk and white chocolate in a checker pattern onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. To finish just swirl the two together with a knife and let cool and set. Once completely cooled break into pieces, wrap in pretty paper, tie with a ribbon and add a handwritten note. Done, easy!


When it comes to holidays and gift giving I always have the urge to "bend" our budget, but in the end I know I can still give lovely gifts no matter how simple or easy they are. A little handmade love can mean a lot.

Take care all.