On The Eve Of This New Year

The last blog post of the year is typically one where the author looks back on the year in reflection. Sometimes the author will list "The Top 10 Commented On Posts" or "Most Popular Posts" or something like that.

But since I rarely get comments (at least since the porn spammers have started leaving me alone) that would be a pretty short and boring blog post.

So let me just look back briefly and then we'll move on, okay?

2013 was a busy year for me, all around. The business expanded yet again and we launched our website, which has been very successful. M went to Police Academy and became an actual superhero. R blossomed (can we say "blossom" if we're talking about a guy?) in both his business acumen and just in general as a person. T and I are still working all the time, but there is talk of a day off sometime in 2014.

I worked on my knitting skills (and this old dog will learn the new trick of that invisible double-knit cast on, eventually), my other crafting skills (paper and jewelry), and my writing skills. (Did you notice? I blogged every day in 2013.) I did also try to get some exercise, but not very hard.

Lest you think I've changed so much over the year that you don't know me any more, let me assure you that I will always be ready to talk Robot Revolution, Zombiepocalypse, and yarn. And knitting. And crafts in general. And Adam West.

And I will always be your friend, Patwoman.

Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve and don't do anything I wouldn't d-- Oh, hell. You're probably ok.

Yarn Man Attacks!

R showed me this yesterday as we were sorting Heroclix. Yarn Man!

Yes, Yarn Man. The Amazing Superhero who fights evildoers with his control over yarn. Yarn Man--able to knit tall scarves in a single night. Yarn Man--master of all things fiber.

OR, conversely:

Yarn Man, the arch-nemesis of Patwoman. Yarn Man, who knots and tangles yarns by sheer force of will. Yarn Man, who waves blue yarn in the air until it is so kinked up no one can ever use it.

Honey Badger Progress

I honestly thought I'd be finishing this the next time I knitted it. But, it seems to be taking longer than I thought. As you can see, I've made significant progress. I'm already into the crown decreases. So, it really should go much quicker from this point on.

Just as an aside, notice my clothespin bobbins. Saw this on Pinterest, I think. It's utter genius. Clothespins are about the best bobbins I've ever uses. I have 4 on the back of this hat and, because you can clip them shut and they stay shut, there's no tangling. Huzzah!

I like that this hat is done on straight needles, because I tend to knit quicker that way, but I can tell you right now I'm not looking forward to seaming the lining, seaming the outer, seaming the lining to the outer, seaming the ears, seaming the ears to the head, seaming the nose to the head. Seems (Ouch! Sorry!) like a whole lot of seaming, if you know what I mean.

I'm anxious to get this finished so I can feel okay about knitting something for myself give it to T. He always enjoys my knitting and even happily wears the Bulletproof Hat, which is as ugly as it is thick. He deserves to have a badger on his head. Ha!

My goal is to finish this before the end of the year. Seriously. That's only a couple of days away, but there's not much left to do.

Stay tuned.

Picking Up The Sticks Again

I think my hands have had enough of a break, don't you? Time to get back to work, hands!

I picked up the Honey Badger Hat to finish it off tonight (since that is the project that is closest to being finished). I'd like to finish it and the double-knit scarf and then move on to something for myself.

I'm thinking about this. You know I love Frankie Brown's patterns. And I love all the little bits all over this wreath. Except the owls. You know owls creep me out. I'm thinking this would be nice for several different seasons, depending on the colors.

I'd also like to do something for myself, too. Like really, really for me. Like a sweater. It's been such a long time since I've knit a sweater for myself. Like maybe 5 years. A sweater would be good.

But something with bulky yarn and no sleeves so I have a better chance of finishing it.

I also bought quite a bit of lace yarn when it was on sale. I think I'd like to do something with that. Maybe one of the dozens of fab shawl patterns I downloaded over the last couple of months?

But first, I guess I'd better finish the Badger Hat. Stay tuned.

The Robot Revolution Is Coming!

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago, when I was trying to do some Christmas shopping on Amazon. Apparently, Amazon is testing a drone delivery system. Basically, you order, then in about an hour, a flying drone delivers your package. Uber cool! Not that I have ever ordered something from Amazon that I absolutely needed within the hour...

Anyway, apparently there is a delivery radius for these things--when they finally do roll them out--so, unless you are living near an Amazon hub (which I am, actually) you probably won't be able to use this. But, you know, if this is the way of the future, I'm sure Amazon is going to put in some more delivery hubs. I can't wait. I'll probably order even more stuff just so I can see the robo-copter deliver it.

