I'm still here

Just popping in quickly to let everyone know that I'm still here.
And to everyone who left concerned comments: don't worry - the second mitten is almost halfway done.
I'm "cleaning up Christmas" today which is kind of sad although I'll be ecstatic to have my house back.
I've also started work on a friend for my cross stitch Santa, but it's slow going and I think I need a magnifier to see the little pattern squares.

I'll post updates as I make progress.
School starts again on Thursday when, hopefully, the crafting will recommence.

It's a mitten!

Now...do I knit another one or pretend that I'm Michael Jackson?
I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday.
Following the resolution of millions around this time of year (so boring!), we're attempting to shed a couple of pounds around here. The sad state I'm in became VERY apparent yesterday when I could only do 11 (girlie) push-ups! It can only get better from here...

Merry Christmas!

I wish all of you a very peaceful Holiday with your families.

First Mitten (I hope)

Conversation between Jennifer (the Socksgiving Angel) and I after yesterday's post:
Jennifer: "How could you knit mittens and not be able to knit socks?"
Me: "I don't know that I can knit mittens. I thought I'd give it a whizz."
Jennifer: "Ahhh, the truth, I was wondering about you and that thumb gusset."
Me (silently): "Uh-oh..."

And why would I pick the most complicated pattern I could find for my first mitten? Because I'm a nut case like to challenge myself.
(Did I mention that I've never tried stranded knitting before either?)

It's Laundry Day

...at Santa's house.

Yesterday I had a blah day. Just sat on the couch and watched "The Real Housewives" (don't tell anyone, it's a secret) on Tivo. I then had a little flurry of energy and decided that knitting some mittens would be in order but didn't have the correct needles. So, back to the couch I went.

At least all the shopping is done and all the gifts wrapped...

An early start

Finish Quilt-a-long Block 6 by 8am: check!

My quilt group (now officially renamed a fiber arts group which allows us to be knitters, crochet'ers, or whatever else has to do with fiber) had our Christmas meeting last night. At the gift exchange I ended up with this:

How much more perfect can you get for an obsessive compulsive Type A person? A quilt block a day! Woohoo!
Gotta go play in the traffic quickly this morning to finish the last of the Christmas shopping.

I'm a sock knitter!

The Socksgiving sock is done! Please excuse the picture quality. It's 3:30 and dark. (But do notice how someone of my advanced age can still put her foot on the kitchen counter while balancing on the other one and take a photo with a shutter speed of 1/25!)

I was so impressed with myself that I found another sock pattern and set about knitting a PAIR of socks!

I miscounted somewhere and one sock is a teenie bit bigger than the other so I probably have to practice the pair thing a little more...
But Woohoo!
Thanks Jennifer!

What's on our tree

As I've mentioned before, we don't have a "designer" tree. Maybe one day we'll have a tree all color-coordinated and pretty, but for now it's about ornaments with memories and, even though these have no rhyme or reason, we love the memories they bring.

Josh loves penguins. We're actually contemplating having a separate "penguin tree" next year.


The Queen of Everything (that would be me)


Ice cream in winter - yum!

My pride and joy

On a very rare occasion I make something that takes even my breath away. This is one of those things. While I can't take credit for the pattern (which is really the source of all this beauty), I did spend countless hours working on this project and it always brings a smile to my face.
I'm so happy to have people to share it with this year. Please click on the pictures to see more details. Cross stitch is notoriously difficult to take photos of, especially when it's behind glass.
Someone asked: it's 12"x14"

And what is this?...

...you ask. Do you ever feel like all you do is laundry? I was wondering how many loads I do per week, so I strung my little row counter up in the laundry room. The count is not as high as I expected, but the week is young...

On a different note, the block for week 5 of the quilt-a-long.

I really like this one.

Charmed, I'm sure

The Christmas cards are made and we got the tree up yesterday, but that's about it Christmas-wise. I'm hoping to hit the loft today and see what's up there that I still want to put in my house. Am I the only one who sorts through the Christmas decorations each year and goes "What was I thinking?"? At least this is an excuse for new stuff...

In August I posted about the Holly Jolly charm squares I fell in love with and just had to have. I'd never bought charm squares before and now know why. What on earth do you do with 37 different 5" squares? While I was still pondering a solution 3 months later, the amazing Monica came up with one.
And here it is...

the Jingle Jolly runner.
It matches the family room curtains just perfectly!

Socksgiving - step 4

I decided that I won't bore you with my repetitive lists today.
My Socksgiving sock is starting to look like....a sock!

(You have no idea how hard it is to take a photo of a sock on your foot while trying to avoid grossing everyone out with the vision of your un-pedicured foot!)

The history of Socksgiving:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3

GOWI 3

I really was planning on posting less after NaBloPoMo, but I seem to have something to share every day...
Quilt-a-long Week 4:

I bought Josh's birthday gift today. One more thing checked off the list.

Today:
1. make Christmas runner
2. take some decorations down from the loft
3. address Christmas card envelopes
4. write family Christmas letter

Notice the repetitive trend here?

GOWI 2

i.e. "Getting On With It" 2
Thanks to all your wonderful suggestions regarding my wreath problem, I walked into JoAnn's with a plan yesterday. Of course they didn't have what I needed to execute the plan, but other inspiration soon came. I'm quite happy with the outcome. I have to be. It's time to move on to other things.

I updated yesterday's post to reflect what I actually got done.

Today:
1. make Christmas cards
2. print family photos
3. finish the black, white, and orange quilt top
4. make Christmas runner
5. take some decorations down from the loft
6. make quilt-a-long block
7. mail some packages, even if they're not "perfect"

What's on your list for today?

Getting on with it

Today I'm pulling myself out of my slump and getting on with things. Time waits for no-one.

It never got light yesterday. I didn't want to vacuum in the dark, so I waited for it to get light. It never did. I vacuumed in the dark this morning because it may not get light today either. I love winter in Seattle so I don't know why I'm so bummed out by this. At least we have power. 80,000 people don't.

On today's list:
1. finish the black, white, and orange quilt top
2. make a Christmas runner
3. figure out a Christmas card design - quickly!!!
4. do some boring paperwork (someone has to pay the bills)
5. get a haircut
6. go get fun things for the front door wreaths
7. mail some way overdue packages
8. make the quilt-a-long block

OK, I may not get to all of this, but at least I have a list.
And because I believe no post is complete without a photo...

I love this boy.

So what did you do this weekend?

I bet it wasn't as much fun as this!