A Handmade Christmas

A very happy Christmas to you all!

I love the whole Christmas season and this delicious bit between Christmas and New Year, when life doesn't seem quite normal, (I'm fortunate to have the whole time off). The days run into each other, filled with lazy afternoons, catching up with friends, eating leftovers, long walks with Daisy Dog and watching the odd film.  

I've also been crocheting and playing with yarn, as the rush of making Christmas gifts only ended on 23rd December and it all got a bit busy making sure everything was finished and wrapped on time (I made boxes to put small items in).

I photographed lots of things I made, but sadly not everything.  I kept forgetting towards the end!  I find making several gifts from the same pattern makes things speedier as the pattern obviously flows quicker the more times you make it.  By the time I was on shawl number 12 though I was ready for a change!

Anyway, here are a few of the things I made:

Twelve 'Your Mileage May Vary' shawls, from The Crochet Project.  What a great pattern this is! I'd highly recommend it, as it's so versatile and looks great in different yarns.  I also varied the size of some of them, and that was so easy to do.

Drops Baby Merino, 4ply

Sirdar 4 ply cotton

Rowan Panama

I made 2 or 3 in each  of the above, plus a couple in a very soft 'Sublime' DK cotton (in the 'forgot to photograph' category) That came out a lot bigger, of course, but was destined for a friend in Canada, who apparently has worn it every day this week, indoors, as the temperature is -45 degrees Celsius, taking into account the wind chill.

I made this hat, for the other half of the Canadian couple.  This was in a chunky, super warm, merino/alpaca blend:

Sirdar leaflet 9207

I made a lot of bookmarks too!  These are all in Scheepjes Bon Bon (now known as Sugar Rush), on a 2mm hook.  I stiffened them with Aleene's fabric stiffener afterwards, (but not the tassels).

These were adapted from Leisure Arts leaflet 2594.  The original had ribbon threaded through, instead of a tassel, but I do like a tassel on a bookmark!

My MIL lives in a nursing home, and is partially sighted, so I made her a large corsage in bright colours, to wear on her cardigan:

I made a little keyring from the fabulous Attic24 pattern from this year's Yarndale programme.  I made mine in Scheepjes Bon Bon, instead of DK, and is so teeny-tiny cute!

I  made Daisy Dog a ladybird fleece coat, to keep her warm and snugly 

She was glad of it today, when we had a long walk on the beach.  It was freezing!

And, of course, there were yet more shirts for DD...  I only photographed (partially) this white one.  The other was a red and cream Liberty Lawn.

There was also all the soap I made too, which was boxed up in handmade boxes.  Boxes are fun to make, and I use the 'Aleene's Boxmaker', which I bought when I lived in Canada, many years ago, but there is something that looks similar on Amazon UK.  All you need is some heavy cardstock, and some double sided tape, and that's it!  I buy organza ribbon bulk to tie around the boxes.

I have derived so much pleasure from making gifts for those I love, and I hope they have enjoyed receiving them.  Next year I may just start a little earlier though...

Donna x