by Kat | Dec 7, 2007 | General
Hello and Happy Friday Everyone!
I have photos of my completed tam!! Oh – I am so in love with this little hat! I want, I want, I want!
So, without further adieu…
My little pile of ends.
Inside -I did a good job of weaving in the ends, huh? I love the standing…. I am just smitten!
I am truly in shock that this turned out so beautifully! I would neve have classified myself as a “good knitter” – never. People – this is some good knitting! I am so in love!!! And… my little fingers are just itching to cast on some more Fair Isle! Just itching, I am telling you!
Self-portrait – and this is when I truly fell in love with this little tam. I am not a hat-wearer, gentle reader, but this hat is just perfect! I cannot tell you how happy I am that I have enough yarn left over to knit another! There are more photos here if you are interested.
And with that I will leave you with this little bit of Holiday Cheer from the Turtle Creek Chorale. If you need a chuckle, this will more than provide it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D09DCZryG2U]
Have a most blessed weekend everyone! I will be back on Monday with details from my Dyeing Class at Threadbear!!
by Kat | Dec 6, 2007 | General
And, I have a cold inside!
Yes, gentle readers, over night I knew something was not right – and I woke up this morning with all the symptoms of a cold brewing.
So, I am sipping on some nice hot coffee (no tea – I am a coffee in the morning kind of girl) and figuring out what I need to get done today to stay “on track” for Christmas.
I finished the December Lights Tam last night and I have about a bazillion ends to weave in before I can give it a little bath and get it blocking! Seriously, when I say a bazillion, I am not kidding! That will occupy a good chunk of the morning – and seems like a good activity to do while sitting on the sofa under a cozy blanket! This is my first real foray into Fair Isle – and I loved it! This hat only took about 20 hours of knitting time! A nice project to start on. I definitely want to knit more Fair Isle – watch for more in 2008!
And, I can finish sock #2 for daughter #1 as well. A nice mindless knitting project.
What is left on my Christmas Knitting plate? Socks for daughter #2. A hat for son #1. Mitts for my dear mamma. Mittens for daughter #2. and Dashing for son #1!
Not a long list by any means – it will be some fun daily knitting!
We got our tree last night also. We put it up in the living room and it needs to be decorated. But, I wanted the kitties to get over the “newness” of it before putting lights and ornaments on it! There was a GREAT deal of interest in it last evening – and I debated about sleeping on the sofa to keep an eye on any kitty lumberjack events! But, after a bit of time, they seemed to be bored with the entire process. The tree was still upright this morning and the branches have all “relaxed” quite nicely! I love the smell it brings to the house – and yes, as of this morning I can still smell!
Alright, I am off to begin the “weaving ends in marathon”!
Have a good day everyone!
by Kat | Dec 5, 2007 | General
Hello everyone! We got some snow last night and it is so beautiful outside this morning! The sun is shining and the world is all sparkly white!
Do you remember the first days of snow – especially when you were a child? The anxious anticipation you felt as you wished for snow to fall – mostly because you wanted a “snow day” from school, but you were so eager for that first snow.
What are you anticipating this Advent season? Are you waiting for something?
My holiday decorations are going up nicely – I hope to have my tree up tonight. I have an artificial tree that we put up downstairs – the cats had a field day with it, let me tell you. I went downstairs in the morning and it was all in pieces all over the floor.
After a few expletives and some shaking of my fists at the cats – I gathered up the branches and began to put the tree back together. They have left it alone since then. This is, of course, without lights and ornaments. I am going to try the lights today and see how that fares over night.
They seem to feed off each other in the mischief that they get into!
And, the looks of innocence on their faces in the morning is most comical!
Well, decorations are calling – I better get at it. I will leave you all with a link I found on Ravelry this morning.
Knitter’s Advent Calendar
Enjoy!
by Kat | Dec 4, 2007 | General
…or how I got my Christmas mojo back!
Hello everyone! How is your December opening up? Are you feeling some anticipation for the arrival of Christmas? Or, are you stressed to the maximum and overwhelmed by the tasks you have to complete before December 25th?
