Wally and I made handprint turkeys this year, but I really think that’s a craft for next year. At 3, he really didn’t seem to make any sort of connection between the handprint, a turkey, an upcoming holiday, and why on earth we were making turkeys in the first place. He kept calling it a chicken, too. And then he started getting mad at me when I’d draw on the beak, eye, and feet. That’s when I knew we were done.

I think I’ll be doing this in several parts, but it looks like fun. I can’t wait to read what others have to say!

Gifts

• Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?

No, actually, I don’t. I have a fairly steady list of people to whom I give gifts, so I try to make new things every year. The funnest thing to make to date has been last year’s bath and body goodies. (link)

• If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making? (Post photos if you have some!)

This year, I’m making pillowcase sets for the adults (one for each holiday/season) and hoodies for the kids. Pictures will come when I get them done!!

• Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?

Gosh, I think generally, people roll their eyes a bit that I’m giving homemade stuff yet again this year, toss whatever I’ve spent hours creating into the closet, and forget about it, lol. Our families don’t have a great appreciation for handmade goodness. I did hear that the sugar scrub from last year was a hit with my mom’s dog.

I do have in my possession some pillowcases and table linens that were hand-embroidered by my great-grandmother. She made them as a wedding gift to my parents, and my mom kept them in a drawer all these years. We found them at my dad’s house when he died, and learned the story behind them when I asked my mom about them several years later. Knowing my great-grandmother, she would have been horrified that all her handiwork had been kept in a drawer - she made things to be used! (She also used her good China - and she had some seriously nice stuff - on a regular basis…because it’s meant to be used.) So we pulled them out and have started using them now, much to my mom’s horror, but I’m sure my great-grandmother is smiling on us. (link)

I’m not opposed to shopping on Black Friday. We have always used it as an opportunity to purchase things we need/would be buying anyway, but at cheap prices. For example, my annual 6:00 AM trip to JoAnn for 99 cent flannel. (Of course, it used to be 86 cents…)

Wally was awake for the drive over, and for the shopping, but he fell asleep while I was getting the fabric cut, so we just tossed him on the pile. Everyone joked, of course, about which asile they were selling the adorable children.

We’re also stopping back at JoAnn tomorrow to pick up the knit jersey I need to finish the kids’ hoodies for Christmas, an art kit that’s on sale for Wally, and some notions that I need anyway.

We actually were out all day today. We left at 5:15 or so, and got back at 6:00 PM. But far from the frenzied pace you might expect, we were quite leisurely, which is why we were out all day! And we took my mom to the doctor, picked her up, had lunch, installed her TV, etc.

I’ve been reading the Sew, Mama, Sew Blog all month long - they’re posting a new category of homemade Christmas gift ideas every day. So far, the suggestions have been pretty awesome, from fun children’s clothes to tote bags and placemats. I’ve already got my Christmas gifts planned out for this year, but am socking away ideas for next year! Go check it out!

I’ve been sewing like a mad woman getting ready for Craft Saturday on the 8th.

Five aprons - my favorite’s on the top there. Most of them have a pocket and contrast waistband.

Coaster sets, some sets of four, some sets of six. The set with the tomato on the top has a tomato, onion, peas, broccoli, carrot, and eggplant.

A four-place placemat, napkin, and coaster set based on a set of placements my sister owns.

A fun quilt-block looking placemat set.

Six-place placemat set, six different leaves, all in different fabrics, raw-edge applique.

Set of coasters.

Well…off to do some more sewing! Up next: Children’s leg warmers, tote bags, and some wet bag/changing pad sets.

This is a fun little project. It’s going to be a billfold once I felt it. It matches a larger bag I made and didn’t photograph yet (sorry). I’m hoping to be able to felt these tonight, and take pictures tomorrow before the Thanksgiving craziness starts.

And here’s the beginnings of a smaller knit bag. And my three year old helping to show it off.

When we moved in to our house, we refinished all the floors, except the hallway and our bedroom. We just simply ran out of time, and always planned to do them later. Well, later finally arrived this past weekend.

