Itty-Bitty Advent Swap Package

Good Evening,

I wanted to share some pictures tonight of my Itty-Bitty Advent swap package that I received from Jessica.  I got it in the mail on Monday and had only opened the box for a quick peek and to read the card, but tonight I unpacked it all and put it under my palm tree.  Here's a picture of what I seen when I opened the box:

And here is it all unpacked under the tree:

Squeeeaalll!!!!  I can hardly wait till tomorrow when I get to open the first package!!  I will be posting pictures each day on my Ravelry page as I open them, so if you are interested in seeing what is in each one you can check it out by clicking here.  I have a feeling December is going to be an especially fun month!!

Have a great night, xoxo

P.S. I wanted to let you all know that Daniel is home now and is doing great!  He is getting better each day and we are so thankful to the Lord for it all!!  He still has a ways to go yet in his recovery but he's making strides at a remarkable pace.  Thank you so much for praying for him, we all appreciate it so very much!!!! 

A Reveal

Hello!

Over the weekend I got my Mom's Christmas socks done except for the heels.  Here's a picture of the second one when it was almost finished.

Isn't the colourway pretty?  She picked it out herself, it's Knit Picks Stroll Hand-Painted in Punky.  I've been having a fun time knitting them because I like to see what colour is going to come up next.  This was my last pair of Christmas socks.  Now I just have to do some heels and they will all be completely done and can be wrapped up!  Yippee!!!!  I'm getting closer and closer to being done my gifts!!
 
Also, I finally got the colourful project started over the weekend and I can now reveal what it is going to be....

It's my own interpretation of the Sweet Flower Granny Blanket from Attic24.  I was originally going to make a blanket like Lucy's BB, but I fell in love with this blanket instead and just had to make it.  Lucy hasn't written up the pattern yet, so I set out on the adventure of trying to make something similar in looks.  I used the flower information she gave here, and pretty much winged it for the rest.  It took quite a few tries and a couple of hours before I got something that looked good to me.  I'm using Bernat Super Value and leftover Red Heart Super Saver from my stash in colours that are pretty close to Lucy's since I'm not fully confident in my own colour choosing yet.  I know it's probably not the smartest thing to start a blanket while I'm still working on Christmas presents, but I just had to.  You see it's getting a lot colder here now and I need a extra blanket on my bed at night, and since it's almost not Fall anymore my Fall Blankie needs to be put away and replaced with a new one, but I don't have a new one, so therefore, I need to make one.  Sounds logical right?  I thought so. 

xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!!  I hope you are having a blessed and wonderful day :)  We aren't doing too much to celebrate this year, but some years we do.  I use the excuse that since part of my Dad's family lives in the States, then we can celebrate too.  I am making a pumpkin pie though, and of course we're going to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving - it's a tradition!  I've also been taking some time today to reflect on all the things I am thankful for.  I think it is something I need to do more often.  Lately I can get so caught up in everyday life that I forget to take the time to enjoy all the many blessings in my life.  It's something I definately want to be more mindful of. 

In some crafty news, I've had a bit of a hold-up with the colourful project I was going to start this week.  I changed my mind about what pattern I am going to use and this resulted in needing a few more colours, which I'm planning on picking up tomorrow.  But in the meantime, I finished up the Advent Bunting Stars!!  Now they need to be starched and I have to come up with some sort of a plan for the numbers.  I'm not sure what I want to do with that part yet, but I have a few more days to decide. 

I also have a couple of smaller projects that I want to cast on since most of my Christmas knitting/crocheting is done.  I'm hoping to work on them this weekend while I'm staying at my sister's house.  Most of them are along the "mindless" knitting lines, so I can knit them while watching movies and visiting.  I'm not sure yet if I will keep them for myself or put them aside for gifts, but I have the yarn just laying around so I thought it best to use it up just in case there might be some new yarn under the Christmas tree for me!! 

So have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone and I will hopefully be back soon with some in-progress photos!!

xoxo   

It's the Weekend!!

Happy Saturday!!

