meow?

a little seasonal shift on this end, coming into december. the fog and swell studio (so, my living room) is now a bit more santa's workshop as i craft gifts for my family this month. i promise, there'll be more west coast creatures soon, but first i could use your opinion on something. last weekend while grilling my niece on what she might like for christmas, she unexpectedly requested a stuffed toy, a kitty to be exact. huh. i wrinkled my nose about it for a few days, cats not being an animal i'd every really considered crafting. but in between knitting the same toque 2 1/2 times (why are the 'simplest" gifts often the hardest?) i started working on an idea. this little cat is mostly machine-stitched for durability, out of cotton fleece (inside out) and repurposed purple wool, plus some other purple accents.

what do you think? will an eight year old girl want to cuddle up with this feline? i kind of like it, but then sometimes i'm not sure it looks like a cat. i am a little concerned she is actually thinking of one of those ultra fluffy stuffed kitties from a toy store. i'd love to think my niece would be thrilled with a handmade item rather than something generic from a box store, but more often than not my sister and her family are not those people. my niece is one of the sweetest little girls i know, but i want something she will actually like, not just pretend to like to save my feelings. am i over thinking this?

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• i think i need to make a bunch of these pretty heart bookmarks as stocking stuffers.
• i've been adding lights and candles around the house to give some warmth in these dark days. loving this hanging candle arrangement.
• this chickpea stew could be perfect for cold days.

diy heat pads

i'm worn out. first day on the hill, lots of deep powder, and my legs are very tired. unfortunately, visibility was terrible and we didn't even make it for a full day. powder loses some appeal when you can't even really see it, let alone anything else farther than about 50 ft. hard to have fun when you're worried about hitting things and other people, and can't really see the slope of the snow either. but it was still a fun first day out with a couple girl friends, and i feel like i got my exercise for the day.



so i promised yesterday that i had a little last minute gift idea to share. the comfort pad, microwaveable heat pack, whatever you want to call it. this is not a tutorial really, as a quick google search will give you several others to choose from. i was inspired by parikha's post, although i skipped the awesome gathered top she did as the ones i made are for men. but i will tell you how i made mine, in brief form anyway.



i made a rectangular pouch, roughly 14" by 7", by cutting white quilting cotton twice that length, folding it in half, and sewing it securely closed while leaving an opening of a few inches at one end. i then turned it right side out and pressed it flat. i filled my packs with flax seed, roughly 900g each (they might be a little too full). there are many options for fill, but i thought flax was a suitable and cheap option. i also managed to spill it several times - i recommend a funnel to do this properly! i then top-stitched the opening closed (make extra sure you sew securely - i obviously did not the first time and had a little flax seed leak, again!). this is your main pack.



i then made a washable cover for the packs that can be removed easily. in this case i chose some soft chambray that i had on hand, and added a few patterned stripes inserted in the middle to liven it up (again, without getting too "crazy" for the boys) . i cut these the long way again, and made them a few inches longer than the original rectangles, so that i could fold over and stitch the ends neatly. i then folded the rectangle so that the patterned stripes would be positioned on the front and the ends at the back would overlap while leaving an opening (right sides facing in). through the sewing machine again along the long edges to finish the pack (you can see one inside out in the above pic), then turned right side out and pressed again. i then slipped the white cotton pack inside the cover, and voila, finished heat pack.



again, these instructions are probably not particularly clear, so please let me know if you have any questions, or check out parikha's tutorial above. i think these are great idea for a quick gift (i made two in about an hour) that will be appreciated by most people - who can't use something warm to soothe the aches and sore muscles once in a while?

Mitts for sister...

my sister's birthday was yesterday. i didn't get to see her, but today her and our mom came down for a nice lunch out and a bit of shopping. even in our relatively quiet town, i get worn out from tramping from store to store, and i'm glad to be home again, watching the glow of the christmas lights i put up yesterday and the two candles now lit for advent.



i always have trouble finding something for my sister. we are eight years and a generation apart, and although we get along well, we don't have similar tastes at all. when you factor in that her birthday is so close to christmas, and so i have to be thinking about another gift for just a few short weeks later, i tend to really struggle. so while i have not figured out christmas just yet, i hope she was happy with these fingerless mitts i knit up this week. full details can be found here. i knit them from a sturdy superwash wool (my sister can not be counted on to handwash), in a pale icy blue colour. considering she showed up today with a coat and scarf in the same shade, i knew at least the colour was a win. i'm hoping she'll get some use out of them on cold mornings heading to work or taking the kids to school. i wrapped them with a nice candle for these dark days.



so that's one project down. so many more to go before the big day - yikes. i better get on it. i always try to incorporate some relax time into this month, but i also always have big goals for gifts. i always have trouble in stores - either the items just seem cheap, or i figure i could make something better. if only i could get more organized and start earlier...

have a seat...

gift knitting continues in all it's madness. thankfully, i seem to be getting on top of it, but then again christmas isn't here yet, so i shouldn't get all cocky about yet, should i?

these seat cushions were requested by my sister after seeing some of my string quilting experiments. i hope this is what she meant! handily, we have the same style of dining chairs, so that helped with the measurements, but i think in the end they are a bit smaller than i would have liked. should still work though. the backs are a lightly patterned blue, and make the covers easy to remove from the foam for ease of washing. i did quilt the tops to one layer of batting as well to give at least a slight "quilted" look.

i also finished two toques this weekend, which you can check out here and here. both quickie projects for my nephew and dad, respectively.

we are gearing up for our first real snowfall of the year tonight - a light dusting covers the ground outside my office right now, but we should get quite a bit more tonight. definitely helps the christmas spirit, even if i did end up having to come in to work instead of having the day off to go snowboarding as was planned...

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