For your Holiday Enjoyment

Dance of the Sugar Plum Mermaid on Vimeo

So that you can see the dancing dolls in action. I posted this on our other blog, but had to share it here too.
Our blogging friend Shelby sent this mermaid to us last year, but we didn't give it to Zora until her 2nd birthday, a couple of weeks ago. She decided that she is Small's friend.

gifts

finally, I can put up pics of some of the things I have been knitting. I had a big gift giveaway at our Solstice Party last night.

The best, I think, were Lee's fingerless gloves. These are based on the Knucks pattern from Knitty. I knew Lee wouldn't want the embroidered knuckles (he likes his clothes fairly plain), but I needed to add a little something special. I did an xoxo cable pattern up the front and back wrist cuffs, and I love it, because it seems like a little secret (though, I ruined that idea by posting about it here I suppose).

It took me quite a while to work out the exact details of this cable cuff - to get it all to work out, and stay stretchy, etc. They fit him perfectly, which I am happy about. They looked absolutely huge, and I almost ripped them to try again.

Birthday Hats

I forgot to put this up a few weeks ago - birthday hats for Rachael and Isabell.

"I make-a-suns Mom!"

Lee, Rav and I have been working on making felt sun ornaments for our "Solstice Branch." LOTS of sun ornaments. As I was working on them one morning, Zora got up next to me at the table and said, "I like suns Much!" "Make-a-suns, Mommy?"
Then she grabbed some floss out of the box and started bunching up bits of it and placing it onto the already embroidered faces.

After awhile, she held one up, saying, "I did it! I make-a-sun, Mom! Make more!" Then she moved on to the next.



(see that one with her tongue out? that is a daddy inheritance)
After awhile, I cut her out a sun, and embroidered a Z and some designs on it - asking her which colors to use. Then I cut the back out, and had her place a color on. Once she was satisfied, I would quickly stitch it in place with a few stitches, and we would move on to the next. When it was finished, she was thrilled. "My's Sun!" Everytime she sees it she says, "My's Sun" again. It is beyond cute.

Once they were all finished, we piled them up to see what we had done. Zora gave us another, "I like suns, Much!"




And then we hung them on the solstice branch!





(I like the suns a lot too!)