Currently creating - 25th February

Wow - how did it get to the 25th of February already!

So - my weekly contribution to the Champagne and Socks virtual craft circle - this time with actual photos!

This week I intend to finally send the finished Elphieblanket on its way.  I really love the yarn I used for this one - Patons Rainbow in "Rainforest".  I bought some more of it while it was on sale, in a different colourway - I'll have to find an appropriate project for that.

On the Jabyblanket, I've so far kept to my intention to complete at least one repeat of the pattern per day, and I'm up to 19 of 27.

Our cat Bard insisted on being included in my photo of progress so far.

In other types of creativity - after many tries, and *just* before they officially discontinued the set (damn you, LEGO), we finally got our hands on the Research Institute set - this being the three female scientists set that was voted for by the public and was made in such ludicrously low numbers for such things... but anyway...

We finally got our Research Institute and had great fun building it.  Have a LEGO dinosaur.

Lego Christmas

By M.

For the last couple of years i've been getting steadily more addicted to lego building. Yes, it's something random to get interested in at the age of 30ish but hey, i've always been late to the party. It started because of an assignment - I had to interview a child and work out what developmental age they were. I borrowed a friends 8 year old who loves lego and because part of this was watching them classify objects I grabbed some lego and used it as a teaching tool - and then realised how much fun it was to play with and how relaxing it is.

Anyways, last year after Christmas, H. and I went to Canberra for a couple of days. While we there we noticed some "Christmas Winter Village" Lego sets and while we didn't buy them I came home and asked my best friend for one of the sets for my 30th - he bought me all three saying it would count for the next Christmas and birthday as well...

So on December 1st we built the sets and here is what they look like put together...



After sending it to the Best Friend who gave us the sets he replied, like any good former police officer, it needed more security. Now I don't have a lego police station and didn't feel like building one but figured the Doctor was even better than a police officer. So my Doctor Who Mini-figs joined the Christmas set...






So Merry Christmas from our Christmas Village to you and your family/loved ones!

Decoration of the day - Day 7

Welcome to Stutters Hollow.

You've heard of Stars Hollow, yes?  The ridiculously picture perfect Connecticut village where Lorelai and Rory lived in Gilmore Girls, with a town square and a gazebo and a hardware store-turned-diner among other things.

Last year we asked S's friend for one of the three "Winter Village" kits as a Christmas present.  He gave us all three.  Where H's mother has a Villeroy and Boch village that she sets up in the fireplace, we figured that a Lego village suits Chez Stutters far better.

So we have a bakery, and ice skating lake, a tree, a gazebo, a post office and truck, a Christmas tree-selling stand, a horse and wagon to carry the trees, a toy shop, and a great big Christmas tree for the centre of the town square.

H has since had the ridiculous idea of writing a 12 days of Stutters Hollow to begin on Boxing Day.  Why I would want to continue this post-a-day idea beyond the initial planned 25 days, I don't know, but that's the plan.  Unless I hear screams of horror at the idea, of course.

Decoration of the Day - Day 4

LEGO Advent Calendars

Blacksmith and anvil, forge, weapons stand and knight with mace.

H doesn't like the advent calenders with chocolates every day.  (It's her mother's influence).  She had one that came out every year, made by her Godmother, with a felt tree and felt decorations, held on the tree with velcro dots.  There were 25 pockets, and 25 decorations, finishing with the star on the top of the tree on Christmas Day.  (For next year, H is planning to have a 25-day Jesse Tree, as long as she manages to get around to making it.)

But last year, Chez Stutters found the awesomest version of an advent calendar EVER: a LEGO advent calendar.  Last year, the only one we could find was LEGO City - with a cops and robbers theme.  Since then we've discovered JustBricks.com.au and during the year we bought previous years' Star Wars and Kingdoms Advent Calendars.  This year, we have an advent calender each (H has Kingdoms, S has Star Wars) and we can rotate among the three in the years to come.

H really does love having something to build each day (so does S - she's usually the first to point out that the day's build hasn't yet been revealed) rather than just a chocolate.  So much more fun - and healthier, too!