Finishes: 146, 147, & 148 Christmas time!

We may be thick in the middle of summer, but that means it is a perfect time to post about the things I finished last winter. Right? I'm so ready for this Christmas! hahaha These projets make 148 / 365 complete, we are now at 40.5% complete! Yes! And I have three other finished projects that I haven't taken any pictures of yet, which puts me at 41%!! Woohoo!

December 20: Tree Skirt

December 22: Two Trees

April 6:  Cosmos Doily

Sewn Christmas Gifts

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway -- you still have time. It's open til Sunday!

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While most of my Christmas gifts were crocheted, I did manage to sew a few things. First, I made a sewing machine cover for my Mom in Law. She picked out the fabric and wanted a crazy pattern. So I just went with it. She really liked how it turned out, and I was glad to learn that I could wing it (no pattern) and make something fabulous!

I also made a cute little business card holder for my cousin. She works at a winery, so I thought the fabric would be perfect. I didn't have any of our full size Newly Wife cards, so I just put in my own (it needed to hold it's shape). I am supser happy with the final product -- and totally planning to make my own! Now... what fabric to use? Oh yes, and I used this tutorial.

Christmas Celebrations

Our Christmas celebration lasted all weekend long. Again, I used my iphone to document it! :) You saw the Christmas Eve photos yesterday. Today, you get to see everything else. I also got a new camera for Christmas, but the iPhone is just so much easier to pull out and take a quick pic! I promise more +  better pictures soon!

We bought the pitcher from Crate & Barrel for my Mom and Matthew painted the spoon rest to match. Fabulous, right?

My Dad's handwriting... he totally gave himself a gift! haha

This Shaq bag has floated around for birthdays and Christmases for the past 10 or 15 years!

Wits and Wagers!

My cousin painted a tiki stein for my Dad

[pin]Striped wine glasses from my cousin. So awesome!

Emily explaining the Shaq bag!

My grandpa found really old home videos (that's him as a teen) and had them transferred onto discs and sent to my parents. Very cool!

Crocheting during the drive home (blanket is finished and amazing!)

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our Christmas celebrations!

Christmas in the City

Matt and I were excited to spend Christmas in the Bay Area this year. We drove up to my parents at 3:30 in the morning on Friday. Whew. We made it by 9:30 (no traffic) and had a fabulous weekend. Friday night we went to the City (San Fran) with my brother and his girlfriend, and my cousin (and other half of NewlyWife) and her husband. We ended up meeting up with our other family in the City to see Santa. Here are some pictures from that night!

Also, you will see my digression between the pictures about the missing pictures and sucky blogger. I will soon be switching to a self hosted site through wordpress. A hassle, but I'm not putting up with the crappy photo editing / uploading / album storage anymore. So. I need a new domain name. I can do megncreations.com. What do you think of that? Any other suggestions? I have been thinking about this transition for a long time (because I am no longer a crochet specific blog), but this was the final kick in the pants. Any ideas for the name?

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into the City. Excitement!

[Right here is where you were supposed to see all of these cool pictures of us in front of the Macy's tree and with Santa, but it's not gonna happen. Google has switched it's images into Picasa - Google Plus and editing just does not happen. So the pictures are all sideways and I cannot get them to rotate. Bummer. It also means I will be switching blogging platforms soon.]

Bart coming home -- tired faces! That's my bro and his lovely gf

Insta-Tues

I'm back with more Instagram pictures. Sadly, I cannot share many of the crochet ones, because they are all gifts! Oh well.  Here is what else is going on in my life...

A fun twisty hairdo. Thanks, Pinterest.

Napping kitty and Christmas decor (and La Push blanket)!

The other napping kitten with our Christmas village in the back

Coffee & Tea from our date to the Apple Farm

We're training for a 5k. It has actually been fun (also, cold)!

I made myself some business cards the other day!

Friday baking -- Brown Sugar Springerle with cookie stamps

Saturday Baking - Baklava Tassies, Spritz  Trees & Wreaths, Mint Meringues, & Andes Mint Cookies. Wow.

What's new with you? Doing any baking in addition to crafting? Also, I know that many of you follow my other blog, Newly Wife, so I try not to post things here that will show up there (but you can learn how to make the meringues over there today)! I cannot wait to show you all more crocheted items after the 25th!

Christmas-time is here!

Okay. I love Christmas. But you already knew that, right? Well, I finished my next Christmas toy. This holiday penguin was shipped out to a friend who we called penguin, back in college. I had to wait to post this until she received it! :) What do you think of this little guy?

I think he is just adorable -- plus he likes to hang out with our friend Rudy. :)

As per usual, check out the original post for my recap, more pictures, and a link to the pattern!