I love the idea of robo deliveries. Like this restaurant, which delivers sushi to your table by hover-robot. Way cool. And worth the trip to the restuarant to see it. I don't eat any kind of fish, though, so this one is out for me. Also, it's in London, which is a little out of the way for an evening out for me.

This little guy is available right now.

It's a robo-massager. (Not to be confused with this different kind of massager.) Basically, a car that drives around on your body. I might get one.

If I Had A Hammer...

Well, actually, I have two. This is a present from M. I had mentioned that I would like to try doing some metal working for jewelry. So this is really very clever and thoughtful.

Two hammers, with different patterns on the heads. Some metal sheets, metal wire, ring blanks. I used a 50% off coupon at Michael's ato buy a little anvil today and I've been watching some Youtube videos to see what I can do with these.

I want to pound some metal! Yeah!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope your day is fantastic and that you found everything you wanted under your tree.

We had everyone over this morning to open presents and to eat before M had to go to work. So much fun. I love the part of Christmas where everyone opens up their gifts and yells "Thank you!" to each other. I had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures, even. I had to ask others for their pictures.

This is R, in the Embrace The Viking Hat and Beard. He absolutely loved this and ended up wearing it over to Bre's family Christmas dinner. I told him the beard was detachable, but he said "I'm never taking the beard off."

M put the Rebel Princess Hat on immediately, but then she put it on her boyfriend. He was a good sport about it, even though she took pictures that I'm pretty sure are going to be used for blackmail purposes. This was his first Christmas with us, so I think he was a little surprised to have a handknitted stocking and a hat, but that's how we do things in the Patwoman household.

I called my brothers and talked to them--something I've just not had a lot of time to do this year. There are some health challenges I didn't know about (And for the record, I feel that if you have some sort of serious health issue, you should probably tell your sister about it. Maybe she can't do anything about it, but she can support/comfort/help in some other way. At least she won't feel like a giant ass for not knowing about it.) We saw T's mom and dad, who are dealing with some health issues of their own, and talked to many of our friends.

In the afternoon, T, R, Bre, and I all played King of Tokyo and then they left to go to her sister's and T and I fell asleep on the couch for two hours and woke up in time to watch Doctor Who. No spoilers here, but I will just say it was well done. And I hope the new Doctor gets a different companion because I don't really like Clara. (Or, as I like to call her: Discount Zooey Deschanel.)

No knitting for me today because I'm trying not to cripple my hands. But we will get back to it soon. Hope you had a Merry, Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

I will not keep you in suspense. I didn't finish my last knitted gift. But it was for T, so he will be okay with waiting on it.

Working today, so our employees can have the day off. Then we will go to dinner with R and Bre (because M has to work tonight) and then to see our Christmas movie, The Hobbit.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and that Santa brings you lots of yarn.

FO: Bus Hat

Finished the Bus Hat. Looks pretty good, too.

This is a very nice pattern. Very easy to knit and looks really sharp. Very manly.

My God, my hands hurt. I poured on the speed so much these last two weeks that my carpals are all tunneled to hell. And I'm still not finished. I have one more to go.

What is the lesson? I guess, just knit more--earlier. Or, knit things in front of people and just lie about what you're knitting if you don't want them to know.

I'm just happy I investing in some wrist braces to sleep in. And a 500 count bottle of Ibuprofen.

Narcolepsy

First off, I apologize to anyone who has Narcolepsy if I am being offensive. I'm not trying to be, I assure you.

I keep seeing these commercials on late night TV that recommend you contact a certain medical facility if you think you may have narcolepsy. They list a bunch of symptoms ("You might not be 'just tired'.") and Goddamnit if I don't have most of them. Especially now, as I'm trying to burn my candle at both ends.

Both ends, the middle, top, and bottom. Just burning the whole damn candle at once, baby!

Developing narcolepsy is one of my big fears in life. About 24 years ago, I read about a car accident that happened close to my house. Apparently the driver had suddenly fell asleep and hit a car with a family of 5 head on. People died. Until I had read about that accident, I didn't really know you could develop a disorder like that. Something that would give you no control over something so basic as whether or not you were conscious.

That's terrifying.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm just not getting enough sleep. Three hours a night is enough, right?

Christmas Baking Part 2

A little more sucessful.

Since I had no luck finding any of my cookie sheets (and no one will own up to taking them to their house), I just went out and bought some more. I bought 4 more cookie sheets and 4 more cupcake tins. Hopefully those will last through the Christmas baking.

