Christmas Traditions

I finally got organised to put up a few Christmas decorations this week.  

I bought a nice holly wreath for our door and a poinsettia for the table on the weekend...but my favourite part was putting up tonight's decorations.  Beautiful crocheted snowflakes, made with love by my Grandma Elsie.  

I'm so glad that I asked her to gift a few of them to me one Christmas.  

I've continued mum's tradition and hang them on the sliding door and on the windows.  It's especially nice to have them in North Vancouver...since there is no snow on the ground!  

They are so pretty.  They make me smile when I look at them.  

Grandma sure was crafty...I really must learn to crochet at some point.  

Admissions from a delinquent crafter…

I’ve been very delinquent in my crafting posts (my crafty sis has been on holidays for 2 weeks and just gave me a kick in the butt). 

I’ve hardly done any crafting in the past few weeks, with the exception of a little bit of knitting on my secret knitting project.  I don’t have the results to show though, since I had to rip out about 3+ hours of knitting the other day once I noticed a mistake that was done 3+ hours before.  I don’t think I will ever learn.  

I am really bad about not checking my knitting regularly.  This is how it goes.  I knit happily along and sometimes I try to multi task (e.g. knit while I’m watching a movie) and then every once in a while I’ll spread out my knitting and see if I can spot a mistake.  Inevitably I do and it’s usually several inches down in my work.  G-r-r-r-r!  (Grandma Elsie used to make the cutest G-r-r-r-r sound, rolling her r’s, when she was frustrated about something.  I’m pretty sure she’d use a G-r-r-r-r sound for a knitting mistake.)  At this point, I rip down my knitting to fix the mistake.     

So, progress is slow.  Here’s a cryptic photo of my secret knitting project.  

I’m not showing too much because the project still has to be a secret.  And it’ll probably be a secret for a few more weeks at the rate that I’m knitting.  I’ve got to find ways to fit more knitting in. 

Elsie's Orange Button...

What an unexpected surprise I received today...

...aren't those the best!

Thanks mum.  xo

2010 – The Year of Craft

I declared to my sisters this morning that 2010 will be 'The Year of Craft’ for me.  To acknowledge this auspicious occasion/day/year, I have decided to create a crafting blog.  As a geeky engineer by day and a crafter by night, this blog will celebrate my crafting alter-ego and be a place for me to explore my craftier side.  Yeah 2010!


The name…Elsie’s Orange Button.  Elsie is my maternal grandmother.  Elsie had an orange button.  My mum was intrigued by this cute little orange button when she was a wee girl, and would always hunt through my grandma’s sewing basket looking for it.  The Orange Button would sometimes disappear, but would then magically reappear.  My mum still has the button - it is lovingly stitched to her pincushion.  


Grandma Elsie was one of the most amazing women I have had the pleasure of knowing and she played a key role in planting the crafting seed in my life. So, the name of my blog is a little tribute to her.