Yarn along: even more cowls

I've finally finished all my Christmas crochet projects, and it's time for one for me. I've been wearing the not-good-enough-for-a-gift cardiff cowl a lot, and have been wanting to make myself some more scarves for wearing all day as part of an outfit (not just for outdoors). I'd made my wool-sensitive sister a cotton-and-cashmere version, and loved it so much, I decided to make myself the same one. (And Lucy's requested a smaller matching one for herself.)

After the first version of this cowl, I learned to do a foundation single crochet, which made subsequent ones so much nicer (I love the helpful comments on ravelry for tips like that). I'm terribly slow at it and not very tidy yet, but I'm getting there. Meanwhile, I'm still reading Astrid and Veronika, which is turning out to be just the right pace for Christmas vacation.

Now that I can reveal the past month's work, here's one of the finished cowls, made as a gift for a friend:

And, if you're interested in that kind of thing, here's the ravelry link for the replacement red one I made for my sister.

I'm joining in to Ginny's Yarn Along. There's lots more yarn-and-book inspiration there!

The perfect gift

There are many stories to tell this Christmas, but for now, here's just this quick one--the story of a girl and her bike. I'd suspected that Lucy was just about ready for a balance bike (truly a brilliant invention!), and had my heart set on a Skuut, but for various reasons, we went with this sturdier style. I'd worried because I thought it was ugly, because it wasn't exactly the one I'd thought I wanted, because it wasn't a lovingly mama-made gift. But, oh, the joy! It turned out to be the perfect thing. She rode it Christmas morning, and again in the afternoon, and the next day, and today all the way to the post office. She's already starting to experiment with lifting her feet to glide, and you can see the glee on her face. "I'm always riding my new bike. Because I'm loving it."

What an incredible thrill to give a gift that brings such joy!

Yarn along: beginnings

Haven't much to show for the yarn-along today, just beginnings. I finished The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (which I liked, but didn't love like the reviews made me expect I would), and I think Astrid and Veronika will be next (for the simple reasons that I love the cover and it starts in dark winter, which seems just right about now. Choosing books is an odd process, isn't it?) I've also finished my last (secret) crochet project, and next in my queue is this coffee cozy for my sock-monkey-loving sister. I don't have much time for either crochet or reading at the moment, but only one more work day and a couple days of cleaning and wrapping, and then I'm on vacation for a week! I'll be hanging out with family and--I hope--crocheting a lot as we chat.

16th-20th activities of Advent: gone in a blur

This photo was taken on our walk to our village's luminary celebration, an annual event complete with luminarias; a bonfire; cider, popcorn, and donuts; a concert of Christmas music; and--Lucy's favorite--horse-drawn wagon rides to see the lights. I took it minutes after we narrowly missed being hit by a truck as we crossed the street. (I do mean narrowly: 2 cars had stopped for us, we began crossing the road, the 3rd truck didn't stop, we heard it crash into the 2nd car, Andi screamed run!, and we ran, avoiding getting hit by the ricocheting truck by only a foot or two.)

There have been Advent-y goings-on this week. There's been wrapping and mailing and lights and card-writing. But like the luminary celebration, they've been mostly lost in bigger events and emotions this week-- three days of croup, two nasty phone calls, and a crazy driver in a speeding truck...

I've been up too many nights crafting, wrapping, cleaning, so tonight, I'm just sitting in the mess and my exhaustion, ignoring the to-do list, listening, listening, listening for that scary cough, and planning to go up very soon to wrap my baby in my arms where she belongs.

15th activity of Advent: ornaments

Our tree is both extra-beautiful and tinged with sadness this year. My mother and sisters and I recently divided our family's ornaments into three piles, and now my tree is full of childhood memories, my mother's felt dala horses, my grandmother's and great-aunts' crocheted snowflakes, and even more red, straw, and white. I don't want to think about why she gave them to us now, so I'm just trying to focus on the beauty.

14th activity of Advent: wrapping gifts

Well, let's get a start, anyway.

Here are a few wrapped, but not yet done up with bows and tags (that part comes after bedtime, when I can concentrate). The poor lighting doesn't show it well, but these packages are spectacular. For wrapping paper this year, we're using our vast collection of Lucy's paintings and drawings from the past year (with her permission). I don't think we've ever had such beautiful gift wrap!

For a while, Lucy helped to choose each piece of wrap and to apply the tape to the gifts. Then she moved on to creating "a road" with tape and the discarded pieces of paper I'd cut off.

Everything is more fun this Christmas season, with this cheerful, chatty helper by my side.

Yarn along: cowl factory

Joining in to Ginny's yarn along again today. Not a lot of reading going on this week (though I'm still enjoying this book when I get a spare moment). It's been all late nights and freezing fingers outdoors while I crochet cowls, cowls, cowls. Here's the latest, finished at midnight last night. This one's a gift for my sister, who can't abide anything even slightly itchy, so it's made with cotton/cashmere yarn that feels oh, so yummy! (I may be making a second in January for myself...). Back to work; there are lots of gifts yet to make!