I made some pumpkin bread, which always reminds me of my mom becaue she loved it and she always made it at Christmastime. Mom used to bake hers in coffee cans, though, and I baked mine in bread pans. I don't think they even package coffee in metal pans any more. Hm. We used to use metal coffee cans for storing everything... beans, crayons, buttons, screws, nails...

Well, that's a bygone era, isn't it?

I also made some snickerdoodles, since T loves them so much. They were the Christmas cookies his Oma made for him.

Then, I made some Bicardi Rum Cake. And I have to tell you I grew a little concerned with myself as I made this cake. First of all, the recipe is in my cookbook (my personal cookbook, in which I put all the recipes I particularly want to save) no less than THREE SEPARATE PLACES! Don't forget the Bicardi Rum Cake, folks!

So, as I was getting the rum out of the cabinet that I keep the liquor in (and other things, lest you think I have an alky-liquor cabinet), I noticed that I still have some remnants of the Booze Hag Brewery stock that I made last year. I've got 2 bottles of Java Baby! (Coffee liqueur), 1 bottle of Amaretto Amore!, 4 bottles of There's Always Room For Limoncello, 4 bottles of Raspberry Beret, and a giant honking bottle of vodka that I used to make some of these.

Shocking! But more shocking is that there is another giant honking bottle of vodka on the counter by the stove that R got when he made Skittles Liqueur for his friends. And in the fridge are the specialty beers he bought on a trip to Jungle Jims, a bottle of wine, and two cans of canned margaritas (who drinks canned margaritas?) that I don't know where they came from. Also, I did buy a whole bunch of pumpkin liqueur because it's seasonal. And the Apple Pie version from that company because I'd never seen it before.

That made me wonder if I still had the Bailey's and the Captain Morgan's in the pantry (I do). Holy crap. I'm pretty sure alcoholics don't keep this much booze in the house!

Just so you know... I don't have a problem.

FO: Embrace The Viking (Hat)

The Viking Hat is finished! Sewed on the horns and the rivet band across the top. (That's harder than you might imagine, actually. It doesn't really want to be sewn on straight.)

Here it is on Alpha Male. It looks a little big on him, but it's been my experience that Alpha's head is a little on the small side. (Or else all the guys I know have big heads.)

Once again, this pattern is Viking Hat from Chili Con Yarne. The web page is no longer there, but that link is the Wayback Machine link and should get you there. I used Bernat Waverly in Stone Brown for the body of the hat. The silver banding is Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather. The horns are Red Heart Super Saver in Aran (which was really the closest match to the "bone" color I wanted). I added two silver bands to the base of the horns because I wanted them to match the bands on the beard. The beard is Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize.

This hat is effen awesome. R is going to love it.

Tick... Tick... Tick...

...Spoon!

Okay. I feel a little better after that silliness.

But seriously. I can hear the Christmas clock ticking away. And crap. I don't know if I'm going to make it or not. Let's run this down, okay?

By my calculations I still have to finish knitting 2 presents, then finish them. I also have 3 more to finish. Plus everything needs to be wrapped. How many days are left? Five? Maybe...

I showed you the Bus Hat yesterday. This is the other one I have left. It's the Honey Badger Hat. This is the outside. The inside has been knitted already, but it's just all black.

I also need to be candy-ing and cookie-ing it up.

God damn it. I started last year right after Christmas. Why am I so far behind?

Halfway Through Another Hat

Another Christmas Hat. This one is the Bus Hat. More Purl Essence Sincerely in Sincerely Charcoal Grey--because I really like that color a lot.

This one is on #6 needles, so you would think it would go marginally faster. It's all knits and purls, so very quick. Not quite as quick as straight stockinette, but if you can teach your hands to do the pattern without consulting your brain, it's still pretty damn quick. I did this much tonight as I watched a Being Human episode On Demand.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if this hat is going to be too small. I keep thinking that, too. But I keep trying it on my head and then Alpha Male's and it actually fits very nicely. The ribbing just pulls way in.

And this is kind of a shitty picture, because the needles are all curled up behind the hat so that it's not laying flat.

The Math Is Not Working For Me

Yeah. I'd like to have the Winter Is Coming Scarf completed for Christmas, but basically, I'm going to have to shelf it for now. I've just been doing the math on my Christmas knitting and I can't possibly complete it in time.

You would think, because it's double knitting, that it would be just like knitting two scarves, right? Wrong. It's so slow, and my progress is so little, that--even if I double the amount of time I spend knitting on it now--I won't even get halfway done before Christmas. And, if I do that, I won't finish several other gifts either.