Rudy the Reindeer

Christmas is coming. It is a little over a month away. Crazy. I, for one, am super excited. One reason -- this cute little reindeer. I have been wanting to make this guy for the past three years or so (ever since I saw the one that my friend made), but just never had the time today. Well, folks, I did it. And in one weekend, mind you! These little guys don't actually take that much time, you just have to dive in and get going!

So I would like to introduce you to Rudy.

Why Rudy, you ask? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe because it is like a form of Rudolph? I do not know. It just popped into my head when I was downloading the pictures. As always, check out the original project page for more info!

Christmas is Coming

I know. It is only November. Thanksgiving has not come. But we cannot deny the one-month-awayness of December, now can we? I may not advocate listening to Christmas music yet (except Charlie Brown, because that's acceptable), but I will totally encourage early-in-season gift making. I made these Christmassy items a few weeks ago in order to just get something off of my hook and feel like I was accomplishing something!

Check out the original posts (star, scrubby) for more details!

PS. I am still learning this whole one space after a period thing. It is rocking my world. And not in a good way.

A hat, a bag, and a blanket!

I am excited to show off some of my Christmas gifts to you all.  I know most people showed off their goods on December 25, but I have never been on time! hahahaha  So first, a bag for my mom.  The fabric is all about San Francisco, which is the big city by our house.  I LOVE how it turned out!  I packaged some fun goodies in it for her.

Also, I was inspired by the Green Bag challenge on Sew Mama Sew.  I know I missed the deadline and all for the prizes, but I still wanted to share what I did.  I got a few bags from Old Navy last year, after Christmas (for super cheap) for gifts for my sisters.  And the tiny bag was on sale at Hancock... it was the perfect size for coasters!!

Next, I finished the crochet squares afghan for my mother in law.  I LOVE how it turned out.  What do you think?

I also made a phannie hat for my sister in law.  It is not my style, but I am hoping she liked it!

I think the yarn was too stiff.  It isn't soft and lush like I wanted.  I think I am going to have to remake it for her!  My cousin also wants one in white... remember my post from yesterday??

How did all of your Christmas gifts turned out?  I made more, but haven't taken pictures of them all!

December 26: Snowflake Table Runner

Pattern # 360:  Snowflake Table Runner

Happy Day after Christmas.  That is called Boxing Day in Canada & England, right?  Well today it is a wedding day.  My hubby is in a wedding today and I will be in attendance.  I hope the weather is nice, since it is outside at 11 am!!

Anywho.  Okay.  Wow.  I am seriously at 360 patterns.  That is so crazy to me.  It means I actually made it through the whole year posting a pattern each day (okay so a few times, I have had to backpost, but they were all written down in my calendar way before! haha).  And only 5 days of my initial challenge left.  Sad. But now it's time to get my hook flyin!

Picture from Coats & Clark:

December 25: Snowflake Hat - COMPLETED

Merry Christmas!  I hope you are all enjoying days with your family!  It is second Christmas for me, as we had our first Christmas last Saturday with my family.  I wish we all lived closer together!

Pattern # 359:  Snowflake Hat
Wow.  This blog is confusing (it's called 85% Confusion, 15% ?).  But I love the hat pattern! haha

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Updated August 6, 2012: This hat is so fun! It actually makes me want to go snowboarding or something -- just don't tell my husband!!

December 23: Candy Cane Steering Wheel Cover

Pattern # 357:  Candy Cane Wheel Cover

How festive is this candy cane steering wheel cover?  You have to be a Ravelry member to download the pattern, but you can check out Connie's blog, Bee Happy Designs, for other patterns.

Picture from Bee Happy Designs:

December 22: Christmas Trees (2 patterns!!) - COMPLETED

Pattern # 356:  Christmas Tree

I love the style of the tree.  It is very different from any others that I have found before!  And it is one very very long chain. Well chain + ripple effect, wrapped around a cone.  How cool.  She uses two different colors to get the effect that she has.  I wonder what it would look like with color changing yarn???
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Updated January 10, 2014: I finished this cute little tree before Christmas this year. It turned out cute, but definitely did not photograph that well! It's one really long chain thing (two rows, I believe) that you crochet and then wrap around a Styrofoam cone!

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Okay, we have another pattern today, because it caught my eye and I can do what I want.  Both trees are awesome!

Pattern #356a:  Ribbon Christmas Tree

This one is from Amanda at Pardon My Chaos.  How fun is it?  Like the old ribbon candy!
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Updated December 20, 2013: This tree also did not photograph well, but it sure looks cute in person! And my hand sure is cute. Whomp whomp.