Purple Kappa

Getting Ready for 2009

We're having a quiet evening at home, waiting for the New Year and contemplating what to do with our extra second

We observed the Japanese custom of eating long noodles to ensure longevity (both girls love ramen so this seemed like a fun dinner)

Played some Guitar Hero

And got dressed up to usher in the New Year

(the hat is my dress-up costume, the mismatched plaid is just my pajamas. I like to be comfortable when I party)

2009 is almost here, I'm looking forward to what it might bring. I'd like to start biking again, maybe with a new bike. It has the potential to be a strange year as well--2009 will be the year I've outlived my mother, who died when she was 42. My 42nd birthday is next week. I'm still mulling over how I feel about the whole thing and mostly it just feels odd. But I'm ready to explore what lies ahead--Happy New Year, everyone!

Catching Up

All the Christmas presents are unwrapped and greatly enjoyed and appreciated. Miranda gave me the best compliment on her Night Elf doll--"some moms would say, that's too hard, I'm not making that--but you did! And now I have something no one else has!". We headed out to Pennsylvania on Friday for a quick weekend visit with Brian's family and spent much of the weekend playing Rock Band--except for Miranda, who was felled by the stomach virus that's been going around and spent a miserable Saturday lying in her grandma's bed. By Sunday she was fine, and then yesterday I started feeling nauseous. I never got as sick as Miranda but it seems to be lingering on longer--I think given the choice I'd rather the quick, intense version.

I had plenty of time for knitting while we were visiting, and finished up this hat for Ivy, it matches her new coat.

The pattern is based on one in the book The Children's Year, which I don't own anymore and had to work from memory, but it's very easy. You work the pattern flat, casting on enough for the hat to fasten under the chin, knit until the hat is long enough to reach the back of the head--I measured Ivy from her chin to the back of her head and came up with six inches--the first two inches are seed/moss stitch, then continuing with stockinette. Then you decrease one at the beginning and end of each knit row (working in stockinette) until you are down to just one stitch. Cast off and seam up the peak part. I added a row of crochet around the neckline to stabilize it and crocheted a loop for a button closure. The hat took one skein of Cascade wool on size 8 needles.

The Story of Holly and Ivy

I've mentioned before that one of Ivy's favorite books is The Story of Holly and Ivy. Ivy is an orphan who wants a doll for Christmas and Holly is doll who wants a little girl. It's really a charming, magical story.

Holly in the book looks like this:

and this is the doll I made

I used Runo's pattern again, it's such a great pattern.

I'm not entirely happy with the face, Holly in the book looks like a sweet, friendly doll and this one looks a little fussy. And I think the mouth is too close to the nose, which seems to be a mistake I often make with dolls. But it's entirely possible I am getting just a little too obsessed with making this doll perfect.

Ivy, the little girl in the book, wears a green coat and red knit gloves.

I made this coat from ISBN 9784579111473

And oh, just look at those crooked pockets. I didn't even notice until I took this picture. I think I am just not going to worry about it, and I'll fix it after Christmas. She already has a winter coat, so if this one ends up being a sort of costume so she can be the Ivy in the book, that's fine

And with that, I think I may be pretty much done.

World of WarCrafting

Before I post any pictures, I'm putting this reminder to myself that this post contains information about Christmas presents, so if I'm showing Ivy and Miranda pictures on my blog of things we've done, I need to skip this particular post.

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They've started playing World of Warcraft again, and are as obsessed about it as ever. Miranda's been reading about the history and important people--I'm not very clear on the whole story, but she's been teaching Ivy so they both talk about characters named Kael'Thas and Illidan and create stories about them.

This is a baby Murloc stuffed toy for Ivy and a Night Elf Hunter for Miranda. I adapted a frog pattern to make Murky, and for the Night Elf I used the pattern by Runo. I changed a little and added button joints to the arms and legs. I'm not sure about the ears--I might redo them and make them shorter so they aren't so floppy.

Side view of Murky

Night Elf boots for Miranda and Murloc boots for Ivy. The elf boots were supposed to be brown just like her characters boots, but I was using up scraps and didn't have enough brown. They turned out cool, but they don't really look like the boots Night Elves wear. Nevertheless, I'm calling them that just to keep with the theme. Ivy's are Murloc boots simply because they are the same color as Murlocs.

Flat view of boots. Both pairs of boots were made by knitting them first with wool yarn, then running them through the washing machine to felt the fabric (well, it actually "fulls" it, rather than truly felting)

I very nearly ruined Miranda's boots, when I took them out of the washing machine they were still huge. So I trimmed them down about two inches and seamed them up, then ran it through the wash again to felt the seam. And they felted even more, and were almost too small but I was able to stretch the fabric. They turned out okay, but with a bulky seam down the top that bothers me because they would have been perfect if I'd left them alone and just tried felting them again. But I don't think Miranda will notice.

