Barbie's Crocheted basket

My best friend requested that I crochet her a lavender basket for her daughter's Barbie stuff.  If Barbie lives in your home, then you understand what a load of crap she has. I came up with this (which, by the way, can be used for anything, not just Barbie). I am considering making myself one to control the various craft projects that end up in the floor beside my bed.
I started by having my husband cut me a board into a circle with holes drilled around it. He used a 1 inch wood of some type(I have no idea what it was). It was a little funny looking (He makes a much better nurse, than he does a carpenter).
I painted the bottom white and the top purple with cheap apple barrel craft paints. (I love that stuff.)

I cut strips of fabric (approximately one inch) from an old sheet. I threaded them on a yarn needle and whip stitched them threw the drilled holes all the way around the board.

Next, I used a large size N crochet hook and double crocheted all the way around into the stitches I had just made. (this part was not easy, make sure you don't make your stitches to tight or else you can't get your hook under them. Some of mine were to tight so I had to slide the material under with the yarn needle.) I continued to crochet in the round until I had my desired height. 
I added a row of fluffy purple yarn to the top row with just a single crochet around.

This made for a very heavy sturdy basket. Next time I think I will try and use a heavy cardboard base, or perhaps a thinner wood.

Knitting a Camel to save my soul

Will learning to knit a camel save your eternal soul? No...no it will not, but don't let that stop you.

I was raised Methodist. I grew up right next door to the church, and my Mother was very involved in the goings on of the daily church activities, especially the youth.  For whatever reason, I was never baptized. (I questioned my Mother about this one day and she says, "You weren't??? oh, no I guess you weren't, that was your sister that was baptized there, wasn't it?  Not sure how this slipped her mind??) Once I grew up and moved out of the house, I stopped going to church. There wasn't really a reason, I was just to lazy to get up and go. Over the years, various things happened and my Mother started attending a new church a few blocks away. She loved her church and invited me to come (more than once!). I ,of course, did not go. I grew up, got married and had beautiful baby girls.  When my daughter was about 5 years old, she was playing with my Mother's nativity scene (she has about 40 sets).  She didn't know who any of the people were......This hit me hard. I loved the good Christian upbringing that I had been given and I knew I wanted to pass that on to my girls.
That was several years ago....
If I should die today, I know where I am going.
A few years ago, I decided it was time. I accepted that I was a sinner and that Jesus Christ died to save me from those sins and I was baptized. (It really is that simple) Not long after that, My husband and my Step-daughter were both baptized on the same day.  This past year, I got to watch as my husband baptized our now 8 year old daughter.
Just this week, my girls helped my mother get out and arrange her gazillion sets of the nativity. I am quite confident that my girls now know, not only who these people are, but why we are celebrating Christmas.
The Christmas after I joined the Church, I decided to knit my Mother a nativity. I managed to finish a Virgin Mary that year. The next year I made a baby Jesus, and last year a Joseph.
Today, I am in the process of knitting a camel.  Knitting a camel won't save my soul. It has already been saved.  But every time I set out to knit a part of my Mother's nativity, it reminds me of  Jesus... of how my family was lost, but now we are found.... of why we celebrate this time of year... of how much stuff I will one day have to clean out of my mother's house.
I may never be finished with the knitted nativity set, just because I love the feeling I get when I design a new piece.
I should have the pattern for this little guy finished this week....or at least before Christmas. I will post it as soon as I am finished.  So maybe someone else out there can knit a nativity and consider what Jesus has done for them.