Tag Archives: Christmas

Maple Leaf Pillows

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Maple Leaf Pillows

Maple Leaf Pillows

Well Christmas has passed and the New Year is right around the corner. Almost all the presents have been given and received (Adria, I’ve still got yours waiting under the tree for you!). And, as usual for me post-Christmas gift-giving, my mind is conjuring up ideas for next year!

While I tuck away those secret lists, and make use of my time off to put my basement sewing/crafting/stashing workspace back in order (the holidays always turn our basement into a disaster zone), here’s a post about one of my favourite creations this holiday: a pair of Maple Leaf Pillows for my mother-in-law.

Maple Leaf Pillows

Pillow detail

I made similar pillows to these earlier this year for my friend in Norway, using bright reds and whites, but I had also thought this design would be a lovely addition to Chris’s parent’s cottage in Coboconk, Ontario, where their living room enjoys a beautiful view across the widest part of Gull River.  I originally considered doing each leaf a different colour for the season, but of course maple leaves fall off for winter, leaving one of the four seasons problematic, and I couldn’t come up with a symbiotic mix of colours from my fabric stash.

To make colour choice even more challenging, the room where these would go at the cottage isn’t entirely finished renovations yet; it will eventually get new flooring/carpeting (right now it’s a slate-blue colour), and probably new (matching) furniture. But Chris’s parents paint virtually every room some form of beige, and the living room is no exception, so I decided to use a beige fabric for the negative space and to create the leaves and other details in warm reds and browns. These are left over fabrics that I originally used for my Party Mix Tape quilt (Elizabeth Hartman design).

Maple Leaf Pillows

Pillow backing

I’m very pleased with the results, even though the pillow covers are a teensy bit tight over the pillow forms; I had a bit of a brain fart while figuring out if I had the right amount of fabric left for the red borders on the pillow fronts (I have issues calculating square yardages for some reason, and I’m generally challenged in the mathematics department). I actually had plenty of fabric left because I had folded my fabric in half for easier cutting, but my brain fart involved leaving that factor out of my calculations before I started cutting, and to ensure I had enough I tightened up my border measurements, but I only realized my mistake after cutting more than enough — in fact too many — border pieces. Duh. HUGE forehead smacking moment right there.

Unlike the pillows I made for Norway, I kept the backing of these very simple, mostly to hurry along the project, which I completed over a long weekend a few weeks before Christmas. Also for speed and to learn something new, I tried machine binding for the first time on the pillow backs, using this tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts. This is a great project for practicing the technique, because one side of the binding is hidden by being on the inside of the pillow, and so if you don’t quite get your technique down perfectly, it’s not going to be as visible as it is on a proper quilt.

Anyway, these pillows will provide many years of enjoyment while nestled on the sofa, enjoying a warm fire and the beautiful serenity of the cottage.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful New Year!

P.S. I just might write these pillows up as a pattern at some point… if there’s a demand for it!

Ginger-awesome

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Gingerbread cookies

It’s that time of year. After a year of doing very little in the crafty department, I’ve been cranking it out the last couple of weeks. I’ve finished several pillows, quilted and otherwise, along with a few small knitted gifts. Of course I don’t want to post any of this until after the holidays or I might spoil the surprise!

Over the remaining week and a half I plan to make and smoke some sausage. I’ve made sausage before but will be smoking it for the first time, which is a bit of a time-challenger as there are several steps involved that need to be done over a couple of days, so planning when to do all this hasn’t been easy. And I also need to make cookies!

One of my stand bye recipes for the holidays has been a very straightforward gingerbread or gingersnap cookie that I adore. The only sweetener used is molasses, and they have a super spicy ginger punch. They store very well and are just as good after a couple weeks as they are fresh out of the oven, and, they are perfect for decorating. Frankly, you could make and enjoy these any time of year, but I usually make them just for Christmas.