Six More Days Until Christmas

This was a project I didn't mind putting aside my own projects to assist with:

Ivy designed these little Boxer dogs as a Christmas present for Miranda. We used the technique I described HERE, using linen with freezer paper ironed to the bag as a stabilizer, and sharpie markers. Ivy had the idea to put magnets in the dogs so the dad dog could carry the puppy, but the magnets I had weren't strong enough. We were going to use velcro instead, but then we discovered that once stitched up, the puppy could just be slipped into the dad's mouth.

Christmas Countdown

Free Christmas Countdown

I feel as though I have one of these counters hanging above my desk. I've still got half a boot to knit and then both pairs to felt, two doll faces to paint, buttons to sew on a coat, two sets of matroyshka dolls to varnish and oh, a hat to knit. But the hat's not a priority. And on top of that, Miranda and Ivy have developed this amazing creative streak, coming in with daily requests to make toys. Which is awesome, if I weren't already a bit overwhelmed. And still working at the theatre, I work three more days and the show closes on Saturday. This evening Ivy wanted to make a gray cat with a yellow dress and a flowered coat, just like Yoko, a little cat in a series of books by Rosemary Wells.

I did take some time to make Fuji Nana's Deadly Chocolate Almond Toffee. Her pictures are much better than mine, so go take a look at the recipe. It's exquisite. I used salted, roasted almonds and combined with the buttery toffee, it's just amazing. I did have a problem with the chocolate topping flaking off the toffee but it's pretty easy to sandwich it back together again

We also had plans to put lights up on the outside of the house, but never got around to it. We never actually took down the Halloween decorations. Fortunately, there are solutions for that.

Gingerbread Houses

Today's advent calendar activity was making gingerbread houses. I baked the pieces up last night--when we made gingerbread cookies earlier in the week, I made extra dough and froze it--using a template of my own. It was a little wonky putting it together, but with globs of royal icing, it's not very noticeable. I assembled them on some old dinner plates--I just heaped up icing to look like snow, which made a good base to give the sides of the house stability. I took some online advice, and assembled the walls first, let it dry, then added the roof. Miranda and Ivy took over at this point (Ivy in a fever-pitch of excitement to get started, mostly I suspect so she could sample the candies. She's declared herself the official household sweet-tester. Just in case there's a bad sweet in there somewhere)

How obvious is it that I just shoved aside piles of junk to make room for the house-decorating paraphernalia?

It's true. None of us actually ever change out of our pajamas.

Finished houses sitting on the mantle. There's a big mirror behind them, that's why you see the reflections. And you might catch of glimpse of the some of the skeletons that are part of my Day of the Dead collection.

Walking in a Candy Wonderland

Today we drove out to the Candy Wonder Land.

Please note these are different pajamas than the spider ones. These have geckos. I put the skirt on her so they would look less pajama-like. It really works, doesn't it? And the mud boots are the perfect touch. It's better than last weekend, when we were halfway to our destination before I realized she'd put on her crocs instead of her boots and it was snowing. At least she had socks on.

I think this is the Rainbow Bridge. Or maybe it was the path that was the Rainbow, and this is ice cream bridge, or something like that. You get a box of laminated cards so you can sort of play the game as you walk through. Miranda was feeling a little bored with the whole thing, so asked if she could look around the rest of the Nature Center on her own, meaning she wanted to go to the gift shop now that she's old enough to go in by herself. We all visited the animals in the wildlife center outside where they house animals that can't be rehabilitated back into the wild, and had some cocoa back inside. I was little anxious through the whole thing--when we'd arrived, I noticed some whiffs of a hot, burning sort of smell after I parked the car. But it was faint, and seemed to be coming under the car, rather than the hood.

Then on the way home, the Service Engine light came on. I actually gasped when it flashed on, then covered by saying it was a hiccup--I sometimes tend to blurt things out that are worrying me, and then I have to reassure the kids it's nothing because now they are upset. So, a tense 40 minute drive home, but when I arrived, there was no smell. So I don't know what it was--wish us luck it's nothing major.

ETA: Well, Brian took the car for a drive to check it out and the light was off, no weird smells, nothing. It was very low on oil, so he took care of that.

Hang a Shining Snape Upon the Highest Bough

Decorating the Christmas tree with the traditional holiday spiders

There is a Christmas story about spiders who leave webs all over the tree and the Christ Child turns them to shimmering silver. It appears to have origins in Germany and the Ukraine, and supposedly there are silver spider ornaments to be hung on the tree, but I have a friend who is Ukrainian and never heard the story-- I wonder if it's a myth like the Christmas Pickle

Finding old friends packed away in the boxes. There's always some ornaments you've forgotten about, and it's fun to see them again

The tree topper. The Severus Snape puppet Miranda and I made for Brian last year. He looks thrilled to presiding over our Christmas activities.

Ask Me About My Fish Story

Pip, our black cat, has a rather peculiar habit of pulling word magnets down off the refrigerator. Only the word magnets, and he even appears to study them for a bit before choosing one to knock down. We've decided he's trying to send us messages

Apparently he's saying "Ask me about my fish story." Can't wait to hear it.