Final Four

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I had a great Christmas, and I actually got all of my crafting done on time. It was fun, and the only stressful part of it was trying to finish up the last bits of a couple of projects so that I could drop off all the presents before we left town. I had planned to just give IOU's for any unfinished projects, but these were just so close that I pressed on to get them done. Go to the gallery if you want the project specs.

First up, a pillow for my parents. This was my first intarsia project, so it took longer to get the tension right. Plus, I had to pull out the sewing machine to sew the backing on. I wish I had a full shot, but those pictures turned out blurry.


Then, I made a felted basket for my uncle, who does woodworking and has turned out beautiful bowls for all the rest of us for years.


This little guy is Sleepy Sam, my first knitted stuffed animal. It was for my aunt, who collects teddy bears. This project was the real nail biter. He had been knitted up for awhile, but I didn't finish him until the last minute--I was up past midnight getting him seamed up.


Yup. That's how I felt at the end of it! Oh yes, there was a final fourth project, but it was just a little one and I got too busy sewing up Sam to take a photo. I used 1 skein of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille to make a flower washcloth to include with some bath and lotion goodies for my great aunt.

So that's it! That's the end of the gift crafting for this year. I've moved on to 2 new projects for myself (even though I should be finishing up some UFO's instead), but I'll share those another time.