Poinsettia Doily

Another gift I made was this Poinsettia Doily in a gorgeous deep red.

A straight-on shot:

Hubby and I both liked the way the 'petals' seemed to swirl from the center, so I did not attempt to force them straight (as the pattern suggested). This was his favorite doily of the ones I made for gifts. ...maybe it's his all-time favorite, I never asked for clarification. It's just nice to have someone like what you've made!

First Snow Doily

My only white doily made for Christmas! (not that I didn't love the other colors I used, I just always thought of doilies as traditionally white...before I started making them)

The pattern is Winter's First Snow. Thus the choice of white. =)

A straight-on shot:

This is possibly Size 5 Thread, but I don't know for sure. It hasn't had a label in years. It is slightly thicker than Size 10 Thread. Do you think the thicker thread causes it to lose too much detail? I'm wondering so that I can mark my pattern for if I ever make it again.

Regardless of the thread, I enjoyed working on this pattern.

Lavendar Lagoon Doily

This was my first doily made with a variegated thread. Maybe it's a bit too small to appreciate the colors, but I didn't want to go too big for it. I used the Blue Lagoon pattern.

This thread is a thinner size than the last time I made this pattern, so I added an extra round before the Rnd 9 (increasing the ch sp by 1).

Camera Case

We recently received a little point-n-shoot camera as a rebate, but it didn't have a case.

Fix that with its own cozy little sock.

This project was the epitome of cheap. Not only did I have the yarn on hand, it was actually a little project I'd been hanging on to with the intention of frogging it to making something new.

Materials:
I Love This Cotton!
Size G Hook
Extra button that fit in the stitches

Personalized Map Gift

Finally something new!!! I'm so excited to be able to show some of the gifts I've made that have now been given.

First off: a little sentimental framing.

I saw the idea on another blog, so I don't know to whom credit belongs for the original idea. The three hearts are labeled 'we met', 'we married', and 'we live' with maps showing those places in the couple's history. If I was fancy, I would have printed it in a fancy font or something, but I wanted to keep it simple. Leftover coordinating paper and silver Sharpie worked very well.

We were even able to find some free maps to use. Score! ...and less guilt for me when having to cut it up.

Hmmm...dear friend, those hearts look a little familiar, don't they? In September, a friend of mine (who shall remain unnamed to protect the innocent... until she speaks up... ;-) ) saved me HOURS of time by using her Cricut to make matted cut-outs for an Iris Folding Tutorial I was doing for close to 20 people. There were a few leftover that fit perfectly into this frame we found at Michaels. (Hey, speaking of which... when did they take the apostrophe out of their store name? I just realized the change today. Get with the program, Mindy!)

Other than the initial confusion that they thought the 'point' of the heart actually pointed to the location rather than just being centered in the heart (which is what we chose to do), I think the gift was well received. Tiny oops. Oh well.

Mini-quilt Giveaway!

My friend Rachel at The Life of Riley is having a giveaway for a beautiful mini-quilt she made. I can't even imagine working with such tiny pieces of fabric!!

This finished mini-quilt (NOT a potholder!) measures about 7.5" square.

Hop on over there to tell her what you love about the Christmas season, and she'll enter you to win this beauty! Become her follower, too. You'll love her projects. She's even willing to ship internationally, so go enter now. You'll thank me later.

Broomstick Lace Scarf

I have finally finished a Broomstick Lace project!

This was with Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather. The yarn has that touch of shine that is so pretty!

My tools:
Less than one skein of yarn
Knitting needle the size of a baseball bat (That may be a slight exaggeration, but it is certainly around thumb-size-ish... very specific here. Oh wait! --double check... It seems to be around the same or slightly larger than Size 19 needles.)
Size H Susan Bates hook for all the sc parts
Size H Boye hook (I found this to be easier when hooking the yarn over the needle because it catches the yarn less than the Susan Bates hooks, which is, interestingly enough, one of my favorite qualities of Susan Bates hooks.)

For the fringe, I chained 15 then slip stitched into the next stitch. I like the look of it on this one. It seems to work well with the lace part.

Tamara said that she has done a vest or sweater with a Broomstick Lace pattern. That sounds just a bit too intimidating to me as of yet! Have any of you tried it? What did you think? Likes? Dislikes? I'm curious.