First Finish of the Year

No, these are not extremely early for Christmas 2018, though I have every intention of starting early this year, and, indeed have already begun a dishcloth for next Christmas. Since I was able to purchase this haul of yarn for $0.99/skein (with Tinker's approval),

I'm already ahead of the game. But the potholders above and the dishcloth below, while they are my first finishes of 2018,

they are actually for this past Christmas (and most of them were started before year's end). However, as I live in an area with a high percentage of the population being of Ukrainian descent, and Ukrainian Christmas isn't until January 7, I'm really not late! 

As you can see, Mystery approves. And no, I do not have to encourage him to pose for these pictures. He just likes being in the centre of wherever my attention is focused.

I got to use some of my very yummy Aurifil thread in holiday colours. The red and green came from the box in the background.  It's the Home for the Holidays collection from Craftsy. I think I bought it in the Black Friday sale, but I'm not sure. I've placed several orders with Craftsy lately (Black Friday,  Boxing Day, end of year), that I'm not sure I can remember what came in which order. Not that I have all of my orders yet.  Still some exciting parcels on their way!

I decided to give my neighbours Christmas gifts this year. That's what all the dishcloths and potholders are for. I delivered most of them this evening. The first neighbours, however, did not answer their door, even though I could see lights on in the house.  I was going to open the screen door and hang the gift bag on the doorknob,  but the screen door was locked. So that wasn't even an option.  I know some people don't really use their front doors much. I don't, but I have a side door with easy access from the street. These neighbours only have a back door in a mostly enclosed backyard. I really don't think it's polite to wander around in people's fenced-in yards. Evidently, they don't want unexpected company.  Or maybe no company at all. So, unless I happen to catch them coming or going, I might just have to choose another neighbour to be the recipient of their gift. The rest of the neighbours answered their doors, up until the last one. These people have a big, nasty dog and a "Beware of Dog" sign on their front window. (Obviously, they don't want company either). I really didn't want them to answer! The dog started barking before I even knocked. So I knocked,  hung the gift bag on their doorknob  (they don't have a screen door), and left before they could open the door and let "Brutus" out to eat me. Actually, I have no idea what that dog's name is, but Brutus seems like a good name for a dog with such an unlovely  disposition. Or maybe "Killer." I have yet to figure out why people keep such animals. Makes me wonder what goes on behind closed doors... At least they walk him regularly, which I'll give them credit for, as I've seen them go by in the early morning or evening on several occasions. But he doesn't have a muzzle on, which would make me rather nervous should I meet them on the sidewalk. 
Anyway,  I am writing this on my tablet with a stylus and the onscreen keyboard. What a pain! But my computer is "Working on updates 27% Don't turn off your PC. This will take a while." A while??? I started it before I even turned on my tablet. Meanwhile,  I went upstairs, retrieved my tablet, booted it up, and composed this whole post without the benefit of a full keyboard, and the updates are still only at 27%!!! And unfortunately, I can't add pictures to my blog post when working on my tablet. So, I will have to save this to draft and come back later to add the pictures if and when my computer ever stops updating.
<SIGH> It wasn't the tablet. I wasn't able to add pictures to this post from the computer either. I had to download them to the computer, and then upload them to the blog before I could add them here. I don't know what's with that. I haven't had this problem adding pictures taken with my Android phone directly here before... Oh well.
Happy New Year, everyone!

2017 Crafting Year in Review

This year (2017) I started working on my Ph.D in earnest. Or rather my PHD as in Projects Half Done because I'm quite sure I ended the year with more WIPs (Works In Progress) and UFOs (UnFinished Objects) than I had at the beginning of the year. So, for 2018, I'm determined to not buy any more yarn or fabric, other than what I might need to finish a project, and not start any more projects until I've gotten more of my projects finished. However, events like the birth of a baby can interfere with that goal...
So, I'm going to take this opportunity to review what I have actually finished in 2017, which to me doesn't seem like much. 
The first project I finished was the train cardigan for my grandson.

The next project to get finished (hurray) was the Bluenose II Pixel Quilt. 

If I had to pick one project as my quilting masterpiece, this would be it. And the amount of labour involved reflects that. 

It was definitely a labour of love. 

Stars All Around was completed in April.

On Guard for Thee is a table runner that I started and completed in a relatively short period of time. 

It was for a Canada 150 mystery quilting challenge.

I didn't win, but I still have a great table runner.

Floating Stars, my second red, white and blue star quilt was up next. 

The Lakeshore Adventures quilt was also completed relatively quickly.

The Shamrock Pillow was my next finish.

If I had to name a crocheting masterpiece that I have completed, Janet's Flower Garden would be it.

 It, too, was a pretty intense labour of love.

Though not finished promptly, at least Celtic Ballad was begun and ended in the same year.

 For this project, I tried my hand at fabric origami for the first time.

Then there was a fabric decoupage ornament,

a Christmas tree skirt,

with matching garlands,

pajamas for my grandson (first garment sewing I've done in years),

dishcloths,

and hot potholders.

Plus all of the craft projects I worked on with my grandson. 

I guess I didn't do too badly. I also have a few quilt tops completed and waiting to be quilted. I'm finding it rather tedious to get somewhere to do the quilting. My goal is still to own my own longarm quilting machine and to that end, some of my time and money in 2018 will need to be spent on getting more basement renovations done. 

I'm not going to review all of my WIPs, UFOs and PHDs. I'm not even sure I could find them all at the moment, but suffice it to say that they are plenteous.