Ten on Tuesdays

Hello Knitters,

Today's Ten on Tuesdays theme is "10 Things to Do to Get Ready for Christmas."  Now that the wedding is over, I've begun to feel like Christmas is sneaking up very quickly on me and if I don't start preparing now, it will be here before I'm even close to being ready.  So I dedicate today's list to helping me get myself prepared.

1. Finish finalizing gift list.  I know I said I was going to work on this over the weekend, but instead I spent that time finishing off a project so that I'd have a clean knitting bag to start off the week.
2. Make cookie baking recipe list.  This year my plan is to photocopy off all the recipes I use so that I can put them together into a little booklet of sorts to have as a reference for next year.  Every year I make a list of all I make so that I can refer to it later, but I somehow misplace it and have to start from scratch each year looking up the recipes.  So this time, I'm planning ahead!!
3. Check supplies for projects and baking and make a list of things I need to purchase.
4. Pick a theme for Christmas decorating.  This year I am leaning towards a Dr. Seuss type theme.
5. Decide what decorations to make this year.  Every year I try to make at least a few new decorations for my tree.  This year I'm thinking about bread dough ornaments and sparkly pine cones.
6. Set a day to go to the bush to collect anything I need for projects - such as twigs or boughs.
7. Make my Christmas card list.
8. Choose what day I want to do final cleaning before I start to decorate.
9. Help Emmie write her Christmas list  ;-)
10. Start making gifts!! 

Have a great week everyone!!

Happy Knitting and Planning!!

Miniature Monday

Hello Knitters,

I thought a leaf would be appropriate for today's miniature now that it's November.  All our leaves have fallen off here, but you do see some on the ground here and there still.  I crocheted this leaf, using a pattern from a scarf I just finished for my Mom.   

Just to keep you all updated; we did hear from my sister and her husband, and they are fine!  They're having a bit of trouble getting home though due to the extensive damage done to the island.  My sister said that they're bringing in the National Guard, so hopefully things will start to get back together there.  If they are able, they're going to be taken by boat to the airport tomorrow because the roads are out.  Please do continue to keep them in your prayers, especially for safe travels!  Thanks so much!

Happy Knitting!!

Teddy Bear Picnic

Hello Knitters,

I'd like to introduce you all to Sprinkles the Bear.  She is made from my kit sent to me by the lovely Leanne for the Itty Bitty Teddy Bear Picnic Swap.  I finally finished her today, with a little help from my Mom (she did the adorable face!).  In the above picture, she is having a tea party with the bunny that Britbrit sent me in the Itty Bitty Easter Swap.  Now that I have Sprinkles finished, I am completely done the whole swap!! 

Now that this is wrapped up, I think I'm going to move onto some Christmas knitting/crocheting.  Tomorrow my plan is to revise and finish my Christmas gift list, then take stock of my stash and see what other supplies I need to purchase.  November will be here on Monday and I think it high time I get working on Christmas projects! 

On another note, I'd really appreciate it if you will all pray for my sister and new brother-in-law.  They are on their honeymoon in St. Lucia, and we just found out that the island was hit by hurricane Thomas and there has been significant damage done.  We did have an email from them this early afternoon saying they were ok, but that the hurricane hadn't hit yet, however, they thought they should be fine although maybe not be able to fly out tomorrow as planned to come home due to some damage at the airport.  We're now awaiting word from them and praying they are safe.  Thank you all so much!!

Take care, and have a great evening everyone!!

Happy Knitting!!

Happily Ever After Mitts

 Hello Knitters,

A few days ago I finished these adorable fingerless mitts.  As soon as I seen the free pattern on Spud Says! I knew I had to make them.  I didn't have any Spud and Chloe Fine on hand, so I used Knit Picks Palette in very similar colours.  They were so quick and fun to make and I would totally do them again in a heart beat!  I think knitting them in various colour combinations would be really fun. 

 I got my Mom to take some photos while I posed with my morning coffee :-) 

For some reason I find that the new photo uploader in blogger makes my pictures look squished.  They don't look quite like the original pictures once they load :-(

Now that I'm finished the mitts, I'm currently working on a crochet scarf for my Mom.  She picked out this colour of Bernat Mosaic yarn the other day so I thought I'd get right to work on it for her to wear now that it's getting colder.  At the moment, it's coming along quickly.  I hope to have to done by the end of the weekend if all goes as planned.

Another thing that is a current WIP is a crochet baby blanket for a friend who is due early next year.  She found out she's having a boy so I thought I'd do a cute boy-themed set.  I think I'm going to include the Bitty Cabled Cardigan I made, as well as knit up the matching hat.  This yarn has a pretty tan colour in it that is very similar to the off-white colour of the Knit Picks Comfy I used for the cardigan.  The yarn for this is Bernat Worsted in the Wedgewood colourway.  I've always been intrigued with Wedgewood china, so I've been wanting to find a way to use this yarn for quite some time.  Since she's not due for a while, I'm just slowly working on this.  I would like to have it completed soon though since Christmas knitting needs to be started soon! 

