Wintery Day & A Baby Cardigan

So what do you think of my new blog look? Kaleigh helped me this afternoon (O.K., more than helped me!) giving my blog a facelift. I added a few new things to my sidebar, including an e-mail feed! I've subscribed to many blogs using the feature and I really like it.
I recently made a baby cardigan sweater for my cousin who just had her first baby. We visited them last week and he was as cute as a button. I'm sure the blue hat and sweater will look extra cute on him as he has beautiful blue eyes! The pattern was free from my local yarn store. I used 100 Purewool yarn from my stash. It is my very favorite every day wool. It's soft as butter and a pleasure to knit with.

We were in for some wintery weather today, so after doing school with the kiddoes I decided to make homemade sausage. I have never done so before. I used half ground turkey and half ground pork along with spices. I joined Homemakersmentor and it was one of our lessons to make sausage and/or salami from scratch. So far I have been really happy with this program and group. If you love homemaking and would like to continue your skills give it a visit and click around and see if it's for you. We are having sausage, sour dough bisquits and broccoli for dinner. Should be ready in a few minutes!

Ohhh... and guess what the UPS man brought me today? A BOSCH Mixer from Marmeedear! I bought a grain mill from Martha a couple of years ago and really wanted a BOSCH Mixer so I can make six loaves of bread at a time, among other things! A big investment, yes, but one I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of.

Kierra and Oliver in the morning. He fits right in with the family! Hope you're having a wonderful week. I've got so much more to share; I'll be back soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you! I hope your Christmas was spent with those you love! Our Christmas was very nice but we all missed my dad so very much. Not seeing his sparkling blue eyes and beautiful smile, especially during this special season, made the holiday a little difficult. But as he would say... "life goes on..." so we carried on.
Meet Oliver, my new puppy! He's a bichon frese and as cute as a button! I got him three days after Christmas! Gary sure surprised me as he's always the one telling the rest of us we can't have any more pets. Oliver seems to get into lots of puppy-trouble, too, but he's very cuddley so it's O.K.

I finally have a cross-stitch finish to show. Wish I got a shot of the back and sides though, as it finished up beautifully. The pattern is Sugar Plum Fairy by Country Cottage Needleworks.

I used the same threads as in the directions. I wanted to finish it just like the picture on the pattern so I went to TheTwistedStitcher blog and followed Vonna's tutorial on how to finish a "Cube". Vonna's directions are clear as can be and all her finishes are awesome!

I'm off now to do a bit of stitching and watch Andy Griffith with Cassidy. Although I've seen those shows many, many times, I never tire of them. Hope your night is spent in an equally satisfying way!

Merry Christmas

A blessed and joyous Christmas Season to you and yours...

Advent is a Special Time

Christmas is nearly here and I have to say it is getting a bit exciting, isn't it? It really is a magical time of year. The waiting has taken on a new meaning to me this year. Our priest gave a wonderful homily at the beginning of advent explaining that it is a time of waiting. Waiting in line at the post office, waiting at more stop lights as traffic increases, waiting in line at the stores and of course, waiting for the birth of our Savior. How true... He encouraged us to use that time of waiting in a different way than we may have had previously. He told us to take a few minutes and pray, enjoy the wait. I thought that would be a bit challenging for me as I tend to be a Type A personality. I'm always moving; even when I'm sitting, I'm moving. My mind is always thinking of more than one thing at a time. So yes, it was challenging.. but I gave it a whirl. I am so happy I did. I am learning to wait PATIENTLY! And it's GOOD! I even LIKE it! I am waiting in line patiently, saying a little prayer for one need or another or for someone in line that looks like they need one (and who doesn't?). I have said many prayers of thanks; when I see someone that can't walk very good, thankful that I can walk, when I see an expectant mother, how grateful I am to have my own family and hope she enjoys the same with hers, how grateful I am to see a new day, the sunshine or the cold on my skin because I am able to breathe in the cold air outside, and on and on... I encourage you to give it a try. It's a practice I hope to carry with me beyond this wonderful season of advent.

