Christmas stitching 2006

It is a telling fact, that I have not blogged since mid Nov. That's par for my life that time of year. All of my normal routines get put on hold, except for my job. Stitching gets packed up, books get cleaned up from my comfy chair and tucked back into the bookcase. Clutter gets scooped up and put away, and out comes Christmas.

There are times when I get angry that society seems to demand that women put their lives on hold for the six weeks of those major holidays. And there are times when I am so happy to be celebrating with family and friends again. The fact is that every year I make it a point to make those family and friends the focus of my life, and that can not be a bad thing.

So I had a lovely holiday, and was able to set the pace of the celebrations to my speed. I managed to keep the weight off that I had lost pre holidays, and that was a major victory for me too.

Now the decorations are tucked back into their storage spot under the stairway, and the books are starting to stack up again next to my chair. I have brought out some socks to knit, and life has resume a somewhat normal routine again.

I had the pleasure of making two Christmas gifts this year, and I enjoyed doing both. The first was a small cross stitch kit of a Christmas teddy bear, for my mom who is a teddy bear collector. The kits are really nice, small enough that I did the stitching in about three weeks, and complete enough that they include the mat and glass frame. I have not done cross stitch for several years, and I enjoyed it. Here is a picture:









The second item that I made was knitted and for my daughter and son-in-law. They are owners of three sweet hedgehogs, and when I saw the pattern for a knitted hedgehog, I knew I would have to make them one.

This about the size of a basketball, and not really what the designer originally wrote in the pattern. That's because the original pattern was made mostly with wool and then felted drastically after knitting. My daughter has a true allergy to wool, so I used handspun alpaca and silk yarn for the body. And even after three agitations in the washing machine, this hedgehog was not going to felt down to any smaller size. Consequently, the eyelash yarn that is representing the quills looks a bit sparse, and not close and fluffly like the original pattern. However, the whole hedgehog is very soft and huggable, and is a perfect pillow for the bed. It is loved by my daughter and I had a great time making it. Even my dog thought it was wonderful, although the gleam in his eyes was because he thought I was making him the biggest, bestest chew toy ever. Sorry Barker, this one was gifted.

CW