What Are You Working On? is for all things hand-made, home-made, and creative in a variety of mediums.
I always make some handmade gifts at Christmas and most every year not all of them get finished by Christmas. Everyone understands and are happy to get them whenever they are finished. Some gifts did get done, though. Follow below the orange squiggle for a discussion of my handmade Christmas gifts.
A pillow for a niece:
I usually make two types of handmade gifts: pieced & quilted and knit. In past years I've done counted cross stitch ornaments and crewel pictures, but that didn't happen this year.
This year I did a pieced and quilted pillow for one niece who likes autumnal colors. That is the picture above the orange squiggle. The center with the pieced leaves pattern was part of a First Saturday project at our LQS. I changed the center square from the background fabric to the darker brown to highlight the twirling stems. I also added the embroidered hearts.
For another niece I did knit socks.
I only got the one sock finished. The other is in process. I tried a couple of different yarns before settling on this one. It is imported from Germany and is thicker than most sock yarn. It is also in her preferred colors of blue and purple. It is knit on 4 size 3 needles.
For my sister I knit a lace scarf. I did finish that one.
It is knit with two strands of lace weight baby alpaca. One of the strands is a pale rose and the other variegated purple. I like the overall effect. The pattern is called "Columns and Arches". I found it at Ravelry.
For some friends, I made Victorian whimsy pin cushions in the shape of birds.
The pattern is from Primitive Quilts, Spring 2014. The pattern calls for wool, but I found different fabrics at JoAnn Fabrics that I liked better than plain wools. I used fusible mid-weight pellon on the bird's body to make the fabric a bit stiffer. I tried it on the bird's skirts, but that didn't work so well. The pattern called for the base to be candle sticks, but I couldn't find any that worked well enough at the Salvation Army store. What I did find was mini-goblets. That's what is under the "skirts" of the birds. I like these well enough that I intend to make one for myself now.
How about you? Did you do any handmade gifts this Christmas? What are you working on now?