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Tag Archive for crafting

My Christmas Crafting – Phase 2 – The Crocheting & Then some.

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Renee Spindle

To continue with my crafting theme I wanted to share with all of you the gifts that I crocheted for Christmas. I wish I would have had time to do more, because this is a mind relaxing little hobby for me.

First, I made a gray heather colored scarf for my brother’s girlfriend, Elaine. This is the project that got me back on the crocheting train.

It was a really simple pattern, and the color was just right for Elaine. I made this one right after Thanksgiving. (Thanks for providing the pictures Elaine.) Leave me a comment if you would like the pattern.

Next was my gift for Travel Man. I made him a granny square afghan from red, white and blue yarn because he is such a patriotic guy. He is retired from the Air Force, and if you met him and had a conversation with him you would understand the depths of his patriotism.

So, I started to make the afghan right after Thanksgiving. Went to Michael’s, bought the yarn, dug out my crochet hook, and got to work. You see Travel Man was on a trip the day after Thanksgiving, and he was out-of-town for 10 days. A perfect opportunity to “get my crochet on”. And I did, by the time he got home from that trip I would say I was 75% done with his afghan. He was travelling again in a week so I would have plenty of time to get the afghan done.

Well then life happened. Travel Man was home with me for a week, and I was totally into my sewing projects that week, and not really paying enough attention to the crocheting. So then he left on his next trip and I got a little more crocheting done, and when Travel Man got home he was soooooo sick. Bad cold and cough. All the yuckiness that goes along with a bad winter cold. (And yes we do get bad colds even though we are in California. It is not always sunshine!) He got home on a Thursday and was supposed to leave on a Sunday, and that was not happening.

So now my dilemma sets in. I have about 4-5 rows of crocheting to finish, and I will now have to do some sneak around crocheting to get this done. In order to get the rows done I was getting up at 5:30 am ish, and working on it. If I was up late (which happens quite frequently) I would get a little crochet on. Then, Christmas week while I was working on some early morning crocheting, Travel Man walks down the hallway while I’m in the living room with my crochet hook flying. Luckily my son, Bryan, clued me in with a loud throat clearing, and “Good Morning, Tom”, so I was able to get the afghan back in a bag before he could see it. And then when he shuffled into the kitchen Bryan grabbed the bag and tossed it in his room. Whew! Gift exposure surprise avoided! On the morning of Christmas Eve I actually had to banish Travel Man to his office for an hour to finish the last row of crocheting and tying off all of the yarn from the color changes. Not my original plan at all. In my perfect crafting world this would have been completed last July.

These are my homemade gift-giving experiences for Christmas 2011. I hope to create more gifts in the New Year, and learn a few new crafts too. What’s your favorite crafting experience?

4 comments Posted in Crafts

My Christmas Crafting – Phase 1 – The Sewing

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Renee Spindle

This year I had the good fortune to have the time to make some gifts for family. It was so much fun to work on projects, have some cookies baking, the Christmas tunes blaring, and just get into the holiday spirit early, right after Thanksgiving. Being the multi-tasker that I am, I had my hands in a few projects at one time. I was crocheting, and sewing for most of the presents that were homemade.

Here’s a sampling of what I completed:

Two stockings; one for Travel Man, and the other for my son Zach. I never made Zach a stocking and he’s 20. All the other kids had homemade stockings, had to get rid of the guilt’s.

Then I fashioned some little letter pillows that spelled out Evan for the grandson. I have had this pattern forever, and it’s funny whenever you make these for someone you get lots of compliments on how cool they are.

I had some extra fabric so I also made Evan a little personalized pillow. He thought they were all cool, and called them his safari pillows.

Next I made a computer/messenger bag for my son, Bryan’s, girlfriend, Erica.

Here’s a few pics of the process and the finished product. Erica bakes and sells cupcakes, so the minute I saw this fabric I knew I had to make a bag for her. You can check out Erica’s custom cupcake creations at Everything Iced Cupcakes.

The last item on my sewing list was to make some kitschy little purses. I had some funky little pieces of fleece in my closet, and found a pattern to make these for the rest of the twenty-somethings in the family. They turned out really cool, and were enjoyed by all the recipients. I put some fluffy pairs of socks to complete the gift.

I have had so much fun putting all of these gifts together. It seems to make the giving just a little bit more “special”. I am looking forward to sharing Phase 2 of my gift giving which will be my crocheting projects. Lots of fun with those, and I have a story to share about Travel Man too.

Hoping you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday week with friends and family. there’s no greater gift in the world than some extra-special family time.