[crafts] Scrapbooking mess

Working on a scrapbook for my mom for Christmas:

I ordered prints of pictures from our California trip this past summer. I never realized how tedious and time consuming (and glue-consuming) making a scrapbook is. But all the pages are done- I just need to add final embellishments and text to the pages. 

[misc] Oh Christmas Tree

It's been a few years since we've had a Christmas tree up. I wanted to get one but I was unsure how Penny (the primary trouble-maker in the house) would react. I envisioned her breaking ornaments, crawling up the inside of the tree, knocking the entire tree over, etc.

I brought a tree home anyway. We put it up, I threw on lights and (unbreakable) ornaments. The cats stayed away at first because I ran the vacuum around it a couple times to clean up fallen needles. But as the days go by, Penny gets more and more bold.

Uh... oh...

[crochet] Wreath Ornaments - done!

Finished all 8 wreath ornaments:

They're so cute!  I tied the red bow in a double knot- so that it wouldn't come undone if one of the ends was pulled. The beads were a little fiddley to tie/attach, but it was worth it.



I'm going to get some square jewelry boxes from the craft store to put these in before wrapping.

[crochet] Christmas Wreath Ornaments

Working on Christmas Wreath ornaments to give out as gifts. I completed one:

OMG, it's so cute- I can't even handle it. Here's the Ravelry link to the pattern.

The largest size of plastic rings that Joann's had was 1.5 inches, so I used DK-weight yarn (rather than worsted) and a smaller hook. I also added a cluster of three red, round beads to look like holly berries.

Now I'm doing the rest assembly-line style: crochet all the base wreaths (using the two ends to make the hanging loop), add the red strings, add the berry clusters.

The designer of this patten as so. many. cute ornaments made over bone rings like this- snowflakes, peppermint candies, round ornaments, etc. I'm going to make a different one every year to give out.

[crafts] Christmas Tags

I had so much fun making Christmas tags last year, I had to do it again this year. Plus, since I had leftover blank tags and my sister gave me a bunch of really nice holiday stickers, this project cost me $0.

Materials:

Finished tags:

[knitting] Red scarf... almost

I wasn't able to finish a cabled, red scarf for the end of November but I did get past the 50% mark. 

[spinning] Grey Wind Progress

I only have about a pound of fiber left to spin:

Need to finish by the end of December! Gah!

[misc] Murderface (and Penny) Monday

Our bed sits pretty high off the floor. Murderface always had trouble jumping up (he would clutch at the edge of the bed like Gandalf when he says "Fly you fools" before falling down the pit). At the apartment, we just kept a chair at the foot of the bed. At the new house, we were using a plastic tub for a year. Recently I decided to get a more kitty-friendly set of steps.

Murderface uses the steps but Penny loves them the most. She scratches them all the time and likes to hide and wait for MF.

Poor Murderface.