And in with the new.  

Christmas Eve day was oddly calm.  Bryan worked.  Corrine played and napped.  I wrapped the last minute gifts, baked for the Christmas Eve dinner and was even able to steal an hour to knit.  Christmas eve is always at my aunts house.  We started a white elephant exchange a few years back which makes the gift giving a hoot.  (This year I ended up with a yogurt maker which I'm excited about!).  Mrs. Claus always makes a visit.  It's always a low key night with family.

Christmas Day was chaotic and stressful.  Don't get me wrong, it was a good day to spend with family and friends, but I felt as if we were rushing from house to house to visit with everyone in a single day.  Very tiring.

We woke to a cold and snow filled day!  We opened presents at our house then rushed to get ready to head to my parents house (they live super close).  We had breakfast there and then opened presents.  The G's gave Corrine a baby doll.  My mom refinished the cradle that was mine when I was little.  She also re-did the fabric pad to it.  They had to buy a matching high chair because mine was loaned out ages ago and never returned.  Thank goodness for Ebay!
We rushed from The G's to head up to the mountains to Bryan's dad's house for Christmas dinner.  Luckily it was an hour and half drive because that was all the nap Corrine was to get.  Dinner and presents there.  Then just down the street to visit my bestie and her fam.  On our way home we stopped to visit good friends who are basically extended family.  Four different families in one day was a little too much.  I think in the future our house will be the base of operations and the peeps can come visit us!   Our house looks like a tornado hit it.  There are gift bags and paper everywhere.   I know that is pretty typical of Christmas with kids and if I was at home I'm sure I wouldn't have minded.  But I hated to be gone all day and come home to that.

I certainly enjoyed spending the two days with family and friends.  And I don't think Corrine was overwhelmed by all of the festivities nor was she inundated with presents.  I hope your holiday was as fun filled and generous as ours and that your day was filled with the love of family and friends!

Solstice Soup Party.  Or End of the World Soup Consumption Extravaganza.  However you want to look at it, we are celebrating the Solstice with soup.

Bryan has been busy stringing lights on the gazebo frame.  The plan is to put the fire pit in the middle of the patio.  We are going to have hot drinks- hot spiced wine and hot cocoa with schnapps (maybe some hot buttered rum).  Everyone who is coming will bring a pot of their favorite soup.  We will have mugs to eat from so people can sample all the different offerings.  I'm making cream of broccoli and some sort of biscuit.

We wanted a low key evening to celebrate the solstice with family and friends.  The kids can play in the snow or in the basement.  The peeps can take a break from their last minute shopping.  Or in my case from the rush of starting to shop.  And for a bit of fun we thought why not go out with a bang with those we love most.  Who knows? This could be the start of a long and wonderful tradition.

Happy Friday.  Happy Solstice.  Happy Winter.  Have a great weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I went through my stash because I was looking for a new yarn color for the Log Cabin Blanket.  I realized that I should have gone through my stash at the beginning back in January when I signed up for this challenge.  I kind of did.  I organized the yarn by color and put it back in the tub.

Fast forward almost a year and it is clear to me that I put a small dent in the stash.  But if you were to look at my stash on Ravelry you would not get the same picture.   The big problem here, is that I did not put my stash on Ravelry back in January.  I did it about 3 weeks ago.  It was a cold, snowy day and Corrine and I hung out in the basement.  She played and I puttered about with my stash and my computer.  It's kind of nice to have the yarn organized.  There are 36 yarns in my stash and it shows I've used 3.

I made the Radiating Star Blanket and that used 6 skeins of yarns.  I made two Miranda hats and that used a skein each (both were partials anyway).  I crocheted the crib blanket using all scrap baby yarn.  I should be able to make another baby blanket with all the yarn left over.  I'm working on the log cabin blanket and that is using more yarn as it gets bigger.  And I should be able to finish it without using any color twice.  There are some that are close in color, but not the exact same.  I've probably used ten skeins of yarn in my challenge.

