Wrap it up

One of my loveliest Christmas presents was from C. He got me a 7'' Google Nexus complete with a protective sleeve (you can't really see it in the photos, it mostly covers the back), but he knew better than to buy a case. So pretty quickly after Christmas I pulled out the fabric. I have been saving these butterflies since I scored a fat quarter of them at my local quilt shop. I do like butterflies but don't tend to like fabric with them on it, however these are such nice colors and their simple graphic look is so appealing.



I had a basic idea of what I wanted and probably should have just used my gut and drawn up my own pattern but I used this tutorial. It's actually for a Kindle and despite the Kindle and Nexus having basically the same dimensions it turned out a little small. The Nexus fits but it's snug and peeks out of the top just a little bit. I can see myself sewing up another one that fits it a little better in the future but honestly for now it works great since most of the day it isn't in the case anyways. It came together really quickly and I was able to use everything in my scraps for it, including the batting.

Elving

Yes, it's true, I'm just now getting around to posting the Christmas presents that I made. I don't have a good excuse, everything was sent out in time and opened on the big day so really I could have posted this two weeks ago. Better late than never eh?

For two of my best friends, who both happen to also have December birthday's, I made quick chunky cowls. Using this pattern exactly for the first one and altering it slightly for the second.  The one following the pattern is pictured on the left; it's nice and it did knit up quite quickly. Not quite the one night that the pattern indicates but then again I do have a toddler. The cowl on the left is the one that I made with closer to two skeins and cast on over double the stitches so that it would be a bit looser and loop over itself. Personally I like it better, so much so that I made one for myself too. My alterations are on Raverly here.

For my sister I also made a cowl. Turns out that cowls were totally my go-to gift this year. I have been swooning over the Honey Cowl for a while now and finally decided to do it for her. Turns out that it's super easy, despite the stitch looking a little complicated, and makes the Madelinetosh yarn even more beautiful (as if that's somehow possible).  The colorway is Earl Gray which is extra fitting since it's one of Brooke's favorite teas and is raveled here.

Last but not least was my nephew. I knew that I wanted to make him a sweater. I feel like an aunt only has a small window of time to make things that they think are cute for their nephews (and nieces) before they start to form opinions of their own about handmade goods. So I wanted to make him something simple and red. Luckily I found something that I loved and ultimately am making a second one for N in yellow. E.E's came out a good size although the neck is a little stiffer than I would have liked. I was hoping that it would be a bit more relaxed and not so turtlenecky. But N looks pretty darn cute modeling it, even if you can't really see the details in the sweater. It's also on raverly, here. 

So that's it. Well, kind of. I still have N's sweater to finish with a sleeve and half to go. I was also hoping to get a handknit hat into C's stocking which didn't happen but is still on the needles. There were some canned goodies and lots of baked goodies that we gave away to family and friends but I wasn't on top of my game to get photos of any of that so I won't bore you with a written account without photos.
Despite the lag in this post I do already have some things up my sleeve for 2013 with something already finished and waiting in the wings! I do have hopes to work down some of my stash; that's what we all say at the beginning of the year isn't is? But we also have some house plans that will probably take some time away from crafting throughout the year.

Ringing in the new year in relaxation

While wasting time on Pinterest one day I came across this tutorial on making kids floor pillows and fell in love. I knew that N would love to climb and topple and carry it around. Once I finally focused enough to sit down and follow the instructions it came together very quickly (only two naps!). As the tutorial instructs the contrasting thread is really helpful for sewing with the pipping.
This was my first project with pipping and not only is it super easy to work with but also helps give it a really nice finished look. I did do a couple of things different. I sewed the side strip into a tube first rather than pinning and then trying to sew it up (it would make sense if you read the directions). Also when you pin the top and bottom to the side I started with pinning four in the top, bottom, side, side so that it would be even.

  N seems to be pretty happy with it and luckily she hasn't taken any headers off of it, yet.