A Crafty Christmas

I’m sad to say that since Hunter and Jones came along I am a little less crafty. It’s not that I have less time, or that I don’t make time if I really want to do something crafty… there is just less time for things that involve glue guns, laptops, ink pads, or anything else that the kids would LOVE to get into, but I would rather they didn’t. This is not a complaint, because Hunter already loves to be crafty too and baking together has become one of our very activities. It’s just a fact of life these days. That being said, here are some crafty things I managed this Christmas!

::: Blankets :::

This project (accomplished with my wonderful mum) was a classic Alexa. It started with a couple of blankets for my brothers and spiraled out of control from there (Emily is probably shaking her head across the Atlantic right now, she is familiar with my over-enthusiasm). It started with ‘Hunter and Jones would love matching blankets with their uncles!’, then it was ‘I think Gary needs one too!’ then ‘Well we can’t miss Dad’, and well…. now there are a LOT of blankets going under the tree! They are relatively simple blankets, just flannel on one size and a monogrammed bit of jogging fleece on the other. I’m not much of a sewer though and jogging fleece stretches and moves like it has a life of its own! It was one of those classic crafting stories where you realize part way through things aren’t as simple as they seem.

::: Letters :::

These are my little letter ornaments. My mum and I created a letter for each member of our family (we did 13). We wrapped wooden letters in yarn (not surprisingly, yarny leftovers are something I have quite a lot of), then I got out the glue gun and had a little fun with my button stash! I started out with traditional colours but quickly ditched that plan for a more wild and fun palette.

::: Knitting :::

I didn’t end up doing too much gifty knitting this year, but I did complete an Oats cowl for my mummy. She has loved red my whole life so it was the natural choice. I had been dying to try Tanis Fiber Arts Orange Label Cashmere Silk and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. It did not disappoint! The colour variations worked perfectly with the simple stitches and the softness, Oh the softness! It’s amazing and you simply must try it.