Gingerbread (or Ginger Snap) Cookies
Based on the recipe from A Guide to Good Cooking by Five Roses Flour
Yield: about 5 dozen 2 inch cookies

For cookies:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup fancy (not blackstrap) molasses
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

For frosting (makes 3 cups; dries hard):

  • 3 egg whites
  • 2 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

  1. Cream butter. Heat molasses to boiling; cool slightly and pour over butter, mixing well.
  2. Stir dry ingredients together; mix into first mixture. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill 1 hour or more (I sometimes find it helpful to divide dough and flatten into a couple of discs; this makes it easier to chill and easier to roll out once it is chilled).
  3. Roll out dough to 1/4″ thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Recombine dough scraps and cut into shapes until dough is used up.
  4. Bake on parchment-lined cookie sheet at 375 ℉ for 5 to 7 minutes or until delicately browned (crispness of cookie will depend on how thin dough is rolled and how evenly the cookies are baked). Cool completely before decorating, if desired. Best results come from baking one cookie sheet at a time, rather than putting two sheets in the oven at once. If you’re rushed and need to bake two at a time, quickly rotate the cookie sheets halfway through baking time — not just on the levels of the oven, but also turn the pans around, to ensure they bake evenly.
  5. For Frosting: In a large bowl combine egg whites and 1/2 cup of the icing sugar. Beat vigorously for 10 minutes; add another 1/2 cup of icing sugar and beat again. Add cream of tartar. Continue adding icing sugar and beating until mixture will hold its shape when forced through a bag or tube. Colour with food colour drops (icing thickness  may need to be adjusted due to added liquid) or food colour paste, and decorate cookies with piping bags and tips. Leave out to dry for several hours or overnight.

Play farm

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After Christmas 2010, my mom told me about a potential sewing/craft project she thought I might like to take up for my niece and nephew, as a future Christmas gift. I endeavour whenever possible to make Christmas presents — I loath the commercialism of the holidays — and I truly believe people appreciate something more when you’ve taken the time to make it for them. Some home made gifts don’t always work out, but I’ve always found it’s about the thought and consideration you put into it that counts most to the recipient. (As an aside, I did however have a prominent local media personality, who shall remain unnamed, once tell me that “no one likes getting preserves!” during a discussion about our Christmas preparations. I was pretty offended by the comment; I had just told her that I’d made a big batch of my famous peach salsa that I was going to gift for the holidays. Clearly, this woman was in the dark about artisanal home-canned products!)

Farm Playhouse for the Kids

Anyway, back to the story at hand… I will openly admit that we ‘borrowed’ the concept for this project, a card table play house. There is an Etsy seller named MissPrettyPretty based in Wisconsin who sells both patterns and completed playhouses. I’m a pretty crafty person (have you noticed?) so I didn’t really feel I needed a pattern to make it on my own, and doing it on my own allowed me to customize the design. But some folks might enjoy using MissPrettyPretty’s patterns, or buying one of her pre-made houses so I’m happy to give her the airtime! There are others out there too who offer tutorials and ideas for the same concept.

Farm Playhouse for the Kids

My mom and I started sourcing the felt for the project about a year ago — she found some at the local fabric store and I found some unexpectedly at a button store in Boston during the holidays while we were there, so between us we had a ton of felt on hand. It can take some sleuthing to find but its around. Fabricland has some but sometimes the colours are limited. You could also use other types of fabric but the felt has a real kid-friendly feel and solid structure to it, which works well for this.

I also found, quite by accident, some kids’ fabric decals, for decorating rooms, at a local Kitchen Stuff Plus outlet — flowers and animals, which I used to save time creating all the animals and decorative bits from scratch. They just needed a bit of hot glue and Velcro and voila — they’re part of the farm!

Farm Playhouse for the Kids

I kind of combined the idea of a farm/barn/house — I wanted the design to appeal to both kids, who are aged 16m and 3 years, and both genders. The flowers, corn cobs, carrots, beets, pears and apples are detachable with Velcro, as are the animals, and there’s a mailbox on the front that can have mail added (with envelopes addressed to the kids!).

Farm Playhouse for the Kids

My original plan was to put a truck on the side with the tree, which would have been fine, but as I was working on it I started thinking about my dad and his collection of antique Oliver tractors, and how cute it would be to do the tractor instead. That was a fun little surprise to reveal when we brought it out at Christmas!