I didn't buy any yarn until the end of my challenge.  And that is mostly because I wanted nicer yarn to make some presents and make the vest for Corrine.  I will continue to use the stash yarn to make blankets for Project Linus.  But I'm excited to move on to other projects and use yarn that I buy specifically for those projects!

So.  On Saturday I had today's post all written in my head.  At least I think so.  For the life of me I can't remember what it was.  Not even the subject.  So now I'm thinking I dreamt it.  It's possible.  I was dragging tired Friday night.  It was all I could do to stay awake until 8PM (and that was east coast time).  I went to bed and never rolled over all night.   It could have had something to do with our quick trip to Fort Lauderdale.  Surely I would have remembered that.

This Moment.
A Friday ritual.
A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week.
A single extra ordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

I finished Ice Trap.  I thought it an okay book.  It really held my attention until I figured out the "whodoneit."  Not to say it didn't hold my attention til the end, it did.  I just thought it was such an abrupt ending that I couldn't believe it was over.  I'm still reading Ice Storm, but I've also got a library book to finish.  (The book has made the rounds in my family and now it's my turn before it's due.  Again.).  It's Margaret Coel's Buffalo Bill's Dead Now.  Her books take place on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.  The books are very similar to the mystery books that Tony Hillerman wrote about the Navajo Reservation.  I didn't like her stand alone books, but very much enjoy the Wind River books.  The main characters are Father John O'Malley the Jesuit priest on the reservation and Vicky Holden, an Arapahoe Indian who is an attorney in nearby Lander.   If you like a good mystery, I would suggest these.  You don't really need to read them in order, but if you're OCD in that way (like me), you will.

I tried to make Divinity today.  I'm not sure why.  I'm most certainly not a good candy  maker.  Cake, pies and cookies are my best.  I used Paula Deen's recipe.  Mine looks nothing like hers.   I'm not sure where I messed up.  Most likely it is the altitude.  Or it could just be my impatience.  Or it could be a faulty candy thermometer.  The sugar boiled for a good 20 minutes and it never got hotter than 225 degrees.

I have four cookie sheets of round white oozing circles of sweetness.

Saturday was a huge disappointment.  I had to work until 11:30.  Piece of cake right?  Not so fast.  I didn't get home until 7PM.  Not that we had plans other than to decorate the tree, but still I wanted to spend time with the family.  We were on a mechanical delay and ended up ferrying (no passengers) the plane back to Denver.  It was a day of sitting around.  We waited for the decision to be made to cancel the flight.  We waited to get the ferry permit.  It was a long flight.  The two bright spots...I was able to go to Barnes and Noble (while waiting) to buy a Christmas present.  And I got A LOT of knitting done.  Woo Hoo.

It got cold and windy Saturday night.  It was supposed to snow and be miserable on Sunday.  It was cold all day on Sunday, but we only got a trace of snow.  Corrine and I were homebodies all day and we hung out in our sweats.  She colored, watched a bit of Sprout TV and napped.  I cleaned and decorated and then knit while she napped.  I pulled some Senate Bean Soup out of the freezer for dinner.  When Bryan gets home from work we'll finally decorate the tree!

Holiday Ducks

It was nice to just hang out with no obligations today.  Hope you enjoyed the weekend!  Have a great week.

It's Wednesday and that means it time for the weekly Yarn Along.  I'm joining with Ginny and others for the weekly update of yarn and books.  Two of my favorite things, but I'm not sure I got much knitting or reading done this week.

