leg warmers

I saw these in an old Knit 1 magazine and instantly fell in love.  I love the look of socks or leg warmers peeking out over tall boots.

Of course they looked cuter on the stick-thin model, but I still think I can pull them off :)

They are knit flat and then laced up on the side with leather straps, which I think ups the cool factor, don't you?  And they actually do keep my legs warm.  Bonus!  Was nice to make a little something just for me in the midst of this busy Christmas season!

shine a light for peace

Today I thought I would share a video clip from my children's recent school Christmas concert.  As usual, hundreds of proud parents, grandparents and relatives stuffed the school gymnasium to beam and cheer as their wee loved ones performed.  This year, Last But Not Least was chosen to do a solo for the final song, where all of the students came together to sing.  The song is called "Shine a Light for Peace," and given the events in Connecticut this weekend, and that it is sung by children that same age, it is all the more poignant to me.  Plus, I am an extremely proud, gushing mama :)  Hope you enjoy it!

Wishing you all Peace.

Christmas quilt

It is that hectic time of year, where we crafters play elf and try to make things for all the people we love.

I am in that group, of course, but this year, I took a little time to make something just for me and my family.  It's been awhile coming!  Two years ago, I bought a kit for this quilt from Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  she recently made another herself, which you can see here.  Last year I started piecing it, and this year, I finally finished it.  And it was worth the wait.

A simple pattern, but so cheery.  It makes me smile.

I quilted it with swirls, my first time venturing out into this kind of FMQ, and after a wee issue (well, a third of the back was a mangled mess and had to be ripped out), I got my groove and I love the result.  Perfect match for this quilt, me thinks!

I look forward to pulling this one out for many Christmases to come for my family to enjoy.

And one last fun shot- my reflection in my house window as I was walking through the yard, "wearing" the quilt after finishing photographing in the snow :)

And this quilt is my Friday Felicity!  Have a great weekend, friends! And take time to give someone you love a hug...especially your kids, after the terrible tragedy this morning in Connecticut.  May our kids never experience such horrible violence.

Instacrack

So, the retreat ladies convinced me to join Instagram.  I think they created a monster.  Addictive!

So if you want to hang out and see shots of some of my crafting as it unfolds, and some of the other shenanigans in my life, feel free to come and visit me there. My IG handle is kristieocd.  Here is a few pictures I have posted over their recently.

My girls, playing with the fabric houses I made on retreat. 

Snowball fight!!

Cold day = Golden Wheat Cardi :)

Love my quilty friends!  A gift from Cherie.

Best Christmas ornament ever!! From one of my Mom Friends at school :)

holy cowl!

I would like to take a moment to direct you all to my blog title...yes, a bit of OCD over here.

Last Christmas, it was all about the knit hats.  This year, I may have gone a little Cowl Crazy.

First of all, I never did show you the finished cowls that I made as gifts for Felicity and Krista.  I wanted to give them a little something when I met them in the flesh at retreat.

As soon as I saw this yarn, Malabrigo Rios in Solis, I knew it was made for Felicity.  She is all about the blues and greens, and she was working on this adorable mini quilt while I was stitching this up, so I named it the Posseidon Cowl ;)  I used the free Northern Loop pattern from Ravelry, and she looked so gosh darn adorable in it!

For Krista, I went with warm tones, the same Malabrigo Rios but in Archangel.  I used the (also free) Elis pattern on Ravelry, which uses a cool Indian Cross Stitch that was a ton of fun to knit up.  Loved how it looked on her as well!

Then I made another modified Elis using some Tanis Fiber Arts yarn for my friend Samantha.  Shipped it off to her in Toronto!

Then there was the Honey Cowl for Svetlana...

...and the Herringbone Cowl for me.

Next I decided to make a Dropped Stitch cowl using a skein of Malabrigo Rasta that I had been hording for awhile.  This was meant for a gift but I loved it too hard....it's for me.  I am not going to lie to you, it makes me look HOT.

This was a great, quick knit, so I decided to make a few more as gifts using my stash of Wool Ease Thick and Quick, in navy, pumpkin and fisherman.  Edward was a good sport and is modeling them for me.