So, I'm going to finish the several other gifts, and the baking and candy and shopping and wrapping. Plus, the laundry has to be done at some point. So the scarf will just be done after Christmas. T won't mind. He will enjoy the hat I'm knitting more, anyway.

That makes me a little sad, though.

Pocket, Pocket... Who's Got A Pocket?

Well, anybody who wears this hat will have a pocket, for sure.

This is the Promethean Pocket Hat. Another gift. Another nice, fun knit.

This is Lion Brand Heartland in Grand Canyon and some Red Heart Super Saver in Coffee (left over from the Rebel Princess Hat) for the stripes and the pocket. #4 needles (#2s for the ribbing) to get guage. Lots and lots of stockinette. Whoo-hoo!

Of course, the thing about stockinette is that you don't have to pay much attention to it, so you can do other things while you are knitting. (I have been catching up on Seasons 1 & 2 of Being Human. I've seen Season 3, so there are a lot of things that are only now starting to make sense to me.) But basically, you just shift into stockinette gear and then tramp down on the accelerator.

That gets a hat done super quickly.

The pocket is very easy to do, but I'd probably do it in the round if I did it again, just because I hate seaming things. The pocket, by the way, is big enough to fit a playing card (or several). I don't know why you would want to put cards in your hat, but you could, if you wanted to.

You could probably also put your MP3 player or something secret there, too. Maybe bus money or business cards or your Starbucks Gift Card. I don't know.

This is a fun hat, I'm trying to say.

'Nother FO: Mock Cable Hat

Here is the Mock Cable Hat. Another super-quick knit. Purl Essence Sincerely in Charcoal Grey again (the other half of the skein I used for The Natural) and #4 needles.

Mock cables go so quickly because you don't have to take any stitches off the needle onto a cable needle. It's just basically putting your needle into a different stitch. The only alteration I made to this pattern (besides going down in needle size to get guage) was to add another cable repeat to make it longer. Still, I knitted this one during the course of watching a show about giganticism in dinosaurs that I had recorded earlier.

Yes. The nerd-o-meter is going off right now. I know.

The thing is, mock cables still look good. There's still a lot of interest in this hat, right? And it was still fun to knit, even though it went quickly. It's a good unisex pattern, too. Especially in this dark color.

Quick FO: Turban Headband

Remember I made a Christmas scarf for Bre way back in January? It was the Weather...Or Knot Scarf in red. Loved all the cable twists and the deep ribby look. Well, recently found this pattern on Ravelry.

Notice how the twist in the "turban" mirrors the cables in the scarf? And the deep ribby texture... Well, I couldn't have asked for a better match for this scarf. And, since I had some of the same red yarn left over, I decided to just make it a matched set.

This headband knit up very quickly. It's knit flat and then seamed in the back, so you can really fly on it. And it's basically just a ribbed rectangle (except, about halfway through, you knit the right and left side separately, cross them over, and then connect them again). Then you just seam the two ends together.

This one is ready to be wrapped and put under the tree.

FO: Viking Beard

By Thor, I have finished the Viking Beard for R's hat! I know it's been a while since I worked on this, but once you crochet the base, what you're basically doing is adding fringe. And you know how bored I get with fringing stuff. I can barely make it through a scarf. (Why most of my scarves don't have fringe.)

But I did it. I cut a million-billion strands of beard and attached them all.

I used this pattern, which calls for 70 strands for the side panels of the beard. I started with that many, but it didn't seem to be enough, so I basically had to cut 70 more. Same with the base part of the beard. It says cut 45, I cut about 75. This is Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize, which I think looks sufficiently blonde.

The beard and mustache are just big braids that you sew on. They very cleverly cover up any bare spots around the mouth hole. I didn't much like the way the beard attached (You basically thread it through the base and tie it on the backside.) But, well, it looks great. And no one will be looking at the back, right?

I need to add buttons to the Viking Helm to attach this beard and then it can be wrapped.

On Christmas Trees And Well-Behaved Cats

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the putting up of the Christmas tree. Well, putting up the tree is not my favorite part. That part kind of sucks because the color-coding has worn off the branches, so it's kind of a pain in the ass to determine which branch goes where. ("Is this one longer than that one? Wait. I think I see a little color. This one might be a red... Does red come before white? Is that white or yellow?")

I'm going to fix that, btw, as I take down the tree after Christmas. I'm going to re-color code all the branches with various paints.

