Merry Christmas

Dear Santa,
i've been a very good girl this year (as i'm sure you are aware)
please send koigu ;)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

happy birthday, mom!

not a bad way to start the day. a little blog/board reading, cup of freshly ground coffee from my french press (thank you sherry!) with a fun crochet project in my own hand-spun wool :)
so, that was my first 8 minutes of the day... before the pitter-patter of little feet. soon to be followed by their favorite thing to say "i'm hungry!" and then, "why did she get the red bowl? i don't want the yellow one!".. i'll spare you the rest.

today is my mom's birthday. this is what i made her:

i needle felted him and crocheted his hat and scarf. her Christmas tree is decorated in snowmen, so i think he will fit in nicely. he's about 3 inches tall. rather cute, if i do say so myself :)

yesterday, i had all these things in my head i kept thinking 'i need to blog that' - and today - nothin' poof! it's gone. this is why i have a so many stinkin' notepads and a palm zire full of notes - from what size shoes my kids wear to what type bag my vacuum cleaner needs. i forget stuff!

the new yarn swap is about to begin at Crochetville
this time it is Winter Wool

i'm pretty excited about this one. i sure hope everyone follows through and ship good wool to their partners.
i must get.... have one last gift to complete

my new trick

looky looky what i learned :)
short-row shaping in knit.

it's the multidirectional scarf i posted about the other day.
i LOVE it! i know the colors are a bit strange, but i have an olive green coat that i'm making it for. the yarn is: elizabeth austen = andes in colorway 05 ForestMoss. soo yummy soft :)
it makes me happy :)
zero progress on anything else... yup a big fat NOTHIN'!
am i worried? nah. my kiddos are off school for the holiday so i'm planning on doing much work during the next few days. my days are usually full with my little guy, but his 3 siblings will keep him busy.
i did a bit of spinning today. filled 2 bobbins of the gwape wool and plyed them. also did a half-bobbin of some experimental spinning. i'm using, coopworth and cotton, mixing in jean threads and pieces.

it's fun. i'm anxious to work with it. i'm in process of a handbag from one of the interweave press mags (i don't remember which) with some other wool i spun (don't think i ever posted about it - it's red and black). i want to see this complete, and then make up my mind for sure, but for right now, i'm thinking it is going to be a good pattern for this yarn as well. we'll see. look at my baby girl. helping mommy shred the jeans.

i'm pretty sure i'm going to make something for her with it
(ickola - do you see her two black nails? they got squished in a door at school several weeks ago. owwwieee!)

damn murphy!

just saying that i was going to post a pic daily of the evil blankie invited murphy to keep it from happening, didn't it?
ya know what else? i think i'm gonna say 'forget it' anyway, i'm only about 10 inches in..... i'll just pick something up for her at a store. i just don't know what.
ya know what else? i think i'm just gonna frog that whole blanket. i've got about 20 skeins of this yarn, sooooo - i think that should be enough to make my dad a stockinette blanket with seed stitch edging for his chair. he tends to fall asleep in it and has become quite the cold-natured person (seems like that started when he got pnuemonia really bad a few years ago). not a Christmas gift - maybe father's day.
my crafty Christmas list is down to 4.
one is almost completely finished - one more good hour and it's done - my mom's
another just lacks 2 or 3 hours. - grandma jane
a filet project has gone to hell and needs some frogging of serious amounts - i'm really upset about my mistake - hours and hours of work - going to the frog pond. perhaps i'll show this tomorrow.
and lastly, a smaller project for my dear friend sherry - who is a reader so no details :)

speaking of sherry; please take a second and pop in to her blog and give her a shout of encouragement. she has joined us all in our fiber fetish and has started knitting. yay :)

these final 4 projects are all crochet. the only project i have on needles is a multidirectional scarf. it's not a gift, so it is on the backburner....
okay, i must get for now.

my kiddos got out of school at noon today for the Christmas holiday break. i'm gonna go read them a book :)

big needles

thank you all so much for the great comments on yesterday's post. it meant a lot to me.

on to today.... i'm stealing an idea from julie

i am going to start a daily posting of progress on the evil knitted blanket for my sister-in-law.
using a pattern from Big-Needle Knit Afghans, it's being made with LB chunky USA in navy. yes, scoff if you must, 100% acrylic. i'm not about to sink money into this project. i'm already giving my time... sounds ugly, but she hates me. she's hated me for 12 years and i'm not expecting this blanket to change that. do i think she'll even give a rat's ass that i took the time to give her a hand-knit gift - no! so why do it? because i love my husband.
so here it is: (lavendar mist, pagina 52)


ummm - not exactly very big. only 12 days until Christmas. shut up! don't ya think i know that!!
yes, if i would have chosen to crochet instead of knit, i'd be halfway there.... but my wrist has really been bothering me. i've been speed-crocheting a special project and wanted to save my wrists for that.
my little mister is being great this morning ...drawing happily and loving the legos.
Sesame Street is just about to come on, so i'm gonna sit next to the boy and knit a bit.
it's cold. i wish this blankie were larger so i could cover with it while i work.

