Need a quick gift for someone receiving a sacrament in May?

I just love this time of year, don't you? Springtime, new beginnings, Easter...and sacraments of initiation coming up in May. Last year, I just reveled in Henry making his First Communion, I enjoyed that so thoroughly. This year, we don't know anyone receiving a sacrament, and it'll be quite a while until Henry reaches Confirmation age (at least the way they do it in our diocese) or for Anne to receive First Reconciliation, so I'm living vicariously through others. :) I *am* however, on the prowl for birthday gifts for Anne, whose birthday is May 18th, so I was looking and had a few ideas that will work for those needing a gift for First Communion or Confirmation.

Saintly Silver on Etsy, whom I've mentioned before *heart* has a section of Quick Ships of already assembled dolls, ideal for anyone needing one in early May.

She's got 32 dolls listed in the Quick Ship section right now, which is pretty awesome. They usually are on a 6 week schedule to ship, since her order queue is so long and her shop so popular. But she prepares ahead for her rush periods, of which the May sacraments are one. She has boy and girl First Communion dolls (like the one pictured above), with the Anima Christi prayer on the back and a "In Honor of your First Holy Communion" notation. She also has angels, St. Patrick, Mary, and the Holy Family ready for immediate shipment.

Allison also has her rosary shop stocked with rosaries, most of which are ready to ship (just make sure to check for the "Made to Order" indication and avoid those if your deadline is pretty tight). This one in particular is ideal for First Communion, no?

I love the chalice center. But she has a ton of in-stock selection, all beautiful! I like the availability and selection given that First Communions are a mere 4 weeks away.

Do you know anyone receiving First Communion or Confirmation this year?

A few pre-Advent sales not to miss...

Hi all! This is going to be a fairly brief Tuesday post since I'm still catching up at work and I have to leave early to take Henry to the allergist. And then I'm off tomorrow, so I'm queueing up the Catholic Book Club post to be ready, I'm *that* dedicated to keeping my promises on blog content. ;-)

#TypeA

But I wanted to share two sales with you that I have already either done damage at shopped :) or will be shopping this coming weekend. Great gift opportunities as we approach Advent and Christmas season!

My own personal Yarn Unpacker...

If you know anyone who is a knitter or crocheter, Knit Picks is having their biggest sale of the year all this week, through Monday December 1st. I was fanning myself in my office yesterday morning when the sale went live and I grabbed a sweater quantity of a cashmere/merino wool blend for 50% off. And a gorgeous alpaca/merino tweed for a cabled cardigan for Mike. I know it's hard to guesstimate how much yarn someone would need to make something, but 5 skeins of something in worsted weight would be a good amount for a hat and mittens, and 10-15 is generally a sweater quantity. A 100 gram hank of fingering weight yarn will make a gorgeous pair of socks. Just some ideas. ;-)

And of course, any shopping with the Catholic Librarian wouldn't be complete without mention of rosaries...

This is a gift, but I like it so much I want to keep it for myself :0

The absolutely lovely Etsy shop Rosaries by Allison will be having specials all December long, beginning with Small Business Saturday on November 29th. I adore Allison's rosary designs, and frequent her shop for rosaries for myself and others. She will also custom design anything you have in mind! For the coupon codes for the sales, "like" her shop Facebook page and you will see them there as the dates come up. I'm planning on heading over to her shop on Saturday since there are a few rosaries that are simply calling my name, and I'm not telling you which ones, so that I have a hope of them still being there this weekend. ;-)

Happy shopping everyone! I'll chat with you tomorrow for the Book Club!

Dancing photo shoots, saint dolls & novenas - it's the "little bit of everything" post!

Happy Tuesday everyone! And I am in fact glad that it is Tuesday today. Yesterday was a bit crazy, although a fun day in the end. Let's procure our tea and get started. :)

Last night was super busy because Mike was teaching, I had a photo shoot to attend for my dance troupe, and Henry had a soccer game. Multiple grandparents had to be brought in as reinforcements to get all of this on track without a hitch. :) But it did all work out.

