Not Quite As Far As I'd Like...

to be, but hey, I gave it my best shot. One of Kaleigh's Christmas gifts is almost done, but not quite. It's a hat and mitten set and I still have one more mitten on the needle. She's a bit older than the other three girls so I know she'll understand. But I'm gonna finish it, I promise! The yarn is so soft and pretty; a tweed by Valley Yarns called Williamstown. It's a WEBS yarn. Since I live only about 45 minutes from the store (lucky me!) I'm quite partial to their Valley Yarns, as they're named after many surrounding towns! The hat is knit from a free pattern I got on the net called Women's Lace Edged Hat. If you google it in, you'll find the pattern. I can assure you the picture doesn't do the hat justice. It works up adorable!

Hot Cross Buns!

It's nearly Christmas and it's time to deliver a few little gifts to my neighbors. I did the cookie swap last week, remember? I thought I would make up some of those cookies and some of the ones me and Kaleigh made and give those. Afterall, that's what I've done for years. But this year I didn't make as many as usual so here I am, giftless. So what did I do? I made up two Christmas candies, a fudge and White Chocolate Peppermint Bark and gave that to one neighbor and some of my husband's co-workers. But I didn't have enough for two other neighbors. So this morning I made a dozen Hot Cross Buns. Oh, I can't tell you how delicious they taste, and my kitchen smells like a bakery! I made a couple little changes as I don't use an automatic bread machine, so I switched up the order a bit, and instead of raisins, I added the Christmas candied fruit. YUM! Here's where I found the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com Just put in Hot Cross Buns! They are submitted by: LITSTER5
Give them a go... you'll be really pleased.

Caressa's Hat & Mittens

Just finished this one at the dentist's office. Do you think Caressa will like it?

Mens Fingerless Mitts

I've been away from the computer for the past few days as I had a mishap... I was rotary-cutting some material the other day and got over zealous and ran over my left index finger. Major OUCH! I can't believe how much I NEED that finger! I mean, I know I need it, but wow, I REALLY need it! So, I've taken a few days off and nursed my finger and today it's feeling pretty good. At least I can type and bend it without excruciating pain and more bleeding.
I finished these fingerless mitts for my husband's birthday which is the 13th. I've tried really, really hard this year to stay in my budget for Christams and two birthdays and by golly, I'm doing it. Lots of work for me, but I love to hand make things, so it's O.K. I'm hoping that the mitts and special dinner of lobster (yuck for me, but he likes it) steak, and corn-on-the-cob, and home-made cake will be a nice gift for him. I'm thinking the mitts will be good for driving, yes?
I used the free pattern from here:
http://www.piece-by-piece.net/Knit/men_fingerless_mitts.htm I used a worsted weight yarn in Navy by Cascade Yarns. If I have time and my finger cooperates, I hope to make another pair for my dad's birthday on the 21st.
I have several other gifts to post in the next few days, so check back!

A Sleepy Trio & Hat & Mitten Set

Is this a tired bunch or what? Big Brother, Corey, and two of his favorite little sisters, Kierra and Caressa, sneaking in some cuddle time.

A hat and mitten set all set for wrapping for Cassidy. I used the same basic pattern as the previous hat but without the ear flaps and ties. The blue, textured yarn is a beautiful hand-dyed, handspun creation gifted to me from my friend in CA. The mitten pattern is the same as the mittens I made for Kierra. I'm making good progress at Christmas gifts but have several more to go...

Gifts, Soap Recipe & Meter Reading Results!

Gee, here in the photo, the hat looks kind of weird, but in person it doesn't, honest! The blue triangle you see is one of the ear flaps. It has one on the other side, too, just can't see it. You probably already knew that though :)
I've been busy knitting and making Christmas gifts for awhile now. Above is a hat and mittens I made for Kierra. I got her a light blue jacket this year for Christmas, too, and I thought this would look cute with it. The pattern for the hat is Morning Glories by Woodsmoke Woolworks. I changed it up just a bit as when I started it there were too many color carry-overs for me. The yarn kept tangling and it got me irritated (which is NOT a good thing!) so I undid it and did only two colors for the patchwork. I'm happy with the way it came out and plan on making two more hats using the same basic pattern but switching it up a bit. The flowers on it are just adorable!
The mittens are from a free pattern I got on-line. You can find them here:
http://afghansforafghans.org/mittens.html A very basic, easy mitten pattern and they came out nice, too.

I made each of my nephews, 26 and 21 a set of three washcloths and home-made soap.
I made two different kinds: lavendar and rose. I used crushed lavendar from my friend's garden, and crushed roses from my garden. I also used essential oils to scent them. They are wonderful. I used Lionbrand Organic Cotton for the washcloths and they are unbelievably soft. I think they'll like them.

We have been using the same soap recipe now for hmmm... about 10 years. Wow, where does time go? Anyway, you can make it with or without molds. I just bought these molds but for the past ten years have been using a wooden box my hubby made and then I usually just cut the bars.

