I'm back

it's been forever and the main reason I kept up the blog was so that my mom could keep in touch with pictures of our life, but when she passed it seemed kind of pointless.

I've been Christmas crafting. Knitting and other things. The DD is a freshman at college (home for the holidays). I expect some growing pains on both sides over this break.

This next week will be crazy busy at school and home. Especially with all the things that need to be done in preparation for the holiday. It's like I'm cramming all of Advent into one week. We lost power today, so I started a craft that I could start in candlelight. I went into my messy craft room to find a star and stumbled on some jewelry wire which worked better than the hanger I was going to use to put the parts together. I decided to form a star out of the end at the top. It's for my secret Santa person at work (my boss). I think it turned out OK.  I'll leave a picture of the final product here:

Merry Christmas

to all!

and to those that don't celebrate, have a wonderful time with family and friends.

I plan on visiting with MANY friends..... organizing a bit..... baking... playing.... knitting.... planning... it will be a VERY packed 10 day break from school..

I pray that the new year brings peace to all....


Just a few quick pics to put you in the spirit
DD's new stocking. She picked out the sweaters that she wanted included. The lining is a cute Christmas flannel print that is red green and white and has Christmas balls on it and says from me to you... maybe I'll get a picture of it later.















Greeting you at the front door of my house
To your left














In front of you






To your right
The windows have wreaths and candles but were in a shadow when I shot these pictures and there are icicle lights hanging from the roof of the porch and a pointsettia flag. It looks simple but nice!


The Girl Scout leader got a smaller version of the wreath on the door.


I'm making something for mom and my SILs as I type... felting in the washer. It's a very small but useful gift.

Gotta run and clean....

Happiness and Joy to all of you!

4

and so much left to do...

on the docket for tonight... DDs Christmas stocking while DH wraps. Good news is that DS2's big gift will arrive in time to go under the tree... I was really sweating it out, especially when I got an e-mail today that they still didn't have it and did I want to cancel my order (that I placed 12 days ago....and they charged my CC for 10 days ago) It's sold out everywhere so I was desperate.

Cookies left to bake and some craft projects left to do... it really NEVER ends does it???

what season?

the end for baseball
technically fall
feels like winter

Yesterday it snowed all day while I was at work. Here at home it was raining with some snow mixed in. BRRRRRRRRRR
Perfect for knitting.
DD's girl scout troop had a field trip to theLehigh Valley Amateur Astronomer's Society to see their equipment and have a planetarium show. As much as I want to see all those constellations, I just don't get it. I must have NO imagination.
I'm exhausted... don't ask me why cuz I have no clue. But all I want to do is sleep
I've knit 3 cowls this week.


Pattern: Birthday Cowl by Nova Seals
Yarn: Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend
Color: plum
Needle: US 8 / 5.0 mm
I tried to start this 3 times last year and put it away... this time it flew off the needles


Pattern: Holland Cow by Jenny Raymond and Chris Church
Yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed
Color: Deep Red
Needle: US 10



Pattern: Cherry Garcia by Adrian Bizilla
Yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed
Color: Biscuit
Needle: US11


The above are both free ravelry downloads. If you don't belong to ravelry, you should it's free and AWESOME!

I have another in mind. And I've been working on a reverse log cabin blanket during bus duty from acrylic stash that was donated to the cause this summer. This will go to Linus project. I started it thinking I'd make a blanket from long strips instead of 'squares' but then found a ton of the same yarn as well as coordinating yarns so I used one skein for a side... and then started the large square... kind of making it up as I go. Should be interesting......

I've been spinning chiengora... from a friend's dog... .it's so soft... unbelievable....

oh and GO PHILS!

smells of Christmas

the Christmas tree... yes it really makes the house smell great!

baking cookies..it's that time of year.



We've been trying to do a batch a night. I started over the weekend with shortbread cookies that you put in a mold, then unmold and bake. DS2 managed to consume most of those and the rest of the family finished them off. So I have no pictures of the finished product. Only this picture of us preparing them.

I do have some other pictures of goodies we've made though.



These are a house favorite and super easy for all the kids to help with.

Pretzel kisses

• Preheat oven to 200° F.
  
• On cookie sheet place small pretzels.
  
• Unwrap Hershey kisses.
• Place kiss on top of pretzel
  
• Put cookie sheet with kissed top pretzels in oven
  
• Bake until chocolate is soft to touch
  
• Remove from oven
  
• Push m&m candy into top of Hershey kiss
  
• Let cool
  
• Enjoy!

And another variation. Rolo pretzels.

• Preheat oven to 200°F.
  
• Place pretzels on cookie sheet.
  
• Unwrap rolo and place on top of pretzel.
  
• Bake in oven until chocolate on Rolo is soft.
  