grandmother's treasures

as Christmas gets closer and closer, i think more and more of my grandma. the holidays were so great with her. Every Christmas Eve, we would go to her house, have dinner, sit with family and open some gifts. my grandma was such a wonderful person. so fun. i really miss her. she told the funniest stories of her childhood - the drawstring coming undone on her homemade underware while getting on the schoolbus - burying her sisters doll because she was mad at her. and the best thing of all "Jimmalee" she would call my grandpa when he was in hot water.

she was so beautiful.


so today i thought i'd share a few silly little things that once were hers, and now mine.



isn't this cute? it's small....might hold 6 quarters. it's an old cosmetic jar. it has avon in the glass on the bottom. i have no idea what used to be in it.... several months ago, i found it at grandpa's house. i thought it was charming - cute. i wonder why she kept it. it was empty. but for whatever reason, she couldn't throw it away.... so it sit's atop my jewelry box in my room.



this is a tablecloth. my great grandmother embroidered 4 roosters - one in each corner. my grandmother later added the crochet edging. it hangs in my kitchen. i love it.




grandma also gave me the gift of crochet. she taught me when i was a kid. although i put it down and didn't start again until after she died, i still remembered how. i haven't been able to put it down since. grandma could knit, too. although this is something she never taught me, i knew one day i wanted to learn (and have) so i took her hooks and needles when grandpa offered them. i love knowing they were once hers.


one other important thing grandma gave me... her name. Elizabeth is what i chose to name my daughter. after her, of course.

better apart

well, ya'll i was too quick to judge. yesterday's handbag definitely looked better yesterday. i did all the seaming last night. i don't like it at all - humph! it's too floppy and the front/back sections are way too short. i do plan on lining it, so that will take care of some of the flop... but i haven't decided what to do about the too short problem yet. i'm not even close to being a good enough knitter to attempt picking up stitches and adding on......SO, i guess i could crochet a bit.... i just don't know. suggestions?

anyone ever make clothing from caron simply soft? how does it hold up to the wear? i'm considering making a gift from this and have hesitated because i'm not sure. i've never used it before.
i crocheted this scarf for my friend, amy. it's done with LB imagine in black

detail:
i also knit a scarf for her daughter... but i can't find a picture of it right now. i remember taking one.... hmmmmmm odd.

just how classy am i?

red wine with beans. there ya go.

handbag!

well, that fabulous yarn decided to become a handbag! i LOVE it! although it's not completely done... i still need to sew my seams and line it - i love the look, size, shape and the yarn - great bag for my casual self :) jeans and a tee (--oooo man, i want to make one of these)
see that extra little piece of knitting? i did that! no pattern - made a Tshape of sorts and then stitched it up so that it formed corners and woohoo - made a cell-phone pocket for the inside of my purse :) yay me :) the pattern is from family circle easy knitting magazine - winter 2004/05

like the red, cabled purse next to it? i think i'm gonna give this one a go... i haven't tried cables before and this looks like a small and functional project to learn them on. dont' ya think? my knitting group meeting was last night - i had so much fun :) i met two really great ladies - viviana and lenise. i hope to be joining another group lenise is in ... for more unconventional knitting and just a good time with a younger crowd... i alsmost said 'my age', but i forget that i'm much older than i think i am. 30! yikes! does that mean i'm not 'hip' anymore? or did the 4 kids kick me out of that group long ago? LOL back to last night - lenise had actually seen my little cyberspot!! how fun is that?!? to run into someone who's actually been to your site before you've ever met!?! she has a site as well.... she is supposed to email it to me and i'll give you her link when i get it. okay, back to last night again.. the wonderful lady that keeps us meeting and gives instruction when needed, melisa, showed me the basics of cables, so i'm not too scared of them...anymore.

now, to show you i still crochet, too -

two ponchos for a friend's daughters.... 7 and 5. enough alike that they kinda match, enough different so the 7 year old doesn't feel like her sister is copying her..... at least that was my goal. what do you think?
they are both done in redheart symphony - i was going for warm and cozy and easy care.

baby, it is COLD COLD COLD here! wind chill is -13 ...brrrrrrrrr. and here, in the Texas Panhandle, the wind is ALWAYS blowing.... seriously, always. my poor little (big, giant) puppy is so cold. no, he's not outside. i don't believe in 'outdoor' dogs. family is family and they don't live in the backyard. (how many people did i just offend with that?) anyway, he's just a cold natured little bugger. he's curled up on my son's bed and i've covered him with a flannel blanket.... still, he's shivering. poor baby. elizabeth also has a dane (cuppy) and she has told me her's gets the chills, too. anyone else with a great dane? is it a dane thing?

mmmm, beans in the crockpot. beansNcornbread for dinner tonight.... mmmmmm
do you chow chow?


i've heard this is just a southern meal. yes? no? how sad. you yankees are missing out!
what do you like to make on cold winter nights? mmmm chili. that's a Texas thing - well, when it's done right, it is :) he he heee.... you know, they say there are only 2 kinds of people in this world.... Texans, and those who wish they were :) first the dog comment, and now this: oh, i'm gonna get hate mail for sure :)

stay warm