For my part, I headed out about 5:30 pm wearing my pink troupe costume and coverup. Dance coverups are really just caftans, a long, flowy garment of some sort to keep your costume hidden unless you are actually performing. My troupe has matching coverups in hot pink, so picture me leaving my house looking like Mrs. Roper headed out for a hot night on the town. :0 I can only imagine what my neighbors think I'm up to when they see me coming and going. But I didn't want to change at the venue, since we were taking the photos on the back patio of the restaurant Claire works at during the day. It just seemed awkward to have to worry about changing in their restroom, so I went already assembled. I got some strange looks as I walked through the restaurant to the patio, but it's nothing that I'm unused to, lol.

And we had fun. We took a boatload of group shots and one individual shot each. It's nice back there with a view of a small creek and waterfall over the wrought iron fencing. The weather was beautiful too, with mild temperatures, a clear sky with setting sun and just a gentle breeze. So we'll see how those turn out.

Back at home, Henry finished up his indoor soccer season, Mike got though another long Monday of teaching, and Anne colored with my mom, bossing her around the whole time about how to do it "correctly." :0 The night was a success.

Also on my horizon this week is Christmas gifts. I've been knitting, crocheting and beading like the mad women you all know and love. I've been working my way steadily through my list, but of course, the list has undergone some alterations. I will devote a separate post to that at some point. :) I also have a list of items handcrafted by others that I want to get the kids, which use crafts that I decidedly do not excel at. So, we're talking painting and sewing. I've been procuring those little by little since the summer. I have the wooden dolls I mentioned previously, and for Anne I bought a Saint Softie from Saintly Silver on Etsy. She arrived yesterday. :)

This is, of course, Our Lady Star of the Sea, one of my very favorites. :) She is terribly, terribly cute, although not nearly as large as I was expecting. I was thinking this would be something Anne could snuggle with in bed. Well, no. :) She's only 4.5 inches tall, and 2.5 inches wide, a very petite Mary! So this is more in the realm of a small saint doll rather than a cuddleable. But that's ok! She's lovely, and will make a cute stocking stuffer. The dimensions are right there in the description too, apparently your librarian can't read correctly in public. :0 (This is the standard size, fyi. There are in fact listings for larger softies). She's adorable, and check out the back:

A stitched on prayer! All of the dolls have individualized prayers on their backs. A lovely touch. This is *super* cute and a very nice gift for the Catholic child in your life. The owner does have a 5-6 week turnaround time because her shop is so popular, so if you want some for Christmas, better get started now. ;-)

So, I've been tucking all of these things away as the weeks go by. Next on my list is a nativity set for Anne, and I may get her one a wooden one via St. Luke's Brush. We'll see! But I'm excited.

Also! Tomorrow is the feast of St. Therese and we finish her novena up today! Has anybody seen any roses? I haven't, but I wait in joyful expectation. :) AND tomorrow I'm starting the 54 day rosary novena. So if you'd like to join in, have at it! We need to pray a full rosary every day for these 54 days, that runs tomorrow through the last Sunday in Ordinary Time. Who's in?

*beams*

On a difficult morning, gifts to help us remember the importance of intercessory prayer...

Morning everyone. This is always a difficult day each year, and as I was plotting out a prayer plan of attack yesterday :) the mail arrived, and I received some beautiful reminders of our faith and the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. Remembering that we can call upon their prayers brought me great comfort, and I thought I'd share what I received with you all, to perk us up a bit on a very somber morning.

I mentioned previously that I adore saint peg dolls, and I collect them and buy them for my children. Henry, in particular, likes to display his along with the small saint statutes we seem to acquire any time we're at a Catholic gift shop. Henry is a huge fan of the saints, and I had a proud Catholic mother moment when his teacher commented to me how well he does in their religion curriculum and always contributes interesting saint tidbits at impressive intervals.

#beams

I adore instilling a love for the saints into my children, and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to share this with them. A few weeks back, I placed an order with St. Luke's Brush on Etsy for a few new saint dolls. These are the friends that arrived yesterday :) and they and I had a little photo shoot in my office this morning so that I could show them to all of you.