Christmas with our families

Overall it seemed like a real hit, and the kids had both me and Uncle Chris trying to squeeze inside with them! As a toy for limited space, it’s really great because the card table can fold away (and also be useful when you need an extra table).

Christmas with our families

Christmas with our families

I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and it was a lot of fun to make. Almost everything is sewn, with a few exceptions, where I used hot glue in places that were too awkward to sew. The ‘straw’ is actually yarn that I sewed onto the felt. The door is attached along the top and can flip up out of the way if needed, and every side has an opening where you can see in, with the exception of the tractor/tree side, which just has a little peep hole in the tree. While the playhouse itself doesn’t easily fold up, the felt is pretty forgiving of wrinkles (another advantage to using felt over fabric) and I just had it stored loosely collapsed in a clear garbage bag for transportation (and to keep my cat off it, who was having loads of fun dashing in and out of it, and sitting on top of the table, while it was set up).

Sick puppy and some knitting FAIL (and success)

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After an epic holiday party on Saturday night at the home of Ecoholic with great friends, great food and great tunes, Chris and I expected to get down to business on Sunday and get this attic insulated already. All the weather reports suggested the conditions would be precipitation-free, but we woke up, hungover, to discover that it was snowing. Steadily. All day. So that was FAIL #1.

FAIL #2: In my attempt to trim Luna’s toenails, I inadvertently got one of them too short (damn black toes!) and she bled like a stuck pig, off and on all day. We tried sealing it up with Crazy Glue (a trick every good survivalist ought to have in his/her back pocket) but she just chewed it off. I finally ran out to get some styptic powder, which helped, but the trick was to keep her from licking at it. You see, she freezes in a kind of panic attack if you put a buster collar on her (one of those cone-head things) so that isn’t really an option. We wrapped it up, we doused it in bitter apple. It was a day-long affair trying to manage her bleeding toe. And I think it caused Monday’s EPIC FAIL (more on this shortly).

Christmas Luna, sporting one of her many new bandannas

Christmas Luna, sporting one of her many new bandannas

FAIL #3: My second batch of French macarons this holiday weren’t exactly an epic fail, but they were yet again missing the proper ‘foot’ and just not the right texture at all. This was after following David Lebovitz’s recipe, in which he chronicled his seven attempts to get them right. They are tasty, yes, and I guess that counts for something. I don’t know if I’ll get another batch going in time for the holidays, even though I swore I would master those suckers this year, and likely I ought to give my poor pancreas a break before I end up in a sugar coma.

Gingerbreads -- success!

Gingerbreads -- success!

FAIL #4: Sock with Pints On fails to fit boyfriend as planned — also nearly fails to fit me. After I finished the sock up to about halfway along the foot section, I decided to ask Chris to try it on, so I could see how much length I needed to give his foot. I haven’t knit socks in ages, but I’ve put in my sock time and I am no novice. What I haven’t done before is colourwork socks, socks with multiple strands of colour carried along to create a design. For the uninitiated, it takes some practice to get the hang of carrying your yarn along at such a tension as to avoid puckering of the fabric and to ensure the fabric has the stretch it needs. Stretch being an important factor for socks. Well. I could barely get this sock over my own heel, let alone Chris’s. I’ve blocked it, but I need the boy to bring his feet home from work so we can see where we stand.

Sock with Pints On

Sock with Pints On

This was perhaps the most stunning fail of Sunday, and the one that really was the last straw for me. For weeks I’d just accepted that Chris’s Christmas present was going to be late, but then I got started and things were going swimmingly, much faster than I’d hoped. I saw light at the end of the tunnel — I had a whole week to get a second sock done! Plenty of time! But alas. This sock is likely not made for walking (…in…by Chris). So perhaps I’ll be the proud new owners of Socks with Pints On.

I do have a plan of attack to start over. I have what appears to be plenty of yarn. I will try, try again, but I plan to expand the pint chart, and I plan to just do the pints on the sock cuff — not the foot. This will mean that the heel, gusset, instep and toes will have lots of stretch because I won’t be carrying along extra colours that could cause more fail. This is my plan, once Chris brings those clunkers home so I can test the lonely singleton sock and see if the blocking made any difference.

