Belated Christmas Gifts (CA)

I won't tell you how belated these were, just that they were very belated. I have three cousins in California, and I try to make the same thing for all of them. The difficulty is finding something they would all enjoy. This is what I came up with:

Lunch bags! Inside, lunch! (No, not my little helper. Just the napkin, apple and sandwich.)

The crocheted food is from the Tasty Crochet book. I used the lunch bag instructions from Tumbling Blocks Blog with a few changes, listed below.

1. The exterior is cotton (not oilcloth) and the interior is clear vinyl, with a layer of batting in between.
2. In step 3, instead of sewing the velcro vertically, I placed it horizontally, 4" from the top, as pictured below. 
3. In step 4, the "wrong sides facing" instruction confused me. I think what was meant was to sew with the wrong sides together. Because I was working with cotton fabrics, and had raw edges, I sewed right sides together, and turned the bag right side out after step 6.
4. The long pieces (7x31) were more like 7x45 - I simply cut 7 inches of fabric and didn't alter the width at all. Most fabrics are 45" wide. In step 7, I trimmed three sides to the same length, but for the longer section, I think I trimmed it even with the vinyl layer. I may have just left it - I can't remember. I sewed bias tape around the entire upper edge to cover the raw edges. I then folded the end with the excess fabric down so there was just enough space to sew the velcro on and have the bottom of the velcro even with the top of the other three sides. I then applied the velcro to the folded down flap. (Again, see picture below)

I hope this all makes sense! If it doesn't, leave a comment with your question.

The napkins were made using leftover fabric. I simply cut a piece of fabric and a piece of muslin to the same size, pinned, right sides together, and sewed around, leaving a space to turn right side out. After turning right side out I ironed the edges and topstiched around, folding in the edges of the opening and being sure to topstitch over them.

Polymer Clay Creations

Polymer Clay is my newest hobby. My interest in clay was sparked when the children I was babysitting asked me to help them make things with clay. I had a lot of fun, and decided to try it on my own. These little guys were my sister's Christmas present; she loves monkeys, so I decided to make a trio of Hear No Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil monkeys that could sit on the edge of a shelf.

I've made a lot of flowers - a few of which are in my Etsy shop. This little bouquet went to a friend who was recovering from shoulder surgery.

This was my Mom's Christmas present. She loved the flowers I'd made, and when I spotted the little watering can in a store, I knew it would be the perfect bouquet holder. I did have some trouble getting the flowers to stay where I wanted them. I made the stems short, and figured I would poke them into some styrofoam. That didn't work very well, so I tried some cotton batting. The batting didn't work either, so I put some tissue paper in the bottom, and wrapped the bouquet in tissue paper. I also put in several pieces of Limonium to look like Baby's Breath or Statice. I wanted to give Mom the option of arranging the flowers, or even putting them in another container, if she wanted, otherwise I would have glued them down permanently.


Cupcakes! My sister wanted to send a care package to a college friend. Her friend likes cupcakes, and she found some cute cupcake earrings on Etsy. The problem was that the seller lived in Poland, so she asked me to try making some.
This is what I came up with. My sister chose the lighter pair to send to her friend. The other pair will probably end up in my Etsy shop.

A Sock Story

When I started knitting these socks, it was November of 2008. When I finished them, it was February of 2009. They were supposed to be my Mom's Christmas present. However, my plans were waylaid. My pattern was from the book Sensational Knitted Socks; a book that claims to be the only book you'll ever need for knitting socks. Since I had a self striping yarn, I decided to try a chevron pattern designed for self-striping yarns. My first attempt turned out too small. I frogged, grabbed larger needles, and started again. This time the sock was too large. I frogged again, cast on a different number of stitches, and tried again. Way too small. I may have repeated the above process a few more times before I gave up on the pattern. I decided to try a toe up sock. That way I could make the leg longer without having to worry about frogging a lot of work. Just as I was about ready to start knitting the foot, I realized that the toe section looked a bit large, and tried it on. It fit over my slipper sock. 'Nuff said. Right around this time was Christmas day. My Mom got a box of yarn, an un-frogged 3 inches of a tiny sock and an IOU.

By this time I was very frustrated and gave up on any fancy design. I turned to the first pattern in the book, cast on, knit the ribbing, and let Mom choose the pattern. After knitting the pattern design twice, I discovered that it didn't look quite right. Turns out I messed up the pattern and made my own. 'Ok,' I thought, 'nobody will ever know the difference.' Things progressed fairly smoothly until I reached the heel flap. After knitting it, I laid the sock down to photograph it, and decided to make the leg a few rows longer. Put the heel flap in the second time, completed the heel turn, and realized the heel turn was wrong. Ripped it out, put it in again, and realized that I had forgotten to use the reinforcing thread for the heel. So, I frogged and re-knitted. The heel turn was successfully completed. After the heel turn the needles are re-numbered. After puzzling for a while (and getting nowhere) it occurred to me that I should look for corrections for the book. A quick internet search revealed 5 pages of corrections, and two pages that needed to be downloaded. The two downloaded pages were for the pattern I was working with. Doesn't that inspire confidence? The only sock book you'll ever need, along with 5 pages of corrections. However, I digress, after the little matter of re-numbering the needles was solved, the only other issue was that my gauge tightened considerably after I dropped the reinforcing thread. It made the foot look nice, at least. It wasn't the best sock in the world, but it was a sock. I showed it to my Mom, she tried it on, and said she would have liked the foot a bit longer. I offered to rip it out, but she wouldn't hear of it. So, I started in on the second sock. Now that I knew my gauge needed to be tight, everything went smoothly. The second sock took only a few weeks. So, there you have it; how I came to knit a pair of mis-matched socks.
~Sarah

Tatted Trees

These were some quick and easy gifts for people who have everything else. The thread is DMC Pearl Cotton, (art. 115) size 5, color 699. One skein made 4 trees, and there is enough left for 2 or 3 more. To keep the thread from tangling, I cut it in half and wound 2 shuttles with it.
The pattern is from the Big Book of Tatting. It has a couple of mistakes, like nearly every pattern in the book, but as you can see, I figured it out.
~Sarah

Another Easy Triangle Shawl

Yes, I made another one. You might be starting to think that I like the pattern. I made this one for the lady I babysit for. The yarn is Lion Brand's Homespun, and the shade is Fiesta. It's not a self-striping yarn, but it striped beautifully. The front picture wouldn't come out, so I laid it on a towel to show off the stripes.
~Sarah