dare I say it?

am I really on top of the Christmas list? (You know that list - the one with my husband and son, 15 members of the husband's family, 6 members of my family, 12-15 friends, as well as a few hangers on that get but don't really deserve (you don't want to know). Then there's the work crew that may or may not be an exchange with (but I hate to be caught short), and the odd extra "just in case" gift.

Before anyone thinks I'm done shopping - please. Give your head a shake. The shopping is no where near started, let alone being close to finished.

I'm talking about the handmades. The knitted, the (in a few cases) crocheted, the sewn and the beaded.

I did make it easy on myself - the nieces and nephews are getting hand sewn pajama pants, then a little something extra for each (a Noro knitted skirt, thrummed mitten, beaded bracelets, and in some cases, gift cards) I've been sewing since I was a kid (thanks, Mom!), so I can do a pair of jammie pants in about an hour. And when I production line the cutting (love my big rotary cutter), it can go even faster. I prewash all the fabrics, and toss them in the dryer (they are pajamas - no one is going to handwash them). Then I stack up two or three layers and cut. I'm sure the woman at Fabricland thought I was a touch nuts buying the same pajama pattern in three different sizes, and other pajama patterns as well, but face it - my family comes in all sizes, so I need the multiples. I cut out a few pairs at a time, group them by colour range and then sew away. Grouping by colour range is to make it easy with the thread and bobbins. All those that us white thread go in one pile, the black in another, greys over there, and the odd red or blue or yellow sits alone until I get to them. I'm having a blast with this, matching up the fabrics to the kids (and adults!)

For the hockey players:

the baseball players: the basketball players: the poker fans (or sons of said poker fans): the musical theatre kid: the hippie chick: the drama queen: the "too cool for pattern - just drab plaids" teens: the lizard lover:the "all things skull" fans: the Florida flamingo lover (my Mom):and of course, me - the wolf in sheep's clothing! (actually I just love the sheep thing): (crap - I forgot to take this picture - it's very cute. But on the back burner until the rest of these are done)
Eight pairs are done, 8 more are cut out, and 5 more need to be cut. Then there's some knitting (mostly sock) and a couple of things to buy. Another bonus this year - I have vacation time that I HAVE to use up before the end of the year, so not only will I have the week before and the week after Christmas off, I will still have 3 or 4 days before that! Hopefully one will be spent at the AGO - my son's class is going on a field trip to see the King Tut exhibit, and I desperately want to be going along. So that leaves me a couple of days to shop for stuff.

You know all this organization is going to come back and bite me on the ass, don't you? Especially now, since I've just gloated about it. The universe will stomp on me in a big way...