Cabin Fever

First T was ill with a high temperature, cough, cold bug, now Little has succumbed and this has been a slightly surreal week. I have hardly been out the house as T had two days off school and Little I has had time off preschool. On tuesday morning they both went back to bed and slept for three hours, this never happens. So, the remaining Christmas shopping has not been done, the tv and radio keep saying we are due for more snow, so maybe I can just give up on Christmas shopping. Having been up most of the night with a sobbing three year old who kept waking to shout "My nose is running!" I feel slightly detached from reality.

I have been knitting the above pictured cowl scarf for my brother and feel a bit cabin fever-ish.

After my wittering on about making a dress in the last but one post, I had a total mind-change and cut out a skirt instead. I am thinking versatility and maximising wardrobe potential as well as hiding my figure flaws. I do still want to sew more dresses but am realising I need to beware of dresses that look like they are for a small child.

I am optimistically hoping I can get my sewing machine to work long enough to make the skirt.

Christmas tree control freakery and a tea cup necklace.

It is all very busy here, getting ready for Christmas. I am pleased that I have managed to post my parcel of gifts to our friends in Poland.

We put up our tree at the weekend, Little I was in charge of decorating it and there is a large clump of ornaments at the front just at age three height. I have spread them out a bit but she keeps putting them back where she wants so I have decided to relax and leave it. I could feel myself becoming too control freaky about aligning tinsel, I think it is the result of seeing so many beautiful christmas decorations on homestyle blogs. It is an addiction to keep looking at Beautiful Home blogs.

This week is the last week of term so we have been making cards for teachers and gifts.
Remember all those cards I put in a previous post? We used them all up so we have made some more using origami. We these christmas trees - so simple a seven year old can do them (and did).

Finally, I made this mismatched necklace for Little I's preschool key worker, a lovely person who also worked with T when he was at preschool. She has a fab dress sense and loves handmade stuff. Little I has decorated a matchbox to put the necklace into. As I have collections of stuff (not hoarding of course) I happened to have a bead collection dating back to when I was about 10. Lots of these are lace beads that would be traditionally put on lace bobbins as weights. (my mum went through a lace making phase!) I have decided to crack open the bead collection and started making necklaces. I added a couple of doll's house teacups because I like them. I could call it "A storm in a teacup necklace" or "put the kettle on dear, we'll have a nice cup of tea" (Any one spotting that quote can have a prize!)

Dress plans and dreams

Self stiched dirndl dress from Built by Wendy Dresses Book

Source: Orla Kieley

Below dresses both source: Modcloth

Don't faint...it's a sewing post! Even though my machine is kaputt, I can still dream and plan.

I have a large piece of grey fabric left over from making my trousers in September. I am dreaming of making a dress from it and keep getting sidetracked from Christmas knitting by looking at dress ideas. I was thinking of using a Built by Wendy dress book pattern, maybe the dirndl (as pictured in top photo) with a matching belt or maybe the shift...oh the indecision....I love the trims and finishes on these Modcloth dresses,and the Orla Kieley one though I am not sure I can carry off the military dress. Mind you, a military dress for the school run? Why not? Maybe it would run more efficiently if I were dressed in a military style?

Advent

No tree yet, but some advent characters have begun to appear here. Most of them have been found in the advent drawers.

How about your house? Do you put up a tree and if so, how early?

The Tooth Fairy

Little I is a very stubborn three and a half year old who does not like me to clean her teeth. She will let her dad clean them, but often he is not here at teeth cleaning time. Finally after many tantrums,tears, and hiding under the bed, I made this chart for her, complete with a letter from the Tooth Fairy (yes, the Real One). The letter tells her she can have a silver star to stick on the fairy's skirt each time she lets me clean her teeth without a fuss. This morning she was not interested at all, but at lunchtime she deigned to let me clean her teeth and then carefully added her sticker to the skirt. Who knows if it will work again tonight or tommorrow.

Finished scarves

I have made three of these scarves so far for presents. The first one I made went a bit wrong on the ribbing where you divide your stiches and then rejoin to make the loop for threading the scarf through. But I have now got the knack of it. - hurray. The pattern is quick to knit and only takes 50g of wool so is a good one for using up your stash. I have also enjoyed knitting these as it is so portable and easy to do when waiting outside school, or watching tv. The hardest part was taking the photos as my self timer has stopped working.

Blue Birthday Bunting

I know the blogosphere is awash with bunting but here is a bit more...

It was my friend's youngest son's birthday and we had to cancel going over for a play and tea as Little had a cold and I still felt unwell having had a lingering cold for over a week.

I now am going to post this present to him. The slightly embarassing thing is I started this bunting for his third birthday present...um... he was four this year, the half made bunting has languished in my sewing box for a year. On saturday I fished it out and finished it. Turned out I only has to sew on the ribbon, so it was one of those times when I wondered "Why didn't I do this last year??" Especially as he has such a nice short name!