trying to be unselfish...

the new toast catalog arrived, and has me dreaming of being wrapped in woolens and tweeds and traipsing around the scottish countryside, or at least some ideas for new clothing to make. i want a new toque for snowboarding next weekend. and some new fingerless mitts to wear in my chilly office. and a new scarf...well, you all know how it goes. but i heard there's a little holiday fast approaching. not to mention a birthday in a week. so i am pushing aside (for the moment...) what i want, and trying to do a little gift projecting.

my sister requested some medium serving bowls for her birthday, which was easy to take care of, but they needed a little personal touch. so i made these quick potholders for her, out of assorted green cottons with a natural linen binding. i was impressed how fast they came together - just an easy evening project. now who else needs potholders...?


second up (hey, they get compiled until weekends when i can take photos, daylight being such a scarce commodity around here) is probably my biggest holiday project, which is happily completed nice and early. i have been planning this quilt for my niece since the summer, and had originally planned it for her birthday in october. when that didn't come together, i was determined for christmas, and thankfully it came together pretty quickly this month.

i kind of want it for myself...but A is not so hot on us putting a pink and purple quilt on our bed. hmph.

i've got a few more projects in the wings, maybe more photos for you tomorrow. i'm working on a cute little sweater vest for my littlest nephew (aka nephew #3) and i've promised myself if i complete it this afternoon i can spend the evening on something for me. if you're looking for projects for yourself or a quick gift for a stylish friend, martha is very kindly offering a free pattern for a cool origami wrap, i haven't had a chance to take photos of the one i made yet, but it's quite cozy. i also like to wear it wrapped in front and belted.

as always, more pics to be seen on flickr

sunday under a quilt

sunday under a quilt, originally uploaded by westcoastcreative.

hand sewing the backside of a quilt binding is not exactly a thrilling way to spend my sunday. but spending it sewing the binding while snuggled under said quilt, catching up on last week's episode of house, eating popcorn, with the smell of baking bread and simmering chicken stock on the stove wafting through the air? perhaps not thrilling either, but not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

instant gratification and the gift slog

yesterday (i know, i started writing this last thursday!) i had a day at home for remembrance day, and after a trip downtown for the ceremonies, i had some precious daylight in which to craft and take photos. this shot is actually something made on sunday, as part of the silly fun that was craft weekend at my house.

yes, craft weekend. see, last fall a few friends and i started having craft nights, once a week or every couple weeks, a night to get together and chat and eat, and hopefully, work on some of our crafts-in-progress, which covered a wide range of knitting, sewing, art, etc. those nights have not yet been resurrected for this year, but hopefully soon - see, many folks work in the great outdoors all summer and aren't available for summer crafting, not to mention that drizzly, windy fall nights are of course perfect for this kind of friend get-together. but i'm getting a bit tangential here... so this year i devised the idea of a whole weekend of craft. not that that's not my usual weekend, really, but i thought it would be great to have a bunch of folks over, and include many who live far away. i had also been inspired by suse and her escapes to sewjourn (so jealous, why do we not have this in canada?). i think it worked out well, although any actual crafting that happened may have been accidental - we might try to be more productive next time. you see, there was wine, and snacks, and wine.

but i did show some folks how to strip quilt, and i ended up with this pretty neckwarmer. my friend amanda showed up wearing one, and then very kindly provided fabric for me to make my own. a nice little shot of colour for these dark days. just a quick rectangle of cotton on one side, fleece on the other, and a little loop and button to hold it together. instant gratification accessory.

hoping this weekend to have some shots for you of my first pieces of gift crafting, as that seems to be my focus right now...and probably till Dec 24th!

november...

today feels so short, with the time change and darkness coming an hour earlier. i certainly enjoyed the excuse to sleep in, but that only briefly distracts for the shortening days. the sky was clear for most of the day but with a distinct chill in the air. we had a quiet night for halloween, and a quiet day today. i've been playing around with a few things. my new tweed hat needed something to make it more personal, so i embroidered this little acorn on it. not a fantastic effort, but i think it's kinda cute. i can see doing this on a few more things, as i get inspired by the work of Melissa and others.

i have actually been working steadily on a new pair of socks for my dad. i missed the deadline of his birthday on thursday, but thankfully finished them today. he doesn't allow much "design", so they are not the most exciting socks to knit, or photograph, for that matter (dark blue, 4x1 rib), but i know they make him happy and that is what counts.

now that they are finished i have room to play with other ideas. i started a new weaving project today, assorted leftover purple sock yarn and some silver thread, to create something monochromatic with a bit of sparkle. i have a friend in mind, but we'll see how entranced my magpie tendencies get with the "ooh shiny" factor.


i'm also steadily dreaming up warm projects to cover my hands, head and other areas that need all the heat i can get as the weather cools down. i'm thinking steadily about a long, cabled cowl (the keyword floating around is "infinity scarf", but it kind of irritates me) in some teal blue cotton/wool that my mom gave me. some grey koigu is yearning to be some fingerless mitts. and i have some red and white sock yarn looking to be a doubleknit hat, i just need to work out the design. and that's just the knitting. they are several other projects on my to-do list, of the sewing, illustrating, weaving, quilting variety.

hope you had a good sunday and are not too full of sweets!