Smoking Hooks

I’m sure I’m not the only person caught up in the rush of down-to-the-last-minute Holiday Crafting! In my defense I wasn’t slacking, I just had to finish the Paid Commissions before I could focus on the family presents. But it does leave me feeling a little bit like Lola as there are only 3 days until Christmas Eve when I’ll be exchanging presents with my family.

Obviously I can’t share certain pictures yet because they would spoil the holiday surprise for the recipients, but I can share my biggest and most fun Commission of this holiday season. It was ordered by my co-worker, Linda, who also holds the distinction of being my first customer and my best repeat customer.

This year she wanted a Pink and Purple Smiley Face Pillow, a Stuffed Turtle, and a Custom Pillow. The pillow was designed by the recipient and I was given the challenge of translating a little girl’s design into a crochet-able pattern/color chart.

Challenge Accepted. I tried running a basic Paint Mock-up of the piece through several pattern creator websites, but I just wasn’t happy with what they produced. So I went back to the drawing board and created my own pattern chart by hand.

  The turtle was fun and gave me an excuse to revisit a pattern I spied on Pinterest. Admittedly, I didn’t check the gauge before starting in on the project, so it’s a bit bigger than I originally anticipated. But on the plus side, I had a great deal of Hunter Green yarn sitting around looking for a good use, so I did accomplish some Stash Busting with this one.

There isn’t much to say about the Smiley Pillow. Carolina received a Blue and Yellow Smiley Pillow last year, and the younger sister, Emily, wanted a Purple and Pink one this year.

 

Overall, I’m really pleased by how all three turned out and, even more gratifying, Linda was ecstatic to receive them. She’s told me multiple times she’s not sure she can give “Charlie” up to Eduardo. Even James threatened that the turtle wouldn’t be leaving the house! He was fun to work on.

In other Holiday Office news we had our Secret Santa Exchange today. By some strange and fortuitous coincidence my Secret Santa and I got each other, so Taze received a Purple Crochet Owl Ornament and candy and I got a set of Crochet Hooks, a Project Bag, and Dr. Pepper.

Honestly, I own all the hook sizes I received. BUT, I only own one of each of those particular hook sizes and I do like having multiples of each size so that I can keep hooks tucked in project bags, or just to have backups for when I inevitably misplace a hook.

Taze was pleased with his gift. He even clipped the owl to his sweater to wear around the office today. He and his close friend (maybe girlfriend?) have been thinking about getting something for a while, so now he has something and she doesn’t. At least that’s how he put it. ^-^

But, I need to return to my hooks and finish off these last few things before they become IOU gifts! Then, I can take a small break before returning to the orders queued up for the beginning of January. All together, it’s not a bad position to be in as we approach the end of the year.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!