Santa Claus

That Santa man was really good this year.  I was kinda helpful to him though - I made my list, I emailed it to my hubby, parents, etc  him.   And I must have been really good because the packages were awesome.  I will get into the goodies in the next week or so, but one gift I need some help with.

I have been wanting a DSLR camera for years and Santa delivered.  However, my photography experience hasn't gone beyond iPhone and simple point and shoot cameras.  For all you bloggers who take such beautiful pictures - what would you recommend to this inexperienced wanna-be photographer?  Online class?  Any real helpful forums or websites you might recommend?  I have been using the Auto focus/program feature simply because I don't know any better.  Is that the norm or can you take much better pictures in the manual mode?

I know there is so much for me to learn and right now it seems a bit overwhelming.

Help?

Relaxing

All of the Christmas knitting is complete.  So you know what that means?  Back to knitting for me!  I actually had to sit back and think about what I wanted to knit.  I decided on the Cedar Leaf Shawlette.

I have been looking forward to casting it on.  I have so many shirts that this yarn will look good with.

I sort of whined about having to cast on 270 stitches but it wasn't so bad.

I had my helpers.

Merry Christmas

The Pile

Well last Wednesday we had this:

This morning we are looking at this:

Darn cat....

Let's try again.

The Christmas socks were completed and gifted on Thursday.  No time for a picture.  You know what they look like after seeing at least 3 other pairs this Christmas season.

Hat is done.  This pattern was used.  The yarn was leftover Plymouth Mushishi.  I used two strands to make it a chunkier yarn.  It's a warm hat that's for sure!

Did you see the addition of some slippers?  That was the yarn I had to order.  One slipper is done.  I'm contemplating making another pair after that.  

The socks haven't really been touched because their deadline is after Christmas.  I'll probably be working on those Christmas Eve to relax after all the chaos has settled down.  

My absolute favorite are these:

Tell me these don't look like they came right off the Grinch?  After the holiday I will be making more.  I just love them.  

Tonight there are presents to wrap and cookies to make.

Where ARE those damn elves?  Iv'e made enough shoes for them.

Naughty and Nice

I saw this on Karen's blog and had to steal it.  I'm all about lists so let's see what items are on each one:

NICE
-the upcoming weekend
-my shopping is all done
-most of the wrapping is done too
-I'm not panicking about the knitting situation - yet
-a snow free, and kinda warm few days ahead
-family coming to visit soon for the New Year holiday
-unexpected party to go to tonight
-my family - hubby, daughter, parents, brother, etc... I'm so grateful for them this year


NAUGHTY
-I have done no baking and I'm not even sure how much I want to do
-my car is a mess; salt and sand everywhere
-Mowgli eating 4 ornaments.  I'm not sure who needs time out - dog or daughter since it happened on her
 watch
-the house needs a good cleaning
-my daughter just found out that she has to work on New Years Eve which kinda puts a crimp in the plans

I'm not sure which list kitty should be on - Nice because she's so pretty or Naughty because she should NOT be on the kitchen table.

What's your list looking like these days?

Christmas Fun

One of the celebrations I look forward to every year is the Bayberry Spinners Christmas party.

We all get together and knit and spin and eat and enjoy each others company. One fun part is the gifts. We each make/buy 20 little gifts (we try to keep the price around $1 each). 

I love seeing all the different ideas. 

It's kind of like being a kid on Christmas morning.  

Somebody got a real FUN gift. 

Serena got her first spinning wheel!  

I'm already looking forward to next year. 

And the knitting - the Christmas socks need heels and they are done. It's onto the next pair of elf shoes tonight.  Or maybe the hat.  We shall see where the needles take me. 

Yarn Along

7 days till Christmas huh?  Well I can report that the second set of clogs got finished. All packaged and ready to go. This is the pile that remains.

This yarn needs to become gifts. 

Another pair of those stripe socks. These will be finished by tonight. Did I mention that this is sock #1?  

I have time for this pair I believe. No sweat.  Probably an after Christmas gift anyway. 

The rest of the pile?  A hat and at least a pair of adult elf shoes.

I have another pair of slippers to do but I need to order the yarn first 

Go ahead and laugh.  I believe I was put on this earth to make people smile. 

And I'm reading this as I go. I just downloaded it last night so no opinions on it yet.

Join us over at Ginny's for the yarn fun. 

10 on Tuesday

I think one of my favorite things about the holidays are the traditions we celebrate year after year.  And when one Italian marries another Italian you can guarantee food is a big part of it. Some of our traditions are not Italian, but they are ours and that makes them special to us.  

1.  Bake cookies. We do the usual but we add some Italian favorites like Strufoli. We take the same dough and make crescent cookies too. 

2.  Italian cheesecake. This is my dads favorite and we have it for breakfast Christmas morning. 

3. 7 fishes on Christmas Eve. My husband takes care of this one. The shrimp is my favorite. 