Soap Recipe - Two Pound Batch
9.6 oz. coconut oil
9.6 oz. olive oil (or vegetable oil)
15.2 oz. palm oil (or Crisco)
12.8 oz. water
4.8 oz. red devil lye (this is only pure lye)
Optional: 3 oz. of butter (shea, mango, cocoa)
2 oz. of grain such as blenderized oatmeal or 1 oz. clay)
2 - 3 oz. of fragrance or essential oil
Mix oils (not essential oil) into a pan (stainless steel to be used for soap only) and heat slowly 'til just melted. Remove from heat. Put water in a glass Mason jar and add lye to the jar. DO IN THIS ORDER! MUST BE DONE OUTSIDE IN A WELL-VENTED AREA! Mix with a metal or stainless steel spoon. It will heat up on its own. Wait until it cools until it reaches 110 degrees (about a half hour). At this point the oil should be about the same temperature. Use a hand-held stick mixer and blend the lye solution into the oils and keep mixing. Once it starts to gel up a bit, then add in your essential oils. Mixture should be thickend up and pour into mold and leave for three days. Then remove from molds and let dry out. Cut if necessary. Let soap dry for about three weeks.
*KEEP ALL SOAP MAKING MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT FOR SOAP MAKING ONLY! Do not use utensils for anythin else!!!
Lye is very hard to get now. You can purchase it on-line from Bramble Berry, but be forewarned.. you pay twice the amount for shipping as for the product!

Meter Reading Results
Well, this was interesting (and still is) as I plan on continueing this little adventure for a while. We spend about $5.00, more or less, a day on electricity. I'm trying to lower that. We did lower it a bit yesterday as I walked around half the day turning off lights. I also unplugged a few things, like the iron, treadmill and sewing machine. I only use those items once a day, so I guess it won't kill me to plug and unplug them. I'm also hanging my laundry down the cellar instead of outside as the weather is just too cold for the laundry to dry out there. I still don't mind, though, as I find that hanging laundry is very relaxing to me. It kind of reminds me of when I was little... my mom always hung out her laundry (and still does) and I used to hand her the clothes. When I got older I would hang and take down the clothes too, as even then, I enjoyed the task. So, I'll keep trying to find ways to cut my electric bill. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments section as I will give nearly anything a try at least once!

Convertible Mittens

You can't see it too closely but this is a shot of the front and back of the mitten. If you click the pic to enlarge, then maybe you can see the ribbing on the right one (underside) and how the other mitten (top)is like a regular mitten.

Convertible Mittens... have you ever seen these? They're quite ingenious. At least I thought so until I showed them to my hubby and he said, "oh, yea, hunting gloves". Huh? Hmm... just coincidence. Then as I was showing them to my mom, my dad peered over and said, "oh, those are like hunting gloves". So, I guess they're like hunting gloves. O.K., maybe in design, but these are much cuter. And softer.
I made these for a Christmas gift out of Three Irish Girls hand-painted yarn. Everyone raved about this yarn and I got in on a co-op buy for it. It took several months to get it but, yup, it's worth the wait and the $$$. Very nice yarn! The pattern I got free from the net at http://freevintageknitting.com. The real name is called Women's Open Palm Mittens. Wonderful pattern, very well written and easy to understand. And the price... free... can't beat that!

Easy Fleece Blankets

Count 'em; five blankets! One afternoon I was beginning to panic as I have a list of Christmas gifts I want to make and time is slipping by too quickly. I looked at the pile of fleece sitting in the corner of my room and thought I'd better get going. So I did one of the pink blankets myself, then Kaleigh asked if I wanted some help. Are you kidding? Of course I wanted help~! We finished the second pink blanket just before it was time to get supper going. After we finished dinner and clean-up we headed back to my room. No time for a walk that evening. We did the next three blankets in between a consultation, picking up Casey from work, and baths for the littlies. We finished about 10:30, but hey, they're done and ready to be wrapped. I did a few of those blankets two years ago and the receivers really liked them as they're soft and warm. So between the ones I did then and the ones this year, all my kiddoes will have their own 'blankee' to cuddle with while reading a good book or watching a good movie.

A Few Christmas Gifts Done

I get so stressed thinking about how much I'd like to make for Christmas gifts. I really would love to do so much more than time allows, but of course, you can only do what you can. This year, a few special people on my gift-giving list will receive one of these totes. Each have a linen bottom and cotton top. I used high-quality material and the finished product shows that. The pattern is from Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. I really love that book. The directions are clear and simple and whatever I've made from the book comes out just beautifully. You may remember from a previous post I already made one of these for my friend's birthday and it has been shipped to CA. Her birthday is on the 27th and I asked her not to open the package until then. I sure hope the receivers of these totes like them and use them.

This one is a gift but...

not this one. I originally bought this 1/2 yd cut from Australia and it was supposed to be a small wall quilt. Instead I decided to make myself a tote instead. That little spot on there is just water from the iron. That should dry up by the time I'm done with this post. Yup, I'm gonna keep this one. But the next one is....

going to go to a new home.
On to more Christmas gift-making!

Elf Shoe Ornaments

Are these little thingees cute, or what? Every year I make or (the past few years) buy one ornament for each of my kids. It was fine when I only had two, three or four, but with seven, well... I'm a little busy, ya know? So I thought I would get a head start this year and try to make them. When I found how quickly these things sewed up I was able to do them while helping Cassidy with her work. No-thinking and can be put down and picked up without having to worry about losing my place. I got the free pattern from Allsorts Blog... see my side-bar. She has some adorable things on her blog - go take a peek!