For Henry's Christmas stocking, I chose one of his very favorite saints, St. Isidore the Farmer:

Isn't he amazing?! Here's a side view:

He is depicted carrying a scythe and a sheaf of grain. The detail is just spectacular. I'm so excited to give him to Henry.

For the family generally, to adorn the fireplace mantle, I requested a custom doll since the shop didn't include a listing for her: Our Lady Star of the Sea. The owner/artist (his name is Gary) is *extremely* kind and attentive, and got in touch with me to talk about the imagery to use in the doll. He messaged me a few days ago to let me know that Our Lady was completed, and that he thinks it's one of the best dolls he's ever painted. Given that I had already seen his gorgeous work, I couldn't imagine how this could possibly be even better :0 but I was pretty antsy with excited anticipation. Here she is:

She is *beautiful*! She has a gold star in the center of her nautical wheel, and is holding an anchor. On the sides, you can see the the edges of the anchor:

...and the lovely waves of water:

I am so, so pleased with the dolls. I have Our Lady Star of the Sea on my desk now, and just looking at her makes me feel soothed. Especially on a day like today, it's a wonderful reminder every time I see her to pray a Hail Mary and ask for Our Lady's intercession for peace in our world.

There is now a listing up for Our Lady Star of the Sea, if you or anyone you know has a devotion to her, like I do. :)

Let us all remain in prayer today as much as possible, and ask for the intercession of our family in heaven.

Catholic tchotchkes for everyone!

Happy Wednesday everybody! I've been writing book reviews on Wednesdays for the past 3-4 weeks, but sadly this Wednesday I didn't quite complete my current read, so that will debut a week from today instead. In case anybody wants to read along, my current review selection is Finding Grace by Laura Pearl:

This is a lovely coming-of-age story for Catholic young adults, TONS of interesting moral fodder in here plus interwoven inspiration from the saints - excellent! Look for all the details next Wednesday.

This Wednesday I have shopping on my mind, of the online variety, because is there any better way to shop when you're an introvert? I think not, dear reader. Since I am a person of the crafty persuasion (although if you ever saw me wielding glue in any form along with felt and uncooked macaroni or some other such three dimensional object you would doubt the veracity of that statement) I have quite a fascination with Etsy. I absolutely love handmade items, whether they are made by me or someone else. Every year I like to carefully choose some handmade gifts for my kids in crafts that I stink at am not particularly gifted. ;-) I like to tuck these things into their Christmas stockings, and as you know, I am a bit nuts about starting Christmas shopping right around the vernal equinox.

I've been doing lots of browsing and favoriting of new shops and items, and so thought it would be fun to share my ideas with all of you. I'm certain I'll do another one of these posts prior to the holidays, since this is certainly not an exhaustive list of Etsy shops that I find intriguing. But below are a handful that I've either purchased from recently or am plotting a purchase from soon. Perhaps it'll give you some ideas, and you can leave me your own ideas in the comments!

I've written about saint dolls before, because I sort of love them. Henry has a small collection of wooden ones that he displays, and Anne also has a few. I think this is a lovely way of helping children to keep their favorite saints in mind to intercede for them when something is bothering them. The store that I have previously purchased these from is no longer open, so I was looking around for alternatives. Thus began my obsession with St. Luke's Brush:

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

I mean, did you ever? The detail is *exquisite*. And the selection is second to none. Every saint that immediately came to my mind could be found there, including my confirmation patron St. Cecelia, and my favorite guy ever, St. John Paul II. Here is Henry's favorite saint:

St. Dominic Savio

And she has a custom listing for any saint you want. She will paint it. A-mazing. I found several that I want for my desk at work. :0 Including that St. Kateri featured above, she's beautiful!