4. Holiday Wine. It's not as easy to find here as it was in NY but it is darn good. Especially when you warm it up!  

5. Going to Lasallette to see the lights. We added this tradition when we moved here. It has grown into quite the display!

6. Making the Advent Wreath. When we lived in NY this was a big celebration the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We carried it up here, although not as many of us gather to do it. It's still something we look forward to. And we have simplified the wreath making.  

7. St. Nicholas Day. We didn't do this as kids but as Nicole was growing up we decided it would be a nice tradition. 

8. Making crafts. Besides the obvious knit-a-thon that goes on during the month of December Nicole &  I pick something out to craft together. 

9. Making Irish Cream liquor. Definitely not Italian but it is yummy!!  

10.  Italian Wine Biscuits.  We have never done this before but everybody seems to love them at our house and I think we are going to give them a try.

So tell us about your traditions.  And visit Carole to see the traditions of others.  

Weekending

It was a typical weekend in mid December

-Christmas shopping was completed
-packages prepared to ship out
-except for one that is still waiting for some elf shoes
-not nearly as much knitting as I had planned
-enjoyed the spinning guild Christmas party
-drove around in the snow (not by choice - we picked up Nicole from work so she wouldn't have to drive)
-finished decorating the tree
-totally enjoyed sitting down last night with my book and a cup of tea

How was your weekend?

Yeah - They Are THAT Cute

And I can't stop making them.

Enjoy your weekend!  You know what I'll be doing.

So It Goes Something Like This

Every year, around September or October, I start giving some thought to who I am going to knit Christmas gifts for.  I come up with a doable list, knowing full well that it is going to grow.  If it's a good year, I'll start knitting in October.  On an off year - November.  This was a good year.  I started in October (we won't discuss the fact that those projects socks aren't finished yet) and I got a sweater done, a couple pairs of slippers, and a couple other pairs of socks.  All good right?

Here's where it all goes crazy-pants.  Good organized knitters look at their list, stick to it , and motor on.  I would be what you call an ADD knitter.  In other words, I get distracted easily.  That's not saying that I don't finish the task at hand - I usually do.  But it doesn't stop me from being distracted from all the "ooh.. shiny" projects out there.  Like this one. I happened upon it yesterday and within 20 minutes I was at the yarn store grabbing some Cascade 220 and large double pointed needles.  There are a few people on my list that MUST have these.

I had never used Cascade 220 before and I have to say that I am impressed.  For something that is going to felt, it is pretty soft.

So yes - the elfing has begun.  Felting will commence tonight.

Lot's of ends to weave in, but do you really have to weave them in if they are getting felted?  Can you just cut them off afterwards?

I know they resemble hot Italian peppers right now, but these are going to be cute.

I may have to make a pair for myself.

Yarn Along

Sorry but its more boring red green and white over here.

As quickly as I got that last pair of socks done i should have had these tiny baby socks done in a night. 

It's basically the busy-ness of the season that's sort of interfering. But I really need to get all these tiny socks done because they need to be mailed out in the next day or so. 

What's that there?  It's a book.  I am actually reading. After seeing so many people reading it last week I figured I'd join the party. 

What's on your needles?  Join us over at Ginny's! 

Ten on Tuesday

This by far will be the easiest TOT ever!  I live by To Do Lists and have many going at once. I could have covered the whole topic with a simple screenshot of my iPad. I have my personal, knitting and fiber, and work lists so I'll pull a few from each.

1.  Check on last years Christmas bonuses and make up the list for this year. Last year was a bit of a blur between the move and me getting the flu. 

2.  Which reminds me - get my flu shot. 

3. Organize my leftover sock yarn stash for my next project. 

4. Decorate the tree. It looks real pretty sitting with lights but some ornaments might make it look a little more festive. 

5. Finalize year end figures so I can get financial statements prepared. 

6.  Take pictures of my Kromski Polonaise and list it online. Time to make room in the toy box.  So I can buy some new toys!

7. Make my list for Yankee Candle. Every year my friend Diane and I take a trip to the flagship store after Christmas for their big sale. And of course we stop at Webs - it's right down the road. 

8.  Make phone calls about getting the windshield replaced on Nicole's car. 

9. Wrap all the presents I already bought. Some need to be mailed so this needs to happen rather quickly. 

10. Write my blogpost for the day.  I can check one thing off!

How's your To Do list looking lately?

Weekend in Pictures

Nothing like a little trip to NYC to get you in the Christmas spirit. 

How was your weekend?

St Nicholas Day

Well would you look at that! St Nicholas brought socks for a certain special daughter last night. 

Yeah right. She knitted like a lunatic for 2 days to get these done. 

Considering they were done so fast the stripes match perfectly. 

I love knitting with this yarn. Desert Vista Dyeworks does a great job. 

Your hands feel good while knitting with it. And I think I have enough yarn to knit another pair for my niece. My daughter has a size 6 foot so it really was a quick knit. 

Time for the elves to cast on again.