Making Merry

There are some years when your Christmas spirit isn't quite as lifted as others. I think this is one for me. Too much bad stuff going on in the world, both big and very personal, and I have been finding it hide to get excited.

Except for the Christmas making, which always lifts my spirits.

This year, I re-committed to fabric bags, so had fun getting merry material and making bags for the "grands" stuff. I also decided to recycle some cardboard into gift tags. A good second life for the amazon boxes things came in. Hoping to get the bags and tags back and will use them again. 

The little gingerbread tags sparked an idea for this year's ornaments. (I make one every year for my three grandkids.) And I love these!

I had some printable fabric paper, so I printed an image with all three faces. They turned out to be the perfect size to fit on fabric gingerbread men. I stitched on the faces, embellished the "cookie" part with embroidery and buttons. And then blanket stitched them onto some blanket weight wool. They are now hanging on our tree for the kids to discover, and then take home to their own trees. 

Another Christmas make was a special gift for my son-in-law. Many years ago he found some leftover yarn of his grandmother's (fondly called Mumu). It is from Denmark or Sweden and is a lovely wool twist. This year, he asked if I could use that wool to knit a hat for each of Mumu's four great grandchildren. And I did. The littlest "great grand" is just 7 months old. Jackson is the eldest "great grand" (nine in 5 days). I added the pompoms for a little break from the blue. 

The ones on the right and left are Classic Ribbed Hats and the middle two are High Point Hat  which are both free patterns on ravelry from Purl Soho. Although the weather has scuttled their plans to deliver them today, I am sure at some point over the holidays, there will be four beautiful heads inside these hats.

Last of the merry making, hopefully done in the next day, a pair of socks for my husband, who loves homemade socks more than anyone. He seems to go through them faster than anyone, so this pair is being knit in Patons Kroy, which has a 75% wool/25% nylon mix. Hopefully that will slow down the wearing out. I also got some Briggs and Little Durasport, which is supposed to be the strongest sock wool EVER, and will try a pair of those for him next.

Since my last post, I knit another Peach Fuzz sweater - this one for me. I liked the one I knit for my friend (who has now finished ALL cancer treatments!!!!) that I did this one for me. I love the colour combo and it is so soft and cozy. May it ward off any cancer vibes that are headed my way. 

On the cancer front, my husband's surgery finally happened just over a week ago, and we had a follow up with the surgeon yesterday. When he removed the tumour, he had to do a skin graft. Yesterday he pronounced it a success, which is not always a sure thing on lower extremities. That's a relief. Stitches on the harvest site come out next week, and a community nurse will do a dressing change on Boxing Day. So slow and steady, we head into the healing. May this be the last of it for a long while.

On this happier note, I will everyone who visits me here a Very Merry Holiday. Just writing this post has pumped up my Christmas spirit. And although the weather outside may be frightful, I hope all our holidays are delightful. 

See you in the brand new year.