Last Minute Finishing

 I spent all of last night awake on call and got to stay home the entire night.  I'm such a homebody brat that I would rather sit up working on projects and forfeit a 12 hour night shift of pay.  We are having our Christmas next weekend and last night was one of those times when I felt like I had way  more money than time.  I finished up so many things though and have a great sense of accomplishment.  As much as I love being home on call, I hate being on call because I nervously eye the clock all night and wait for the phone to ring.  It is good to keep busy or otherwise I'd have gray hair and a twitch by the end of the shift!

 These are the gloves I finished for my two older nieces to go with their winter coats.  I used the tried and true Patons Next Steps pattern.  The purple ones are for my 13 year old niece and I used the ladies' size.  The green ones are for my 8 year old niece and she is so tall for her age that halfway through the first child sized glove, I knew they were not going to fit.  Luckily I'd traced their hands the last time they were here and kind of fudged my own pattern using her lengths and monkeying around with the widths and was pleased with what I came up with.  I wanted her to be able to wear them for at least one season.  I just hope they don't lose them!  We also redeemed some of our credit card points to get them Barnes and Nobles gift cards.  They are both book worms and the gift cards were a big hit last year too and while they were here visiting, we took them to the big store near us.  I have to say I couldn't wait to be finished with these.  I have so many new projects I want to start but I had to finish these last gifts.  And of course if you put anything on the floor to photograph, Lopi has to come along and investigate!

 I also made this year's batch of crackers for Christmas lunch last night.  These went much quicker than crackers I've made in the past because I used wrapping paper that had a grid printed on the back.  No measuring this year, just count, cut and stuff.  I thought the prizes were particularly great this year!  I wrapped the last remaining gifts, finished sewing and packaging another Etsy sale (Weeeee!) and got halfway through knitting a Christmas stocking for Lopi.  Yes I know I am insane.  I starting watching Orange Is The New Black last night too and am now kind of hooked.