Inching My Way to Christmas

Today I finally made it back into the sewing room!

The last couple of weeks have been focused on knitting gifts, writing/sending cards, singing (at church), working at The Shop, and trying to keep body and soul together while my beloved kids figured out what they were able to do to gather together for Christmas.

There's been some progress since my last post.  As the commissions were finished, I began to focus on gifts...

With at least one sock of a pair finished for two different people:

One sock down, second sock started!

This one is now finished.
It's companion?  I'm well away on the foot!

And there are mittens for my next-door neighbours, who are extraordinarily kind to me all year 'round.  They love to go for walks -- in any weather -- so over the years I've made them toques, neck-warmers, etc.  This year it's mittens.   E's are finished...

Her husband, J's are just started (cuff on #1 almost finished)...so no photos for now!

Feeling I was in a Good Place as far as the knitted gifts went, today I dove in and -- start to finish! -- completed this year's Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts!!

From this...

To this...

In about 4 hours!

The key?  No fiddling with a drawstring this year.  Elastic waist only!

Oh...and the fabric?

Canada 150, of course!  😏

All this while playing CBC's broadcast -- "Joy to the World" -- an international concert (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) -- loudly on the stereo.

Now...before I get back to that knitting...If I don't get back here before next weekend, 

Happy Hanukkah!

Merry Christmas!

Blessed Soltice!

Merry Kwanzaa!

And thank you again, Gentle Readers, for tuning in whenever I post.  Even commenting encouragement from time to time.  It means a great deal.

Linking in (late) to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday" and leaving you with this...

Prep, Prep, Prep...

It's the week before Christmas and all through the sewdio...

Suffice to say I have no elves to assist!  Miss Pooks loves to supervise, but she's not a big help otherwise.

 Now that the Master Class is over (for all intents and purposes), I'v turned my attention to Christmas gifts and the next in line of the quilts for refugees, who seem to be arriving faster than we expected.

But it's Christmas...and so...

I've made fudge...

The same recipe every year...for 55 years or more...

And Cranberry Casserole Bread...

A legacy from my mother.  Seems that now, in our family, my sweet sis and I are the only ones who like it...

But I've invited J&E, my next-door  neighbours, here for some one evening next week...with coffee or cocoa or whatever.  Me? I like it best Christmas Morning with eggnog (no rum) or orange juice and coffee, dark and rich...

The chicken's in the freezer awaiting the kids.  I'll make a stuffing and gravy if the bird obliges.  There will, before that, be rolls made (maybe sourdough this year).  My DD is bringing salad or wine or maybe both...and there will be mixed veg and for dessert, pie (likely Bumbleberry -- rhubarb/Saskatoon berry/apple)...and the above-mentioned fudge.

The tree isn't up yet, but the stable is out...and the shepherds...

And so it begins

For me, this is the most important part of Christmas...because it is what it's all about, Charlie Brown...

And being who I am, I cannot get around that, no matter how much The Culture would have me do so...

And so I continue to work on Christmas gifts for those who mean the most to me...

The Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts are finished...

Fabric bought in Portland, OR in May..
Map of Tokyo, Japan!  

And for the same #1 son:

Marty's Finger-less mittens (WIP)

Meanwhile...still in progress (or to come!) -- the mittens you see above, and another project That Cannot Be Mentioned (because my DD reads this blog), and a neck-warmer to match the mittens (not even cast on yet...)

And gifts of comfort for those I haven't met (yet)...that is, more Syrian refugees...with Granny Square blocks courtesy of local donations at The Shop by volunteers for Blankets for Canada.  All I've had to do is join them together...which, for this "I don't crochet" knitter has been a challenge indeed!  ;-)

A 20-square lap quilt, 1/2 done
Each square is 8" x 8"
I have another 40 squares to join
after these are finished

"Simply Scraps" - 4 of 8 rows finished*

Bonnie Hunter mentioned today that she has a Quilt Cam starting in about 1/2 hour from now...so I will be back in the sewdio, assembling the other half...

*P.S.: Lest you think this work doesn't have anything to do with my artwork...

• First...look at the colour play...a wonderful experience; and 
• Second...the piecing...my skill in this area improves with every block created, with every row stitched together, and with every series of rows combines into a whole piece.  

Just sayin'!  :-)

"Simply Scraps" - prep for 2nd half

And an up-date on The Tree-Wrap Experiment...now just past 5 months out...This was taken Sunday, late afternoon -- Dec. 13, 2015:

Wrapped Trees - December 13, 2015 (5 months, 3 days out)

Aren't they beautiful?  I can't get enough of these trees!  Needless to say, when I have to begin to work on a mono-print technique for my next 15 x 15 piece...

Trees will figure prominently!

Linking up now to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  Get yourself a cuppa and join me, won't you?

Till next time...blessings!

Bitten

My busyness last week came back to bite me this week, as Wednesday in the wee hours I was stricken with a cold -- the coughing, sneezing, barking kind.  I rested much of Wednesday in bed, but had enough presence of mind to knit in between naps, and thus got a good handle on the last of the Christmas knitting.

Thursday I managed to work in The Shop...and finish a Christmas Cowl.

Friday...trying to conserve energy, I nonetheless managed lunch (soup) with a friend (her treat; we even drove to the Whistle Stop, which is usually an easy walk)...and following  lunch my afternoon nap, I got some sewing done.

One project finished:

The Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts

Another underway

Yesterday...another friend, another soup lunch...and back for more napping and knitting.  The first sock of the Second Wild Pair is now finished, and the second is cast on...

Yarn: ONline Supersock 4-fache Neon-Color
Colour #01717

The "other sewing project" was completed...

And last night I even had enough energy to print off Clue 4 of the Grand Illusion Mystery, and to make a start at the units for Clue 3:

Stack of 10 units, and more strips ready to go

Today?

More knitting.

More napping.

And a bit of a tour around Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday to see what others are up to while I count down to Christmas...

While over all, Miss Pookie supervises...

What?  You mean you're gonna use this fabric?