Christmas spirit has been slow to arrive this year.    Oh to be sure the house has been in full Christmas Fairy Barf splendor for weeks now -  the desire to begin making gifts? that is where the spirit has lagged. But it has finally hit - maybe four - five days ago.  So far I've felted a dragon, penguin, and pony - made three tote bags from restaurant cast-off Thai rice bags - made two pair of mittens and four bomber hats from felted sweaters.

 To felt a sweater you put a 100% wool sweater in the washer and wash on hot - you know the drill, anyone who has ever owned a wool sweater knows the drill.  Until fairly recently I always figured those sweaters were ruined.  But now I know differently.  You can use the resulting close packed wool felt (Barbee clothes) to make hats, mittens, bags, throws... any number of projects.  So now I troll thrift shops for wool sweaters regularly.  I'm always looking for people to just give me their old wool sweaters (already shrunken or not).  Anyways, I've been collecting them for several years without actually starting any projects - needed a good stock pile to get going. At this point the collection was pushing the limits of my storage capacity so hats and mittens are underway.   It's loads of fun to put bits together.  I have lined all the pieces with fleece from those $3 throws they sell this time of year.  Much cheaper to line with those than to by fleece by the yard.

So here are some of the things produced so far - several other pieces are in progress and of course I've already decorated a few dozen glass ornaments, but those have been packaged and many already delivered as gifts.  The penguin is a rock hopper, hence the orange head fringies.







I took the picture of the three blue hats five time and just couldn't get the them to light well - I'm hoping it is my own monitor that is the problem and that the picture looks ok to all of you.  I know my monitor tends to make things look darker than they are.

So there you go.  Gifting for us is primarily hand made - told you that before.  Within the immediate family gifts tend heavily to books and music.

As for the chicklet invasion - it begins today.  D2 is bringing her boyfriend home for a couple days and on her way across the state she is swinging over to pick up D3 and bring her (and all her instruments) home for the holidays.  Tomorrow D1 and her husband arrive from just outside Raleigh to stay until Thurs - it is their year to spend Christmas proper with his family so we get them before for a few days.  Sunday the fiancée of D3 will arrive to stay for a couple days (lives in Charlotte when he is not at school) and D2 will take her boyfriend back to the Triangle Area (Durham to be exact).  His car is a rattle trap and can't be trusted to cross the state - he is a grad student who's father disappeared very early in his life and the young man takes care of both his mother and little sister so there is no money in his life for a new car.  He works as a manager in the dorm where he lives and has worked there all the way through his college career as well as working with youth in an academic camp each summer (except last summer when he worked as an intern with BCBS of NC - his master's is in hospital management).  D2 will return sometime Monday afternoon.  Also on Monday afternoon my husband's family is coming here to see D1 and her husband for Christmas (they all live about 45 min away) then in the evening we are hosting the Christmas gathering for my family.  Normally my mother would do this but her brother (my uncle) is at death's door and she did not want to try to host the gathering as she may have to head down to Jax at any moment.

Once we get past Monday it will be just us chickens - whew...  But you see why the spirit being late is a problem - I only have until Monday!  And now I need to prepare this house for multiple and shifting overnight guests and loads of coming and going.  Oh, and I need to cook - and do some laundry - and go to the grocery store, and....

Merry Christmas to each of you.  Though I'll be in and out here, will check in at your places daily - anyways this may be my last post here for a bit.  Unless of course the spirit moves...