Advent

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Today I am participating in Jo's advent calendar. I'm actually assigned to the 19th, but I'm posting a little early so perhaps those in Australia can read it when it's still the 19th for them!

"Advent" means "arrival," so I am sharing Snowflake Nativity by Chatelaine (with modifications by me). I started stitching it when it was just "Christmas Mystery"! I have since done other mysteries, but this is the only one I kept up with until...the naked baby happened (yeah, I'll wait while you go look). I tried really hard to like it (well, maybe not that hard), but I just couldn't do it. So I waited to see what the rest of the piece was going to look like, let it hibernate for a few months, then finally decided to use some of the remaining motifs and a couple from a Just Nan pattern and make my own top for the piece. I am always tempted to sign up for mysteries, but this one kind of cured me and convinced me I needed to wait until I saw an entire pattern.

Jo asked us to share a Christmas tradition as well as a stitchy picture. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to a Christmas Eve service with my family, especially when I get to sit next to my oldest sister. She and I both have sung all our lives, and she has a beautiful, very high soprano, while I am a slightly lower soprano. She does the most beautiful harmonies (or descants) above the melody, and we blend very well since we're sisters. We like a service with a nice, loud organ so that we can sing as loud as we want! =) Afterwards, we go back to my parents' for a nice snacky buffet supper of hammy sammies (ham and some kind of magic sauce on rolls that my mom makes), chips and dip (gotta have French onion dip!), and Christmas cookies. I suppose there are some vegetables in there somewhere, but I couldn't tell you what. Let the healthy holiday eating begin!!!

My three sisters are all a lot older than me (12 - 17 years), so I was a little like an only child sometimes. But my mom always made every holiday so special for me. She was a great Santa, and was only disappointed when I "figured out" it was her doing the gifting. My next question after she told me that, yes, she was Santa, was, "Are you the Easter bunny?" "Yes," she said, "I'm the Easter bunny, too." Then I asked, "Are you also the Tooth Fairy?" My mom told me later that I had ruined all her fun at once. =)

I'll leave you with the Advent calendar my mom made me when I was little...you see, we have a fine tradition of handcrafts in my family! =) I can't remember how old I was, but I do know that the last few days, she was working just ahead of me on the squares, and the last few were not sewn to their backings, although the fronts were done!

Shhhh...don't tell my husband I turned the 19th over early to get this picture! I've been making him guess what each square is every day! ;)

JiffNotes
Merry and Blessed Christmas to all! Come back in a couple days to see more stitchy Christmas decorations!

The Geekend That Was, 12/11 (A Day Late, but Not a Dollar Short)

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This week has already gotten away from me. Our big accomplishment for the weekend was getting the tree (we always have a fresh tree), putting it up, lighting it, garlanding it, and putting on approximately 9,236 ornaments, of which Michael did 3.

 

But he did hang the stockings.

And two wreaths.

And some garland.

And put up the Nativity scene.

And the Christmas card holder.

And a nutcracker.

(This was the list he was yelling in the background while I was talking to his mom on the phone. Like, "OMIGOSH I did all that AND I PUT OUT A NUTCRACKER." Note: The nutcracker is only 18" tall, not the 5-6 feet you might assume from the importance imparted to it.)

I'll have more Christmassy pictures later. By the way, have you been visiting Jo's for the online advent calendar? You really should, even if you're not into stitchy stuff, because everyone is sharing their favorite traditions. Some of the bloggers "across the pond" are sharing some really cool stuff. I'm due to contribute on the 19th!

We took a "break" Sunday morning to go see my niece's church Christmas play, entitled, "DUDE, You Hear What I Hear?" It was a heartwarming tale of a young girl trapped in a department store overnight who uses the opportunity to share the true story of Christmas with the mannequins that have come to life (obviously). I can't make this stuff up, folks!

There may have also been some Lego Star Wars III (The Clone Wars).

And last night we went to a party where our White Elephant was a case of cellulite treatment cream. Festive.

JiffNotes
Seriously, though, the bag the cream was in was really cute, and it came with chocolate. It was either that or the Captain America mask. JiffNotes FAIL: Most unhelpful JiffNotes, EVER.

Attic Stash and Other Eye Candy

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My camnesia from the Chocolat weekend extended even to forgetting to take a good picture of the model, although I did get a couple of extreme closeups to help my poor brain try and figure out what people who can actually sew would make of the excellent directions. Like this one:

 

Sew a fine seam, indeed. I sure won't be taking that kind of photo of *my* Chocolat.

To make up for the lack of Chocolat pictures, I thought I'd share a few pictures of some of Jackie's other class pieces that she had on display. This is Ebony and Ivory, which is gorgeous but looks terrifying to sew together.

