These are a few of my favorite buttons

Arielle inspired me to try my hand at felt ornaments... Thought it might make a fun hanging-out-with-baby-in-Montreal-winter sort of craft, so I brought a little supply kit with me and surfed Pinterest for ideas.  A perfect accompaniment to watching Downton Abbey.

The buttons are from my neighbor - she has inherited a store's worth of jewelry, scarves, knickknacks, and buttons that she has been trying to sell. She lets me take all the buttons I want, so I made her a little tree made entirely of buttons.

Great instructions and template from this blog

Finally (in) his shell

Look!  I finally finished him!

5 years ago I started Sheldon, which was a popular pattern on knitty.com.    The thing about knitting toys is that there are a lot of fiddly finishing details. I finished just about everything except his eyes and limbs, and then I got discouraged when it came to putting the pieces together.  The shell and the belly are attached with icord, for example, and that was beyond my knitting skills at the time.  And so he seemed doomed to never be finished.

Then E comes home from school and tells me that their class pet is a turtle.  Named Sheldon.

So I resurrected him and finished him as a Christmas present from his teacher.  

She probably thinks I'm a bit crazy.  

But at least I finished him!!

Pattern:  Sheldon, on knitty.com

Yarn:  Knitpicks simply cotton