By lee | December 21, 2010
Liza gets home tonight and I can’t wait to see her. It’s been four months and that’s way too long. In the meantime, I’ve been baking cookies.
These are lemon ricotta cookies, recipe care of my friend Cyd. I’ve also made pecan pie squares, cream cheese brownies and Heath Bar cookies. We now have a bazillion sweets in our house!
I’ve put some decorations in Liza’s old room so it looks festive too.
And in this cold weather, I’ve been wearing one of the first sweaters that I ever knitted. It’s a wonderful hand-dyed yarn and is very soft wool. Keeps me warm on these blustery days.
This afternoon is the secret santa party at Happy Knits. I’ve excited and nervous. I always stress over whether the person I have will like her gifts. I’m taking my camera and will try to take some pictures. There is sure to be much merriment there.
I’ve been very bad about remembering to take pictures lately. Our Christmas party was Saturday night and I only took three pictures, Three! That’s pretty bad. I will try to do better. Merry Christmas!
Posted in Knitting, Misc. |
By lee | December 14, 2010
It’s finally starting to feel like Christmas around here. Vivienne spent the day with me yesterday helping to decorate the tree. We had lots of fun unwrapping the old ornaments and remembering where they came from. We had Charlie Brown Christmas playing and the tree smelled so good. What a fun day.
Last week was super busy. I managed to get all the East Coast packages in the mail which is always a big relief. It’s only after they are safely on their way that I feel I can concentrate on decorations around here.
We don’t have a lot of places to put up decorations but the area on top of the bookshelves and the hutch in the living room always holds the tree collection. I haven’t added many things to it in the last ten years. The wooden clock with the bird on it I made when we lived in California. The round box with the poinsetta on the front was made by my sister in law Carolyn. The little spool ornaments on the feather tree I made when we first got married.
The santa collection usually goes on the desk in the living room and on the hutch in the dining room. Most of these are purchased except for the on on the left with the white, white beard. An old friend in California dabbled in paper mache for a while and we made a couple of these santas.
This quilt was not made to be a Christmas quilt but the colors are perfect so it hangs in the dining room every year. I made this many years ago back in California. I think it was a pattern called Chinese Coins but I don’t really remember.
This wreath always hangs in the kitchen and is made from Anise pods. Even after all these years, it still gives off a wonderful smell.
I do love all the memories that come with Christmas. So many projects I remember doing with the kids. The funky ornaments they made in elementary school. The things our families have made or given us. It all makes me feel warm inside.
By lee | December 6, 2010
I thought you might like to meet the newest addition to our family. He is just so adorable.
We haven’t decided on a name yet so if you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. I know I’ve written about my monsters before, here and here, but I just have to share them because I love them so much. Rick took a bunch of pictures of this newest one and posted a great shot on his photo blog. There is a link there to an article about James DeRosso, the artist who makes these wonderful little guys.
Wishing you a monstrously good day. (couldn’t help it, I have a weakness for stupid puns)
By lee | December 3, 2010
When you write a blog about making things, the problem that always arises in the month or so before Christmas is that you’re making some cool stuff as gifts, but you can’t post about them until after the holidays are over. It’s quite the dilemma.
So here is a picture of a sweater that I finished knitting in the spring but didn’t post about then. By the time I finished knitting it, it had gotten too warm to wear it so I put it aside without sewing the buttons on. I pulled it out a couple of days before Thanksgiving, got the buttons on and wore it to dinner. Since then, I think I’ve worn it three times. It’s super cute and comfortable and really warm. It’s called “Juliet.”
I would highly recommend following the links on ravelry and reading all about the changes people made with this sweater. It’s knit from the top down and after the garter stitch section at the top, you increase to get the correct number of stitches for the lace pattern on the bottom. I did not increase as many as they called for in the original pattern. Too many knitters commented that the bottom section of the sweater was too full, so I increased less in order to have less lace repeats.
The other problem with the original pattern was the armholes. Many knitters commented that they were too tight. There are a couple of ways to fix that and I ended up adding stitches with the cable cast on right under the arm before moving on to the bottom section.
The yarn I used was Cascade Venezia and my friend Cyd gave it to me. She had bought it and decided it was too chunky and asked if anyone at the knit group wanted it. How lucky was I? Many thanks Cyd. This sweater will be keeping me warm for many winters to come.
By lee | November 28, 2010
We had a really nice Thanksgiving at our house this year which was exactly what we needed. Just Rick and I, Devon and Jenny, Vivienne and Del. Liza was on the east coast with all my extended family having a great ole time, but we missed her here.
Rick does all the cooking at our house and it’s my job to set the table. I love how the table looks when it’s all ready to go. There is that great feeling of anticipation of the meal to come.
Of course I also love it when all the food is on the table and you get to dig in. We had so many delicious things to eat this year. Del made rolls and his lovely bagettes. And Viv made the most gorgeous apple pie and homemade cranberry sauce with candied ginger in it. I could have eaten it by the spoonful.
There was also turkey and stuffing, mashed parsnips with sauted brussel sprouts, gravy, a potatoe/cabbage gratin and a salad.
I took this one picture of the food, but then I got so busy eating that I totally forgot to take anymore. The apple pie was so perfect that it really deserved it’s own picture. Oh well, that seems to happen alot with me and food. I do love to eat!
Rick took a few pictures of everyone relaxing after dinner and this is my favorite.
Devon contemplating Jasper. What a pair.