Anyways, I'm in the process of baking bread so I should go and check if it's ready to punch down and shape into loaves.  I hope that you are all having a wonderful Friday!

Happy Knitting!!

Teddy Bear Picnic Swap Package #3

Hello Knitters,

I've finally got pictures of my final swap package from my fantastic swap partner Leanne (Lunatic84 on Ravelry)!  She sent me an amazing package to wrap everything up.  She included: some yummy homemade chocolates that never made it into the pictures!  lol a bouquet of flower-shaped suckers, a container of mints, a Nerds lip balm (which is so cool because I used to buy Nerds for a snack after swimming lessons every week when I was a kid!), as well as a tape measure, some super cute sticky notes and sticky tabs, a Yorkie notepad (I've already used this quite a few times!), two beautiful sets of handmade stitch markers, a very soft and warm blanket, and then for the yarn there is a skein of Knit Picks Shimmer Lace in the colourway called Stained Glass, a skein of Earth Collection Ranch 100% Alpaca in a white/grey twist and a skein of On Your Toes sock yarn that was custom handdyed just for me in a gorgeous colour called Aurora! 

 

 

Here's a close-up of the stitch markers.  They are so gorgeous!!  I think she made them herself :-)  I'm  really starting to get into collecting them, they've become one of my favourite knitting accessories!

 

 

The colour of the Shimmer is more purple and vivid than is showing up in the pictures, and it's so shiny due to the silk in the yarn.  The Ranch yarn is extremely soft!!  I'm excited to find patterns to make with these two!

 

Now this is the custom dyed, soft as butter On Your Toes sock yarn!  I'm not sure, but I think Leanne dyed it herself, she's so talented!!  The colours are very pretty!!  The picture just doesn't do it justice.  It's going to be such a treat to knit with this and to wear the socks when they're done!!  I've heard lots about the brand, but have never even seen it in person, so I'm very excited to try it out!!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you Leanne!!  You've been such a wonderful swap partner!!  I feel so incredibly spoiled and blessed!!  I'm not quite finished knitting the Baby Bear to go with the whole set, but I will get cracking so she'll be all ready for tea party pictures soon :-) 

 

Happy Knitting!!

Ten on Tuesdays

Hello Knitters,

Today's Ten on Tuesdays theme is "Things I learned from the wedding." 

1. The day goes by really fast, so make sure you take the time to slow down and ENJOY it!
2. You'll see, be hugged, and kissed by a lot of people.
3. You also will forget those people's names - and likely at the most inopportune times.
4. Unexpected things will happen - for example: you may forget your purse in the shopping cart at the grocery store an hour away, then end up having car trouble on your drive home and have to flag down someone because you now realize your purse is missing and your cell just happens to be in it. However, the good news is that there are still good people out there in the world who will stop to help you out.  - Just ask my Mom, she knows all about this :-)
5. Take lots of pictures, it's the only way you'll be able to remember it all.
6. Make sure to pack snacks.  After the ceremony is over and your nerves have calmed down, you tend to become excessively hungry.
7. Have some flip flops or comfy shoes with you because your feet will get sore and need a break once in a while - or you may have to climb a mountain, and they really do come in handy then!!
8. If you focus on the bride and groom and not on the audience, then it makes it less nerve-racking during the ceremony.
9. It's very good to have one or more super-organized people helping out on the day of to make sure everything runs smoothly.
10. It really is worth all the sweat, tears, disagreements, stress, late nights, and early mornings.  There's nothing better than seeing my sister so happy she glows!!

Happy Knitting!!

Miniature Monday

Hello Knitters,

Today's miniature is a tiny ring pillow! 

I'm so sorry that I didn't keep up with wedding week, but the wedding stuff completely took over and I ran out of time at night to do any blogging.  I had a lot of 1:30, 2:30 and 3:00 am bedtimes and I think that if I tried to blog at those times of night it wouldn't have been worth posting anyways!  The wedding went fantastically thanks to a lot of prayer and hard work, and I will hopefully have wedding pictures sometime soon to share.  I never did get a chance to take any with my camera but some of the bridesmaids did.  I'll blog about it more in detail in a couple of days when things get back to normal :-)  Yesterday we had my Uncle's 70th birthday party since all the family was up due to the wedding, then today consisted of going into the city to return things such as Dad's tux then having a visit from some family this evening.  Needless to say, I'm tuckered right out and could use a good nap!!  I think it might take a week just to get back to feeling normal again :-)  However, it was all worth it!!

Also, I just want to mention that amidst all the stuff last week, I received my final swap package from my amazing swap partner Leanne (Lunatic84 on Ravelry) and I will post pictures soon!!  It was so great!!

Well, I'm off to get ready for bed, have a lovely night everyone!!

Happy Knitting!!