This store also carries hand painted rosary cases:

...and I fixated on this First Communion one right away for Henry. I haven't ordered yet, and hand painted items can certainly add up in price because of the sheer amount of work and talent that goes into them, but I plan to carefully select a few saints to purchase in the fall, and will report back in. :)

I also found a few store selling soft saint dolls, and I'm interested in these for Anne. My friend Sarah on Twitter brought Saintly Silver to my attention:

Lovely St. Therese of Lisieux

These are made from felt and are very reasonably priced. She has an excellent selection, and will also custom create any doll you like that she doesn't have listed.  These would make wonderful squeezeable additions to a child's bedtime collection. :)

I also found Sanctus Stitches and while a bit more expensive, check out the detail:

We can tell she is one of my favorites: once again, St. Kateri :)

Gorgeous! Anne could create all sorts of adventures for this St. Kateri, just as she would any of her other dolls. I am positively *itching* to order this.

For rosaries, I have recently purchased from the lovely Rosaries by Allison:

Our Lady Star of the Sea

...and she is just the sweetest and does a beautiful job. She has some gorgeous designs which you should zoom right over to go look at :) and she will custom design anything you like. I have a few Christmas gifts tucked away from this store. *shhhhhh...*

Finally, a secular addition that is absolutely adorable. Anne loves the apron that I wear when I bake, so this immediately spurred me into looking for a child's apron for her, because seriously? PRECIOUS! I ended up ordering her one from  Designs by Dragon Lily:

!!!

I mean, SO CUTE. She was having a Christmas in July sale when I ordered, so I picked out an angels and 3 Wise Men design for Anne that I know she'll love. But so many cute patterns and extremely reasonable prices. She also sells makeup bags, which I'm thinking of getting for myself.

So, now it's your turn. Do you have a favorite Etsy shop? Do detail in the comments. :)

We all need a little retail therapy, so read on to be enabled...

I'm still an emotional basket case, which I think is the prevalent mood this week, so I thought I'd write a light post on some happy shopping that may inspire Mother's Day ideas to cheer us all up.

Right after Easter I was feeling the urge for a new rosary (and thank God, because I've been praying with it non-stop since it arrived last week) and so I contacted the talented Carm over at Unbreakable Rosaries on Etsy. You all know my adoration of Blessed Pope John Paul II, and I don't have a rosary with his likeness on it. Carm has gorgeous, wire-wrapped rosaries (so they will not break, even when coiled up in your pocket or purse and then tugged out to pray on every day) listed in her store, but she also takes custom orders, and I was feeling specific. :) So I gave her my modest price range and asked if she could make me a rosary in cheerful, Easter colors for the Aves, large clear crystals for the Paters, a John Paul II centerpiece, and any crucifix design that she thought looked lovely with it. This is what she made me:

Isn't it stunning? I LOVE it, and I have barely put it down since it arrived last Monday. I had it with me for our sump pump crisis, some sleepless nights with Anne, and now for this very difficult week. I've been praying with it every single day and sleeping with it under my pillow at night. See "Emotional Basket Case" referenced above, supra. The Centerpiece has John Paul II on one side, and Benedict XVI on the other (love!) and the crucifix has cut out hearts on it, with tiny Alpha and Omega symbols on the crossbars. I simply adore it. So, for the Catholic mother in your life, check out Carm's work. :) There is really no other way to say it other than that she is a true artist, and a joy to work with.

Totally unrelated to rosaries, but also very apt Mother's Day gifts, is what I'm about to talk about next. A few months ago, I went to a craft fair with my mother-in-law and kids and we met a vendor selling handmade cold-process soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs, and fragrance roll-ons. I'm a sucker for handmade soap, as is my mother-in-law, and so we bought several bars.

Flash forward to recently and I've been using the soap. LOVE IT. So moisturizing and the thing smells so good that the entire bathroom benefits from its presence in our shower. My mother-in-law also raved about her bar, how good it made her skin feel. So, for Mother's Day, I decided to get in touch with the woman who made them and order baskets for both mothers.

So I did. And she's a total doll. She made me up custom baskets for each mother with 2 soaps, a sugar scrub, a body spray, and a loofah. I also added in 2 bars of soap for myself, plus a few lip balms.

