What have I been up to? Lots and lots.
I’ve been finishing up a few last minute gifts for friends and family. Many of them I started ages ago and never got the time to complete when the urgency for pre-winter garden prep, goat breeding, and all the other homestead things came up. And now, being the week of Christmas, and winding down our homeschooling semester, I find I have the time to tie up some loose ends.
I had a few small things to give as gifts, odds and ends the kids and I have made, woven, sewn, etc. And I thought these gift bags were super cute. I’ll say, that it is very VERY difficult to concentrate with a nearly-two-year-old toddling about, flinging cones of serger thread, chucking drawers of embroidery floss, and making general chaos of my sewing space. I accidentally put the button holes in incorrectly, so the whole drawstring effect I was going for didn’t pan out. But, it is cute, nonetheless.
These are a few hats I’ve made for a friend of mine’s daughters. Their little family has been through the wringer with illness, household pests, and general spiritual warfare the last few months and I just wanted a tangible way to say, we love you, we see you, and we’re praying for you. I’ve been working on the rest for her crew and I’m so excited to deliver them.
I made mittens for my 3 youngest children. Last year, I made scarves for the youngest kids, and my oldest said he’d prefer socks. So this year, I asked him about mittens, and he said he’d prefer a scarf… Go figure. Next year, I imagine he’ll be wanting mittens. If time allows, I’ll finish up both the scarf and the mittens for him and maybe next year can be sock-a-palooza for everyone.
Speaking of socks, I’m finishing a pair of alpaca boot socks for my husband, to his specifications. They got started in April, and were intended to be a birthday gift for him in June, but due to shipping delays and the fact that I am (much as my Grandma was notoriously famous for) always one skein short. So that project took a while to get back to. But now that things are settling down, I’ll be able to finish those up and free up my circular needles for some other pairs of socks.
Much of my purchased gifts are books this year. In fact, all of my purchased gifts are books. And they were gradually accumulated throughout the year as I saw something that struck me as perfect for someone. So those are all wrapped, and stashed in the closet.
I have a couple more things to sew which, due to the knowledge of my blog readership cannot be posted without spoiling surprises. So those will have to wait. But I am excited for Naptime and the solace it will bring, and the uninterrupted hour it will afford me to sew some more.
I gave my husband anxiety the other night, mentioning that I was still waiting for his last purchased gift to arrive. And at this point, I’m counting it lost and gone forever, but I have to wait another 3-5 days before I can file a “missing mail” claim… Which is frustrating. But his anxiety came in the form of, “We didn’t discuss Christmas gifts for each other, did we? Wait, did we?!?”
Which made me chuckle, because over the course of the year, I notice things he needs, or that would be useful to him and I just plan to have them saved for Christmas. He’s one of those insufferable people that just gets himself what he wants whenever the budget allows, rather than waiting for an occasion. So gift-giving for him has to be pretty stealthy. Anyway, I’ve collected a few things that struck me as perfect for him, and they’ve been stowed away until Christmas. But the fact that he was sweating bullets over having not gotten me anything made me laugh quite a bit. Because frankly, I’d rather him put anything he’d consider spending on me for Christmas toward a home-birth this summer, and/or home improvement/homestead projects. I’m still waiting on that rabbitry awning/roof that will make my life easier. What can I say? I’m a low-maintenance lady and practicality and efficiency for Christmas trump expense or extravagance for me any day.
Wholly Holy Living 