I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

A few weeks back, I joined an ornament swap.

  And for a few weeks, I've been agonizing over what to make. This week, the ornament light bulb went off!

Snowflake babies.  I found a bunch of wooden snowflakes in my Christmas stuff, and some antique tinsel. Suddenly, I was thinking faster than I could do. I used a vintage image and photocopied it, put one of those sticky bubble thingies on top of it, and started the embellishment.

Aren't they cute?   

Not to worry, there has been knitting. While I'm waiting for my "Build a Sweater" yarn to arrive, the Blue Sky Alpaca Scoop Neck Vest is coming right along on it's merry way. I knit the bottom in the round, and then I will divide for the front and back bust shaping and armhole.

                  

In my sock bag, a sweet little Jaywalker. Again. Using something from the stash, Yarntini's Vintage Stripe. (love her yarn, by the way)   I did a picot top, which is rolling.   

     

Will that work itself out? Has anyone done the Jaywalker with the picot trim and can you tell me how it turned out for you?

Last week, I received a wonderful Special Swap Movie gift from Stacey. Now, my whole weekend is planned. I'll be watching "Sense and Sensibility." 

While drinking tea, of course.

And executing the fine and gentle art of needlework. Perhaps with this charming and lovely yarn...

(Stacey's own Red Rocks Fiber Works "Sheep in the City" Colorway, which is FAN-FLIPPIN-TASTIC!!!!!!)

Along with the other goodies and sweet sentiments, Stacey, you put together a perfectly wonderful Movie Night swap package. I love every bit of it. Thank you so much!!!! 

What makes us so crazy busy at the end of the year? Is it just the holidays or is it that feeling of urgency that the year is almost over  and there is always a feeling of urgency when something is almost over? Or are we just busy all the time?

Crafting women are busy women. period. There is rarely a moment in the day when we are not thinking of ideas, and creating things, and reading about what other people are thinking of and creating. Do you know that in the midst of the "day after Thanksgiving shopping rush" I had to go into Joanne's to get a few supplies for decorating at church. Where was I drawn?  To the books. To the magazines. (While JR was in line for me...isn't he a dream?) Just looking for ideas.  I would rather spend an hour at the library or at Joanne's lazily flipping through books when I have pies to bake.  I would rather browse the isles of five craft stores to find the perfect little bird for a Christmas ornament than clean my house.  I would rather decorate my house than clean my house. I could spend three hours reading about what all of you are thinking of making and doing for Christmas rather than making and doing what I need to do! 

And so it goes. Every year, we say we are going to do things differently. And every year, we don't. I think it's in our nature to be busy and feel the urgency of the holidays... I'm not sure it would be fun for us if we weren't!

I decided  his morning (while I could have been cleaning the bathroom) to do some Internet Christmas browsing. What ideas grabbed at me? What would be on this knitter's dream list? Sort of a "Lynne's Favorite Things" for you... just for dreaming, of course.

How about a 625 yard skein of pure cashmere...enough to do a shawl? Classic Elite Embrace  $280.

Or a sweater's worth of classic coal black pure merino dk? KnitPicks Merino Style  $24.90 for a sweater's worth.

A Knitting Workshop with Meg Swenson $735.  Or an "Elizabeth Zimmerman Knitter's Workshop DVD" for $48?

An Offhands Designs Zhivago Weekender for $220 . Or a MisoCrafty Knitting Clutch for $30.

Lantern Moon Sox Sticks  $22 . Or A complete set of Options Harmony Needles (interchangeable and double points) $104.98

The Complete Barbara Walker four Volume Treasury of Knitting Patterns $120. Or The Best of Interweave Knits for $24.95

A Handcrafted Holidays Tour  $3600 plus air fair. Or the book, Handknit Holidays $27.50 ( I have this one...it really is one of my favorites!)

A hand massage at the Baskets of Yarn Winter Retreat $995 plus transportation. Or Blessed Juno HandKnit Soap $7.00  and Mary Kay Satin Hands Hand Cream $8.00.

Dream on, Knitters!  What is on your knitting wishlist?

And the rest of my week went like this:

A visit to a Burmese family, to deliver food and share our love.

A visit to Syracuse to be with family, eat Thanksgiving dinner and share our love.

Sharing our love at The Chapel...decorating trees and more trees.

More decorating .

More decorating.

Decorating at home.

And a Sunday to relax and recoup.

I do give thanks for the amazing way that our blessings are multiplied the more we give them and that our love is magnified the more we share it. For family of all kinds, and for God, who is the great blesser and lover of us all.

Knitters gather...

...for a Thanksgiving Knit Together.

