A stocking for my niece!
Yes, I know it’s nearly February, but now that I’ve finally set up the new site, I am planning to bash out a bunch of posts at once.
In past years I have gone all out to make handmade gifts for the special people in my life. Despite often thinking of awesome things at the last moment and inducing stress, I do actually enjoy putting in the time and effort to give back to those who have been there for me. There comes a point though when everyone has hand knit hat or a custom tote bag and I felt ok giving myself a ‘break’ from full on made gifts.
That being said, my “short list” of gifts to make still ended up spilling into xmas eve with finishing. Mostly this was caused by my temporary full time gig making props for a theatre company. The paycheque and the work were worth it, but left little time left for xmas making.
Here are the things that did get unwrapped by some people I love!
A mini BowKnot sweater (designed by Schiaparelli in 1927) for my niece who will be 1 year old next month. More info on this design and construction in this post.
Mini Schiaparelli Bow Knot Sweater
A mini overnight bag for a mini – human!
My nephew is growing up fast (he’ll be 2 in March), so I made him this ‘overnight’ bag for when he starts sleeping over at Grandma’s house or other places. It’s based on this great pattern by saltwater kids.
Among the several things there weren’t time/energy to photograph properly were 2 more pairs of pj pants that match this doll’s version for my nephew and his Grandpa. The mini duck was a last minute xmas morning project and is based on a well loved plush toy owned by Silas. 
I happened to find this doll second hand that has similar features to my nephew but was lacking pants, so he got a pair too.
The ‘big gift’ of the year was actually started in the spring of 2011 as a wedding gift to my mother and her long term partner John. Unfortunately it was put on the back burner twice. The first time was to make a kilt for the groom, and the second last summer when we moved on short notice. The pattern was from the Purl Bee website, but modified to make a large sized quilt for their bed. I had planned on machine quilting but once I started to assemble the layers, I found it was easier to hand quilt. More detailed pics on this process here.
the finished quilt is too big for my bed!
Other than a few smaller things, that was pretty much it for this xmas. We’ll see if I get going on gifts earlier this year!
Love Heather
