A Lesson in Patience

The minions are beside themselves. "Mom, I just CAN'T WAIT any longer for Santa to come"... which is then followed by some sort of slow sway/dramatic drop to the floor. "You have to be patient", or something along those lines, is my usual response. Instead of an Advent Calender, the minions and I fashioned a paper chain where each one takes one loop off the bottom every other night. Each time they look at how many are left you can feel their little buzz of excitement. They were helping me wrap a few gifts this morning and I noticed little man was starting to snoop around to see if any had his name on them. Knowing the temptation has to be killing them I haven't put any of their gifts under the tree yet.

The kids have had a nice little month of preparation. We've baked cookies, decorated the house and their bedrooms, wrapped up some gifts, and even had a minor emergency this morning when we couldn't find a particular gift - little man had thought that it was trash (due to its packaging) and had thrown it out. Always helping Mom, that one ;)

No new outdoor minion photos as Central Iowa has found itself experiencing yet another lovely ice/snow system. Makes for fun Holiday travel! But, I thought I'd post some photos of some of the projects I've been working on lately. I'm not a sewing phenom so keep that in mind!

Every year I like to make new ornaments for the tree. This year I made little Santa bags for the minions with their initials embroidered on them.


These are the socks that I have been working on for forever now and haven't even finished the first one. Back in September, (cough cough), my in-law's neighbor D came over to babysit for us while the hubby and I went to see Wicked. Yeah, maybe next year I can finish these up. Sorry for the delay D!


I made this scarf a little while ago for one of my neighbors but hadn't photographed it yet. It's the Scrunchable Scarf pattern on Ravelry.


This hat was originally intended for my Cousin O for part of her Christmas Present. I held sock yarn doubled and CO for 8 fewer sts than little man's Funk hat and knit 8 fewer rows before starting the crown decreases and I don't know what happened. I blame our resident elves - they came in and shrunk it, I'm sure of it. Needless to say, it is now little miss' hat and I'll discuss future hat options with O when I see her.



I also sewed up some heat packs (via the pattern on The Garden Bell's blog) along with some lavender and/or mint filled eye pillows. My heat pack isn't actually in the photo but seeing how it's plain blue I thought you could just imagine it.


Next up are the travel-portfolio-things (is there a real name for this?) that I made for the minions. They chose the Thomas fabric and I drew up the dimensions and away I went. I'm sure there are actual patterns for something like this out there but I couldn't be bothered searching for one at the time and I had a paper and pencil handy...



There's a place for crayons on the left.


And in keeping with the travel theme, crayon rolls for each of them - the fabric is reversed on the other one.


These are some assorted softies for the minions. It started off being the potato-ish looking baby/blanket/crochet bassinet and a bear. Then we had 2 bears. And a pig. Then we needed 2 pigs. And an elephant. You can't really see it in the photo but I didn't do a face for the elephant, I did it's hind end :)


Still with me? Next up... Sort of like a runway show isn't it? These are the gifts little man gave his teacher


and his assistant teacher.


Earlier this month my Thursday Night Knitting Group had its Holiday party. My contribution to the grab bag was a skein of handspun (2ply)


and a set of coasters/hot pads.


I haven't taken photos yet of the gift I received but let me just tell you how good the hot chocolate is... MMMMMMMM!

These are a set of hodgepodge coasters that I've made off and on this year out of Noro Silk Garden Lite leftovers (from the Noro scarf).


Don't you just love the inspiring background! Love trying to take pictures in Winter :/

That's all for now, I have more stuff to show, but I haven't gotten them photographed and/or uploaded yet.

In case I don't post between now and then, have a very Happy (and safe!) Holiday Season :)

Does this not scream Domestic Goddess to you? What chore are you?

You Are Cleaning the Toilet

You are tough, determined, and strong willed. You are willing to take on any task, no matter how unsavory. You have nerves and a stomach of steel. It's hard to gross you out, and it's hard to get under your skin. You have what it takes to go far in life. When other people give up, you're still gaining momentum. You are willing to put in the hard work to achieve the best results. You aren't afraid of getting right in the mix.

What Household Chore Are You?

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