I confess, I was feeling decidely un-Christmasy. My Christmas mojo was gone. With how I was feeling, there was not even going to be a “Charlie Brown” Christmas here…
I worked on my Christmas cards, but no spark of enthusiasm appeared. As you can see, they are almost finished – I need to put ribbon on the remainder – along with some words of Christmas wisdom…
But… lest you fear that the Grinch will be successful in stealing Christmas from me….
One of Santa’s little elves helped me find my mojo! Sunday afternoon, Marie gifted me with pure inspiration!
So, Christmas is arriving on my doorstep – and I have opened the door wide and welcomed it in!
Without further adieu, I bring you my new Christmas Mojo!
We have the North Pole all set – aptly set upon the top of my antique step-back cupboard. This is pure Marie genius. I am ashamed to say that in all the years I have lived here in my condo – I have never set up Santa’s village. In my home, there was a “perfect place” for this – on top of the mantle. No mantle here in the condo – and evidently, no mojo either!
Next up – Dicken’s Village – set up in my kitchen on my antique sideboard! Again, this is the first time this has been out and set up since 1999 when I moved into this condo. Oh, the houses have sat as silent sentinels on top of the amoire that houses the television. But, they were unlit and had no people to bring them Christmas cheer! Now, Scrooge has been blessed with Christmas wonder and he shouts out – “Merry Christmas” to my home!
My brain has been whirling away with dozens of inspired ideas. As I worked away yesterday, Christmas music filling the air, I began to feel some of the “Advent Anticipation” in my preparations. So, as I work today to continue to get my home ready for Christmas – I will also be working on getting my heart ready for it as well.
I am off to work on more – and there is some knitting calling my name as well.
Have a blessed day everyone!
by Kat | Dec 3, 2007 | General
Hello everyone – How was your weekend?? Mine was just wonderful! On Saturday, Blogless Mary and I headed over to see Beth for her Anniversary Celebration.
It was a nice day for a drive – the sun was out and the road were clear!! And I had some Spinning Stash Enhancement to do!
Did you all know that yarn stash and spinning stash are 2 different things???
So, Beth had some great fibers on sale – I picked up some Shetland for a great price. I have not yet spun with Shetland – and I love the natural color of this!
Beth had a coupon for those who receive her email newsletter – so, I picked up some Llama roving too!
I wish you all could feel this – it is so soft and has great loft. I have only spun a wee bit of Llama that was a gift from Shannah, who I met at the class I took last month at Beth’s. I wanted to try my hand at the Llama again.
I also got this pound of Merino – the color is just fantastic. What is not to love about Merino!!
On Friday my package from Nordic Fiber Arts had arrived. I have to tell you all, if you have not shopped at her online shop – you need to. The service was outstanding! I cast on for the December Lights Tam from IK Holiday issue on Sunday morning and this is just flying along. Nordic Fiber Arts has kits available for this – you could get this done before Christmas. I am telling you all – I will be buying more from them!!
Mary and I stopped at my all time favorite yarn shop after we left Beth’s – Threadbear! They were having a HUGE sale! I was very restrained, I just picked up a skein of sock yarn and the needles I needed to knit December Lights. The prices at Threadbear cannot be beaten, and the stock of yarn is just amazing. Mary and I are taking a class there next Saturday!! So, we will be spending the entire day there!!
We arrived back in Holland just as the storm was approaching. Mary came over for some dinner and shortly the freezing rain started – we had a mini-slumber party and sat up knitting and talking until late!!
Sunday afternoon Ann and her husband picked me up and we headed to Marie’s for her Holiday Open House. Wow, the house was just gorgeous! Marie has an amazing talent for decorating. Great company, delicious food, and the amazing beauty of the decorations were just the icing on the cake of my wonderful weekend! Marie has definately inspired me to kick up my Christmas decorating a notch!
Lest you all think the weekend was without flaws – there were some dissappointments as well. And, while I try not to dwell on things negative – suffice it to say that I learned some things that were very upsetting this weekend. When you discover that you have been taken advantage of in a very blatant way, it changes how you look at everything. I can assure you that I won’t be quite so trusting in the future.
But, as I shared with Mary this morning – we need to look for the blessings in our lives rather than wait for them to ‘jump up and hit us in the face’.
So, I am heading off to bring Christmas cheer to my humble home – and I am so thankful for Marie’s amazing inspiration!!
Have a great day everyone!
