Christmas catch-up: what I got

Mine weren't the only needles busy last month. For starters, check out this snowflake pillow that Youngest Brother gave me for Christmas! It was his first crack at machine sewing, which he claims he picked up out of boredom (what was that about the thought that counts?). The pillow's made from fleece, and I think he got the pattern from Quick Quilts. How great does it look? Felis Domesticus loved it too—the foul creature soils every new fluffy object with a coating of her fur—so I had to move it from her chosen throne to this chair, where it looks rather smashing against the orange.

You may have seen this sock creature designed and made by Youngest Brother before, but the Mother had been holding it hostage. So now that Dieter's finally in our clutches, here he is occupying another of Felis Domesticus's favourite perches. This Youngest Brother has talent, no? Skills and an eye, in fact. I'll have to get a photo of his dorm room—I've known 4-bedroom houses without an ounce of the style.

The Mother and I creepily often think along the same wavelenth, and here's proof: I made her an apron for Christmas, and she made me one. We seem to have each other's fabric preferences down pretty well. She also made an apron for the Other, but they're pictured kind of lifelessly here, since we're still trying to work off our holiday weight (we put it all on during the holidays, honest). We now understand the Mother's reluctance to broadcast her aproned waistline to all the world.

I've been using and loving the cheesy pincushion the Mother made me last Christmas, and this year she made a little sister to go in my hand-sewing box. She used a pattern in Pretty Little Pincushions, and while the bloodshot eye is little, I don't know that it'd qualify under most people's definition of pretty. No matter; I for one find it imminently satisfying to stab an eyeball with pins and needles. I flipped through the pincushions book a bit, and there are plenty of other cool ones in there too (which you might like better if you're a pretty kind of person).

So how cool is it to have such a creative and talented family? Well, ask the Father and the Other, who all Christmas had to suffer through endless quilting conversations and deal with the Mother, Youngest Brother, and me bickering over who got which sewing machine ("No, I want the Viking!" "No, use the Pfaff!" "Yes, it sews like a knife through butter, but there's no thread cutter!" If my parents don't want me to move back in, they'd better keep me away from the Mother's sewing machines). But we could be into drugs or Hello Kitty! or gambling instead of sewing, so perhaps they should consider themselves lucky. On the other hand, we could be a family with normal things in common, like football or something. And I think the Father, the Other, and all the rest of us would take sewing over football any day.

Oh, by the way! You have the Mother and Father to thank for the improved photos here on the blog. As if all the stuff above wasn't enough, they bought the Other and me a new Canon Powershot SX100 IS! It's a huge, huge improvement over my old, outdated camera—thanks!