'Oh Dowy Baby'

As promised, but later than intended, here is the report on the success of my handmade Christmas gifts:

  

Meet Dowy. My niece gave an audible gasp the moment she ripped the paper open enough to see what was wrapped inside (much to my heart's delight).

Now, I'm treated to photos my sister sends of J feeding Dowy pizza party (wooden pizza, not real pizza), sleeping with Dowy hugged to her chest and reports of how she won't go to bed without "Oh Dowy Baby."

Though she took quite a bit of time, Dowy wasn't very complicated. I found the pattern on Lion Brand Yarn's website. I'm a huge fan of their patterns, and as they advertise, there are 3,719 free patterns to choose from. If you sign up on their site, you can save patterns for future use.

There were a few challenges to Dowy's construction. The first was the hair. In the pattern, I believe they use a mohair yarn, but I preferred to use something I already had. Using a craft needle, I made a loop between two stitches and then I tied the loop in a knot with the remaining yarn. I wish I was working on something right now so I could take pictures. Next time, I'll do a step-by-step.

In any case, the hair ended up being my favorite part. This is the same method I used to make the mane on both the lion and horse amigurumis I made earlier in the year. It's time consuming, but totally worth it.

Back to Dowy's hair, as it started to fill in, I knew completely this doll must be for my cutie niece. It's such a wonderful feeling to know that something you've made is well loved, isn't it?

It was also quite a challenge sewing her feet and hands inside the sleeves and leggings and it was really difficult sewing her head on. But in the process I discovered a curved craft needle and light shone down from the heavens and angels began singing. From now on, the curved needle is a must-have in my crochet cupboard. 

Gift 2:

Again, if I had begged for a reaction to this gift, it couldn't have been better than what actually happened.

My cousin's baby -- well, I guess he's really a toddler now, amazing how quickly that happens -- ripped into the wrapping paper, took one look at this monkey and immediately hugged it to his chest. I nearly wept with joy. Then, he toted it around showing it to people.

This pattern came from Caron Yarn's website. And the best part was it taught me something new.

I've had a very difficult time with changing colors. My obsessive need for perfection (seeking, seeking, seeking) was perpetually unhappy with the way it would look like a mistake to go from one color to the next as if it was in the middle of a row. This pattern, however, has you fasten off and then join the next color with a slip stitch! (Sorry, I had to succumb to the use of an ! to truly express the importance of this revelation.)

Oh joy, oh joy.

One of the best parts of making this was when, after lunch on Christmas Eve, I was sewing on the face while sitting with the grandparents of my heart, Uncle Don and Aunt Ro. I could tell they thought it was adorable, so I felt a new confidence in giving it to my cousin's baby.

Here's where confession time comes into play (I wouldn't be me if there wasn't always something to confess).

It wasn't to show off that I was completing the monkey while sitting at Uncle Don and Aunt Ro's table on Christmas Eve, a mere hours before I was supposed to give this gift away. What's it called? Oh yeah, procrastination -- I really hadn't finished it at that point.

Then came the adventure.

All I had left to do was finish the face and sew it on to the head. But I completely overlooked the fact that I would need stuffing for it. So, I called my sis to see if she could bring some to our aunt's house so I could finish it real quick before it was present-opening time. As she did make a special trip to Mommy's to get the camera I nearly cried when I realized I forgot, I can't blame her for forgetting the stuffing.

Hope was not lost, however. When we got to my aunt's house where Christmas Eve festivities were taking place, we searched her basement for stuffing, but to no avail. Finally, one of my cousins (aunt to the baby the present was for) called their mom, who knew just where her bag of stuffing was. Though I'd hoped to avoid EVERYONE in the family knowing how I'd procrastinated, I couldn't ask for a more understanding bunch of people. I really do think it's genetic.

The next day, Dowy was kind of the same. I was embroidering her face at the last minute and had just applied the last strip of tape to the haphazard wrapping when sis and her family pulled up to Mommy's.

Though it was harried there at the end, and though I'd intended to make 12 handmade gifts and only finished two, the delight on the faces of those two cuties made my entire holiday season.

Now I'm working on a classic teddy bear for a friend who will become a daddy in about a month. I've got a week and a day to finish it, but I'm pretty confident. Will report back on the progress soon. Hopefully with this one, I won't be completing the finishing touches on the way to seeing him.

Progress?

I suppose eternal optimists would look at this and say "well, you did something." While I'm really good at being optimistic for others, I'm too honest about my own shortcomings to acknowledge this as progress.

I can say this -- it will be done for Christmas. I'm just not sure anything else will be. My Christmas gift list is going to have to be modified, and store-bought gifts will need to be added. Which is such a disappointment. I was really excited to give handmade gifts for Christmas.

All hope is not lost, however. I began making a doll ages ago which, as it came together, was clearly meant to belong to my niece. While it's not what you would call "done" it's close enough to know it will be by Christmas. So, I'll at least have two gifts done for the tiniest of those on my list.