If he looks a little sour, it is because his feelings are hurt as Katie B said she DOESN'T LIKE TWILIGHT.  What the fudge?  Katie, please reconsider........he's not going to give up on you....for eternity.

And that concludes my OCD venture into the world of cowls.  For now!

you gotta love the minds of kids :)

Driving to school, I told my kids that I saw a deer on my morning run. This created quite a lively debate between the three of them:

"Maybe it was a REINDEER!"
"Maybe Santa is checking up on kids to make sure they are good!"
"Did you see a red light?  Maybe it was Rudolf!"
"No, Rudolf does, like, ALL the heavy pulling on Christmas Eve, he is probably at the North Pole resting up."
"Maybe it was Dasher!"
"Or Dancer!"
"Or Prancer!

Then The Middle Child piped up, "Or maybe it was just a regular old deer named Brad."

merry and bright

We got our tree this weekend!  We went to the usual tree farm and took in all the annual traditions.  The sleigh ride:

Hot chocolate and hot dogs and snuggling by the fire:

And scoring a tree, of course :)

We finished decorating it Monday night.  The Hubs and I laughed about how, for so many years, we had clumps of ornaments, 10 or so per branch, all along the bottom and a naked tree top.  Now, it is all about the ladder for the kids.  They want to go up HIGH.  They even started scaling the walls to deck the halls :)

Crazy kids! And of course there was some rocking out to Harry Connick Jr. Christmas tunes (in pajamas apparently 3 sizes too small)....

....and other horsing around, too.

But the final result was, once again, the best tree ever :)

twinkle :)

Finished up my circle of stars mini quilt/ table topper!

I decided to do some hand quilting...I think it finished off the project perfectly.  I practiced using a couple different kinds of stitches...french knots, crosses and so on.  I just let it evolve and had fun. 

While I was stitching away, I was in my glory watching this movie.  Do you know it?  Classic stuff.  One of my favorites from the 90s....toe pick!

The plan is to use this as a table topper, but in case I change my mind down the road, I added these triangles on the back for a dowel so I can use it as a wall hanging as well.

And now it has a place of honour on the table for the holiday season!

 

I am so pleased with how this came together.   Sharing over at Quilt Story.

WIP Wednesday

Yes,  this actually 3 posts in one week so far, and 3 link ups.  I am feeling sociable ;)

After my huge surge of productivity at retreat, I have basically sat on my arse and done nothing to progress the Christmas present crafting.  But yesterday, I had a day off work and opted to neglect all housework to get down to some business.

Time to do some dreaded basting!  I used my handy dandy 505 + dumbell method.

And had my trusty sidekick guard the batting.

Soon enough, I had basted my 3 quilt tops from retreat:

And then for no good reason whatsoever, I decided I needed to piece myself a Christmas table topper.  This shows how much I suck at time management.....clock is ticking on holiday gifts but I opt to start a new thing for me.  But I got inspired and couldn't help myself.

So this became this:

And in the wee hours of the night, here is what I ended up with.  I so love the result!

This finished up at 22" square, and has 185 pieces!  Inspiration was here, and decided to add neutral squares as the back drop after the fun I had making the sprout blocks for Tracey. It is going to be our coffee table topper over the holidays.  I am thinking I may cut it to be round instead of square?  And am thinking about quitting....suggestions???

See you all at WIP Wednesday!

a scrappy souvenir

While away at retreat earlier this month, I had a chance to meet the fabulous quilting Krista.  She put together a couple bags while there, and when I complimented her fabric choices, she generously shovelled her scraps over to my work table.  They came home with me as I contemplated the perfect project.  I pulled a couple complimentary fabrics from my stash and decided on this:

Our camera is reasonably new, and my biggest pet peeve (or my husband's, I should say), is that I am constantly misplacing the lens cap cover.  I used this tutorial from LBG Studio, which conveniently includes a little pocket for the cap on the side.  Perfect!  I modified the design somewhat and quilted it, as I love that look, and am so pleased with the outcome.  It feels so comfy on the neck, and it is gender neutral enough that the Hubs is happy to wear it.

Thanks, Krista, for the lovely scraps!  I will think of you every time I am clicking away :)

Sharing over at Fabric Tuesday.