The Christmas Crafting

I let myself off the hook this year, big time.  In fact, there were only four handmade gifts total.

First were the neckwarmers I knit for the boys.  Eamonn’s been asking for a scarf lately – last week was so chilly! – so I looked to my go-to pattern and scaled it down for smaller necks.  They were nice quick knits, each one taking just one night in front of the tv.  Aidan’s goes with the fingerless gloves I made him earlier this year, and Eamonn’s is like mine, but smaller.  His didn’t need to match the fingerless mitts I made him, since he’s already lost one and can’t wear them anyway (grr.)

Next, I turned my attention to our remote problem.  I made this couch-arm remote caddy in an effort to banish the daily “where’s the [DVD | TV | FiOS | whatever] remote?” cry.  Seriously, those doohickies have legs or minds of their own, or something.  We used to perch them precariously along the arm of the couch, where they would either fall off onto the floor, or fall off in the other direction and get stuck between the cushions.  When they weren’t falling down, they were being carried elsewhere by little people who didn’t put them back.

So, I made this caddy for Neil, out of the same material that the couch is upholstered in.  It goes over the arm of the couch in either direction (remotes on the outside, or on the inside) and stays put through the wonders of friction.  I like that it serves its purpose well, and does it while blending in nicely with the furniture.  What I don’t like so much is the raw edges, but I was on the clock here, and didn’t have enough time to come up with an elegant solution to fix them.  I’ll probably think of some brilliant idea in my sleep one night three months from now.  I’ll take care of it then.

Lastly, I made another coffee cup cozy, this one for my sister, to go with a bag of gingerbread coffee I picked up in a little coffee shop I found.  I decided I wanted to try something new with this, so I started from scratch, made my own pattern, and did something patchworky.  I like the way it came out, but I think I want to continue to tweak the process.  My goal is to make the cozies in similar fabrics to my patchwork scarves, and then put them in the shop alongside each other.

So, that’s it!  All perfectly do-able in the three days before Christmas

You know, I was reading a blog yesterday by someone who says she is always ready to drag the Christmas tree out the door on the 26th.  That is such a foreign concept to me, I can’t even begin to imagine it!  I suppose that it makes sense if you’ve already been decked-out for a month, and have been savoring the holidays throughout December, but for me, I’m cramming so much work and preparation into the weeks before Christmas, that I don’t even begin to relax and savor anything until Christmas Day.

I so enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year’s.  It’s a time of quiet relaxing with my little family by the light of the Christmas tree.  Much of it is spent in pajamas, enjoying our new gifts, or indulging in things we haven’t had enough time for lately – like starting a Ballband Dishcloth project.  And blogging.

Merry Week After Christmas, all!  I hope you can carve out some pajama time, too.

This day in blog history:

• Napkin Land - 2008
• Hello, friends! - 2007

This topic in blog history:

• Merry merry! - December 2008
• Scenes from the week after Christmas - December 2007
• There are no rules in Christmas decorating - December 2008