Happy Christmas!

I try to do some of the German things I picked up when living in Braunschweig, and these tissue-paper snowflakes are some of my favorites.


Our sweet little tree ... note the University of Texas longhorn for Himself ... the rest of our presents are at my mother's house and we're heading over there right now!

Now, that's just tacky

My mother made an out-of-town family member a hat and scarf for Christmas last year. She was so proud of herself -- she'd just progressed beyond shawls, and these did not look like the work of a beginner.

This year, said family member brought my mother a bag of giveaway stuff he'd found in the closet he uses whenever he visits (and that no one else uses), for her to take to charity.

In the bag? The hat and scarf. He'd never even taken them away.

Well, someone's never getting time spent on him again, as he's shown how little it means to him.

Snow!

I got home from work and looked outside (should have turned off the porch light to see our fairy lights better) and saw this:
Want a better look?
(I hate these palm-bushes, so spiky)
Even better, piling up on Himself's car:
It's all gone this morning, but goodness, it was fun. Snow in Houston!

Frosty

I've never done anything in plastic canvas before, but I needed a break from the two-year crossstitch project, so, when I heard of this fellow on freecycle, I jumped. You get to see a bit of my hand for fun -- he looked better against the wall of the Man Cave than on our wood floors.

Things I learned:

1) plastic canvas is fast!

2) when they say to do all stitching, including the overcast edges, before trimming the plastic, ignore them. I did that on the left stocking, and you can see the bits of plastic sticking out. The rest, I trimmed first, and it's much better.

It was fun!

Now back to the two-year project...

Margaret Bag

I made the Margaret Bag found over at Oh, Fransson! Like a fool, I didn't take a picture of it before wrapping it up for my kid sister, but I did take a picture of the fabric scraps once I thought of it:

The pink's the outside, with a big pink button, and the brown's the inside. Himself was even impressed when he saw it (he's used to my being able to make things, so it takes a lot to impress him). I'm so thrilled!

Secret Belgian Grandmother

I made a book for my grandmother! Grandmothers are so nice -- you can make things for them, and they don't care at all if they're a bit wonky or messed up, no matter how old you are! So, she is destined to be the proud recipient of my first Belgian-style binding.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (although, as you can see from some issues with the endpaper, an oddly-textured paper that wasn't sized and had some arguments with the methylcellulose wasn't my best moment!), but it did use more thread than I expected.
However, the colors are fun, and it did work -- not loose at all, which I hear is a common problem -- so I'll certainly do this again (with colored thread next time)!

Packet of fun stuff!

OOOOHhhh look at all the fun stuff here -- I want it!

Tonight: pumpkin soup (my 2nd recipe off of Anna Maria Horner's apron-for-soup cookbook so far).

Tomorrow: Clean house because contractors are coming by to fix the Ike leaks, and Himself's cousins are coming in to town.

If I can fit it in over the weekend:
That's right, the Greek Festival's going on one block from my house. Better find time to go, in-between taking time off from work for contractors and in-laws!

Also doing a plastic canvas I got off of freecycle, because it makes me happy and goes so much faster than the 2-year crossstitch I've been doing for a present for someone... it's really not my style, but I love it anyhow. Pictures when done (hopefully soon!).

Speaking of pictures, I did a secret belgian binding -- and it's lovely. Pictures soon, I promise.