Are you ready for Christmas?

Christmas Colors, originally uploaded by jonmatthew photography.

Are you planning on making lots of things for Christmas this year? Did you swear last Christmas that this year you'd really take the Handmade Holidays pledge and start early enough to succeed? Well here I am to remind you that there are only 176 days left to get crafty for your nearest and dearest. Thinking about this might be harder for those of you in the throes of summer I will admit. I distinctly remember thinking last year that if I wanted to make things for this coming Xmas I'd need to start in July. Hahahaha! I've actually tried to think about it but I'm darned if I can think of a single thing to give anyone. 'Tis (not) the season - yet.

I've been on a bit of a sweater felting binge after reading Sewing Green, doing old sweaters from up in the attic instead of dropping them at the local hospice op-shop. It's always so amusing to put an adult-sized garment in the washing machine and take out one that could almost fit Hazel. All except this one seemingly unfeltable thing that says it's pure wool but I swear, it's just not budging, even after two washes at 60C and through the drier! I think it actually IS wool, it's just such a thick yarn in a very loose knit (it's from Peru originally) that it has actually felted you just can't tell! Perhaps I'll send it along to the opshop after all, slightly smaller (but not much) and very clean!