She gave me an outstanding price on everything and included an amazing number of samples of other soap scents plus a sample of her hemp lotion.

Well. It went over big. :) Henry wanted to eat the soap it smelled so good, and Mike (who uses lotion every night on his hands and lower arms) loves the hemp lotion. And the surprising thing is, so do I! I usually hate how greasy lotions make me feel, but this sinks right in and is divine. I was able to pick up from her house since she only lives about 20 minutes from me, but she also has a web page here. The business is called "Soaptini" and via her online form you can order using Paypal. If you live in western New York you can arrange to pick up, like I did, very easy. I highly recommend her stuff. Her name is Kim and she's a real sweetheart. She got started making soap because one of her young sons has a severe skin condition. Her products are all natural. She has a great variety of products and a huge inventory of scents. I've tried:

Oatmeal Stout (beer soap): Absolutely divine.

Cherry Almond: Words cannot capture how good this smells.

Brown Sugar & Butter: !

Monkey Farts: Ok, I hate the name, but she did it to appeal to kids (and it does, Henry has a bar) but it smells FAB, like banana cream pie.

Chocolatini: This is the one Henry wanted to eat; smells like a brownie.

Aloe & Clove: This was the scent in the sample lotion; very fresh and true to its name.

Check out "Soaptini", great Mother's Day gifts. I *need* more of the hemp lotion and have already messaged her on Facebook about picking some up next week. :) Search for SOAPtini on Facebook to like her page and get updates.

Headcovering Central

It's kind of shocking that I've had Downton Abbey Season 3 in my hot little paws since Saturday afternoon (yes, I stalked the mailman; it was waiting by our door as we got back from a public library run, otherwise I would have been p.r.e.t.t.y ticked off about him smoking a cigarette in his truck while my precious DVD's sat frightened and alone in the back....) and I have yet to blog about it. We're very much enjoying it, I'm just taking it all in and I don't want to spoil anybody that hasn't seen it yet. Rest assured, gentle reader, that I'm watching every episode with hawk-like attention to detail and I'm continuing to knit my Lady Violet Gauntlets and Lady Edith Shawl as I do so. Pictures to follow shortly. We've watched through episode 3 so far.

At any rate, I was thinking about Lent starting next Wednesday (!) and about what I'm going to be doing this year. I will devote a whole post to that in the coming week, but I've re-devoted myself to headcovering, and since somebody may want to try that out over Lent (I did, the first year that I started covering at Mass) I thought I would highlight the shops that I buy coverings from.

Headcovering is definitely a topic that elicits strong opinions, but you won't find one here. I do enjoy wearing a headcovering. Why? Honestly, I think they're very pretty. :) And I find that it helps *me* (doesn't apply to everybody, I understand) stay focused more during Mass. I think that it is a lovely way to show reverence, although many show their reverence in other ways.

Anyway, I digress. I have 3 Etsy shops to recommend. I could spend my entire entertainment budget on Etsy, I tell you.

(1) A Snood for All Seasons - Cam's shop features snoods in every color under the rainbow as well as convertible coverings (can be worn in a kerchief style or folded up as a headband). She has her stock divided up by color, so you can browse for your favorite hue to see what styles and fabrics she has available. I have 5 convertible coverings from Cam (2 cotton and 3 lace) and wear them often. I highly recommend her work.

(2) Happy Homestead - Melissa's stretchy lace headbands are just the best thing to ever hit my headcovering world. I LOVE them. In fact, I just ordered 2 more, inspired by this post. :) I justified a red and a pink headband, because you know, Valentine's Day is approaching.

(3) Liturgical Time - I've gotten to "know" :) Michelle this past year via her blog, and a kind and prayerful seller always enhances a headcovering shop in my mind. I haven't yet purchased one of her coverings, but her eternity veil is currently on my wish list and it's only a matter of time before this one makes it into my mailbox.

