Almost there...

At least when it comes to 45 handmade objects! (The retreat is scheduled for next week, and the bike ride for late April. Which is good since my birthday is May 7, and that's my deadline!)

Here's what I've been doing...First, I made some gloves for DS. These are his annual pair, ever since he allowed me to knit for him. (He loses them every year...maybe this year will be different?)

Alas, I have no picture because my camera was on the blink, and I finished them just in time to give them to him before he headed back to college. He has since declared that he loves them and they are "snug and warm." They are basic black, Lamb's Pride Worsted, as he is that kind of guy.

Next, DD declared one day that she wanted to spend it crafting with me. How could I deny that request? Together we designed, and I sewed, this purse for her.

The outside is a thrifted, felted sweater, lined with a fabric from a thrifted shirt (also the source of the external patch), and the cow button has just been waiting for its rightful place!

We also made a cupcake, from thrifted and felted sweaters, from Betz White's book, Warm Fuzzies.

This next one is so simple I almost feel like I shouldn't claim it. But they're so practical that I'm going to...long gloves, loosely following the instructions at Craft Addictions. They're made from those inexpensive stretch gloves, sewn onto a sweater sleeve. They fit perfectly under my dress coat and keep my warm while I'm waiting at the bus stop. Before then, wind would blow right up my arms. Now I too am "snug and warm."

And seen at the top of this post, one of the most popular projects on Ravelry, My So-called Scarf. This one will be available at our (nearly) annual holiday artists' swap (minus the adorable girl, in her hand-crocheted hat from a friend).

And finally, I feel a bit sheepish claiming these as well...

These are my version of the Peekaboo Mittens from Magknits, except that they are actually made from a pair of socks I made, which were too big. I felted them but didn't know what to do with them. DD said, "those look like mittens!" I cut a hole in them, and now I have the perfect winter-shopping-at-the-Rochester Public Market gloves.

That adds six more to my FO list...up to 41. Actually, I have two more, but they'll be part of a future post. And those flying mittens...well, the first one is finished...if only I can muster the fortitude to finish the second one now...

Handcrafters' holiday meme, part 2 (AKA, Better late than never!)

Although I'm a little late, I'm finishing up some of the questions from the Sew, Mama, Sew meme.

What is your favorite family holiday tradition?

So many...my favorite one that is carried over from my family of origin is the Christmas eve pizza dinner. My mom always had tons of cooking to do for Christmas day, so Christmas eve dinner needed to be simple. What to do? Homemade, everyone helps out, pizza! Being a working mom in the midst of the canned foods revolution that swept the Midwest in the 60's, our pizza then came from a mix...dough from a box, sauce from a can, pre-shredded Mozzarella, pepperoni slices, and a few fresh veggies.

Now, with my family, I make the dough, everyone who wants helps spread it (that's the hardest part, so often it's just me and maybe DD). Then we each pile on our favorites...choosing from mozzarella, cheddar, feta cheese, homemade pesto,(usually) homemade sauce, lots of veggies, and maybe some fake ground beef or sausage.

I love how it brings us together in a low-stress way to share a great, low-key meal. When the kids were younger, it was also a great activity to occupy them as the moments till Christmas morning d..r..a..g..g..e..d by.

Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?

We make a "Feast for the Animals." (However, this may be the last year for that, as we've discovered that we need to come up with some new traditions as the kids become young adults.) T. and I like it, though. We string up popcorn and cranberries, and put out fruit, nuts, and so on, for the birds and squirrels.

If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making?

Now I can tell you about them! A bag for DD's new yoga mat, along with a yoga eye bag, and a yoga blanket. The bag pattern is from Fig and Plum, the eye bag is a knitted rectangle with a muslin bag inside filled with flax seed and my home-grown lavender, and the blanket is just fleece on one side, with fabrics pieced together on the other side, mostly from my stash.

I also made two hot water bottle cozies for the daughters of friends, in exchange for an acupuncture treatment (I love bartering!). The cozies are made from sleeves of an old sweater, slightly felted, and embellished with homemade Fimo clay buttons and other sweater, fabric, and fleece scraps.

More holiday photos, including some from Toronto (which I'll write about next!), here.

Felt you can feel good about

Well, besides being a bad pun, I suppose that title requires a bit of explanation to non-Rochesterians. The predominant grocery store in Rochester is Wegman's. Some people love it...their displays are beautiful, and you can find anything you could possibly want from exotic produce to fine china to Godiva chocolates. Me...not so much...too big, overwhelming, too much food from god knows where.

Anyway, they had an advertising campaign that theirs was "Food You Can Feel Good About."RocBike team member Adam Durand proved that that's not always the case in his investigation of Wegman's egg farms.

But I digress...I've been finishing some very easy felted projects lately. And I can feel good about it because they're all recycled from failed knitting projects or sweaters bought secondhand.

The messenger bag, above, has me so delighted that it will get its own post, including a little tutorial. But I'm so happy about it that I had to post it right away! I made it last night, in about an hour. More on the bag in a future post...

Remember the summer's laptop cover? It's not very sturdy, so I made another one from a felted sweater from Marianne's Consignments. (When this sweater came in, Marianne saved it for me just for the purpose of felting.) I would never wear it as a sweater, but I love the pattern. I just cut out a rectangle a tad bit bigger than my laptop, by laying out the sweater and cutting from the bottom up. The side seam remained, so I just had to sew up the other side seam, and voila! (Yes, that's my dinner, because I was attempting to blog and eat at the same time.)

And a couple of weeks ago, I took a couple of swatches which I had seamed together and felted, added buttons, cut the buttonholes right in the felt, and now I have some fun wallets (which will likely become Christmas gifts for some friends on my list.)

Also in that picture, a hot pad. One side is a swatch that T. made, and the other is cut from a felted sweater from Goodwill, stitched together with running stitch and a loop for hanging it to boot.

And, an unfelted project in the background above, a simple garter stitch scarf with yarn from Rhinebeck 2005,which will likely be my Mom's January birthday gift. (Mom doesn't own a computer, so no chance she'll find out!)

Let's see...how many finished objects is that? Messenger bag, laptop cover, 2 wallets, hot pad, and a scarf...6 more down!