7 Quick Takes {Take 65} Winter crafts & hobbies edition!

Happy Friday everybody, and wow! It's been a long time since I've been able to link up with 7 Quick Takes. A month, I think.

*tragic!*

But here I am, back and perky. So, what's on tap for today? I've been doing a lot of crafty things, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to that. I've already mentioned a few of them, but believe me, there are others. I'm OCD, remember? So I'll post photos with patterns/instructions where applicable so that you can add these projects to your own queue is you feel so inspired. Some of them are back from Christmas season, but it's never too early to start your holiday crafting!

;-)

-1- Snowflakes abound

I've been in a real snowflake state of mind this winter. I made a bunch of snowflake ornaments, and my favorite is this one that I made for my aunt and uncle:

"Ice Storm Snowflake" supplies and instructions available from Fusion Beads

It turned out cute, though I really should have taken a photo of it *on* the tree, huh? That would have looked better. But I liked it, save for the earring wire used for the hook. It looks a bit like an earring for that gigantic snowman Elsa conjured up in Frozen, but there you have it.

-2- And speaking of Elsa...

Da da DAAAAHHHH!

Free pattern available as "Anna and Elsa Crochet Hats"

Adorable model, I know. :) I made a few of these, intending them as little girl dress up fun for Anne and a giftee. Darling, yes? I'm also going to make the Anna version. The yarn hair was a bit of a pain, but not difficult at all. Just time consuming. And bless my husband for helping to cut all these bits of yarn hair and then LETTING ME PUT IT ON HIS HEAD so that I could braid it when it was all attached. There is a man very secure in his masculinity, right there. I was watching Ken Burns' "Baseball" with him, so I'm sure this was part of why he was so amenable. :)

-3- It's not Christmas anymore, but Tiffany is still talking about The Nutcracker

I love The Nutcracker, I can't help it. When I saw these earrings, I knew I simply HAD to make them:

"Nutcracker Earrings" supplies and instructions available at Fusion Beads

I wore them both before and after Christmas Day, thank you very much. :) I haven't worn them since Christmas season officially ended, *sniffle*. But I will return to you next December, faithful Nutcrackers! When I made these, I accidentally left off one of the blue cube beads, so one Nutcracker was significantly shorter than the other, can't have that, poor guy. He would get a complex. Thankfully, I had spare supplies to redo earring #2.

-4- Back to snowflakes!

This technically *isn't* a snowflake, but I call it the snowflake bracelet, because that's the color palette I was going for. I made this as part of my Secret Santa gift in my craft group:

"Everyday Gem Bracelet" supplies and instructions at Fusion Beads

The inspiration project used lilac beads, and I went with turquoise and crystal AB. I also used a lobster clasp rather than a toggle, those things make me nervous that I'll lose bracelets. I lose so many other things, it's the next logical step. :)

-5- What would January be without Downton Abbey knitting?

I wish that we could watch Downton Abbey in the fall like our friends in the UK, but that's a topic for another post. Downton Abbey always starts in the US right around my wedding anniversary, and the whole situation just gives me happy memories. This year, I chose to participate in a Mystery Knit-along associated with the show, and I'm now done with the first two "clues":

"Downton Abbey Mystery Knit-along 2015" pattern is $6

My fledgling shawl is looking quite large these days, and it's been giving me hints that it feels the cord I'm using on my circular needles is too short. I may need to switch to a longer cable to let it spread it's wings a bit. Since we've used so much of one of the two colors (for me, the variegated colorway), I'm excited to see what will happen next involving the other color, and if aforementioned exciting thing will be lace.

*happy*

-6- Winter dancing!

My troupe generally has less performances in the winter (busy time is summer festival season) so we use the winter to solidify existing choreographies and craft new ones to bust out when we have some bookings. We're planning to rework out tray/wings number, because, you know...

...so many wings. There are 10 of us now, and few venues can house that many of us sweeping gigantic iridescent wings everywhere. Claire mentioned having half of us balance trays, while the other half does wing work. Should be interesting. We're also plotting a new choreography to a classic Middle Eastern piece of music, I always love those. I have rehearsal tonight and am super excited.

-7- So what's next?

Valentine jewelry! I'm compiling my Fusion Beads cart right now. Not that I have fun Valentine's Day plans, granted, I'm working on the reference desk that day.

*heartbreaking music plays*

But that was by design. We all have to pick a few weekends to work, and I knew that Mike and I wouldn't be going out to dinner right on Valentine's Day, so it was a "safe" day for me claim. I swear, the instant I pick "free" weekend days to work, the funnest plans in the universe come to light on the exact days I'm doomed to be sitting at a desk for four hours wearing my glasses and a pitiful expression. But Valentine's Day is safe. Why? It's not because my husband is unfeeling and not making me feel special on that day. It's just that we're both introverts and do not want to deal with the capacity situation going to a restaurant on Valentine's Day entails. Plus, my birthday is February 18th, so we end up going out to a really nice dinner right after Valentine's Day for that. We're planning to have a special dinner at home on the 14th that Mike will prepare while I'm working. That was WAY too long of a story as a foundation for making Valentine jewelry, but you know this about me by now. I will post Valentine jewelry photos as events transpire. ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off on Monday, so not sure if I'll blog or not. I'll definitely talk to you on Tuesday. In the mean time, head over to This Ain't the Lyceum for more 7 Quick Takes!