Lent's approach is a nice time to consider trying out wearing a covering to Mass. Mid-Februray is the ideal time for Ash Wednesday to my mind, I wish it fell this way every year. Mike thinks that Easter should be a fixed feast every year, the first or second Sunday of April. I too think that is ideal timing, but alas, I don't think our tradition with regard to the date of Easter will change. Next year it will be another early March Ash Wednesday which just feels so strange to me. But first we have Lent 2013. Can't wait to share it with you. :)

Oh Etsy, how you tempt me with your enticing ways...

I discovered Etsy several years ago, and it became my favorite spot for buying rosaries and headcoverings. But in the past year, I'm finding myself shopping on there more and more, and I have to admit that I'm quite addicted. I love the allure of handmade items, so I purchase quite a few gifts on there (for items that I can't make myself, like jewelry, soap, belly dance veils, and patterns) not to mention the yarn, my God the yarn. In fact, I have some self-striping Valentine's yarn on its way to me right now from the lovely Laurel of Spinning Fates.

At any rate, I thought I would review my most recent Etsy acquisition, an interchangeable knitting needle case from SouthernWoolies. This is the case that I bought (all photos from SouthernWoolies):

My situation was thus: I have (ah hem) a LOT of knitting needles. I no longer buy fixed circular needles (with the exception of 16" circulars that I use to make hats) and instead have a few interchangeable sets. Ok, *several* sets. So, I have tips in different sizes, and then cords that screw into the tips so that I can make them 24", or 32", or larger, depending on what I'm making. Theoretically, this should save you money, but naturally I have mostly offset this potential cost saving measure by acquiring interchangeable tips in multiple different materials. I have a wood set, because wood needles are my very favorite. But I also have tips in metal and some in acrylic. Each interact differently with different types of yarn, so I like to have options with whichever tip I choose for an individual project. I'm a compulsive knitter, I can't help it. And I love my needles.

My metal set has it's very own case that I tote around with me, but my other needles do not. So what I did last year was head to JoAnn's to find a solution, feeling all crafty and self-sufficient. I ended up buying this large plastic bin for art supplies, dividing it up into labeled slots that would fit my tips, and happily slapping them all in there. I also had some squares that I squeezed my fixed 16" circulars into, plus the other cables. The cables weren't too happy about this, but I told them that they had to manage.

PROS:

All my tips fit inside.

CONS:

The cables were very unhappy and uncoiled themselves every.single.time I opened the bin.

The 16" fixed circulars rebelled regularly and stuck out all akimbo.

When I added a needle sizer to the mix the bin refused to close.

The tips rolled around in their slots and made a giant racket every time I got the bin out.

The entire shebang was gigantic and took up precious shelf space in our guest room closet.

"What's that noise? Did it start to hail outside?"

"No, Mommy just got her knitting needles down."

As you can see, the cons far outweighed the pros. And like any good overachiever, I trudged on with my crappy needle bin, resenting it more and more every time I had to wrench it out from amongst my swift, yarn winder, and guest pillows and blankets that sit atop the single shelf in the guest room closet, listen to its grating rattle, and then wedge it back in. I so long for my own "craft room," but that dream is a far, far off one, dear reader. For the time being, I'm sharing space in the single room that is the guest quarters, Mike's office, the kids play area, and our general "not sure where else to put this" space like my belly dance sword, costumes, and our DVD collection.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I turned to Etsy.

Beautiful hand-sewn knitting cases abounded. I found several that I liked, but the ones featured on SouthernWoolies were my favorite, and the listing said that the tip slots were large enough to hold more than 1 set. Bingo! I ordered the fetching lime and black print that you see above.

It arrived yesterday. I immediately pounced on it, unwrapped it, and took out my awful needle bin one last time to get my tips. I slid everything inside.

*ANGELS SING*

I fit all of my wood and acrylic tips in, plus ALL of my 24", 32" and 40" cables (of which I have, you know, *many*). There is still more room for additional tip sizes should I acquire them. Even my needle sizer fits in with ease, along with my little tightener to screw the tips into the cables.

