Finished Socks!!

 

Woohoo, I just finished my Daughter's Christmas socks and only a few days behind schedule.  I feel like I am on a role, a finished hat yesterday and socks today. If only I could have been this productive before Christmas!

 The toe was finished at a London Lightening basketball game that the kids and I went to this afternoon.

Here is the happy new sock owner modeling the finished socks.  The stripes were off by a couple of rows so they don't quite match but neither one of us is too worried about it.

The important thing is that she likes them and they fit her perfectly.

The next project is an alpaca cowl for my sister in law that was also a Christmas gift. The pattern says it can be knit in an evening.  We will see.

A Finished Reversible Hat

This is my new favourite hat pattern.  It is a reversible hat making it fun to knit and super warm to wear.

Pattern -  Christopher
Yarn - Patons Classic Wool
Needles - 4.5mm dpns and 16" circular

 You begin knitting the hat top down,

 switch colours for the reversible side,

 and this is what the finished hat looks like,

finish off the ends and then you have a wonderful hat that can be worn with either colour on the outside!

A Quiet Christmas Morning

Christmas morning this year was quite different from what I am used to but it was still a wonderful day.

 I started the day with a walk in the park.  It had snowed on Christmas Eve so it was a perfect winters day; cool, crisp, the snow crunched under your feet and when the sun came out the snow sparkled.

 I only met one other person on my walk.  A woman out jogging.  She was dressed all in clothing that runners wear and I wondered if she had unwrapped everything earlier that morning.

 We exchanged Merry Christmas and I continued with my walk down to the river. 

 I loved the fact that on a Tuesday morning at 8 am there was ONE car on the street.  Any other day at this time there would have been 4 lanes of traffic bumper to bumper.  It was nice knowing that no one was rushing to work or to the shopping mall and that everyone was home with their family having breakfast, opening gifts and just being together.

Once home I packed my knitting bag and spent the afternoon with my parents and the evening with wonderful friends. 

This picture was taken on Christmas Eve and I think it sums up what Christmas is all about; having fun and making memories with family and friends.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has always been my favourite night of the year.  This year was no exception.  I spent the evening with family and friends and it was a perfect night.  There was wonderful food, some kissing under the mistletoe ;) Christmas caroling, a candle light Christmas church service and gifts.

I was given this wonderful gift, a candle that looks like a ball of yarn!

I lit the candle but only for a moment, I just couldn't let it burn.

The cat was enjoying a new resting spot,

more gifts were opened,

 

and everyone loved their hand knit gifts

 

and it is snowing.  It is going to be a white Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope everyone has some wonderful family time this Christmas just like we did tonight.

Six Days to Christmas!

With the count down on to Christmas, I have a pair of socks well on their way to being finished. 

 

Thank goodness my daughter likes ankle socks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only six days to Christmas!

 

Cats Enjoy Christmas Too

With Christmas just around the corner, everyone in our family is in the Christmas mood; even the cat.

Since it is the Christmas season, I can see where the beds, quilts, pillows, couch and knitted afghans just won't do for a comfy place to sleep.

I can understand that anyone small enough to fit under the Christmas tree - with it's decorations, lights and the gifts wrapped in pretty paper with ribbons and bows - would choose that for their napping spot. 

Please feel free to knock down a branch along with some of the decorations and enjoy your nap.

(Really, I should just the thankful the tree is still standing!)

Knit Candy Cane Pattern

Super Simple Knit Candy Canes

The other night I was in the mood to knit something quick and I wanted it to be Christmasy. These simple i-cord knit candy canes are what I came up with.

Here are the supplies. Small amounts of red and white worsted weight yarn. What I have here are 3 grams each of cotton, a 4mm circular needle, a 6" piece of pipe cleaner and a darning needle to weave in your ends.

To knit the pipe cleaner into the center of the i-cord candy cane bring the working yarn around behind the pipe cleaner before working the first st of each row.

The view from the back of your work

This is how it looks once you get the first 4 rows knit

Here is the i-cord tube finished

Trim off the excess wire, weave in ends and bend into shape

Use them to decorate Christmas gifts

or to decorate floral arrangements or your Christmas tree

My helper

I will post this pattern for anyone who would like to knit some holiday cheer of their own!

First Family Christmas

Yesterday was the first of our family Christmas get togethers. I was ready for an afternoon of fun with family members I usualy only see once or maybe twice a year. I made a yummy dessert, had my Christmas cards ready to hand out and a simple stocking stitch hat to knit while I chatted and played games with the kids.

It was a perfect afternoon.

A Little Bit of Everything

December is here so that means Christmas decorating is in full swing! Mom and I spent a day gathering greenery for our outdoor winter arrangements. This type of thing is definitely not my specialty but it was fun spending the day with my Mom and I think the pots look wintery and festive.

I know someone who doesn't like Christmas. I know, I can't believe it either. So, I am trying to get her into the Christmas spirit with some Christmasy things :)

Has anyone tried cutting glass? I hadn't either but thanks to Pintrest and Youtube I found out that it isn't hard to do at all. I had broken one of my favourite candle holders

and wanted to try and salvage it. This is what we did. Wrapped the end with tinfoil, soaked some cotton yarn in nail polish remover, tied the yarn around were we wanted the glass to break and lit the yarn on fire over a sink of cold water.

When the flame went out we put the end we were cutting into the cold water. According to the videos we had watched this alone should have cut the glass but what we were cutting was very thick and the glass was cracked but not enough to break. We poured boiling water on the yarn then put it back into the cold water and with a little tapping on the cut end it worked! Now, it isn't perfect, it did crack up the side a bit and a small piece broke out of it but it is WAY better than it was when we started. The next step was a little bit of sanding. We also used the electric sander because we wanted to even out the edge where the piece had broken.

It isn't perfect but is it darn close and it is useable!

On the knitting front, the afghan is getting closer to being finished everyday. My goal is to have it ready for the crochet edging by Sunday. I have started a sock now that the afghan is getting to big to cart everywhere with me. The needles and yarn feel sooooo tiny!!