Output...

The other night, during our bedtime routine, I was singing my usual repertoire of songs to miss Bean when I decided to ask her what she might like to hear next. We'd already been through several renditions of 'Koopa' (Kookaburra), 'Rock-a-Baby' (Rock-a-bye-Baby) and 'Fwisee Song' (Not sure of the actual title, but it's the one where the two fishies 'swam and they swam all over the dam.' I'm going with The Fishy Song). She answered with 'Deedle-dee'.'Deedle-dee?' I repeated. It took me a moment to search my mental Rolodex for what this might be. Then it dawned on me. Sometimes, for no discernible reason, I hum the Super Mario Bros. theme song, substituting in 'deedle dee's' here and there. She did a celebratory dance when I figured it out.

So some of the following is going back a while. I thought I had deleted photos of some of my Christmas crafts, but they suddenly appeared when I plugged the memory card into the reader on the desk top. Weird. I don't understand computers and I don't have the patience to try and understand them. I know 'working' and 'not working' as defined by me. That is all. The entire spectrum of my understanding of computer science. Anyhow...



This is a scarf I started knitting when I first received the yarn from a friend of mine (Colinette Jitterbug, not sure of the colourway other than to say that it is LOUD). I wasn't sure who it's recipient might be until about half way in when it seemed to suggest that a hip and stylish young lady might appreciate such an accessory. Fortunately for me, I know such a young lady! So it was to her that this was gifted at Christmas and I think it was pretty well received.



This was a cowl I knit for my sister (Ridged Lace Cowl) which, I think, turned out quite pretty and soft. In retrospect though, I think I may have eliminated a repeat or two. I like cowls to be, well, cowly, but this might be a bit too much so. Either way, it was fun and fast to knit and blocked out really nicely.



Crochet made a good showing this year as well. These were a couple of lunch sets I made for some culinary-inclined toddlers in my life. Shamefully, my own was not among them. Another of my goals this year is to craft more specifically for her. I made virtually nothing for her for Christmas this year, and that's just not acceptable.



I also made a bunch of Chicken Betty's Summer Coaster Set's (pattern available through Ravelry) this year. They're perfect little gifts. Quick, easy, festive...can't ask for more than that.



Once I was all done with Christmas, I was itching to get back to my wheel and starting working on my spinning again. I pulled out some pencil roving from the stash and within a few days had it all spun up.



Singles ready for plying.



Finished product. I have a confession to make. Once I'm done spinning and plying some skeins of yarn, I carry it around with me for a while, like a security blanket or a teddy bear. I'm just so amused with the fact that I can actually turn roving, raw wool (okay, it's been washed and carded by the time it gets to me, and in most cases, dyed as well), into actual yarn. And it's not half bad either. This is roughly 266 yrds. I'm trying to get up the nerve to actually knit it into something. Any suggestions?



Finally, on an organizational tear at the opening of the new year and in keeping with my resolution to make-over my craft room, I cleared out the corner I had designated as Miss A's space for creating...



...and ordered my pneumonia-stricken husband to put up shelves. Yes, I am ruthless in pursuit of my own goals (relax...he'd already been on a weeks worth of anti-biotics by then. I'm not totally heartless). It's a little sparse and bare at the moment, there's lots of ways in which I can cute it up, but for now, it's fitting the bill. She has somewhere to colour and Play-Doh (which she is a little freakishly attached to I have to say) and we can hang together in our collective creative space which is a dream come true.

I've got other WIP's to show, but the clock is running out on nap time here, so I'd like to spend a little time at the wheel before I have to put the mommy hat back on. More later...