If I modify my expectations -- become a little more practical, perhaps? -- I think I could make two smaller amigurumis for my other young nieces. The original intention was to have larger stuffed animals to give them, but the 4-inch versions are still adorable. Am I justifying? Perhaps.

Once Christmas is over, I'll post pictures of the completed projects (however many I get done) and links to the patterns I used. Until then, I don't want to ruin the surprise for any recipients (or really their parents) who read this.

If anyone's looking for great, easy-to-read patterns, check out Lion Brand's website. This site is genius and I love it. If you sign up, you can download patterns and it saves any notes you want to make. Additionally, there is this neat little stitch counter that can be dragged around to point at which row you're on. It's really useful when you have lots of rows where you're doing single crochets over and over and over and over.

I'm also working on a pattern right now from Caron International Yarn's project website, and it's also really easy-to-use. When I started this project, I found the same pattern which someone had re-posted, but it was rewritten in a really confusing manner. When I accidentally deleted the pattern I wanted and the website it came from and realized I was using a different (and really ugly) one, I googled the text of the pattern. Both the one I wanted and the one I was mistakenly using were from the same site.

But instead of sending me to the re-posted site, Google directed me to Caron's site, and what a blessing that was. Just the simple matter of using a clearly written pattern has saved me hours and hours of trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Well, must run. It's almost time for work. But I wonder, is anyone else having a hard time completing their overly-ambitious Christmas projects? I'd appreciate hearing about them. I guess it's true, misery does love company!

How to make bows

Luckily, I don't set lofty and unattainable goals for myself or procrastinate ...

I just counted and I have 15 more days until Christmas. I'm counting today (thought it's after midnight and it really is tomorrow), because I will crochet until 5 a.m., as I have the past three nights in a row, and I'm counting Christmas Eve, because some of my presents won't be given until Christmas Day and last minute finishes can be done before or after the festivities.

Fortunately, and true to form, I decided to take the easy road and crochet handmade gifts for 12 people. Which really wouldn't be that many, if I had spent the whole year working on them -- that's only one per month. Actually, that line of reasoning doesn't make me feel any better.

I led this post off with a picture of my Christmas tree, which I felt some accomplishment in getting up the first weekend of December. The best part was I had help. Mommy came up, and in festive tradition, we listened to the Carpenter's Christmas album while trimming my tree.

My favorite part is the bows:

I was going to buy bows, but I decided that, with Mommy's crafty genius close at hand, we could make them. So, we started with a spool of ribbon and a package of ornament hooks.

With her uncanny mind for working things out, Mommy realized that if she cut the ribbon to a point in the middle at the ends ...

the next could be cut to two points at the ends, eliminating any waste of ribbon.

Step 1: Once your ribbon is cut, fold it in half over your index finger.

Unfortunately, I had to use myself as a hand model, so these pictures are full of my crazy witch fingers. If you can avoid being distracted by how ugly my hands are, read on …

Step 2: Twist the ribbon once. This will make a loop around your finger that will become the center of the bow. Hold onto the twisted material with your thumb. This is the back of the bow, where all the pieces will come together.

When I learned how to tie my shoes, my parents told me to make two "bunny ears" and then tie those in a knot. I think the bunny ears idea is helpful here.

Step 3: Take one of the ends of the ribbon and, to one side of the center of the bow, make a bunny ear with the nice side of the ribbon facing out. This will form the first side of the bow. Make sure to leave enough of the end hanging down for the bow's tail. Where this half of the bow meets the back, twist the tail so that its nice side is facing out also.

Step 4: Pull the tail of the first bunny ear down, so you have room to make the second. With the remaining half of the ribbon, fold it into the second bunny ear, meeting at the center and leaving a tail. Twist this tail, also, so the nice side is facing out.

Step 5: Still holding with your thumb, feed the end of the ornament hook in between the back of your index finger and all the layers of ribbon.

Step 6: Fold the ornament hook up and wrap the end (that normally secures the ornaments to the hook) around the top of the hook. Tighten everything up by pulling up on the top of the ornament hook and squishing all the pieces together.

Step 7: Your bow is going to look a little bit wonky …

so fiddle with it until it looks pretty.

The beauty of using the ornament hooks is, you can twist the top of the hook to the side and it's ready to put on the tree. Also, they are very easy to manipulate. If you don't want to hang your bows on the tree, just use the cutty part of needle-nose pliers to cut off the end of the hook, and fold any pokey edges in behind the center loop. (I really hope no one is confused by the technical jargon I use.)

It was kind of providence that we decided to use the hooks. We originally searched high and low at Kmart to find the spools of twist-tie like stuff, but to no avail. Then, Mommy had the genius idea of using the ornament hooks. She's super handy.

I hope this helps. I think these bows ended up tons cuter than the bows that were already made that I was going to buy. And I got about 15 bows out of one spool of ribbon.

Good luck to the rest of you procrastinators out there. I hope your Merry Christmas Crafting is going much more quickly than mine. But, I'll keep you apprised of how it goes. Right now, I'm working on one of many stuffed animals I hope to make, but it's slow and each night I think I'm going to get so much more done than I do.

I'm off to work my ugly witch fingers to the bone.