A Gift from the Un-Lonely Squirrel

Once, there was a fairy named Mama Squirrel. She lived in a treehouse with her loving husband and 3 beautiful squirrels girls. One day she said, "My, my, I had better get started on some Christmas presents!" So, Mama Squirrel took her magic fairy wand (errrrrrr, I mean crochet hook) and waved it about...

She crocheted...

...and crocheted!

Now, Mama Squirrel kept crocheting until she had...

8 hot pads and one wash cloth:

One even had a special button on it!

5 tree ornaments/decorations:

One small mat:

A doily: 

4 bells: 

3 scarves: 

A panda for one lucky little one:

Two pairs of mittens:

And two afghans (two friends tried one out) :o) : 

 

 

And Mama Squirrel, her husband, and 3 lovely daughters lived happily ever after!

~The End~

Merry Christmas!

-Ponytails

Mama Squirrel's Technical Notes and Sources

Panda: pattern by Lori-Jean Karluk, published in Crochet Patterns by Herrschners, July/August 1991. Yarn: leftover black and white worsted.

Mittens: Adapted from this Canadian Living pattern. Patons yarn bought on sale at the mill-ends store.

Scarves: all the same pattern, just made up as I went along. The multi-coloured scarf is made all from one ball of thrifted yarn.

Hotpads and potholders: all adapted from this pattern on Bizzy Crochet and from a variation in the comments posted about the same pattern; all made from rummage-saled and thrifted yarn. This is truly a beginner-friendly pattern--no rounds to join or rows to turn.  And you can make them any size you want.

White mat: adapted from "Hanukkah Doily" by Agnes Russell, in Crochet World December 2007.

Red, white and blue afghan: adapted from "Berries and Evergreens Afghan" by Katherine Eng, in Crochet World December 2005. The designer used shades of rose, claret and greens for a holiday-toned afghan; I wanted to use up several weights and shades of thrifted red yarn (I bought a whole bagful of mixed reds), plus work in some chunky-weight red, white and denim-blue yarn I had bought a long time ago. It was fun to make because you work from the center stripe out in both directions, as if the pattern were reflected in a mirror. My afghan is a bit smaller than the original, but I had to stop when the yarn ran out.

Red, white and green throw: adapted from a basic mile-a-minute afghan pattern.  One package of unidentified-label yarn from the mill-ends store.

Thread tree trims: "Seven Wonders Tree Trims" by Marcia Pope, in Crochet World December 2005. You can tell these (and the other thread things) aren't really done--I still have to stiffen them, fix the loose ends and so on.

Bells: "Crochet Bells" by Maggie Weldon, in Country Crafts Winter 1996.

Of Squirrelings and snow clothes

"James worked away frantically on the Centipede's boots. Each one had laces that had to be untied and loosened before it could be pulled off, and to make matters worse, all the laces were tied up in the most complicated knots that had to be unpicked with fingernails. It was just awful. It took about two hours. And by the time James had pulled off the last boot of all and had lined them up in a row on the floor--twenty-one pairs altogether--the Centipede was fast asleep."--Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach

And sometimes it does feel exactly like that.