Christmastime, Mistletoe and Twine

Over the past week, I've been knitting up a Christmas cardigan for Tilly with this gorgeous red-and-white striped wool, using this free pattern. I love how the two-toned wool comes together -- not too pepperminty, not much too like a candy cane -- and looks like it would be right at home on a little Danish baby!

And all that striped wool inspired me to pull out the roll of baker's twine. Our house at Christmas is almost all red and white (with the exception, of course, of the Russian Doll cones!) and so baker's twine is a perfect compliment.

(source)

Use it to string up decorations:

(source)

To tie a gift bag closed:

(tutorial)

To keep your Christmas cookies neatly in a pile:

(source)

Or, for a bit of simple charm, it would look lovely just wound around an old wooden spool:

(source)

So, don't let ribbon have the monopoly on Christmas trim again this year -- give baker's twine a try! And, as always, please post a link if you do, as I'd love to see!

(linking to My Creative Space today!)

A New Take On An Old Favourite

Ever since Spool created their free bird mobile pattern, everyone with a needle and a baby has been sewing birdie upon birdie from fabric scraps. 

The original Spool mobile:

I started making a mobile for Tilly last winter using their pattern, and yesterday, it finally hung above her bed. Now, I made a few changes to the design, for a few reasons. Firstly, because I got sick and tired of sewing birds. Yes, it's a simple pattern, but hand-stitching fiddly, fraying, curved-pieces of cotton is not my cup of tea. Give me felt any day. So, sewing four birds is all I could bear. And secondly, because I do not trust my branch-balancing skills enough to put sharp pointy wooden "spears" above Tilly's bed. Forget SIDS, I'd be worried about SIKS (Sudden Infant Kebab Syndrome).

So, my birdies perch comfortably on embroidery hoops, each swinging at his own pace. I don't think anyone has ever had an organ pierced by an embroidery hoop.

Tilly is fascinated by her new birdie friends... perhaps too much so. When she woke me up this morning, it was because she was tired. I have a feeling she'd been up for an hour or so already, just happily staring at her birds!