Anyway, what I really love is the whole family getting together to put all the decorations on the tree. I love to look at them and remember when we got that ornament, who bought it, who made it, where we lived, etc. And, as you know, my tree is filled with ornaments.

As a side note, I love Monroe's house at Christmastime in Grimm. He has the right idea.

I worried about putting this tree up so early in the month because Achilles likes to climb in it. I spend most of December yelling at that cat to GET DOWN, DAMMIT! But so far this year, he has not been much interested in climbing it. He likes to hide under it. And he likes to smack an ornament or two. But he has only been in the tree once tonight.

Could it be that he is going to be well-behaved this season?

Christmas Baking, Or What The Hell Happened To All My Cookie Sheets?!

I made some Christmas cookies. Or attempted to, as it were. Let's just say things would have gone a lot quicker and I would have made a lot more cookies if I could have found more than one cookie sheet. But when you have to slide the foil off the sheet for the cookies to cool and let the pan cool in another place so you can slide on a different sheet of foil with raw cookies on it... Well, then it just becomes a pain in the ass.

I made 3 dozen Oatmeal Scotchies, which I defy a lesser woman to make, using that same one-pan method. Then I called it quits.

The thing is... I have tons of cookie sheets--Four that are restaurant-quality (No shit, because I bought them at a restaurant supply store. They're very heavy duty.), four that are teflon-coated (Because I bought two packs of two last Christmas just for this reason.), two that are from way back in the early years of our marriage, and two more that were my mom's.

So why can I only find one cookie sheet in this whole damn house?! This may put a damper on my Christmas Cookie Baking Spirit.

Starting To Feel The Pressure

The Advent Garland is great. I love it. I want to do an Advent Garland for every holiday, in fact. However, there is one glaring down side to it...

It is a very visual reminder of how close it is to Christmas. And how few gifts are finished.

I'm starting to feel the pressure now. A lot. I know. I know. I've gotten a lot of things finished in the last couple of days, and I'm glad of that. But there is still so much to do.

Like this scarf. This is my double-knit scarf. I finally gave up on trying to learn the invisible cast on and just cast on with both yarns at once. This is what it looks like:

So, not like it was kitchenered, but it looks fine. Certainly fine enough that, maybe once the pressure of the holidays is off, I can actually learn to do it. Hopefully I really can learn new tricks. I would hate to think I've started my downhill slide into senility already. (Although there are times I highly suspect it. Like last night when I dreamed I was a talking T-Rex riding a roller coaster. No, really.)

I'm gnashing my teeth a little over this scarf. This little bit represents about 2 hours knitting. Two hours! Jeez. That's not even 3 inches!

Just to show you what I mean... Look at where I'm at in the pattern. This is the tiniest little bit of a dire wolf. I still have to do the rest of the dire wolf, the words "Winter Is Coming," and another dire wolf. And that's all the farther I got in two hours?! Given my work schedule (which, right now is: all my waking moments), I'm not sure it's mathmatically possible to finish this for Christmas.

I still have massive amounts of baking, decorating, cleaning, shopping, and wrapping to do, too. I kind of wish now that I'd just knitted in front of T. He wouldn't have minded. I just feel bad about it not being a surprise like gifts are supposed to be.

Sigh. Oh well. Spilled milk. Hindsight. (Plus, I'm foolish enough to think I might still make it.)

FO: The Natural

Hooray! Another one finished!

This is The Natural. Knitted with Purl Essence Sincerely in Sincerly Charcoal Grey. Took about half a skein. I will use the other half on another hat, maybe. It's very soft yarn. But it's not floppy, if you know what I mean. It's the perfect hat yarn.

This may look a little big on Alpha Male, but I think it's just because he has no hair. You see how much he likes it by the way he smiles. (Or maybe it's just because he loves Christmas knitting because he gets to wear hats. Most of the time, he's just sitting on the shelf, looking pretty.) Anyway, I tried this on myself and I think it will fit a guy nicely.

Super pattern, btw. Very easy, very quick. You see how quickly I knocked this out, right? Would it be bad to make another one of these for someone else? Like, if I knew they would both see the others' hat? Or do guys not think that way? Hm. Maybe I'll just do a different hat.

Here's an Advent Garland update, btw:

Hat Progress

Wow. This thing is coming along fast!

Here is The Natural so far. As you can see, it's almost done. I've finished the body of the hat and I'm about halfway through the crown decreases. And it looks great!

This picture, on the other hand, kind of sucks. I was trying to get enough light on it so you could see the color (kind of a tweedy black, not solid) and the pattern. But the light just kind of washes it out. Boo.