I'm so glad that it's the weekend!!  This past week has been a bit stressful and busy to say the least, so I'm very happy that it's over now.  Also, my Dad came home last night!!  He got in just a few minutes before 4:00am and of course we all had to get up to welcome him home.  He has been working way up north for the last two months so it's really nice to finally get to see him and have him home for a bit.  Since he was away for his birthday, I'm baking his cake today, and we are going to celebrate tomorrow.  I gave him his birthday socks this morning and he said they looked real professional and he was going to wear them to church tomorrow!  I'm so glad he likes them!!

Speaking of Dad, I finished his Christmas socks!! 

I'm so excited to have them done, and I think they turned out really nice.  I hope he likes the colour, but I think that he should because he likes both red and grey.  He originally asked for red and white socks, but I couldn't find a yarn that would work, so this was the closest I could get.

I also snapped a picture of the yarn for my next big project I mentioned earlier.  Want to see??

Ohhhh I'm so excited about this one!!  I still have a couple more projects to finish up before I can start it, but I think I should be done them soon, so maybe you'll see some progress next week!! 

Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

xoxo

Advent Bunting

Hello!

I hope you are all having a lovely week!  I wanted to post before now, but I've been so busy working on Christmas presents and finishing up the final details on my Advent swap package, that I haven't had the time to stop and write.  I've been doing a lot of sewing mostly, but I have done a little bit of crochet that I wanted to talk about today. 

Back in the springtime when I found the Attic24 blog, I seen Lucy's adorable Advent bunting and knew immediately that I had to make one for my own room this year.  Counting down the days till Christmas is one of my favourite things to do, and this is such a cute way to do it.  I'm using Knit Picks Dishie cotton for my stars and I only have three done so far, but I think that are super cute!!  They work up in a snap too which is great.  I can sneak one or two into little spaces I find during my day when I can't work on bigger projects.  I like watching the colours come together and seeing how each star turns out unique and beautiful.  If you'd like to give them a try yourself, you can find the star pattern here and the how-to for Lucy's bunting here. 

On a side note, yesterday while in the city doing some shopping, I made a trip to Zellers to pick out some really pretty colours for a big project I'm going to start soon!!  I'm beyond excited about it and can hardly wait to share it with you, but I need to get some pictures first.  Since it's a dreary day here today I will have to wait a bit longer before I show you, but believe me, it's going to be so much fun!!  Anyhoo, have a wonderful day!!

xoxo

McHenry

Hello!!

I finished McHenry!!  Isn't he so cute??  This was a delightful pattern to knit, as are all of Susan's patterns.  I had so much fun watching him come together and get a personality of his own.  He seems like the happy-go-lucky type to me.   

I used Knit Picks Comfy Sport, which makes him all huggable and squishy - exactly what a stuffed toy should be.  It's a little sad to have to part with him but I think he's going to make a really fun Christmas present!

Much Love, xoxo

Granny Square Tea Cozy

Happy Wednesday!!

My Mom bought me this cutest robin's egg blue teapot a few weeks ago because she knows how much I like tea, and with the weather getting colder we will be drinking a lot more of it!  She thought it would be nice to have a pretty new pot to enjoy it in.  I thought that it needed an equally pretty cozy to help keep it warm and toasty.  With my new-found like of everything Granny Square, I knew that this was the perfect pattern!!  It's by Sarah London from her new book Granny Square Love.  I don't own the book, but this pattern was an excerpt from it that was featured in the November/December issue of Crochet Today! Magazine.  Granny squares are perfect for stash busting (which I need to do more of by the way), so I used some of the leftover yarn from Brittany and Nick's Granny Stripe Blanket.  The blues matched just right with the colour of the teapot, and I even found the perfect ribbon in my "ribbon stash" to go with it, so this truly is a stash busting project.  Now it's all ready for a nice steaming cup of tea....and maybe a couple of scones for Mom!

Much Love, xoxo

~ Pretty Things ~

Hello,

Today I want to start something new on the blog.  I have seen Lucy from Attic24 do "Pretty Things" posts, and I think they are such a wonderful idea!  I'd like to include them here on my blog because it's such a good way to stop and appreciate the beauty in everyday life.  Sometimes I find that I'm just moving too fast to take joy in the small things and I think that this will help me slow down and enjoy what is around me.  I hope that you like the posts and that they bring some beauty into your lives as well.

