Good tidings

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Some seed beads

  

I made these sequin ornaments as a teenager one Christmas eve.  They’re not hanging on the tree because I never quite figured out how to attach a ribbon or metal hook to hang, so they’ve been sequestered to the big purple candle. 

My problem here and now is the foam.  It doesn’t really hold the pins very well.  See the missing pin on the bottom of the bell above?  Also there’s a whole sequin missing from the green and red egg behind it.  Maybe in the last couple of years they’ve come up with a more dense foam.  Not sure.   

On the plus side these ornaments are so easy to make and kid friendly.  You get those white or green colored foam shapes.  Then you pick out sequins, pins and maybe some seed beads or ribbon.  In a half hour you have a cute little be-sequined foam shape. 

This project reminds me of another Christmas craft project: pushing cloves into oranges.  Orange and clove pomanders smell so delicious.

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The wrong side

I made a bunch of these headbands for quick Christmas presents.  The purple one is the Elizabeth headband from Nadia’s Crochet free elegant crochet headbands web page.  I used stash yarn for this but I’m pretty sure it is Red Heart Super Saver.  The headband was really quick project with worsted weight yarn.  Weaving in the ends probably took as much time as the actual project.  Plus, the wrong side has a bobble look to it that I like. 

The pink headband was from Family Circle Easy Crochet Spring 2007.  I used left over yarn from my Through Any Window Baby Blanket.  This one took about three times as much crocheting since it calls for a size F crochet hook and DK weight yarn.  However, the shells were a repeating pattern and it was pretty easy to memorize.

Now I’m off to frantically crochet more Christmas gifts.  I am seriously behind!

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Oh christmas tree

I dug this out of the family ornament collection looking for a handmade skate ornament I commented about on My Tangled Threads.  (No luck yet.)  I did come across some crochet snowflakes and a couple cross stitch ornaments, though.   

I’ve been so busy with crochet lately I put the joy of cross stitch to the back of my mind.  It really is a shame you can’t cuddle up to a cross stitch piece of card board.   Considering how much time I put into this little guy as a high school-er I probably could have crocheted a nice hat or a long, fluffy scarf.

I really do enjoy those little dollar cross stitch kits though.  It seems these days that they avoid including the nice metal frames you see in vintage kits.  Instead they have red plastic frames or worse, they package it as an ornament.  No accessory needed.  I suspect this coinsided with the descent of Cracker Jack prizes.  The little plastic clothes hanger is the cross stitch kit equivalent to a Cracker Jack mini-baseball card. 

Here’s your blog prize: a photograph of the back for kicks and giggles.  Look ma’, no knots!

*That’s cool* a random fact

Early Native American tribes in New England preserved corn by coating it with heated maple syrup.

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Festival of tree lights

I learned something about the nighttime setting on my camera – hold still.  The setting must have a really long exposure time, but I didn’t really pay attention to the results until it was too late.  All my picture were super blurry.  On the upside I got a nifty shot above of the local Christmas tree in all its glory.  The effect reminds me of those swirly star pictures of the sky.  

I was at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the local park to get this shot.  Tons of people were there.  Okay, not Times Square on New Years Eve ’tons’.   ’Tons’ as in more than I see at the Island Market on a Sunday afternoon.   

Santa Clause and the missus even managed to show up.  They visited with the kids while the band played Christmas music. 

I got some yummy mexican wedding cakes and piping hot apple cider with real cloves.  The latter was greatly appreciated since it was C-O-L-D and I wore flip flops.  (In my defense I did have a crocheted hat and scarf.)

This little boy was in my line of sight while I waited, freezing cold, in line for my provisions.  He was so enthralled with the music tent.  He stood very still with these wide eyes.  I was actually impressed with how long he could stand still. 

 

I guess I could chock it up to the holiday season and his inevitable meeting with Mr and Mrs. Claus.  Kids seem to become oddly well behaved for short spurts when they are reminded their Christmas present turnout is in the balance.

*That’s cool* a random fact

Thirty-six apples will produce one gallon of cider and a single apple needs the energy from fifty leaves to grow.

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Tiny glowing votives

Here in the San Juan Islands we got a few humble inches of the white winter stuff today.  The snow covered almost every surface, just not very well.  It’s good for packing though.  If there’s more snow tomorrow I want to make a snowman.  There should be enough to make a little one. 

I’ve been on a short hiatus from the actual act of crocheting and with my hooks on vacation and all, I took them outside to enjoy the view. 

I am busy with crochet related business though, organizing the testing session for my new free granny blanket pattern.  You can read the thread on Crochetville and see what the testers have swatched. 

If you’re just itching for a granny square blanket and can’t wait for the free pattern to turn up, give these a gander:  

A Microspun version on the Lion Brand website has a similar color scheme. 

For giant granny square worked in the round with a shell border try the Large Granny Square Blankie by Lisa Wolf at Bev’s Country Cottage. 

In other news the snow completely covered the Christmas – ahem – holiday lights that are coiled around the deck.  Little by little they melted quarter sized circles all along the deck.  Scientifically speaking, it was interesting to see how much snow a little bulb could melt but I didn’t give it much attention.  

Then at dusk I saw that the light illuminated the snow surrounding the bulb and it looked like a bunch of tiny glowing votives.  They seem very cozy in their little snow caves. 

 

*That’s cool* a random fact

Thomas Edison tried over 1,500 different materials for the filament in his first lightbulb including fishing line, coconut fibers and hair taken from a friend’s beard. 

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