 

This next shot has more of the Ebony and Ivory accessories pictured, but you may not be able to tear your eyes away from THE PANSIES IN FRONT.

 

OMIGOSH, LOOK AT THE RIBBON PANSIES.

AND LOOK AT THE PANSY PINKEEP.

 

Do you see the needle keep peeking out on the left side corner?

LOOK WHAT IT DOES.

 

IT ROTATES!! SO. COOL.

Um...yeah.

So, I want to take that class, a little, maybe.

Anyway! I did purchase a good bit. The first day, it seemed like I was going to be so restrained.

Not so much. You can click on this picture to revel in my excess in higher def. Actually, a lot of this was either for things I already had or fits in the "general stitching tools" category, like the Bohin needles (have you TRIED these needles? So smooth), the mat boards, and the scissors (because of course I have NO scissors already). Well, OK, not the squirrel and Waterlilies I picked out for him. How could I resist? But the Crescent Colors are for Mirabilia's letter "H", and the fabric is for a Milady's Needle pattern I have and that Rovaris pattern there (SQUIRREL!) that Teresa gave me. I actually already had the Belle Soie for the Rovaris pattern, but I bought another skein at The Attic because the color was at least 186% more awesome than the skein I had.

Then I went totally crazy and picked out Dinky Dyes and Gloriana silk for Cirque des Cercles.

 

I love every one I've seen stitched on black, but in lieu of that amount of crazy, I decided I also liked the multicolored ones. So I picked these floss colors, helped by Annette, and then we started in on the fabric. I kept saying, "Darker. Darker!" And finally someone pulled out this beautiful fabric (I can't remember if it was Annette or Teresa!) So what do you think? How crazy am I?? I'm thinking there are enough floral motifs in here to qualify for Jardin January... =)

JiffNotes
Already looking for the next class...because, you know, I have no stash to work on...

A Real Treet

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Earlier this Fall when gracie asked if anyone wanted to do an ornament exchange with her, I jumped at the chance! Her ornament to me arrived on Saturday. Just take a look at the cool tin that encased the ornament:

Love the card!

But the real goodies were inside.

Chocolate, lovely flosses, some cute holiday tissues, and the pièce de résistance, the lovely Christmas Tree ornament! It's finished so cute with the rick-rack, and I adore the angel tree topper.

What amused me was that this was what I sent to gracie...

Yup, a Christmas tree. Great minds...and great stitchers...clearly think alike. =)

JiffNotes
Hand-stitched ornaments are the best ornaments!!

The Geekend That Was, 12/4

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Last Friday was...

TUBA CHRISTMAS!

No, I don't play the tuba. I stumbled upon this event one year (it's apparently always the first Friday in December) at CNN Center, and have tried to get back to it each year (with not very much success). This year, Michael picked me up for a quick lunch and Tuba Christmas at Underground.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, and nothing beats listening to Christmas carols played with booming bassy precision by about 100 tuba, sousaphone and euphonium players aging from 7 to 73. I highly recommend going to a concert (it's free, even!) if there's one in your area.

Saturday I helped my sister serve tea. Michael and I usually go as "paying customers," but my sister needed some help since my mom, who usually helps, was going to see my niece's dance recital. It was actually really fun, although a little hectic, since her previous tea booking (a single party of 26) left about 45 later than she had planned! We had less than an hour to reset; that included breaking down three large tables and setting up six smaller ones in their place...not to mention water glasses, tea cups, plates, flatware, tea pots with warmers, cream, sugar, clotted cream, lemon curd, spirited peach butter, menus, welcome signs...!!

Although I handed Michael the camera, he did not manage to take One. Single. Picture. Well, he was entertaining his parents, so I guess he has an excuse. Of course, I did not discover this until the last "course" was served, so *I* took this picture...

Caramel Chocolate Nut Tartlets (want to move in to one of these and take up residence), Cranberry Noels (cookies), Victorian Bakewell Tart, Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread with Cranberry Cheese (OMIGOSH YUM), and Mocha Cream Puffs.

I did get to taste everything afterwards. =) Serving went pretty well; I can't imagine taking care of more than three tables, though!! And two of mine were people I knew, so they were very forgiving. That's right...two! In addition to Michael and his parents, Rocky and Maria were at another table, much to my surprise and delight! I'd been wanting them to experience tea at my sister's for a while.

Sunday we made a start at unearthing Christmas decorations and went to see Hugo in 3D, which was EXCELLENT. If you have any interest whatsoever in early film, go see it. It's worth it even just for the opening tracking shot, which was so amazing and I still am not sure how ILM* did it.

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*Industrial Lights and Magic, of course!