We took everything out, pulled up the carpet and all the carpet tacks, and did some deep cleaning on the radiator while we were at it.

A day and one trip to Urgent Care later, we had this:

We found that the floor under the carpet was actually quite nice. Past experience has shown that it’s really a crap shoot here, but we lucked out. Unfortunately, as you can see, this floor suffered from the same fate that our front room floor also has - someone stained it around the outer edges, but not in the middle. They obviously had a rug down, and only finished the edges for some unthinkable reason. This means that when we get in here with a sander and then restain (in the spring when we can have the windows open again), we’ll have to spend some extra time evening out the colors.

So, urgent care. Well, the husband learned that when cutting carpet with a very sharp utility knife, it is smart to keep your legs out of the way. Unfortunately, he learned this the hard way, and he now has four stitches in his thigh.

My first knit soakers!

I love how they turned out, and they were quite easy, as well. I started with Ottobre’s pattern, but made it all in stockinette rather than garter. I also used yarn instead of roving. I like this pattern, but I think I prefer a shorts style better. I’ve read through several longies patterns, and think I might just strike out on my own using measurements from when Wally was younger. Longies don’t, in reality, seem all that hard. (Famous last words?)

And finally the pictures of the knit bowls.

These will be going to Craft Saturday with me and then, if they don’t all sell there, will be listed on Etsy.

The bowls were quite fun to knit up. Like a small hat, really, knit on double-points. Then the top is reinforced with an applied I-Cord. After construction, they are fulled in the washer and molded over cups. I used yogurt cups filled with pennies for added weight, and I used my pin holder (really an old Tupperware) for the bigger sized bowls. I started with the pattern at Knitty, but altered it quite a bit after my first one.

My workspace is very small, and it has to hold a lot of stuff.

• It’s my office and office storage, so there’s the computer, my business files, all my fliers and business cards, and ink for the printer, and books.
• It’s my general business storage, so it holds things like my mannequin and other items I use only for display booths at fairs.
• It’s my sewing area, with the machines, and bins for cut projects, and bins for in-progress items, and bins for in-progress orders, and tools, and supplies.
• It’s my sewing storage area, where I keep the extra rolls of elastic, backup spools of thread, my supply of ring sling rings, D-rings, snaps, seam binding, lace, trims and ribbons, interfacing, etc.
• It’s my fabric storage, heh heh, enough said.
• It’s my inventory storage and showroom (though a rather unimpressive showroom, I’m afraid).
• And it’s Wally’s play area, where he hangs out while I work, so it’s got two small activity tables for him, his painting supplies, a few bins of toys and clay and glue and scissors, as well as a TV and DVD player and a nice little rocker.

With all this crammed into such a small space, it’s important that I keep it all tidy so the clutter doesn’t become overwhelming. But it also means that I could spend all day tidying and never getting any work done!

Here’s what helps me:

Crate for fabric too small to go back on the shelf. Eventually, this will get folded neatly and placed with the bits of fabric that are already folded neatly and in a bin on a shelf.

 Bins for supplies.

 These little drawers. Small, perfectly sized for sewing-table necessities: scissors, machine needles, thread, machine tools, etc.

 These bins, oh how I love them. They hold in-progress projects and current orders. I can gather all the supplies and fabrics needed for an order and toss them in a bin along with the receipt, then place completed items in the bin, as well. Once the whole order is complete, it all goes in a box to ship and the bin is freed for the next order.

 New shelves for Wally. We’ll see how this works out. This is a set of shelves just for Wally’s stuff. His clay and tools, his art supplies, his toys, his markers, his paper, his books. Until recently, this stuff was all mixed in with my own stuff.

Little shelf next to my sewing machine table and tucked under the open leaf of the table. This holds elastic, giant thread spools, and other larger round supplies. The box on top is made out of repurposed foamcore posterboard, taped together into a box. Wally provided the decoration, then the box got wet during a recent small basement flood, so it’s got a unique look to it.