I thought perhaps our fail streak had come to an end but alas, we were due for an explosion of fail last night. Luna had experienced some runny poops Monday morning but this isn’t entirely unusual for her. We opted to crate her for the day in case she got that toe bleeding again, at least so the blood could be contained to one place in the house. Chris got home early, felt sorry for the pup and let her out while he dealt with his own bodily needs before taking her out. Those 5 minutes proved to be fatal. An explosion of canine diarrhea like we’ve never seen before found it’s way into nearly every part of the house. I was out enjoying a beer with a friend when I finally noticed the frantic texts. Poor Chris was running multiple batches of laundry on the sanitary setting, had bathed Luna twice, washed the floors three times and cleaned the rug as best he could, all before I got home, but the house still wreaked of poo. FAIL #5.

While he ran out for a meeting I continued to clean the house, the rug at the front door, the towels, re-washed the floor and tried in vein to make the place smell better, simmering some cinnamon sticks on the stove. I was still shampooing the carpet by about midnight. Luna had several messes in her crate despite our getting up in the wee hours to take her out. This morning things were getting much worse and so a trip to the vet ensued. So far as we know it’s purely a stress reaction; we suspect the bleeding toe nightmare might be the cause (so I guess that makes it my fault). Results of a poop sample are pending. She’s had a shot and some pills and some super high-fibre food that should help but as of 3:30 this afternoon she is still needing frequent trips outside to take care of business. Poor girl. She’s all locked up in her crate until we can be sure there won’t be any accidents. Happy start to my holidays!

All this to say that if things really do come in threes like they say, we’re all stocked up, thanks.

But it hasn’t all been fail. I also ended up with quite a nice beret and matching scarf set for my Grama for Christmas. That’s something.

Beret and scarf for Grama

Beret and scarf for Grama

The beret is from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, and the pattern is super easy and quite quick. I never thought I was a fan of berets but after trying this on, I just might have to make one for me. The scarf is a free pattern from Ravelry called Openwork Eyelet Scarf by Jennifer Pace. It was also super easy and the texture is lovely.

Let’s hope it only goes up from here.

Christmas knitting

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So far I’m on pretty good track with my Christmas knitting. I think Chris’s Socks with Pints On will be late but he’s cool with that. I haven’t started those yet, but soon. I’m currently working on a beret and possibly a matching scarf for my Grama, and I just finished two stockings for April and my new baby niece Vaughn, to match the ones I made for my brother and my nephew Magnus, a couple years go.

Family of Stockings

Family of Stockings

If there was something I’d change it would only be that I couldn’t find the pink and tan colours in the original yarn I’d used that suited, so I had to use a different yarn and it is quite different in texture. I don’t think that matters much to April but I’m picky that way!

Mom and daughter stockings

Mom and daughter stockings

Stocking for Vaughn

Stocking for Vaughn

Stocking for April

Stocking for April

That sums it up though, for my holiday knitting. I’d like to do more but I’m not going to make myself crazy over it. I’ve basically been finished Christmas shopping for weeks aside from one or two small things. I ordered almost everything online, and spared Chris (and myself) the pain of roaming any malls. I’m happy to pay for shipping if it means I don’t have to run around among the crazy people and fight for parking, etc.

As for decorations, I picked up some urns for the porch a couple weeks ago and I plan to get some greenery for them shortly from the farm. The urns were not cheap, so I held off on buying any pre-done holiday-themed inserts. We have a few lights I want to put up but since we don’t have the porch railings or posts anymore the way we do them will change a bit. Usually I wrap lights around the railings and while it looks really nice, it’s always a big pain in the bum. I haven’t yet convinced Chris that we should put them along the roof line. I suggested that the other day and he looked at me like I’d just landed from Mars.

In general I’m looking forward to the holidays — I’m looking forward to doing some baking, and I really need a break from work; the crazy there will go on for at least another week and a half before things will settle down. We’ve decided to spend NYE in Boston, which should be fun, although I’ve never been there before. Anyone have suggestions of must-see places?

