stitches

 There have been needles flying this weekend here Under Rainbows.
When Rebe was still tiny my mum made a beautiful advent calendar. 24 little red gingham bags tied with green ribbon pegged onto a red cord. Every year she makes such an effort and sends or brings a box filled with little gifts and chocolates to fill the bags. The kids take it in turns each morning to open the bag, receive a gift and deal out the chocolates. On Friday it was Rebe's turn to open the advent calendar.She got this beautiful cross stitch. At first she was a little hesitant but after the first row became completely addicted.

 After 6 hours straight stitching on Saturday whilst listening to a Harry Potter audiobook she had finished it!

 Benny wanted to try as well. I managed to get large Aida in town and we made a simple pattern for him to follow and he is now also addicted. Didn't they do well.
 And as everyone else was stitching I joined in...

 a tooth pillow for Benny whose 2 front teeth are very wobbly and will soon come out.
I also started working on the large pile of repairs I had....

 

I left Benny's jeans a little late though and something moved in before I could put a patch on the hole. Now he says I can't patch them on the 'thing' that has moved in won't be able to get back out. Oh well!

This little lady is going through some massive changes at the moment. She has been eating solid food for a couple of weeks now. She showed little sign of sitting up or clapping until last Thursday when she all of a sudden just did both, perfectly. We think that is how Ena will be, just like her birth, no sign of it at all then all of a sudden completely mastered! All these changes, and the slow emergence of her teeth are taking their toll on her though, her sleep is very disturbed and she is cranky with it all. Poor thing, but it will all pass and we are just taking it one day at a time.

this year's dolls...

Actually these are only the dolls that I made since September and I am now finished for this year.
Oh I am so lucky to have found something that I love doing so much; something that I can work around the kids and our family life and something that brings so much joy to little people all over the world.
I have had some wonderful projects again this year.
What is most marked about this years dolls is that so many of them are dolls for boys, an upshot of having written 4 published articles about boys and dolls and also recently having done a radio talk show too.
I realise that I write very little about my dolls (and indeed everything) here and I will try and change that in the coming weeks.
 I am also delighted that several of these dolls are sibling dolls, made for the little brothers and sisters of people who already have one of my dolls. That is amazing feedback in itself!
But it has been a busy few months, I have worked mostly with Ena napping in the sling on my back and I know that in the coming year this will change, not only as I feel the muscles in my shoulders burning under her weight, but she is growing up, needing fewer naps, needing more time doing things and exploring the world and we can't do that from my work room.
Also when there has been time I have been sewing rather than doing anything else, so the housework has been terribly neglected, I haven't baked as much, or walked as much and I feel the need for more balance. So in 2016, although I currently have 17 dolls on my waiting list, I will pace myself slowly, allow time for other things, other crafting and above all time to show Ena the world.
But as always I am grateful for this skill that I have found, for the people who support me and the wonderful feedback that I get.