Anyway. Looking good. I should be able to finish this one up tomorrow.

It's French Toast Season Again

You know. That time of year where a snowflake falls and everyone runs to the store to get bread, milk, and eggs?

It's called winter, people. It happens every year. Sheesh.

I don't like snow, of course, being the delicate hot-house flower that I am. And I hate the way there are only two kinds of drivers on the road--the douchebags going 60 mph ("I've got an SUV!") and the douchebags too terrified to drive faster than 5 mph ("I don't want to wreck.") Both should stay home.

But there are some amusing things about winter weather. Like this. That's my car when I left work today. If you look closely, you'll see about a dozen icicles connecting my car to the parking lot. Ha!

Another Hat Started

I'm on a hat-making mission. Here is another hat started. It's The Natural hat pattern from Homero Luna. It doesn't look like much here because... Well, it isn't much here.

I cast on, using Size 6 circulars. The pattern calls for 7's. Now, normally, I would go down to a 5. But the pattern also says this knits a bit small, but stretches. The guy I'm knitting this for is a big guy. So I thought, "Hey. Why don't I use a 6 and then, it will be bigger?" My calculations did not make it all that much bigger. In fact, my calculations said that would be just perfect.

But no. This is why math is so heinous. My hat came out so huge I didn't even have to magic loop the ribbing.

So I ripped that out and decided to do it on #5's. This picture is actually me changing from #5 straight needles to #5 circulars. I like to do that sometimes for the first couple of rows of a hat. It just makes the beginning so much easier.

Anyway. Much happier with the size of this attempt. Stay tuned.

FO: One Row Hat

The One Row Hat is finished.

And it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This pattern is interesting enough to look good, but it isn't "too fancy," like the intricate cables I like to knit for myself.

Shopping Trip! (Finally!)

Haven't had one of those in a while. But today M and I went out and just dilly-dallied around.

And it was glorious.

We went to Goodwill first. I hadn't been in so long I was worried that they were going to have to close down branches because of the financial strain of my absence. Sadly, there was not a whole lot going on there. I almost bought an Operation game, but it turned out to be a Homer Simpson Operation game that talked. (I don't know what it was supposed to say, but I definitely didn't want a talking version.)

Then we found this crazy Jack-in-the-box. It looked vintage. I wish I'd taken a picture of it. M immediately saw it and picked it up excitedly. But as she began to crank and the music played, a muffled but sing-songy voice cried "Let me out!" and "Keep turning the handle. I'm almost there."

Suddenly, this evil clown popped out with flashing lights and diabolic laughter! I laughed so hard.

We also went to Joann, where I bought some paint for some upcoming decor projects.

More on that later.

And then to Michael's, where I bought some yarn in "manly" colors.

And then to Target for some Christmas decor.

And then to Kroger for the ingredients for Christmas baking.

I'll say it again. It was a glorious day.

Advent Garland #3: A Reflection Of Motherhood

Today is my turn to choose.

Yeah, you knew I'd choose that one. Remember the story I told you before about the paper chains I made in school?

Beyond that, this ornament says "motherhood" more than any other ornament I've made. Because, you know, as moms we put those paper chains on our Christmas trees and we love them. We love them.

Seriously. I've got pinecones with glitter, a reindeer made out of a dog bone (have to hang it high so GenGen doesn't see it), felt cutouts covered in sequins and rick-rack. All those go on the tree. And they will forever. Because those are Christmas ornaments R & M made for me.

And someday, when I have grandchildren (But not too soon, okay, kids? Mom is still way too young to be a grandma.) I will put their paper chains up on my tree, too.

Advent Garland #2

Day 2 of the Advent Garland.

We are taking turns putting up the ornaments. R chose the first one and this one is T's choice. I've never done an Advent Calendar, so this is big fun for me. (Although R did inform me there is supposed to be chocolate candy on each day.)

I want to make more Advent Calendars now--just decorate the whole house with Advent Calendars.

Putting Up The Advent Garland!

December 1st! Time to put up the Advent Garland!

I knit this in one piece, remember, because I wanted to put it across the mantle just like this. And it fits perfectly. Of course, I haven't quite finished with all the ornaments, but you know what I always say: We'll burn that bridge when we get on it. I've got twenty or so days of ornaments (and then I'm in trouble).

Hopefully, I'll get time to knit some more before I need them. Unfortunately, this is Black Friday Weekend. And tomorrow is Cyber Monday for the website. So, I guess we know what I won't be doing any time soon.