Well, I have several happy dances to post, now that they have been properly gifted.
Baby Hsueh's Blankie
First is a baby blankie for a December baby. Baby Hsueh was born amidst the holiday rush and to be honest, I still don’t know what his parents named him. They sort of waited to the birth certificate to come to a final decision on his name. The blanket was crocheted using Paton’s Beehive Baby Sport weight yarn in the natural Boy colorway using a pattern called Sleepy Shells.
The original pattern called for switching between two colors, but I knitted it the whole way through with the variegated yarn. I’m happy with the way it turned out, although I’ll admit that the shells would have stood out more if I had switched between two solid colors. Of course, the blanket is incredibly soft, with a nice drape rather than the stiff feel of other blankets I’ve seen when the tension is so tight that the blanket just seems to make your skin itch. Even the softest yarn can seem itchy scratchy if the blanket was crocheted too tightly.
Beaded Scarf for Mandy's Mom
My next happy dance was a favor to a friend, intended for her mother. I’d knitted my first beaded scarf for Mandy earlier this year and her mother absolutely loved it too. Thus, for Christmas, Mandy asked me to knit one for her mother in black with teal colored beads. Normally I don’t work with black ,but I have to admit that this scarf turned out beautifully and the beads look fantastic against the black.
The pattern is Swallow Creations Ltd, which is under new management. Obtaining the thread and the beads was a bit of a circus, requiring quite a few emails and phone calls, but the new owner of the company is quite nice and very eager to make things work. Given a little more time to get her stock back together, I think it will be nice to order from her in the future. I’d probably also mention that the online store could definitely do with an overhaul and redesign.
Mandy's Throw Blankie
Speaking of Mandy, I was with her when she chose her living room furniture. It’s a lovely tan set with black accents in the pillows and cushions. She was worried, though, that she’d be limited to a tan and black color pallette for her living room because of the set. I had grabbed a few toss pillow from around the store to show her that she could still have the rich colors she loved in her living room as accents to the furniture. She bought the set, and it really IS incredibly comfy as well as stylish. Of course, after buying her new condo, the living room set, her bedroom set and redoing her bathroom – she’s a tad tapped out and waiting to recover before moving on to further decorating in her home. I’d be too. 
Since I know she loves curling up in her living room with her two kittens, Smidge and Sketch, and I know she wanted that splash of color…I crocheted her a throw blanket in a brilliant jewel toned red. The color looks awesome on her and I was pretty certain it was the color she wanted for the room. The throw blanket is of Lion Brand Homespun in Candy Apple and I crocheted this one with a more stable pattern of: alternating 1 row DC, 2 row SC, finishing with a nice SC border all around the edge.
When she dropped by to pick up her mother’s scarf, the blanket was waiting for her. She loved it, as far as I could tell. 
Hubby's Mom's Throw Blankie
And speaking of throw blankets, I made one for my mother in law for Christmas as well. I let hubby pick the color, which was the Lion Brand Homespun in Williamsburg blue. She has a love of comfy warm blankets that I absolutely relate to and so I couldn’t let the winter season go by without making her one.
We gifted it to her with a few other presents on Christmas Eve with his family. I hope she gets many evenings of reading in, cozy with the throw blanket tucked around her.
They showered us in gifts and warm family feelings on Christmas Eve and I wanted to give her something that would give her warmth on any chilly night.
Click any pic to embiggen.
And finally, I have a confession. I’d made a scarf for hubby’s sister also. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to take a picture of it, or even give it to her. On my recent trip to San Diego, I’d had it with me to work on at the airport and in the hotel. I had set it outside my carry on so I could finish up the final few rows on the return plane trip and must have lost it in the hotel room as I was trying to get down to the lobby. All I knew was when I reached for it to work on at the airport, it was gone. 
There wasn’t time to make a nice new one for her for Christmas, so I’m going to work doubly hard on the Sweetheart Tree Ring Bearer’s Pillow for her wedding and possibly something for her birthday to make up for the lost gift.
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