Christmas gifts!

I decided that this is the year that I won't be frantically knitting on Christmas Eve, trying to get it all done. Nope. Not doing that stress again. So I started making gifts in October. It seemed so silly at the time, but now that we're already more than a week into December, I really love my past self. I am so on top of gifts this year, it's ridiculous. I'm hoping that I actually AM on top of things, and not just thinking that I am, because I spent the last 4 nights knitting myself a hat, and I was definitely thinking of trying to whip up another sweater before we journey to the motherland of North Dakota for Christmas. A sweater might be pushing it. I don't know. I feel like there's time. Ask me again when I'm blearily knitting a sleeve the night before we fly out.

I have a friend who knows a lot about and really enjoys drinking wine. I mean, I also enjoy drinking wine, but my knowledge goes about as far as, "I like it." This friend often brings a bottle of wine over to my house, and by "often," I mean, "a couple times a week," and by "a bottle," I mean "several." So I made her this wine tote. I found the tutorial from Needle and Spatula on the interwebs when I was just randomly searching for things that I could quilt that aren't actual quilts. I love the way it turned out. I used some tan-ish material I had in my stash- no idea what it's made of, but it's definitely flammable, that I much I know... don't ask me how I know that. Ahem. I quilted it with my free-motion foot in a manner I like to think of as "viney." The green binding is some Micheal Miller I ordered on Etsy when I was having a bad day a few weeks ago, and that little leaf charm is made from a silk shirt I rescued from the thrift store a few years ago and have been using inch by inch for random crafting projects. In fact, I liked this tote so much that I made a little bag just like it.

It's a good size for a knitting project travel bag, and it will go live with my future sister-in-law at Christmas. I also made a hot pad with the same fabric and quilting pattern, but I'm a little hesitant to use it, because flammable. Which is too bad. Pretty sure I'm going to make at least a little bag like this for myself, but I might also make a bigger bag, and several wine totes. I am in love with the tan-viney-green binding combo. So cute. Anyway. So that's two gifts down in one delightful afternoon.