I like to do handwork and I’ll do anything except needlepoint and patchwork quilting. I hated needlepoint so much, I didn’t even finish a small piece I tried and I quit my patchwork quilt project before I finished the first square. I enjoy sewing, knitting, tatting, crocheting, embroidering, and counted cross-stitching. I like to do kits too, like paint-by-number and the Diamond Art kit Kathy and Annette gave me for my birthday last spring. When our kids were little, I made a lot of Christmas tree ornament kits; I sewed quilt kits for Thom and Kari as well as an original DJS design quilt for Teddy; and I made three 15-piece ceramic nativity scenes–one for myself, one for my parents, and one for Ted’s parents. I especially enjoy challenging projects and I have a very challenging project in progress right now. More on that when I finish it–hopefully by my goal of late February.

Thanks to COVID, I had time on my hands this year and decided to give some handmade items as Christmas gifts. I always have at least one handwork project in progress, but I often choose to engage in other activities, so it takes awhile for me to finish a project. With a Christmas deadline and the world in lockdown, I dedicated my spare time to gift-making.

In the spring, I made about 125 face masks for the family. In the summer, I saw an online pattern for table runners and napkins and decided to try another sewing project. I made three sets (in order below): one for Ted and me, another for Kathy and Annette, and a third for Kari’s family.

Then I switched to knitting and made dishcloths for Kathy and Annette, Kari, and my friend, Liz. Here are some of the dishcloths.

In the early 1980s, I made an advent calendar for our family. We hung it every year and the kids liked to take the ornaments out of the pockets and hang them on the Christmas tree.

At some point (college, her St. Charles apartment?), Kari wanted an advent calendar of her own and mine was looking worn, so we worked together and made one for each of us. Thom wanted one too, so I made one for him. This Christmas, Katie sent me a picture of Sefton continuing the advent calendar tradition, hanging the ornaments on the calendar I made for Thom. The DIY Christmas tradition lives on.