Yesterday I finished off my first vertical rectangle on my scrap yarn blanket, and boy was it ever satisfying! I picked a gorgeous burgundy with sparkles from a lovely internet friend. I love this about the blanket – the many…
Gift Creep
Ah, handmade gift season…you are so wonderfulhorrible. So full of energy, best intentions, the power of love transmitted by handmade gifts! And also so full of feelings of ‘Too Much’ and ‘Where Were Those Boundaries I Put Up?’ I…

Stormy Harbour Hat
I hope I convinced to you to knit and crochet with us this June and July in the Splash Pad Party. I love the fun community Jen has built up around her podcast. I think her clear love of her extended…

finished: the Lilli Pilli shawl
What a glorious pattern! What a glorious finished product! The pattern is Lilli Pilli by Ambah O’Brien. The yarn is Malabrigo Mechita in Dried Orange and Pearl, and Northbound Knitting Singles in Midnight. Click this link to the project’s Ravelry page if…
Gifts for Making
Don’t forget to pop over to the Pinterest board on Handmade Gift Ideas for a wide range of cool projects that might get your brainstorming a little electrified! Here are two gift-making categories we’ve used again and again: 1)…

Gifts for Knitting
Knitting, as we well know, is not for people wanting instant products. But there is still enough time to knit up a number of gifts before the holiday clock chimes midnight! Here’s a few of my favourite things to make.…

Peppermint Crunch Cookies
I’m proud of these. I mashed them together from three different recipes as well as my own imaginings and unvented something special. They freeze nicely, so they can be made well ahead of the busy times that are coming in…

3 Steps to Fantastic Handmade Gifts: a free PDF for brainstorming
I wrote last week about how our entirely handmade Christmas changed us and mentioned that brainstorming was a big part of our process. We hit on a pretty cool set of questions that allowed us to find a sweet spot between what we…
an entirely handmade Christmas changed us
Giving handmade has been a significant theme in our family life. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing what we’ve learned about making gifts. Stay tuned for some cool resources and links! But first: where it all began and…