on the sixth day of Christmas

I'll tell you what my true love gave to me, but first, let's set the scene:

We had a wet Christmas. This gave me an excellent excuse to stay in my pajamas all day.

Iris had her own ideas about proper Christmas attire. Immediately upon waking, she donned her party dress, a velvet and taffeta number which she wore virtually constantly between its bestowal by Auntie Gaile and its forced consignment to the laundry by her mother.


Unfortunately, the magic of Christmas morning was undercut by her tears at finding that Santa had come – and gone. More than the presents he'd left, she wanted to meet the man. But she rallied (putting on the party dress helped), as we see in this picture of her regarding the bounty under the tree.

Now, finally I can reveal what I have been making lo these many weeks!

First, a quilted blanket for Iris, nice and big, to replace her inadequate baby blankets with which we have been making do up till now. It's three layers of cozy flannel, a solid and a print sandwiching a piece of a retired old bedsheet. All in all, a very satisfying project.



Here it is in action. She sleeps on a mattress on the floor now since there is no way her behomoth of a crib is getting moved out of her room – not that a certain party could settle her head for a long, or even a short, winter's nap on Christmas:


Iris also got the new and improved version of one of the shirts from my to-do list back in September, finally finished just in time for Christmas. The original plan was a Totoro applique, but for some reason that idea was a bit intimidating and I kept not doing it. Then the Woollyhoodwinks came into our lives, and with them Iris' consistent declaration that Ludic is her "best girlfriend in the whole neighborhood," and presto! a new idea was born.


Now, since our family Christmas m.o. is to give just one or maybe two gifts from each to each, I could and should have stopped there. But in a modest version of getting carried away, I could not resist making her this scarf from the same soft fleecy knit as my father's scarf. Iris' is based on an imported one I saw in a schmancy children's boutique. I feel vaguely guilty that I stole an idea rather than supporting a local business. But the budget would not support the purchase of something I could make myself for a miniscule fraction of the cost, and Iris and I are pretty happy with how the homemade version turned out.


I can't decide if my favorite part is the nose, which is a painted wooden bead, or the tail, a shred of a striped T-shirt I've had since college.

For J, freezer paper strikes again, this time in the form of the great emancipator. I make him wear it every time I listen to my Sufjan Stevens Come on Feel the Illinoise cd, which is to say, constantly.


And from him to me, homemade candles from stubs and drippings we've hoarded over the years, because we're thrifty in odd little ways like that.


I hope everyone's holiday was full of light, love, and sweet relaxation.