New friends and best friends, we had a really nice evening together, sharing stories, passing around books, showing off our current projects and eating snacks.

Frannie, Elma, Kelly and Linda

Denise (who is no longer blogless!)

                

And Lisa, Liz and Lynne.

   

Go read Lisa's blog. Much more entertaining wrap-up of the evening! Funny, Lisa. Very Funny.

Build a Sweater...the next chapter.

This has been such an interesting process. It's not easy building a sweater.I don't know if I want to to do this for a living.

When I contacted Dorothy, my all time favorite lace knitter, would you believe she found a lace pattern very, very similar to the Anthropologie sweater.... in an old Japanese stitch book that she got a a yard sale many years ago!?!? Dorothy was sweet enough to send me the pattern, and so I began my swatching yet again.

  After careful calculations,

I end up with this.   

I have decided on the eyelet lace pattern as well...

    Row 1: k1, YO Kt2, repeat

            Row 2: purl

            Row 3: knit

           Row 4: purl         

Repeat last four rows.

Now I'm ready to cast on for the back...121 stitches, according to my scribblings, Knit two rows, and then six repeats of the wave lace pattern.

My yarn should arrive any day from Web's...Classic Elite 150 Merino, in "Daisy."

I've been swatching this time around with KnitPicks Alpaca Silk DK "Elegance" which has been lovely. So lovely in fact, that I may put that on my wish list for the Garnstudio cardigan that I mentioned a few posts ago....it comes in black, which is perfect, and it is in an alpaca blend dk weight which is suitable for that sweater.  Oh, and I can't resist sharing this little sweater from Garnstudio...

In addition to that sweater, I also mentioned philosophy pure grace...one of my favorite things.

                                     

Yesterday morning, I discovered that pure grace is also one of JR's favorite things. I so busted him! Right there in the shower, using my purple scrubby and my pure grace! I had noticed that the bottle seemed to be going down a little faster than normal, but really didn' t think much of it.  After a sound scolding about how it's for girls, and it's meant to last at least six months, and blah, blah, blah,  I have to confess, he did smell nice when he finished! HOWEVER I'm sending him out tonight to get some Suave for Men shower gel, or Irish Spring or something, so he can smell like a proper guy.  Can you believe it?

Mmmmmm....brunch

I'm still thinking today about the brunch we served yesterday. After having worked on Sundays for the past few months, it was kind of nice to go to church, and come home. My mom and dad, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Len, my cousin Annette and her husband Frank (with Baby Bryce) and Katie and Ray all came over after church for brunch.

Did I tell you I was still thinking about it?

Mo's Breakfast Strata

In a 13x9 pan, lay eight slices bread, buttered side down. Top with slices of Virginia Baked Ham, sharp American cheese and eight more slices bread, buttered side up. 

Mix 8 eggs, 3 cups of milk, and a teaspoon of mustard. Pour over top of bread layers, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  To 1/2 cup melted butter, add a can of mushroom slices, drained, and 1 cup crushed cornflakes. Spread over top of strata, and bake for 45-50 minutes until set.

The Barefoot Contessa Sour Cream Crumb Coffee Cake

Roasted Asparagus

Drizzle asparagus stems with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Roast in a shallow pan at 350 degrees until just tender.

Melon and Strawberries

Orange Jubilee Smoothies

In a blender, combine 6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup water, 7-10 ice cubes, 1/4 cup sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. Blend until smoothied.

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Other than the fact that we were without a blender, and had to borrow a food processor for the smoothies (FYI...smoothies should not be made in a food processor. Smoothies made in a food processor end up on counter tops, walls and floors),  the meal was delish.

The company was better.

Tomorrow?  Build a Sweater, Chapter 14.

If you live north of the 39th degree latitude, you'll understand what happened this morning.

Waking up, after making my first important stop of the morning, I looked out of the the bathroom window and saw snow on the neighbor's roof! SNOW! Not snow on the grass or in the shrubs, or on the car or the driveway. On the neighbor's roof. Barely awake, I did a happy dance in my fuzzy slippers all the way down the stairs and through the house, even getting Moses all excited, for even though it's only snow on a rooftop, it qualifies as our first snow! ( and so what if Moses doesn't know if he's getting excited about snow or my dancing fuzzy slippers...I choose that he shared in my excitment about snow.)

And what did I do before I had my first coffee of the day? And where did I go at lunch time?

Christmas is around the corner, and for some reason, it takes snow on the neighbor's roof to get me in the mood!  My mind is spinning with ideas of Christmas! I am part of an ornament exchange this year. so this weekend, I'll be like a crafting maniac in my little room under the eaves... gluing, glittering, cutting, assembling.

