Christmas Dudes x 2!

I am so happy to have not one, but TWO new patterns to share with you! The past two weeks I've been working very hard on some Cute Little Dudes patterns for the holiday, and last night they were both finally done and listed both on Ravelry and on Etsy. Here are all the Dudes together:

Set one is Santa, Reindeer & Snowman; set two is Angel, Gingerbread man & Gnome. Most of these Dudes are a little different from the other sets I've made as I've never done humans/humanoids before. It was fun! More animals to come later, though :)

In terms of difficulty these Dudes are not more complicated than the rest, but some of them do have a lot of details. The angel's hair can be a bit tricky if you're not used to putting hair on dolls, but I've explained things as best I can and I hope it makes sense :)

I wanted to have the patterns up by December 1st (which is today already - yikes!), and I did! Very pleased with myself for that :) Now, however, I kind of have a little problem. I should be finishing up two new Bugs (really not that much left to do), but I seem to be stuck in Dude mood... It's been so long since last time that I want to make more right away! What to do, what to do...

Okay, if you are related to me in any way, don't read this!

It's about your Christmas presents, you see... Not that I think any of my family reads this blog anyway, they don't usually read English stuff. However, my mother checks my Flickr page now and then, so it's best to be on the safe side. It would be bad to ruin the surprises. First, a few non-present projects:

A crocheted gingerbread house. It's tiny, only 7cm high and 8cm long! The house itself is actually Tunisian crochet, because I want the walls to be as thick and sturdy as possible. Not quite sure I succeeded, it looks kind of floppy. Maybe I need cardboard walls after all. I guess I'll see after I crochet some snow and decorations and a bottom for the house. I got the idea to make the house from Pysselkiisen's blog, where she posted a pattern for a crocheted gingerbread house. You can see the original pattern for the house here (in Swedish) :)

Another thing I've been working on lately are these tiny Tunisian crochet coin purses. To be honest I just wanted to try out some color combinations, but I have no patience for making stuff for no purpose. Today I sewed one together and put a button on and everything :) *Proud* I think I've said it before, but I hate sewing on buttons. Anyway, I'm quite pleased with them :)

This is the second attempt at the wristwarmers for my cousin, and this time they are big enough to be felted. However, I'm not sure I want to give them away, as I found another pattern I'd like to try. You can see the pattern here (also in Swedish). I want to make them in black and white, possibly with mohair instead of regular yarn.

Finally I have also started to knit a Clanger (this is the nose) for my mother. In case you don't know, The Clangers is an animated TV series made in the seventies, about some pink (knitted) aliens on a blue planet, and they whistle when they talk. Very cute :) I am too young to have seen them on TV, but my mother watched the show when she was little, and she remembers them. I'm not sure if she knows that they are pink, because in Norway the show was aired in black and white, at least the first episodes. So now I'm knitting a Clanger from a pattern I found here, and I have ordered the complete series on dvd to give my mother for Christmas :) I feel like I've been quite inventive with some of the presents this year, I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the family.