Since I'm just starting off, I only have one Pretty Thing to share today.  We had our first heavy frost about a week and a half ago, and my Mom took this picture of it on one of her plants.  I was just struck by the intricacy of it.  If you look at it hard enough, you'll see that it looks like it has been carefully painted on by hand - it's breathtaking!!  It just blew me away that there would be such detail on something so simple as frost. 

I find nature one of the most fascinating things to stop and really look at.  The beauty found in it is truly amazing!!  Our Creator really does care about all the small details, and He puts it all there for us to enjoy.  I am so thankful for that, and I plan to keep my eyes open to see it all.

Much Love, xoxo

A Couple WIPs

Hello!

Wow, it's Friday already!  I don't know where this week has gone, it's just flown right by.  I'm happy that the weekend starts soon though, there's so many fun things happening.  Tomorrow our Pancake House is open, so my Mom and I are going to go there for an early lunch, and then one of the towns on the Island is having their annual Christmas Craft Bazaar, so we are going to go and do a little early Christmas shopping!!  I'm hoping to find some things for my swap partner to add to her package, as well as a few other goodies for my family's stocking stuffers.  My sister may even come down for the day and join us, which would be so much fun!  This Christmas Craft Bazaar is something I look forward to every year.  It's always so neat to see what new and creative things people are making, and it's a good chance to support our local artists. 

In the knitting department, I have a couple of WIPs to share today!  I've been working on McHenry by Susan B. Anderson from the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue:

Susan's patterns are always such fun to knit!  I finished his limbs, tail, spot and collar last night and now he only needs to be assembled and get a face.  McHenry is a Christmas gift for someone special, because really, doesn't everyone want a dog for Christmas?? 

The other WIP for today is my Lizzie Bennet's Shawlette by Anne K. Riley.  I mentioned this before.  It is for the KAL that I joined in the Knitting with Jane Group last month.  I started mine late, due to other knitting commitments that needed to be finished first, so I didn't get mine finished on time.  However, I am enjoying knitting it and try to work on it, even if just a little bit, everyday.  The colour I chose for mine is the Meryton colourway, which is a very lovely green. 

I'm still working on the boarder.  I have 23 of the scallops done, and there are 40 in total, so I'm a little over half-way done this part.  Next I need to pick up the stitches and work the body, which is stockinette, so it should go a bit faster.  I'm okay with it taking a while though.  It's for me and I don't mind waiting.  It's such a pleasure to work on so it's all worth it.

Well, I hope that you all have a great weekend and enjoy yourselves!! 

Much Love, xoxo

And So IT Begins!!

Hello there!!

Happy November to you all!!  It is now officially "get ready for Christmas time" here at my house :)  I've decided to start early this year because I have found that in years past I'm always so rushed with making gifts and baking, etc, that I don't get to enjoy the actual things about the season that are so special to me.  So this year I'm trying something different; I'm making a change.  I've cut down my gift-making list to be more reasonable (in keeping with the plan of small, useful, handmade and lovely) and I've started plotting things out on my calendar to make sure that I don't end up leaving things to the last minute.  All this should help leave room for the other "special" things that I want to do this holiday season, and for the actual enjoying. 

So, in keeping with the theme, I thought I'd show you two of the required knits I finished for the Itty-Bitty Advent Swap. 

This is the Mouse from the Christmas Set in Itty-Bitty Toys.  He turned out really cute, and I think I might have a little bit of sadness about parting with him, but I know he is going to a good home where he will be well loved! 

And here is my Tiny Elf from the Spud and Chloe pattern.  Not too bad for an elf, eh?  He was a really quick knit! 

The other required knit was Susan's Santa Baby Ornament pattern, which I knit but forgot to take a picture of.  It was super quick to knit and even cuter than most of the mini hat patterns I've seen.  I've also knit some other gifts for my swap partner (SP), but I'm up-in-the-air about sharing them on the blog because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so we will see.  But for now, this is the first sneak peeks :) 

Much Love, xoxo

P.S. Yes, I'm listening to Christmas music and I'm even breaking out the Christmas movies tonight!!