Catching up and clearing out

We STILL haven't taken the Christmas stuff down. Part of it was a conscious choice because I wanted it to feel Christmas-y for the whole "12 days" till Epiphany, but after that it was just because we…didn't get to it! But if I can't clear out the decorations yet, I can at least clear out my photo folders a bit.

On New Year's Eve, Abe was in Florida with my mom, and to celebrate cheer ourselves up from being bereft of him, we went out to eat at a Japanese tepanyaki place. I hardly ever take pictures at restaurants because the lighting is always bad and I always feel like it's rude to have the phone out, but the kids were so enthralled and delighted with our cook and all his rehearsed antics, I just couldn't help myself. They were so cute. 

Goldie was especially cute, and very serious and dedicated to the food. She ate everything with great enjoyment, even the last bit of rice which we caught her salting…and salting…and salting, so pleased with herself, before we realized what was going on.

Then there's this guy. I do NOT like to see a baby standing up and grinning at me in a smug, self-satisfied way when I come in to see if everyone is napping as they should!

He's so busy, all the time, and we keep forgetting that wires…and phones…and laptops now need to be kept up very high for their own protection! And when you talk to him sternly about how he can't just keep getting everything, he just looks at you airily, like, "oh, this? I do stuff like this all the time. Everyone's fine with it."

Also, he has teeth.

This was my view of the crib after Goldie came running to get me excitedly, saying, "Come look, Mommy! I made Teddy so, so, so COZY!"

Nutmeg likes to sit under the piano and listen to people play. He's a very musical bunny. Must be those big ears, like finely calibrated speakers.

Daisy's picture of Daniel in the Lion's Den

Goldie asked me to put braids in her hair and even though it's not really long enough, I couldn't say no. She looked so cute in them!

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Matching animal hats for girls and dolls, crocheted snowflakes, etc.

I'm not really sure why I always feel a need to document things I crochet. Maybe it's because once I've taken a picture of it, I feel like I can relax if it gets lost or ruined (as everything eventually seems to around here) because I at least have a record that I did it. And these little dolly hats are some of my favorite things I've made for a long time. They went so fast, and they just looked so…miniature and matching and cute! Because I made up the patterns for two of the girls' hats (that sounds more impressive than it is: they are just basic HATS, with simple ears and noses and such figured out as I went along, and I followed a pattern for Daisy's) I had to make up the dolls' hats too. It mostly involved doing the same thing, but…less of it. I tried to write down what I was doing so I could give someone a pattern (lots of people asked me for patterns for my Angry Birds Hats, and I felt bad I hadn't written anything down at the time) but I'm afraid I still wasn't wholly complete in my instructions. Maybe at some point I'll sit down and write them better. I do at least have notes.

Anyway, I had already made the penguin and piggy hats for the girls, and I made their little matching doll hats for Christmas. And then after Christmas, Goldie was saying, "I wish I had a ow-funt hat!" so I made a set for her and her dolly too, which might be my favorite of all.

Goldie's hats match her big elephant and tiny elephant.

This Christmastime I also tried crocheting with thread instead of yarn. It took me a while to get used to keeping the tension right and manipulating the smaller hooks, but it's really fun, and I liked making these snowflakes. There are tons of amazing, delicate patterns at this site. I gave all of these away, but after Christmas I made a few more and I'd like to do even more next year. Maybe eventually I'll have enough for a whole tree-full!

And more on the doll front: I made these darling little dresses for the girls' dolls (Rosie and Violet…see if you can guess which is which) :) Again, really fun patterns that go so quickly! Just a few hours for each one. Here's the free pattern I used. Up next: I want to make this.

Oh! And I almost forget the Beard Hats I made Abe and Seb for Christmas. They are so funny. I learned how to do a loop stitch for the curly beard, which was fun. They don't fit quite as snugly as I'd like, though—I may need to make some adjustments. Patterns for these are here.

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