*bliss*

And the whole thing folds up, closes with a magnet, looks smashing, and is barely larger than my hand. I tell you, I never thought such a miracle was possible. My cables issued a personal thank-you, slipping into their nooks with ease and staying coiled like a dream. A flap folds down over everything so that nothing will slip out, and it sits on the shelf barely taking up any space at all. I have a small, separate pouch that I popped the 16" fixed circulars into so that they wouldn't look messy in my lovely new case, although they *would* fit if I put them in there. If I wanted, I could *easily* fit this case into my knitting bag and have all of my needle tips with me. Not only is it small, it's super light.

The seller offers iron on size labels which I didn't get (although I probably should have) and she also makes ereader covers and baby hats and bonnets. I'm very pleased with my new case. Definitely have a look at her shop if you are in the market for a handmade case, the prices are more than reasonable and my item is well made with care.

Hurray for Etsy!

Be still my heart...

I've been really into my knitting and crocheting of late. Besides my dancing, it's my hobby of choice. I've also been very good about finishing up projects that I've already started. I mean, I've always got more than one project going. Different projects for different settings for different needs. Currently, I have a shawl and a sweater on the needles, plus the Downton Abbey mystery gauntlets for the knit-along, plus the gift I'm making for Karen which will soon be done. To me, that sounds very reasonable. :)

Since I'm about to finish something, today while I was eating lunch I was playing around on Etsy looking at crochet toy patterns. I love to make toys. So along with some socks for the kids (with Finding Nemo self-striping clown fish yarn courtesy of the talented Abi Grasso), I was thinking one of my new projects would be some toys. Henry loves the hippo I made him, and I have a few things in mind for Anne and my nephews. I search for "Crochet Toy Pattern."

Cute results occur. On the second page or so I spot a crocheted wolf that I fall in love with on the spot. I admire him. I look through the other patterns in the store (all very nice, but none grab me the way the wolf does. Well, there is a reindeer that I ogled, but he's not in season right now). I send the link to my knitting group. Next thing you know, I can't imagine my life without the wolf. I have him queued up for purchase and soon he will be MINE.

As I'm searching, I come across a link to another Etsy store that sells safety eyes. I own many safety eyes, I use them on nearly every toy that I make. I don't embroider eyes (because I'm not that good at it) unless the toy is going to an infant. You have to be careful, even with safety eyes, for choking hazards. I usually buy them from Knit Picks when I'm ordering yarn. Although their selection of eyes (*snorts*) is small, they have the basic sizes and colors and I haven't needed anything other than that. Or so I thought.

That is until I discovered this store. Safety eyes in every conceivable color and size, and what immediately caught my eye were the larger eyes. I favor larger eyes, and the biggest that Knit Picks carries is 12mm, which work just great for most faces, don't get me wrong. But this place has gigantic safety eyes, and sometimes you just want big eyes, kwim? But then, BUT THEN, gentle reader, I discovered something that was heretofore unknown to me. What is that, you ask?

SAFETY NOSES.

Safety noses!! I about fell out of my chair. Visions of cute nosed animals filled my head. Heart-shaped noses, pug dog noses, TRIANGLE NOSES! I also found googly eyes, eyes with eyelashes, and slitted cat eyes. My life flashed before me. Next thing you knew, my cart was full of pink noses and big brown eyes.

I LOVE ETSY.

My package of eyes and noses is due to arrive next week.

*halo*

Are these ghosts out to get me?

Last night I cast on for my self-patterning ghostie socks (yarn available through KnitPurlGurl on etsy).

*squeals*

I've been SO excited for these socks, and I knit so often for others that I felt I deserved to just indulge and knit something that I really wanted to knit, and knit it for ME, ALL FOR ME.

*Henry happens by the ghostie kit on my side table*

"Oh! Ghosts will be on these socks? Mommy, are you making these for m..."

"NO! They're um, just for Mommy, Sweetie. I'll make you other socks."

"But..."

"Sorry! No ghosts for you."

After Henry was safely tucked away from my yarn in bed, I got out my swift and ball winder and wound the patterning hank of yarn.