We've been busy cookie and candy making... some for a cookie/candy swap and some just because it's a fun tradition. We've also made pieogre too, as we do every year.

And of course, I've been getting in some last minute gift-knitting. This is a ruffle scarf I made in a couple evenings. I saw it in my local yarn store made in a variagated yarn. Oh, so pretty. I made this one for Corey's fiance in a beautiful shade of purple. The yarn is Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky. It's deliciously soft. I'd like to make one for myself so maybe after the New Year I'll settle in and make another.

I still have a couple more things on the needle... I'll keep you posted of my progress. I hope you, too, are enjoying this special time of waiting.

Some Christmas Finishes

I feel the time crunch. Do you? Every year I promise myself that I won't stress about making a few Christmas gifts, but when the time is near I always find myself in a bit of a tizzy, trying to get it all done. Baking, pieogre -making, wrapping, cleaning and decorating... it seems the list goes on and on.
We got Kaleigh a Kindle and I thought I would sass it up a bit with a pretty cover. The fabric is an Amy Butler print with matching insides below...

I should have used the next bigger size pattern because this one is a little on the small size. Still usable but I had to take out the two upper corners to make the thing fit in. What a disappointment. After Christmas I'll make her another that will fit. I think I'll let her pick out her own fabric, too. That way she'll have two and one that fits and she really likes.

I started this piece last year. It's a free pattern from Gailpandesigns called A Christmas Wish-Free BOM. I believe it has nine blocks but I only completed four. My impatience didn't allow me to stitch all nine or to leave them as unfinished so I made a small table topper from it. Below is what it looks like being used.

Well, not too good of a pic, I'm afraid, but you get the idea. It really does look nice with a candle flickering atop. I told the kiddoes not to eat or drink on the coffee table while I have that out. I don't really want to have to wash it if I don't have to. As you can see, Billy, our dog taking his place on the couch. No matter how many times we tell him to get down he finds his way back up there again.

One other small finish; an Ipod cover for Cassidy. She is forever borrowing mine so we thought she should have her own. I thought a cute cover would go nicely and help protect it just in case she drops it.

Hope you are enjoying some snow...we haven't had any significant snowfall yet here in Massachusetts. I'm sure we will though...soon enough!

Stunning...to Me, Anyway

I read the Granny Miller blog every time she makes a post. She's educated, sassy and is a source of abundant information on many topics. I've learned so much from her. Today she wrote about Wal-Mart's recent venture into Homeland Security. I was shocked. I wrote Wal-Mart an e-mail of my opinion and irritation at the whole thing. It reminded me of the books 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Eerily similar! And scary!
We've had so many around-the-table dinner discussions at my house referring to both books and how life is today. If you haven't read either books, I highly recommend both. If nothing else, read Granny Miller's post today. You may be just as shocked as I am. My next post will be something crafty; promise!

Scarf for a Manly Man

I find knitting for a man to be difficult. They don't want anything the least bit scratchy, nothing too matchy, and something that must be useful. I racked my brains trying to think of a gift our sweet piano teacher, Mr. B. When one of my friends brought over a finished scarf to show me, I knew that was it!

I really liked her scarf because it was soft and it wasn't long. It had a hole on one end to slide the other end into and it hung just on the chest. It wasn't long and taking up coat room in the chest area. Actually it's called a Keyhole Scarf. I knew I had to make one. So the above is the finished gift for our piano teacher. The color kind of looks like a piano, doesn't it? The coloring is just perfect. I bought the yarn and pattern kit through Herrschners using Curly Q Yarn by Red Heart. It's "cheap" yarn but machine washable/dryable, reasonably priced, knits up v-e-r-y quickly and makes a great gift. I ended up buying four more skeins of other pretty colors so I could make three more for gifts and one for myself. I like it that much!