I got three stockings done enough for Christmas morning and got to finish the sewing-machine-sewing on the other three stockings over the next two days, but I am holding off on the final hand sewing so I can finish all my sewing-machine-sewing projects and put the sewing machine away as soon as possible. Which is still taking a long time!

First, I made a pattern from some scrap cardboard. Then I sewed up the felt linings – I didn’t want the stockings to stretch out, so I lined them.  Next, I cut out six stockings from two sweaters. The hardest part was centering interesting parts of the sweaters and remembering to alternate the toe direction. There was no way I’d be able to get all six toes facing the the same direction, so I just made sure I had three of each.  I used collars, cuffs, and sleeves to add interest to the stockings.

I used a zigzag stitch and sewed my seams at least twice to make sure the knitted yarn was stable. I like each stocking for the variety of details they have. 🙂

Now, I need to stitch the felt lining to the stocking tops and add the buttons and any other embelishments I want. I’m thinking yellow starts or holly sprigs…

First off, Robin had an appointment with his cardiologist on Tuesday. The hole in his heart has gotten smaller and his pulminary hypertension seems to be less significant. So he got to decrease his oxygen use from 1/8 a litter to no oxygen during the day. He still gets the 1/8 at night for a while, but I don’t think it’ll be for long!

My three projects this week really only got started on Friday. I needed to do some shopping and didn’t get enough time earlier in the week.

First up is some wind blocks for the doors:

Second, stockings for our family made out of second hand sweaters:

And last, are notebook covers:

I decided to recycle my version of Pinterest!  I used to tear pictures and articles out of magazines and organized them into binders. I went through all of these and kept only 8 pages – and they all go into my household binder!

These were organizing my memorabilia for albums, but they are big and ugly on the shelf. Since I decided to use the wheeled cart for pages and albums and the shelf for supplies, I emptied these into folders.

I like this idea better. Rather than having to carry multiple pages/albums to scrapbooking gatherings, I can pull out one drawer or one folder.

I think my scrapbooking bookcase is going to end up being functional and attractive! But, I have lots of things to sort through before I get there. For example, these boxes are filled with old cards and letters.

I could just cover the boxes or use new ones so they are pretty, but I have decided to deal with them now – at least the sorting part. I’m making three piles: recycle (this is only half), send to the writer, and my scrapbook

I have also found lots of cards and things in my memorabilia-catch-all-drawers, but I will go through them later. I am thrilled I cut it down so much!

While I really wanted to start on my sewing closet, I decided to organize my bookshelf first so I could use my desk and my husband wouldn’t trip on my stuff anymore. Yesterday, I emptied it out and moved it in the middle of the office because I wanted to give it a new finish. I drove around for a while thinking about how to change it. Paint would probably be the best, but to do it right would require lots of effort. I didn’t want to wait for it to dry. But, most importantly,  I worried about paint fumes in the house bothering Robin. I thought about gluing paper on it, but, again, I didn’t want to wait for it to dry and if I didn’t like it I’d have to contend with glued on paper and overlapping edges. So I decided to try starching fabric on to it.

I followed the recipe described here and was curious to see how it would work on the bottom of the shelves. I was careful to think about the dark faux wood behind the fabric I chose, but I wasn’t careful with my piece preparation – I overlapped in some spots and have holes in others. My husband helped me paint the starch on and apply the fabric, especially on the lower parts, so I wouldn’t aggravate my back.

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I think it looks nice – not so much a dark hulking presence in the room! Tomorrow, I’ll start loading it up and hope I’ll get a better picture!

My Mom, brother and I have a date after Christmas this year. While all of Mom’s Christmas decorations are out, cheering up the living room and kitchen, we are going upstairs to the attic to liberate all of the treasures my brother and I have packed away as we grew. J and I have been asking to get up there for several years now, especially since we both have had our own children, but Mom has been putting us off. “Oh, you have time for that later! … Wait until you have more room! …” It finally occurred to me that, in order for J or I to get our things, Mom has to get her things out of the way!  So, we all have a date for sorting through the attic. J and I promised to help Mom sort out her treasures and put them back in the attic and we’ll take our boxes to our current homes.

Until this last week, I’d been mentally cataloging my old toys: Strawberry Shortcake, Barbies, Sea Wees, dolls, dolls, dolls. And the books! My Nancy drew collection, CS Lewis, all those bad ghost stories, the Dolls in the Attic, … so many more! But an errant photo on Pinterest sent me down a trail past a long forgotten pastime: my dollhouse. Oh, Brae of Otterine, and your incredible talent! Why resurrect this long dead dream? Why must I now be cataloging my miniatures: that Chrysenbon bathroom kit, those 3 dozen “Nutshell News” magazines, the new stair set for the addition that I wasn’t sure how to install all those years ago, but now your blog has shown me how? Now, when space and time are the most problematic for me?!

I know it’s up there. I know we’ll be pulling its sheet shrouded form from deep behind the walls and catacombs of my dusty childhood soon. I know the last thing I need is a new major project.

I’ll need to find a place to put it.