One-Skein Scarf (a.k.a One Nap-Time Scarf)

Sara gave me The Happy Hooker for Christmas (Mom and Dad were concerned, until they realized it's a book about crochet).
Today I pulled out some strange yarn that I have had squirreled away for awhile. It is white with colored thread wrapped around it.



I tried it out on the "One-Skein Scarf" pattern from THH
So quick and fun.
I can't wait to try out a few of the other patterns. Thanks, Sar.

Just like old times

Our good friends Emily and Stephen stopped by today with Tryggve. They are visiting from afar for the holidays.



The boys had a great time playing side by side. The 4 month difference in ages seems like nothing when they are together now.

We have been missing the three of them "real, real bad" since they moved away last summer. Tonight it felt like they never left.
*sigh* So, when are you guys moving back?


Radley discovered the power button on the TV last night. He was still very interested in it today even after the solid 15 minutes of on, off, on, off, on, off...
Who needs real toys.


This one's for the grandparents:
My new favorite, snot-nosed, glamour shot.

Holiday Update

Radley is officially a toddler. Last week in the space of about 2 days we saw him go from mostly crawling to mostly walking. Now, about a week later, he seems like a walking pro. We have had a few good falls and head bumps along the way.

He also seems to be making a lot of connections with the signing we are doing. He has responded to many signs for awhile now, but just in the past few days he has been copying more of them. His favorite word is still "more" but this weekend he also signed "dinosaur" - thanks to the dinosaur crackers you left at our house, Nissa.

We had a wonderful holiday weekend. Sorry no holiday photos - I can't seem to find the camera since we've come home. I just dug out the old beast we bought last century (1999 I think). It's huge and only has about 2 mega-pixels, but I forgot how much I like it. It has a good lens and great reaction time from pressing the button to taking the picture. And it never seems to have a problem with "red-eye". It's the camera I used to take this picture camping near Yellowstone - just before I broke the display screen (I was in the dog house for that one).



...oh yeah our holiday... Saturday (aka Christmas Eve Eve) we hosted Davin's side at our house. Davin built a ramp earlier this year for his Grandma, so she was able to join us in her wheelchair. "Fun was had by all" - especially the two little cousins (Khalen and Radley) who seemed interested in the opposite cousin's presents. It all worked out without tears.

Christmas Eve morning has become our time to have just for us at home. We exchanged gifts and relaxed before heading to my parent's for the evening and Christmas Day. My Grandma was in the hospital over the weekend, so we brought Christmas Eve dinner (Swedish meatballs) to her. It reminded me of the times over the years that we brought meals to Mom at the hospital when she worked over Christmas - only the decor was different. Sara said she missed the dark red 70s look of the cafeteria.

I received so many wonderful and thoughtful gifts this year; I feel so blessed and thankful. I do need to mention one special gift from Davin.
He knows me so well... I have often lamented that I wanted DDR but didn't want to buy a game system. So this Christmas I got "My first DDR" - it plugs right into the TV! So awesome!


The kid sized granny square is off the hook - I added a little edging that would mimic the main stitch and it has now found its new owner.


Along with the ornaments this year, I made a few tissue holders I have seen around the blogosphere: Craftapalooza, Stardust Shoes
I chose to make some that folded over on the top, rather than meeting in the middle. Perhaps it's my way of cheating - I didn't want to have to make it look symmetrical.
I made a few out of some colored fabric I had. Santa took these and put them in stockings.


Then I made some out of one of Davin's Grandma's hankies.
They are simpler, but I love how those turned out, and I love the pairing of the hankie and the tissues. The fabric is so wonderfully soft from use. I used interfacing and a stiffer fabric for the lining. I have a stash of scarves and hankies from Alphie. I might make a few more for future give aways. I gave these two away to the Grandmas for Christmas.



Lastly...
Davin opened the fridge the other day and said, "Thank goodness we are not out of Sweet Tard." It just made me smile.

Vintage Santa Ornaments - Whiplash

Even though I gave these away as gifts, ornaments are really decorations, so I am entering this in the decoration category for Whiplash.

These ornaments are kind of like me since they are a little bit techy and a little bit crafty.

To make these ornaments, I used some images of beautiful vintage Christmas postcards that Pat Sabin scanned and shared on her web page here. She clearly outlines her conditions of use here.

I used 5 of the vertical images, shrunk them to 2.5 inches tall, reversed them and printed them on iron-on transfer paper. That's the techy bit.

Here's the crafty bit:
Earlier this year I dyed a few white, flat sheets with different teas thinking that I would use them for future projects. The tea color really added to the vintage feel of the ornament. I used a lighter brown color tea stained fabric for the iron on side, and a slightly darker, reddish tea color for the back.

It was important that I use a reasonably light colored fabric for the iron-on side - I needed to be able to see where the image was from the reverse while sewing.

Once I had the ironed on images, and backs cut out, I cut 6" lengths of lace/ribbon for the hanging loop.



I pinned one image face down on a back piece with the ribbon looped in between, and sewed it like a little pillow leaving the bottom open to flip it.