I got a row and a half done on The Summit.  There are 12 repeats of each the left and right sides.  I have finished seven on each side.  I'm plugging away, but now I'll post pictures when I've finished it.  I joined a square swap on Ravelry.  The premise is there are 13 members who once a month knit a square for that months member and that person gets 12 12x12 squares.  I thought it would be a nice way to get some squares to put together for a blanket for Project Linus.  And I thought it a nice way to use up some of my stash yarn!  If you've got any suggestions for a pattern to use for a 12x12 I'm all ears!  I've got a couple of new stitches that I'd like to try out and this could be a good way to experiment.  Plus it is small enough to fit in my suitcase!  Or there is still room to join the second group if you're at all interested.

Last week I was reading a book I just couldn't get into.  I tried for two days to read it and it just didn't hold my attention.  Luckily we have a bookshelf in the lounge at work, so I traded.  I just noticed that it is an ice theme.  I'm reading Ice Trap.  It's a psychological thriller that takes place in the Northwest Territories of Canada up by the Arctic Circle.  I've only read one chapter of Ice Storm so far so the jury is still out on that one.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

I've been perusing Ravelry again and have several sweaters in my queue.  I'd like to start one of them for myself after the holidays.  I've never knit myself a sweater and I'd say it high time I do so.  The one I'd like to make is called Sylvi.  It's really more of a sweater jacket that I would wear outside in the fall or spring.  Or on the unseasonably warm winter days.   It calls for bulky yarn.

 I've recently logged onto Webs to looks at yarn.  I'm not sure I can buy yarn on the internet.  I like to touch it first.  My dilemma is this...my yarn budget is not huge.  The yarn I like and I think would make a spectacular jacket is Malabrigo Chunky in the color lettuce.  But if I buy it, it would cost me over $200 to make this jacket because there are only 104 yards per skein and I would need 17 skeins.  Yikes.  (I could probably get by with 16, but I'd like to play it safe).  And with buttons and the circulars size I'd need, would be closer to $250.  I know you would probably pay that in the store for a similar jacket.

I've also found some Cascade Soft Spun that is 100% Peruvian wool.  It's a heavy worsted.  It would cost about $60.00.  There are 197 yards per skein.  I'm also sure I could go to the local JoAnn Fabric and find some Lion Brand chunky in a wool/acrylic blend for less money and more yardage.

I've got time to figure it out.   I've got more projects going now than I've ever had at one time.  But I'm curious.  How do you buy yarn?  On the internet or at your LYS.  Is cost an issue?  How about yarn content?  What are you looking for when you buy yarn?

Thanks for your help.  You know I appreciate it!

In holiday months I tend to cram my work schedule together so I can have a nice chunk of time off during the holiday.  So this was another busy weekend with little sleep.  Friday morning's wake up call was equivalent to 2AM Denver time.  Bed time was 11:30PM followed by a 4AM alarm.  I'm too old for that little sleep!

Friday night we dropped Corrine off at The G's and we went to see the new Bond flick.  (I liked it).  On the way out of the theatre my brother called from Japan to Face Time, so I chatted with him for a while which was why it was so late when I went to bed.

Our alarm was set to go off at 4AM because we wanted to be in line for a CD.  The radio station we listen to puts out a CD every year in time for the holidays.  Various artists play live on the radio during the year and the CD is from those live radio performances.  All the proceeds from the sale of the CD go to benefit the Food Bank of the Rockies and the Boulder County Aides Project.  This was volume 24.  my brother has all of them.  I have most of them.  We can't miss it.  I'd rather stand in line from 5-8AM (when it goes on sale) and know I'll get one rather than chance it selling out.

After the CD purchase I ran home, changed out of my long underwear and headed Fabric Bliss for the December food swap.  Fabric Bliss is my new favorite store.  They've got yarn and fabric and all the supplies I could need.  Plus they do classes and have tech support!  I did exercise my will power and did not purchase any yarn.  I'm really trying to finish my current projects before I cast on a sweater for myself.

The outside of the house got decorated.  You can tell the extent of my reach with the ladder.  The tree is up inside.  It's got lights, but nothing else.  We ran out of time.  There's a lot of furniture rearranging that must be done.

Hope you have a great weekend!