New Dawn New Day

The sunsets this time of year are breath taking. Today the sun will set and rise to a new year. I am practically jumping out of my skin with anticipation for things to come.

I am so fortunate for the good things that are in my life. My cup is overflowing with love for family and friends.

I will be spending the New Year with my true love. We will be home in our pajamas, with food ordered to go from our favorite restaurant. We will have a bottle of Champaign that will probably be opened early to enjoy over the evening.

I toast to you
“May you live today & everyday that follows in the NOW, I wish for you to live in the moment, enjoy what is happening now, feel life completely whether it be good or bad revel in it and know that you are truly alive.”

Video

I thought it would be nice to share a video in this post. I found this site for video codes.

Watch Video:

YOU AND ME (Lifehouse)

Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Loot

I made out like a bandit this year. Check out the loot.


This is Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier &Laurie Kimmelstiel. This book was a pleasant surprise. My best friend gifted this to me along with the knit pattern a day calendar. I did not have this book and I am not sure why. I really like this book. It is chuck full of patterns using luxurious yarns. The best part is the patterns only require 1 to 2 skeins of the yarn. This is a great way to be able to knit with high end yarn and not have to break the bank to do it.

I have already picked out my first project I would like to make from the book


This is the Dewdrops Scarf and is knit with one skein of Knit’n Tyme’s Makalu Cashmere 4-ply DK Handpainted, 100% Cashmere. I love the color way shown in this photo. The best part is you only need to splurge on one skein of 100% Cashmere yarn.


Knittin Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
What can I say I love Nancy’s books. This book was gifted to me from my Mom. She found it on my Amazon wish list. The thing that is great about this book is in the beginning it shows in detail all the different types toes & heals, and how to knit them. So basically it is very helpful if you want to get better at knitting the perfect socks. Of course there is a ton of beautiful sock patterns in the book.


Hubby outdid himself this year.


Professional Waffle Maker. Now before you think what kind of guy gives his wife something that slaves her to the kitchen for a gift. I have wanted one of these, but it is not something one buys for them self. I have already used this thing twice and it is amazing. The waffles come out perfect every time. It beeps when the waffles are ready. You just pour the batter in, rotate it 90 degrees, once it beeps rotate it back 90 degrees and open to beautiful waffles. Last batch I made I added chocolate chips to the batter. YUMMY! I love stuff that help me look like a professional chief with little effort on my part. Plus it makes it fun to cook.


Drum roll please. I also found this under the tree for me from my Hubby.


The new video ipod. Mine is the black one.
This is an awesome gadget. I am not much into the music part but the best stuff it can do is you can download photos directly from your digital camera. This will be perfect for travel so I will not need to lug around that heavy dinosaur of a lap top I usually bring. Also you can play video on the ipod. Like TV shows and music videos, these are great for travel. Another cool thing you can put on this is audio books.

There is also something called a podcast that you can subscribe too. Most are free there is a zillion different ones to choose from. I currently have subscribed to three different ones. One is a Hollywood entertainment one that gives you the latest buzz on Celebes and such it is put on by wireimage.

The second one is a Vermont life Video

It shows a 2 minute video of places in Vermont with back ground music. (When I was younger I always thought I would live in Vermont).


The third is educational it is the French podclass. This one is about 20 minutes long and and plays French music and teaches you how to say words in French. I like listening to it. The podcasts will update weekly or daily or monthly and give you a new one to download to your ipod. I am still learning how to use mine but I love it so far.

I think someone should do a knitting podcast and do a small weekly video of how to do certain stitches or tricks of the trade, or just go from yarn shop to yarn shop and show us a little 2 minute video. I am just throwing the idea out there hopefully someone will run with it.


Finished Objects to Come
I have been working on old wip’s that have been on the needles forever. My plan is to get all of them done so I can start new projects with a clear conscience. Plus I am anxious to start up some new bags for the Tote-along I joined.

Christmas Eve

Here is Cosmo waiting patiently for Santa to bring him some new toys & treats. I tried to have a little talk with him about naughty and nice and how actually sitting in the tree waiting for Santa would be classified as NAUGHTY!

The first time he got into the tree he was real careful getting out but now he just leaps out like a flying squirrel. So far not one ornament has fallen off the tree even with all of Cosmos acrobats.

Joined a new Along



Found the tote-along and joined up to make some bags starting next year. I have a request from my sister-n-law for a booga bag & also I have a bunch of fabric in my stash to make some bags.

Merry Christmas

Everyone have a wonderful Holiday.

Winter Solstice

Webshots Photo

Today is the first day of winter. To me that means from here on out the day light will be getting longer. Only a couple more days until Christmas so I added a how to last minute gift idea to this post if anyone is still scrambling.