I was quite pleased with myself.

Then I got out the pattern.

You need to start the patterning section with a green stripe and I quickly discovered that the first stripe I came to in my ball was orange.

S*%!

It was wound backwards. And I really wanted to pull from the center of the ball, rather than the outside. This meant rewinding the yarn, by hand, back onto the swift in the reverse order, and then winding a fresh ball on the winder.

20 minutes later my back was killing me, but I had my yarn perfectly balled. I happily cast on with the bright orange yarn for the ribbed section of the cuff.

Today at knitting lunch, I picked my cuff back up with much excitement. The colors are just vibrant and beautiful in this yarn. I finished off the orange part and triumphantly cut the yarn to attach the patterning section. I begin to knit.

Once again, I pick that moment to remember to look at the pattern. Prior to the ghosts are 3 stripes of color: green, black and orange. The pattern says that you should get about 2 rows of each color and that means that your gauge is on.

Don't you just love that word: "About."

I knit my green stripe. I begin black prior to getting 2 full rows in, but it's only *about* 2 rows, so we're all good.

I look at the pattern again. Uh oh. "...about 2 rows, give or take a stitch or two."

Crap. I should have read that sooner. I have a lot fewer than 2 stitches where the color turned over to black too soon. Never one to learn a lesson in a real quick-like fashion, I knit on.

I knit the black stripe. Somehow, that one is far too long before I get to the orange. Aaaannnddd once again, the orange is too long before I get to the ghosts. I pray that somehow the ghosts will still match up and knit on. Hope springs eternal, you know.

Right. They don't.

There are eyes everywhere and white body pieces where there shouldn't be any. I'm pretty sure that even ghosts aren't supposed to be quite this disembodied.

Sigh. I pulled back to the orange cuff and have the stitches safely ensconced on stitch holders. I need to change needle sizes. I hoping that on my next attempt the ghosts cooperate, otherwise their lives are about to get a lot more difficult. I do NOT like to rip back my work, and one of them may be sacrificed if things go awry again.

I'm certain their little white bodies are trembling.

If things go well tonight, perhaps I will post a picture of them in progress tomorrow. *narrows eyes in the direction of yarn bag*

I'm already started my Christmas shopping. No, I don't think I'm overdoing it...

This year, I've been in the holiday spirit for quite some time. Hopefully, this will carry through all the way to the actual holiday, but I'm optimistic.

Toward that end, like I mentioned before, I have already started Christmas (as well as pre-Christmas general winter gifts) knitting, and my list is trimmed down considerably from last year, guaranteeing (or at least I hope so) that I won't be a miserable, cranky knitter come Christmas day, stitching resentment into all of my handcrafted gifts. As well, I plotted some stocking stuffers for my kids, and I wanted to feature some of them today.

I'm all excited about these saint peg dolls that I bought from my friend Cam's etsy store, Sadie's Saints. (Photos below are from Cam's store; go check out her dolls!)

These are small wooden pegs that Cam has painted as different saints. If your child has a book of saints (in which the saints definitely sound pretty daring and swashbuckling) they can act out scenes with them, and place them on a shelf to admire when they're not in action. The details on these are amazing, they're just beautiful. I even bought one for myself!

For Anne, I got (the obvious) St. Anne:

And St. Therese:

For Henry, I chose St. Michael the Archangel (his wings are amazing in the back!):

And St. Maximillan Kolbe, his favorite saint:

This was a custom doll that Cam made because I asked her to! She hadn't pre-designed it.

For myself, I got Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha:

She's currently resting comfortably on my desk. :)

I just love these dolls, they're beautiful. Hank loves little figurines, so  I know he'll enjoy putting them on his bedside table. I don't want Anne to destroy hers, so I'll keep them on her shelf for a bit until she's older. But I plan to put them in their Christmas stockings, and I can't wait until they see them!

You can ask Cam to custom make you any saint that she doesn't have listed in her store, and she has packages wherein you can get a discount for ordering multiple dolls. Definitely check out her shop!