The case of the mysteriously missing sign

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The Sign

The Sign

Now that it’s well into the new year (isn’t it nearly already Chinese New Year for goodness sake?) I’ve realized I wanted to post about the fabulous gift we got for Chris’s parents and the Coboconk (Coby) cottage. The gift that disappeared into the Canada Post ether, or so we thought.

First – context. The Coby cottage is located at the end of a long gravel lane. They consistently were having trouble with people driving into their property who thought the road just continued that way. Then there was a handwritten “private” sign that just had to go. For Christmas, the Kebbel’s needed a proper cottage sign.

We looked around for a company who does custom signs and we found The Riverbend Sign Company, located in Apsley, Ontario. We placed our order, which involved adding a custom image of the Kebbel dock (with some improvising by the fabulous Judith of Riverbend, who added some sunset finesse that I just couldn’t capture in cold grey light of November with my camera).

The Sign

Mom & Dad Kebbel with their new sign

The sign was ordered and shipped just in time for Christmas. Only problem was, it never arrived. The package was insured and all the address information was correct but, no sign. Poor Judith and I were running about, me in Toronto to the local post office, her in Apsley to her postmaster, but to no avail. We had investigations running at Canada Post that turned up nothing. The tracking information only stated that the package had been delivered (to Scarborough! We live in North York!). So Christmas came and went, and Mom and Dad Kebbel got a print of what the sign was supposed to look like, instead of the real thing. Judith and I resigned to file an insurance claim and start over.

And then low and behold, on December 29, I was outside in the backyard hanging up a new bird feeder I’d gotten for Christmas when Chris noticed me walking around the side of the house, so he went to the side door to let me in. And guess what was there, between the doors?

Dear Canada Post: We appreciate you delivering our package. We even appreciate that you opted to leave it somewhere you thought was safe. But maybe you could let us know about it next time?

We rarely use the side door in the winter, so it could have sat there for months without us knowing about it. Anyway, it all worked out. And if you ever need a sign, I think Judith at Riverbend is your woman. She is a darling and didn’t make me feel at all embarrassed about not checking my side entrance.

Cookie day with Alice

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Alice and I busted our butts baking today (say that five times really fast). We made my standard gingerbread cookie recipe, which is really more of a gingersnap recipe, but one that is fabulous because the only sweetener in it is the molasses, which is great because the icing adds lots of sweetness. We made one of Alice’s family favourites, Thimble Cookies, basically a shortbread cookie rolled in crushed walnuts and filled with jam.

Cookie Day with Alice

Cookie Day with Alice

Cookie Day with Alice

Thimble Cookies

Although we had our mishaps, we had a blast. Firstly, coordinating icing is a pain in the behind! Either I made it too runny or too thick, as evidenced by Alice’s near blow out with the white icing.

Cookie Day with Alice

Near blow-out; perhpaps the icing is too thick?

Cookie Day with Alice

Colourful cookies

And then there are the macarons. I’ve been seeing more and more of these lovely little meringue pastries all over the Interwebs, so I really wanted to give them a try. My last shred of apprehension about them completely dissolved when I read Tartlette’s post about Candy Cane and Eggnog flavoured macarons.

But as you can see, ours look nothing at all like hers (an example of how they should look is included below). I did the meringue cookies on Sunday because they take some time, but mine totally lack the shiny lustrous tops  and cracked edges that are so typical of the real things. My guess is I didn’t whip up the meringue to the right consistency.

Oh and here’s where else I went wrong. I totally misread the recipe for the butter cream filling. Let’s just say that there is an extraordinary amount, an embarrassing amount of butter in the buttercream filling.

Cookie Day with Alice

Decidedly not perfect French macarons

Real French macarons. Image: _FXR on Flickr

But now I feel like I have a challenge. Perhaps its a challenge that will add several extra pounds to my behind. But damn it, I want to figure out where I went wrong. Consider French macarons my new white whale.

Happy holidays everyone!

Christmas shopping, done.