Trim it, flip it, stuff it, stitch it up, and Voila!







One of the best things about this project was that I happened to have everything on hand: the iron-on transfer printer paper, fabric, lace and thread. And this time, I remembered to save an ornament for myself. My favorite was the image with the Santa dressed in the long, green, starred coat (a pre-Coca-Cola Santa). My photos don't do justice to the fabulous, vintage images.

Naughty List

If you have not gotten a card from us this season.... it's not because you are on our naughty list. We have had a few technical difficulties.


Not to worry, our "Happy New Year Cards" should be going out soon.

Suddenly...

everything is crisp and white and beautiful.
It's amazing what just a little snow can do - that and make my commute home last an hour.


On a totally unrelated note...
Radley's hair is reminding me of Captain Kangaroo lately.
I can't get a good picture because his hair is so light, but does anyone else see the resemblance? I think it's just the way it wings out over his ears.

"Lockdowns" at School

Earlier this evening I read the news about the suicide at a high school in PA. It makes my heart ache every time I hear about yet another student bringing a gun to school with deadly results. We just practiced a lockdown at my school this past week. I hate that this has had to become a drill that we are required to practice many times throughout the year.
It's one of those things that you think to yourself "it wouldn't happen at my school", but it happened at Joyce Valenza's - someone I have met, someone I highly respect. Reading this today felt like a tragedy close to home.

There is so much to say about students today thinking that guns and violence in school will solve problems, but I am only going to say that my heart aches for the students and staff of Joyce Valenza's school, and the family of Shane Halligan.

New Video: Radley's Play Pen

Radley finally discovered he could move the baracade we had at the end of the couch in the den. It is a wooden cube - he pulled it away and started climbing all over it. As usual, it cracked us up. The resulting video is linked in the sidebar to the right.

Kids vomit in the darndest places

We have been a bunch of sickies at our house this week. Radley started it off Tuesday with the early morning vomit in bed. I wish I had thought to snap a picture of the kid. It was disgusting and hilarious. He had the sweetest look on his face, and he looked like he had used some kind of chunky hair gel for a spiky new do.
Since then... both Davin and I have had variations on Radley's theme. Radley's sensitive stomach seems to be lasting the longest. Last night found us dismantling his high chair - unscrewing straps, etc. so that every possible bit could be wiped down and cleaned.
Well, enough vomit talk (I hope).

On other topics:

Congratulations, Randy and Nicole, we hear Grandma Cathy needs to make you another little Christmas stocking for next Christmas! So exciting!


I finally decided Radley would not care if I posted a picture of his gift from No-Coast-Craft-O-Rama. Can you see it in the photo from the last post? I couldn't pass this up for his room. I knew it would look perfect on his bright yellow walls. Who can resist a smiling, orange octopus? It's about 6" square - perfect for above his door.


On the topic of gifts... I am working on my entry for this month's Whiplash. I am glad the deadline is January 8th so I don't have to do an early reveal. I have been debating on whether I should enter in the gift or decoration category, since it really is both. I will let you know what I decide soon.

I have been working on a few other things too... some of which will remain secret for now. I think I have figured out what I am going to do to fix Radley's crazy sweater, and the granny square has grown. It's so satisfying and relaxing, it just begged to become one big granny square blanket. It's still growing.

While I was taking a picture of the GSB (aka the Granny Square Blanket), Radley thought he was getting away with something when he stole a paper wrap from one of the balls of yarn. He kept peeking around the corner at me with a cute little grin.


Lastly, anyone in the Twin Cities area is invited to the annual Roseville String Ensemble Carol Sing-Along tomorrow night. One of our violinists has been making new arrangements for us this year, and the First Noel arrangement is fabulous with a big, beautiful viola line right in the middle.

No-Coast Craft-O-Rama

Yesterday Sara and I went to No-Coast Craft-O-Rama at the Global Market in Minneapolis. Very fun, but I was glad I wasn't trying to push a stroller around - it was crowded.
I did buy some gifts including something from this photo of the booth for Hazel and Melvin's Room (posted on the Craft:Magazine Blog) for the kid. Do you see it?


We finally took Radley in to the doctor last week just to have his lingering cough checked out. We were expecting to be told that it was the end of a cold and there was nothing to be done, but instead we found out he had a double ear infection (not just one ear, but two!).
He wasn't presenting any of the classic symptoms, he was generally in a good mood, slept well, no fever - after we found out, some non-traditional symptoms made sense, but we really had no clue, poor kid.


I know I told some of you I would put a picture of the "crazy sweater" I was making for Radley on the blog. Well... It's done, but it turns out that my kid has a very big belly, and the sweater I thought would be big on him, is not so big (tight, in fact) around his mid-section. I am trying not to think about it right now. So in an effort not to think about my "crazy sweater that doesn't fit a baby belly" I made my first granny square last night. So fun! I will have to see where this leads.


I will leave you with our new outdoor decorations this year. They have been here for at least a month. I love the port-a-potty in our yard - so festive.