Yo! Yes?*

Hoo boy! I am really excited about this Christmas project, shamelessly stolen from Amanda (if you don't read her blog, by golly you should start).

I have all these yo-yos I started making way back in...uh...2003, I think. Was it? I think it was. Yes, yes, it was '03. My plan at the time was to use them for some sort of little quilt - possibly a mantel cover for Christmastime or something. But at the time we were living in an apartment and didn't even have a mantel, so I didn't rush on the project, and you know what happens...of course it got shoved into a box and put in the craft cabinet.


The fabric is Nancy Halvorsen's Christmas collection from way back when - I don't remember what she called it. It was distributed by Benartex, I do remember that. She is by far my favorite fabric designer, and I bought lots of this collection. During the holidays I have to physically stay away from quilt shops because I WILL buy Halvorsen fabrics, and a) I need more fabric like I need a hole in the head, and b) I can't afford to buy any more fabric, especially at this time of year.

Anyway, these circles have been cut and sitting in a box forever. I had 1/8 yard strips (about 4.5" wide) of each fabric, and traced a Rubbermaid container closest to that size to get consistent circles. Then I just tie off a length of thread, and make a not-very-fancy running stitch along the edge, folding the fabric over to the wrong side as I go. At the end I pull it up and knot it off. Voila, yo-yo!

I'm now planning to get these done in the next few days and make a garland out of them. Awesome! Hubs hates regular garland (I happen to love it, but I will sacrifice sparkly silver garland for the sake of our marital happiness), so I'm hoping this will be an acceptable substitute. Our (artificial) tree is on its way to us from Home Depot, and with clear lights and lots of our old childhood ornaments, I think this will look quite sweet. Stay tuned for finished project photos and a tree-modeling shot!

Also stay tuned for photos of Daughter's new winter hat that I whipped up last night and this morning. I wanted her to have an earflap hat with ties, so I sort of designed one. It's done but currently being bossed into shape on my blocking board (I hope) because the edges were curling. I'd also like to embellish it with some embroidery, maybe, to match her coat. We'll see what happens!

*with apologies to Chris Raschka.