• Remove from oven.
  
• Press a pecan on top of the rolo squishing the rolo a bit.
  
• YUMMO!

This time we used the square ones that I usually use as gingerbread house windows.



Spritz cookies I believe there is a learning curve to using a cookie press. And the dough has to be at the right temp. With a couple more batches ours could be perfect. But they taste great none the less.



DH's favorite — shortbread pinwheels. When I was little I called these Squirrel cookies. The tough thing about this cookie for me is keeping the chocolate and vanilla layers to stick once they're baked..... if anyone has a secret, please let me in on it.


My grammy made the best cookies in the world. One of my fondest memories of Christmas preparations was making cookies with her. She was stingy doling them out before the holiday too. Probably because they were really used as gifts. Her signature cookie, Wheaties cookies, was not a favorite of mine, but my brothers loved them. We all fought over her Mexican Wedding Cakes though (a.k.a. Russian Tea cakes, snowballs) and I'll make some here this year.


My other favorite Christmas memory I'll share with you later on the day it should happen!


See you tomorrow, with pictures of some knitting!

they're back!

the progress trackers, that is. Not precisely what I wanted, but it will do until I can conquer the cute little ones that indigirl used to give out the code for. These are also not the ones that I had originally, but like I said, they'll do.

I've been busy d/l patterns galore. But today (well technically yesterday) I managed to knit the first of 6 cloths for my parents to welcome them into their new apartment next Saturday, where they won't have a dishwasher. So they'll need dishcloths. And what says love more than a handknit one or two, or three...... I give you

Pattern: Slip and Slide cloth by Maile Mauch
Yarn: Lily's Sugar n Cream
Color: Potpourri Ombre
Needle: US7

My idea is to make all 6 cloths from the same yarn (I have a 12 oz ball) and to make 1 a day so that on moving day I can deliver them. They'll need something to make them smile. I wish they had made this move sooner when they could really enjoy all the place has to offer.

Dad's really not doing well. He's in a lot of pain and I can't help but wonder if it's related to the drug therapy he's on for the treatment of his cancer. I was down on Friday to try to help them start to pack up but feel as though I accomplished nothing. Of course, mom sent me home with more stash: 600g of Brunswick Germantown wool in Winterberry Heather and about 200g of the same, I think, in white. As well as 3 containers of sewing notions: buttons, elastic, bias tape, thread, ribbon, needles, etc. and a cute little box to help house some of it. I did manage to find the dishes and glassware that is still boxed that they can start out with so we don't have to scurry to pack the stuff they're using right now up.

I also finished the last cloth for my SIL on Saturday. I'll post a picture of that after I block it. It needs it.

DD went to a sleepover last night. Surprisingly, I was feeling lost without her. I guess my little girl is really growing up. DS1 was so jealous. He claims he wants to go to a sleepover too.

We were at Hershey Park Thursday evening with our friends. The kids had a blast. It wasn't too cold either. But it's a late night until we get home and everyone (asleep) in the house and in bed. We'll see these same folks tonight to ring in the new year.

Santa was good to all of us but he brought me knitting goodness. Lots of tape measures (they always seem to be awol) and WPI tool, an electronic row counter, and a bag that holds 4 skeins of yarn, looks like I'll be liearning intarsia soon. AND a certificate for the Harmony sock needle set. They're out of stock until after the new year. But I want to get in an order before free shipping goes up to $50. DH doesn't know it yet, but I'm ordering a set of blocking wires from Joann.com with a 50%off coupon... I'll need them to block mom's shawl.

OK.. off to knit. Happy new year everyone and happy crafting

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Joyeux Noël

In the spirit of being green (I am mother nature, I believe) I wrapped the gifts for our family in Christmas quilting fabrics. I offered if they wanted to keep it (my SIL does quilt( they were welcome to it, but if they had no use for it, please return it so that it could be reused. I think the gifts look lovely and I was happy not to be using any more paper than Santa would need at our house!

It was a great time with the family. Food abounded and I was stuffed when it came time for the evening church service. My folks were happy to be there with all of us and everyone liked their handmade gifts! I don't think my neice got the whole idea of the keyhole scarf... she's a smart young woman though; it'll dawn on her. My brother was thrilled with his completed mitten. Since he has 2 hands though, I worked on the flap of the second during church. Of course.. I knit it too long so now I'll need to frog. Serves me right! My other brother liked his utopia hat and luckiky for me, it fits him... it's snug, but that's good I think. Better than the hat for my neice's husband. Tychus is knit with 2 strands of worsted and it has a tendency to add size along with bulk even though it's on the same size needle as I'd used for one strand. When he rolls it it's fine, just like the picture on knitty.com
Red LOVED her headband and said she'll use it lots for skiing as she doesn't have one that she likes. I didn't even think of it for skiiing. but it's a great idea. I'm happy she likes it cuz she really spoils my kids. She got them a 6.0 Megapixel camera... hello they're little kids. The kids are always bugging me to use my camera. That's a thing of the past, they can point and shoot with this one and it has a nice 2.5" LCD screen for them to see their pics in the back! My nephew, the computer geek doesn't know the binary alphabet so I had to explain the meaning of the stripes on his hat. He did think it was pretty cool though. Dad didn't model his scarf. He wasn't up to it. Mom's shawl... well it's still OTN... and the cloths that were gifted to my dear SIL were well received. :-)