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Christmas light bokehChristmas light bokeh

Well, I am done. There were just a few last things/ideas I needed, and this afternoon I finished it off. Everything from here on in is icing on the cake. I might make some cookies this week to take in to my coworkers, but Alice and I have plans to hook up next week and do some baking then, too. I’d like to make some knitted ornaments to give with some of my canned goodies, but whatever I get done in the next week will have to do.

Yesterday we watched Wendy carry the torch, but it was kind of hard to be sure it was her. The live streaming video was pretty low-res, and the @CTVOtorch Twitter feed didn’t report who was carrying the torch between 4:28 and 4:37, but after conferring with my mom, it had to be the woman who waved to the camera on the truck and was dancing before she was handed the torch. If so, this is her:

Wendy running with the Olympic torch

Wendy running with the Olympic torch

Anyway, it was great, and I bet it was a fabulous experience for her!

Let them wear moccasins

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Note: Welcome to my blog if you’ve come for the first time through a search for “moccasins.” I ask that you please read this post in full before contacting me for more information. Enjoy!

Several years ago when my friend Tahnie got married, as part of her bridal party I received a pair of custom-made moccasins to wear with my dress. Tahnie is from Six Nations of the Grand River, and this was one way she acknowledged her cultural heritage at her wedding. The wedding was held at the Ancaster Old Mill where there were several other weddings going on that evening, and let me tell you, all the other bridesmaids for the other weddings were super jealous of our comfy footwear.

Moccasins - women's

The ladies' moccasins

So ever since, I’ve wanted to do this for my loved ones. Moccasins have to be the most perfect form of footwear, because they form perfectly to your feet, like a pair of gloves. Back in the spring I traced everyone’s feet and noted their favourite colours. I think they all suspected I was knitting something, which I happily let them believe. Through Tahnie, I placed the order and ta-da! My Christmas shopping was 90% complete! Chris got his a bit early because he was in on the secret.

Moccasins - men's

The mens' moccasins

On Christmas day everyone got their new moccasins and I think they are a huge success. And I should add that the artist who created these beauties doesn’t do it for just anyone, so I feel extra special that she created them for me, and for my loved ones. They are a treat that I know everyone will cherish for years to come.

The Force is strong with this one

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Magnus in the Baby Yoda Sweater

Magnus in the Baby Yoda Sweater

It’s time for a FO! Actually I finished this project quite quickly, back in October, but I didn’t want to post it because it was a Christmas prezzie for my not-so-wee nephew, Magnus (almost four months old). I searched around for a pattern for a baby sweater that would have some room to grow with him, since it’s kind of one of my golden rules to avoid knitting anything too rigid in the way of clothes for kids, because it just doesn’t last. The Baby Yoda Sweater by Cari Luna seemed like the perfect match. Not only is it designed to “grow” with the child, it looks just like Yoda’s robe. How cool is that?

What he really thinks of his new sweater

What he really thinks of it

Now I give kudos to all knitwear designers, because I have trouble writing out instructions for even the simplest of designs, even if I get it straight in my head what I’m doing. It has to do with the whole translation of what I see in 3D in my mind’s eye to written instructions on paper – I get myself all turned around, every time. But I think this design could use some improvements. Firstly, the back and the two front panels are all worked separately and need to be sewn together. And then the sleeves are worked flat and seamed. Overall, I think all the sewing really causes the garment to lose some real estate, and in the end, this sweater, which is supposed to fit up to 6 months, is already too small. Especially in the very narrow sleeves, which I widened at the wrist (but forgot to write down how much).

Baby Yoda Sweater

Baby Yoda Sweater FO

Baby Yoda Sweater details

The Baby Yoda Sweater FO

Anyhoo, it was still a hit and even if it is too tight on Magnus, it will work for another bambino down the road. I do have to say that this was the first time I used the superwash Dream in Color “Classy” which is a delight to knit with, and I just adore this colourway, called “Cocoa Kiss”.

We’re off to Portland and Seattle for the week, so blog posts will be minimal, but I’m sure I’ll have lots of yummy photos when I get back!