Handmade Holidays #6: REVEALED!

We've finally done it, we've made it to the final handmade holiday teaser/reveal post. And this one was actually guessed correctly! The photo i used in the teaser post was actually from another gift, but i made two of the same thing... so this was the teaser... what did you think it was??

This photo depicts my 'first attempt' at a braided rug! I was hoping that it would turn out large enough to be a Kitchen Rug for my folks' new kitchen addition. But it turned out pretty small and has become a perfect sit upon pad for my Dad and Mommy #2's hearth... and the second attempt was the grand project of the season for me, and wasn't completed until halfway through Christmas Eve.

First you braid roving, then you felt it, then you sew it together.... each step takes FOREVER and provokes TENDONITIS!

I really didn't get to play much at my folks' house this Christmas because i spent the entire visit sewing, sewing, sewing and SEWING! I think i developed arthritis in my thumb. Which sucks. But the rug is amazing. It actually turned out kind of wonky, because i didn't really learn how to do it RIGHT with the RIGHT materials until i was 3/4s done. But it was for my mom, and moms have to love what you make them regardless of perfection. She dampened the wonky parts and it seems to have dried out just great. I'm very proud of it, at least.

Pretty spiffy, ay? You can almost see in the top image that the center was super lumpy... i got the first brown stripe too tight and it messed up the center. After getting it wet and drying it, however - it seems to have flattened out. Yay! I can't wait to make more of these rugs with the fiber of our own sheep. I bartered some Nude Soap bars for half the cost of the roving i used this time, which was from 4 lovely Icelandic sheep from Michigan.

Have you ever made a braided rug? Did you finish it, or give up along with your wrist/thumb tendons?

Handmade Holidays #5: REVEALED!

Handmade Holidays #5 was another fuzzy project... could you guess what i knit for my step-mama?

Using handspun "bunny fur" (a blend of angora rabbit and a few other super soft sheep) i knitted her a scarf. The scarf i wear is a lovely cashmere woven scarf, gifted from mama #2, so i felt it fitting to make a scarf for her to enjoy. My dad tried to steal it, so perhaps next year he'll get one of his own. Pocket also had a good time modelling for me, though i dare say it's a bit big on her.

I'm currently working on a scarf for my hubs using a similar pattern. This scarf is a simple knit2 purl2, and the scarf i'm working on now is a stretchier and more 'manly' looking knit3 purl3.

Are you working on any post-holiday knitting projects?

Handmade Holidays #4: REVEALED!

This gift was a labor of love, an amazing learning experience, and repayment in kind for a handmade gift i received several years ago. Did you have any ideas what this fuzzy photo might be?

If you guessed some handspun yarn, you're right! What really makes this yarn special, however is the fiber it was spun from. I spun this "meriboo" yarn for my mother in law back in Texas. Meriboo is a blend of merino (super soft sheepswool) and bamboo fiber. It is lusciously soft, and very slippery. I had a devil of a time at first, but increased my skill as a spinner by about 300% as i learned to deal with and embrace the nature of this luxury fiber.

I spun 3 separate skeins: one green, one gray, and one striped. I meant for them to all be the same weight to be used interchangably in one project, but as i spun along, i was able to spin more and more finely... and ended up with three skeins of finer and finer weight. I hope my MIL is able to find a project or a few that will utilize this yarn.... but if she's anything like me, this yarn may end up in a stash somewhere to be pulled out and petted on occasion. I do hope you'll knit something with it though, Deb :) 

I'm currently spinning some straight merino fiber, and it is turning out fairly uniform, very fine, and super soft. I'm excited to finely be spinning yarn destined to be a hat for ME, but it brought me so much joy to spin this yarn for my mommy number 3, who ones gifted me a hand-knit shawl of light green bamboo yarn.

Don't you love it when gifts come full circle?

Snuggles for a Bestie

I've been having fun revealing the full sized images of all my macro handmade holiday teaser posts.... and i will continue to post more. BUT i must also post some photos that one of my best besties sent me of her modelling her brand new hat. Isn't she just the cutest thing?



The hat turned out pretty good, too ay? This was my very first 'good' hat. Along with another sweet hat sent to another friend (whom i'm waiting to see a picture of! HINT, MANDY: HINT), this hat is 'almost perfect' with some funny little oddities as the result of not following a real pattern. My friend lives in New York, so the hat must be warm and fashionable. She declares it will be worn, and that it matches her Winter garb nicely. Yay!

I may not be able to warm my best friends with my hugs, as they live ages away from me... but i can warm their lovely heads with my handspun/ hand knit hats.

Handmade Holidays #2: REVEALED!

I sure got a lot of great guesses for the teaser photo of bubbly rings in dark purple found in my handmade holidays #2 post... did you guess it right?

Carol guessed blackberry "jelly" but it's actually blackberry/cayenne JAM! I used a bit less than full sugar, as i couldn't find my Pomona Pectin, so it's purty sweet and very delicious. I sent a few jars to various family members, who all scarfed it down with relish! I think my daddy #2 ate half the jar on Christmas morning.

The rings are formed from my canning funnel in between filling jars. I thought it looked pretty enough for a picture, so i took a few! The jam was made with blackberries from down the road and dried cayennes from my Austin garden. I honestly can't really taste the cayenne, but there might be a bit of perceptible smokiness ...

Did you gift any preserves this year?

Handmade Holidays #1: REVEALED!

Yay! Christmas is over! That means it's time for me to cry every five minutes, ponder over whether i should spend my Christmas checks on bills or new stuff, and finally reveal those handmade gifts i put together this season! I suffer from 'Christmas Let Down" something fierce, so i'm looking forward to extending the season a bit with these reveals.

