Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!   I hope you and yours have a fabulous holiday!

On the knitting front, I FINALLY finished DH’s gift – the Zombie Moose!   I had knitted most of it in front of him, but had to do the stitching together, embellishments, and the antlers when he wasn’t around.  This was a bit problematic as he had the nasty cold/flu that’s been going around….so he was constantly “under foot”!  

I kept hoping he’d be asleep when I got home from Christmas Eve services….but no luck.  He was STILL up watching TV.   FINALLY…he went up to be at about 11:30…and I got to work on the antlers and the rest of the finishing!

Eureka!   At 3:30 am, I FINISHED!!!!!   Wahoo!   Just in time for Christmas!

(I know….a zombie moose isn’t the typical Christmas gift, but he does love mooses and truly enjoys a good zombie movie…..so I thought this would be perfect!!!!!)  BTW – he LOVES it!!!! 

The designer of the pattern, Knitterbees, has an entire back story for the moose as well…but the funniest bit is that he’s allergic to brains!!!   How funny is that!   A Zombie….allergic to brains!    (That’s why his right eye is swollen and his tongue is droopily hanging out!)

Christmas Knitting and Spinning

Whew!   I did a LOT of Christmas knitting this year.  I didn’t start out with a bunch of plans to that, but sometimes, it just happens!

 

First off, I made another pair of bed socks for mom – I think she’ll be surprised.  After all, she JUST got a new pair for her birthday, so she’s definitely NOT expecting another pair.    (The socks are graciously being modeled by my dog…)

 

I’m on a fingerless glove kick, so I knitted a pair of them for a friend of mine.  I used the  pattern, “Chunky Fingerless Gloves” by Simone Van Iderstine. I used Cascade 128 Superwash for these….definitely “trouble-free” care! I love the cables and the overall pattern, but I’m not that keen on the thumb attachment.  I think I prefer the patterns where there’s an actual thumb gusset.  These are great if you don’t really want to keep track of increases/decreases for gussets….and the result definitely is a cute pair of fingerless gloves!

 

Next on the list isn’t a Christmas gift, but actually a birthday gift for a friend whose birthday is Dec. 27th.   I can’t imagine having a birthday that close to Christmas!  Kim’s favorite color is brown, so I crafted these out of super soft Alpaca using the “Leaves” pattern by Valentina Georgeiva.   This had the thumb gusset shaping that I prefer.  

 

My final project was some Christmas Spinning.  I spun two sets of singles (about 22 yards each in length).  I then “deconstructed” some silk flowers and threaded them onto the first set of singles.  

 

 

 

Then, I plied the singles together to form a flowery novelty yarn.  I really like how this turned out.   The only tricky part was “coaxing” the flowers through the orifice of my spinning wheel….

 

The BEST part is that even though it’s not quite Christmas…it IS Christmas Eve…and we got just a touch of snow.  Perfect!  Enough to feel like Christmas, but not enough to make the roads slick!

 

Knittin’ ‘n Hookin’

Just a couple of projects to talk about this early in December.    First off, I knit mom a pair of bedsocks for her birthday.  She LOVES this style of sock for sleeping.  She claims she can’t sleep without a pair of these on her feet in the winter.  

She wears the socks I make her all the time…and they seem to wear rather quickly – mainly her favorite yarns for me to craft these with are single ply loosely spun yarn.  It seems that I’m always darning a couple of pairs of these every time I visit her.  This time, I made them with a plied acrylic/wool blend - “Pacific Chunky” from Cascade - I’m hoping these are a bit more durable!

 

Tonight was another Goose Creek Ruggers meeting….but this one was special.  It was our annual Christmas exchange.  We had what’s called “Bad Santa”.   We all draw numbers….the first person selects a gift to open.   Then, the next person can either open a gift or “steal” the first gift.   It’s fun and stressful at the same time – especially if there’s something you really want!  I was fortunate enough to “steal” this gorgeous Old World Santa pattern designed by Patty (the designer is posing with her creation).  I just love it!  (I do feel a bit guilty for “stealing” it from Jen…but she says she didn’t mind.)

There were two absolutely stunning rugs at tonight’s meeting….

 

The first includes both traditional hooking techniques as well as the proddy.  The proddy technique formed the multi-layered feathers of the owl.  It’s absolutely stunning….and made by Jen!   Honestly…she has something new every month!

 

 

The second is a work in progress that Anne is working on.  It’s going to be absolutely gorgeous when it’s done.  It’s quite a large rug, so it will take her a while…but once it’s done.   WOW!!!!

The Nutcracker

The holiday season has been kicked off with a bang…and nothing says the holidays better than a performance of “The Nutcracker”.  Once again,  I’ve been extremely spoiled by my friend Lisa.   She  treated me to dinner and a fabulous performance of “The Nutcracker” at Kennedy Center.   The ballet was performed by “Ballet West” out of Salt Lake City.  The costumes and choreography were fabulous!  

The restaurant we went to was a fabulous Italian restaurant…very close to the Kennedy Center – Notti Bianchi.   I had the pork chop special (excellent!) and a triad of gelato – Vanilla, Espresso, and Pistachio – superb!  It was absolutely delicious!   I can’t wait to lure DH to the restaurant…he’d love it!

 

Norwegian Bazaar

This is my favorite annual ethnic event – a room full of tons of Norwegian goodies – things to wear, read, and eat.  It doesn’t get any better than this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I truly love looking at all the people that are wearing their Bunads…it looks so elegant!   Bright, cheerful, and absolutely beautiful!  (There were many other Bunads…especially amongst the dancers, but I was too busy selling sweaters to get any photos!

 

 

 

I love assisting with this – and I especially love working with the gorgeous Norwegian sweaters.  I’ve fallen in love with so many of them over the years…and I’ve got quite a stash of them now. 

 

I fell in love with this sweater – I just love the peplum!    However, they only purchased this one in SM and MED….so anyone above a size 8 or 10 is pretty much out of luck.   Sigh. 

(Sorry about the messy background in these photos.….I was trying to snap a photo quickly…and out of the way so I wouldn’t interfere with the sales.)