Finished My Christmas Stocking



It is made from the pattern in Holiday Knits titled Striped Christmas Stocking. I used Frog Tree’s 100% alpaca Wool in color #26, #31 & #000. I enjoyed knitting with the Frog Tree yarn and will definitely use it again. Here is a look at the stocking inside out. I just ran the three colors up the inside as I went around. In the end it made for less ends to weave in.

This heal was the easiest I have ever done. The heal is made exactly like the toe. Too bad it probably would not work for a sock you would wear.


Scented Gift


This is a great last minute gift idea. I usually make a couple of these every year. It is also a good gift to make a couple of extra in case some one drops by the house you had not planned for, you can hand them one of these.

These are called Pomander Bowls. I first spotted them in one of my holiday craft books Martha Stewart’s “Handmade Christmas”. The photos were taken from the book to help you see what I am talking about.

What you need:
an Orange
Whole cloves
Decorative bowl
Raffia or Shredded paper
Ribbon to match bowl



Put the whole cloves in a bowl and get comfy on the sofa and start poking the cloves into the orange. You can use a toothpick to first make the hole but I did not find it necessary. The cloves go right into the orange skin. Completely cover orange and let it sit overnight to dry.

Then put some raffia in your decorative bowl set the cloved orange in it. Wrap decorative ribbon around bowl and add a trinket or something if you like to the top. These gifts smell wonderful. Plus they last a long time. I have one in my kitchen that is over a year old. The orange dries just like dried flowers. You do not need to buy a bowl and ribbon that is in holiday colors because people can keep it out all year round.

Knit Inspiration

Here are a couple of bags from The Gap.


I might try to make one of these it is so cute and I enjoy doing little projects with cables.


This fair isle bag is great. After making a fair isle bag myself I know how much time and money it took for me to make it. I really like the way they did the handles. I might do a version of these handles next time I make a Booga Bag.

I am so looking forward to the weekend. Just a few more days!

Holiday Shuffle

Ever feel like the Holidays are closing in on you. Of course you have. That is what I have been feeling this week. Sometimes you need to break away from the hectic holidays and make a little something for yourself. Let me introduce you to my:

Christmas Sock Monkey.


Yep I took some time out from baking and shopping and crafting to make this super cute sock monkey. I have been wanting to make a sock monkey for awhile. While I was out shopping at target. I spotted these Holiday stockings.

My first thought should have been those are a little over the top. But my reaction was SOCK MONKEY! I think they were $3.99.

Here is the pattern to make your own sock monkey. I used polyfill to stuff him with. He is super soft and cuddly.

Baking up Presents


This year I decided to bake up some treats for my employees. Little did I know how time consuming this would be. Everything turned out great and I got them done on time. I chose five different baked goods for the baskets. I baked everything up in two days and divided them up into these foil pans.


The baked goods are: Walnut Fudge, Lime Snowball cookies, Chocolate candy cane cookies, Lemon Poppy seed Muffins, & Butterscotch Blondies.


I bought cellophane wrap and wrapped them all up like baskets and put tags on them listing what type of goodies were inside.

Helpful Elves

They got the right idea. Wouldn’t it be nice to just lounge around and then have all the fun when the holidays get here.

Fa La La La La

I started up the lovely stocking.


I am knitting it with a #3 – 12” circular. It is coming out real nice and much easier since I need to switch out the colors for the striping. I am running all three colors along inside and just pull forward the color I need.


I discovered a good use for this beverage carrier from Starbucks. It works great for holding the three balls of yarn, especially when riding in the car and trying to knit a few rows on the go. Have you tried starbucks Holiday Peppermint Mocha. Yummy!

Other Holiday Crafts


I quilted this holiday stocking for my Office Manager. She is a big Tigger fan. I did not have a pattern I just kind of made it up as I went. Some of it was tricky and both my husband and I had a good laugh. There was even a moment where I was going to chuck it in the trash. But some how I did not give up and kept working on it and ripping it out until I was happy with the result.

Christmas Stuff on the Internet


Wow, check out this scooter. Dude if I had gotten this scooter when I was a little girl my life would probably be totally different. That is one sweet ride all pink with a zebra print seat cover and a matching back pack. Take a good look at the little girl in the photo you might see her in 20 years and she might be running the world, or at least the neighborhood for the next year with all her little friends.

The holidays always bring back memories of Christmas’s past. Well this scooter brings back memories of one in particular. The year my brother, sister and I came down the stairs to see what Santa had left under the tree. My brother got a brand new shiny red bicycle and my sister and I each got a sweater. As if that was not bad enough, my sweater had a big rainbow heart in the center and the sleeves were all rainbow colored.

Anyway we know that is not what the holidays are all about. Even still I am compelled to send my brother a lump of coal and address it from Santa, maybe knit a little rainbow sweater for the lump of coal.

Phone Chums


I also found these great cell phone chums on the Horchow website. I saved the photo on my computer to possibly use them as inspiration the next time I want to knit a cover for my phone. So Cute.