As you may remember, this was my first handmade holiday teaser, way back in October:

Did you guess what it was? I didn't receive any correct answers in the comments, but i did get a request for a 'sew along'. If anyone is still interested, i'd be happy to write up a tutorial on how to crochet your own MARKET BAGS!

They're also great for storing onions or garlic in the kitchen, are dyeable (100% cotton) and have a pretty massive capacity. I'm kicking myself that i didn't weigh them and put a tag inside with their tare weight, so that my gift recipients won' t be paying extra for the weight of the bag. Next time!

Shall we have a sew along/ Shall i write a tutorial?

This post can be found at the Simple Lives Thursdays blog hop

Pre-Holiday To-Do List

Omigosh, it's practically December already. Time to really get in gear! This is what my week is looking like so far:

• Knit
• Felt
• Put serious hours into largest (secret) present project of them all
• Make soap to be ready for the Corvallis Indoor Winter Market
• Bake apple/walnut bread after putting that off for about a month
• Pack up the Christmas box for the in-laws.... after getting the last few gifts in and wrapped
• Shop some local bookstores
• Get out the sewing machine
• Spin
• Knit some more
• Apply for jobs
• Apply for some more jobs
• Cook dinner every night, and work on the Dark Days Challenge posts for Not Dabbling in Normal
• Did i mention i have some knitting to do?

Yeah, that looks like a great week to me... now if only i could knit while hiking i'd be able to get as much exercise as i need after stuffing face for Thanksgiving.

How are your projects/shopping coming along? Think you'll be ready for 'the big day'?

Fiber Fridays/ Handmade Holidays #5

I finished my very first knitting project last weekend, and it's destined to be a Christmas gift. I hope it will be cherished for years to come, despite some inconsistencies and a clear growth of technique from on end to another. It sure is soft! I used some of the first handspun for this project and have been repeatedly tempted to just keep it for myself. I can't wait until after Christmas when i can start spinning and knitting for myself!

How are your handmade holiday gift projects coming along? Will you be finished in time?

It's Time for Handmade Holiday Projects

It's November. It is officially time to get your butt into holiday gear! I take that back, for some - it isn't even Thanksgiving yet and not even close to being time for thinking about other holidays, but for those of us who value handmade holidays, it's definitely time to get working on those projects!

Out here in the damp Northwest, I've been busy spinning on my wheel in the kitchen or cozying up on the couch under a pile of handspun yarn, working on scarves and hats for the special people in my life. As an artist and otherwise crafty person, i usually try to give handmade gifts during the holidays. I also love to cook and take every advantage of family get-togethers to bust out my favorite recipes. Instead of art this year, i'll be giving a lot of gifts involving my new passion for fibers. I'm a beginning knitter, and these homemade gifts are sure to be a little rough around the edges, but i think that will make them even more well loved. For the knitters in my life, i'm spinning them skeins of yarn with the colors and fibers chosen specifically for them.



Although i don't have a garden to harvest from this year, my husband and i took advantage of wild harvests during the late Summer. Oregon is full of blackberries for the taking, and take we did! I put up a few half pints of blackberry/cayenne jam that we'll be sending back to Texas with our Christmas package so that the family we left behind can enjoy some of the seasonal bounty found in our new home. It's apple season here now, and i've been slicing, coring, peeling and boiling until my hands cramp into achey claws. Apple crisps, pies, breads and rings are sure to play some role in my holiday plans and gift giving. We'll even get to toast the new year with some homemade hard cider!



This year marks the first holiday season spent in the same state as my family in about 5 years, and i'm absolutely thrilled to enjoy our silly traditions with them once again. (I'm also pretty happy about only having to ship one Christmas parcel this year!) We have some pretty great traditions that always make the season seem to last forever. One of my favorite traditions that was started by my mother's parents and has been passed on to every new family member i have acquired, from step-sisters to in-laws. Instead of just the basic "To/From" tags on our Christmas gifts, we also include clues that make the packages mysterious and even more exciting. These clues are often riddles or rhymes, often silly and misleading, not meant to be a hint or description of the gift, but rather something more involved and engaging. Something as basic as:

To Mom, From Miranda........ "Greasy Bug"

Greasy Bug really meant a decorative silk "butterfly,"and after 15 minutes of trying to guess, with some pretty outlandish ideas, and failing, my mother opened her gift and laughed. That's what the clues are really all about: extending the morning, bringing out laughter and creating family memories for years to come. Because memories and joy are what the holidays are all about, and handmade gifts bring back memories every time they're tasted, worn, looked at and enjoyed.
I'm looking forward to sharing my handmade holidays with my readers this year, as well as with my family. I hope you'll share your own handmade holidays with me, and with the writers over at Not Dabbling in Normal. We'll be honoring our time honored, handmade traditions with you and can't wait to hear about what projects you're working on and what unique gifts you come up with.


Happy holidays, almost!

Handmade Holidays #4

Other than the knitting projects I am working on (that may or may not be destined as personal garments instead of holiday gifts), this gift definitely took me the longest.

Truly a "labor of love," I cannot wait for the recipient of this project to receive his or her special Christmas present.

Hint: it's really, really, really soft. :)

Handmade Holidays #3

I'll give a hint for this one...... It is something made out of one of my first skeins of plied handspun.

A special detail: that button came from my late grandmother Joan's (pronounced joe- ahn) sewing room. I guess i take after both my grandmothers, and that makes me super proud. :)

This gift is also destined for a sister. Hoping she'll like it, but I also enjoyed doing it and think i'll make a few variations in case she'd prefer something different - or in case i decide to confiscate it as my own. tee hee.   So, whaddya think it is?