Living in a new house throws a whole new spin on Christmas decorating. And I'm not quite sure the direction in which I will spin. We have a fireplace...a MANTLE!

Our stockings don't have to be hung with care from the stair banister!  Having a mantle opens up a whole new world of decorating for Christmas. I can hardly wait.

In my mind, I'm already deciding where to put the trees. JR thinks that because we'll be in Disney World for Christmas, we don't need to get a tree.  Are you serious, JR?  Who died and left you with no Christmas Spirit? 

I'm excited all over again to open the boxes that hold many years worth of treasures.

Living in the same house for twenty years, all I had to do was open the boxes and all of the trimmings practically knew where to hang themselves. Now, in a new dwelling, the garland may be surprised at where it is strung up...and JR better watch his "we don't need a Christmas tree" attitude, or the garland could find it's way strung up around his neck.   Oh, I'm sorry. Should I delete that?

Today, I'll share a few of my favorite things.

  earrings by catherine popesco.

the best smelling non-smelly body lotion ever.

coconut cream pie. no explanation necessary.

this sweater. 

from   Garnstudio      

Lord help me, I'm in love with another sweater.

Swatching. All weekend.

Moving right along on my "Build a Sweater " project.

   I swatched the entire weekend.

Feather and Fan..

  This is a worsted weight.

And Aran weight.

Compare the two?

I have a few different things going on here. The black swatch is a traditional six stitch repeat feather and fan, over four rows. Although I like the chunkier look, I'm thinking I'll need a bit more drape for this sweater. I swatched the black in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran...more for the yarn content than the weight.

Green swatch is a worsted wool. In this swatch, I modified the FF pattern to a four stitch repeat. I moved the purl row under the eyelet row, and threw in a few more rows to work the repeat over six rows.

Like this:

Row 1 k1,* k2t (2 times) yo, k1 (4 times), k2t (2 times)* repeat.

Row 2 Purl

Row 3 Knit

Row 4 Purl

Row 5 Knit

Row 6 Purl

I'm leaning toward this one. 

Yarn is the next question. I am craving Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK. Craving it, I tell you. I've actually bought two different yarns this week, and they aren't doing it for me.  I may have to go with a simple wool for budget reasons, but I'm open to suggestions!

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?  Joe Pesci, Dustin Hoffman, JR Brundage.

2. What were you doing at 0800?  I was in my car, ready to leave for church.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Visiting with a neighbor, taking her a bowl of chicken corn chowder.

4. What happened to you in 2006? I joined a choir,  kayaked for the first time,  and  celebrated my tenth anniversary.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?  Hey JR, Karen broke her hand today!

6. How many beverages did you have today? Coffee, Coffee, Water, Water, Water, BK Mocha Joe Iced Coffee, Water.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Black and silver

8. What was the last thing you paid for? $2.15 for a BK Mocha Joe Iced Coffee. 

9. Where were you last night? What did you do? Home all evening, watching AFI's Top 100 Movies Special.

10. What color is your front door? Stained hardwood.

11. Where do you keep your change? The bottom of my purse.

12. What’s the weather like today? Partly cloudy and about 45 degrees outside. 

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?  Coffee ice cream, with some kind of chocolate in it.

14. What excites you? Animal print?

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Just had it cut yesterday.

16. Are you over the age of 25? I am.

17. Do you talk a lot? Yes. In fact, I sometimes get tired of hearing myself talk.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? I don't know what the O.C. is.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?  Yes...the guy across the street, for one. 20. Do you make up your own words? Not on purpose. Although I love when words get mixed up... like "perry chitter."

21. Are you a jealous person? Not really.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Alison

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kat 

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Katie 

25. What does the last text message you received say? It's been so long, I have no idea.

26. Do you chew on your straw? No. 30. What was the last thing you ate? Chicken corn chowder.

27. Do you have curly hair? Straight 

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? To the kitchen to eat apple crisp

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? It would be rude of me to say.

31. Will you get married in the future? I plan to stay married in the future

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? The Wizard of Oz. And Breakfast at Tiffany's.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?  I have the good blessing to like many people. I can only hope that I have the good blessing to be liked by many.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night. Which is strange, because I never wash dishes.

35. Are you currently depressed? Not currently. 37. Why did you answer and post this? Because Kat tagged me. And it seemed like a good Sunday post.

36. Did you cry today? No, thankfully, I did not cry today. I did all my crying earlier in the week.

38. I am not typically a memer, so I would say, if you enjoy sharing the little details of your life, we'd love to read about it!  It would make a good Sunday post for you, too!