Out on the town

As I said in my previous post, we went to NYC on Wednesday. On the way there, I knit up a panta for my friend's DD. Knowing that thet prefer acrylic, I made it that way, although I hated the yarn. But it has a soft hand.


Pattern: Panta revisited
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun
Color: Black
Needle Size: Addis Turbo 8
Pattern changes: none

Comments: It's a very quick knit, but I'd add more to the center. I may use this pattern for a panta in pink wool for DD. I may also decide to try a different pattern.. but this one really moves along quickly!



The purpose of the trip was to take the ILs to see the city at Christmas. I must say, I've never seen so many people in NY except on TV at New Year's Eve. 5th Ave was literally wall to wall people on the sidewalks of both sides of the street, which made it a bit difficult to push a stroller, and also made me nervous with the other 2 kiddos staying up with us. But we fared very well.


First stop, the disney store. The kids had a bit of money from Christmas to spend. DD bought 2 CDs to go with her new player. DS1 chose a power ranger toy (what a surprise) and DS2 a small train with Mickey. The store is enormous and decorated to the hilt, but I have to say I expected more....


Next stop, Rockafeller Center. And an obligatory picture of the tree there. We ate at Rock Center but skipped the trip to the top of the Rock (although I'm sure it would have been spectacular at night with all the Christmas lights) cuz the kids were really quite tired.




Right across the street from the entrance to the center was this gorgeous site. When we first saw it, there was music playing (Carol of the Bells) and the snowflakes came on and off seemingly in accord to the music, like a planned show. I'm not sure if this was the case or not, because later when we saw it, I heard the same music and expected the same show, but all of the flakes stayed lit the whole time. At any rate, it was quite a spectacle!



All the stores were decked to their best and I managed to snap a picture of Cartier all wrapped up for Christmas!


Thursday night we took one of Bill White's Christmas Lights Tourin the Lehigh Valley. We chose Tour #9, Roni's Rocky Road Fudge, because it was closest to home and saw possibly the most decorated house in the entire Valley at 1135 Sunset Drive.
That would be the picture on the left. We also saw the one on the right on this tour as well as many other beautiful lights.


Friday we went to Christmas in Hershey with our friends and their kids, or as DD refers to them 'her cousins'. We arrived early enough ahead of them to take in the really big 3D show, which was great fun, the 'factory tour' and grab a bite to eat before heading to the park. The kids had a great time (as did the adults) and the park was decked out in wonderful light and kisses everywhere.(note the kisses on the tree and the giant kiss on top)

Of course I took along my knitting (that's what this blog is about isn't it?) I worked on a scarf in the car, the recipient was mentioned in a former blog.


Pattern: Curly Purly Dropped Yarnover Scarf
Yarn: Joann Sensations Bellezza Collection Cosetta
Wool Blend-68% wool 32% Nylon
Color: Cosetta Teal
Amount: 50g/117m
Needle Size: 13


The pattern calls for using needles 3 sizes larger than you would use to get a typical knit fabric. Since the label called for a size 11 but the yarn is really on the heavy worsted weight side (of which I may usually use a 9 typically) I chose to use a 13 needle. I think my picture looks fairly close to Marnie's picture in her pattern as far as openness goes. Perhaps a bit more open, but it worked out great for length and only needing 1 skein. Of course I had already purchased 2, and now need to find another project for this wool... maybe it will felt well?

Friday was also the day of the Love2Knit Dishcloth Yahoo group all day party, so I attended for a few hours before we left. I took the KAL with me and tried to knit in the park while waiting for the kids on the rides. This always draws the attention of someone and last night was no exception. An Asian woman came up to me, very interested in what I was doing and wanting to learn.She stood next to me, watching and asking questions while I waited for the kids and their grandmother to get off the train ride. It really was a bit too cold for my hands to knit though. I'll have to make fingerless gloves for the next time I want to try that. Actually they would be great to have so I can knit on door duty at school now that the weather is finally turning cold here in PA.

If I don't post tmrw, I wish all of you a very happy and healthy New Year full of fun crafting!