A Few Close-Ups

As promised yesterday, here are a few close-up photos of some of the items from my Reducio package!

I Got Crabs!

We went to visit DD at college and spend some time with my brother's family on Saturday. It was a great day excpet for the fact we blew a tire just as we were getting back into town at the end of the day.

After a 50 minute delay of changing tires, we arrived home where my family was convinced someone's package had been delivered to the wrong address. It was for Emma Densaugo....which as it turns out, is my Harry Potter name for the Reducio swap group on Ravelry!

I was very excited to see a package! And it contained some really awesome stuff too!



I chose to be in Hufflepuff for this swap since I have socks from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw already. How cool that my partner beaded the sock!! The theme for this swap was "A Weasley Christmas/Yule", thus the stocking as well.

In addition, my spoiler (Katt) put in: a mini skein in a gorgeous red, Tazo teas, some stitch markers, a really cool art card she made that features some dyed fabric and feathers, and some incredibly cute crab cakes, with the most adorable crabs I've ever seen!



(I know! Right?! You're ooohing and ahhhing as well, aren't you?!)

Her note, written in verse, gives a little i.d. to each one. How fun, eh?

I'll post some more close-up photos tomorrow!

Happy Monday!

Like Cookies?

Do you like cookies? Not the things that track the internet sites you visit--I mean the delicious, home-baked treats that come in a world of varieties!

If you do, you will want to head over to my friend's blog, Sew Not My Day where she's having a cookie give-away!

The cookies are a beautiful 3 colored "spumoni" cookie which really look delicious.

Go check it out! Now!

Ho, Ho,....HO NO!!!!

Holy Cr@p fellow knitters/sewers/crafters! There are exactly [ONLY!] 39 days until Chrismas (40 if you're willing to still count today!)

How are all your projects coming along?

I made some progress over the past week/weekend. I finished a pair of mittens for my holiday giving. (Not going to anyone who reads this blog, so I can picture the finished item!)



I turned 2 heels at once and started up the legs on the pair of socks I'm knitting from the hand-dyed sock blank.



And I started another quant for the younger set.....(I'm doing these for the younger ladies on my gift list.)



It's been a bit of a rough week as far as news of people I know discovering terminal illness or deaths (one unexpected and another I knew was coming, but still hated getting the news....) Thank goodness for knitting! Keeps the hands occupied and stills the mind/heart. I'm telling you....a lot of thoughts and prayers are knit into all these items as I pondered all the news this week.....

I don't know how much you've got on your "to do" list as far as hand-made items for Christmas goes, but if you're like me then it's time to kick it into high gear!

Happy knitting!

Out of Time

Being in the publishing world means working in a world who's timing it out of sync with "normal" time.

It's been Christmas for me for 3 weeks now, trying to get a December issue off to press.

Here's one of the cover options we won't be using:



I'll be on to New Year's and January before Thanksgiving.

It's a really odd feeling, being "out of time" with everyone else.

Shadow Play

I'm swamped with work right now and no time for creative endeavors such as photography (other than what needs shot for the assignment deadline of any given day!)

I have started another Christmas mitten, but decided I'd just post a photo my daughter shot while walking around the neighborhood the other day with her brother.

You can probably tell by the length of the shadows, it was later in the day.

I think it's a fun photo and she has quite an eye to capture it!



Ok, back to the salt mines for me. . . .

Enjoy your day!

On This Day in 1917

Today is my grandmother's 92 birthday. Here's a photo of her, my mother, my sister (the younger cutie on the left) and me (matching dress, on the right) ready to go to the Mother-Daughter banquet at church in May, 1970.



I believe my mom is using me to camoflauge the fact she is pregnant with my brother who was born in October of 1970.

My grandma is one of 13 children who survived, all of whom were older than her except for one sister. All of her siblings have passed away. She had three children of her own, my mother and her two brothers (one now deceased). Altogether grandma has six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Happy 92nd Birthday!

Catching Up

I must admit, I didn't do much knitting over the weekend. (*gasp!* "so close to Christmas?" you're thinking.)

Well, it's true. My left wrist has been very sore for a few days, so I was giving it a rest.

But I did take photos 1)of a completed project:



It's another of "Fool's Gold" by Chris Church from the Knotions ezine. I LOVE this pattern. Have now completed 3 child size hats for nephews & niece. This is the niece version. I knit it double stranded using 2 colors of pink superwash wool. I think it turned out great!

Also, I couldn't resist trying the sock blank that my swap partner/friend K sent me from California. K dyed the sock blank herself and I think it's really lovely.



I've been knitting on this in public and discovering that most people don't get the concept of a sock blank. So I'll explain.

The piece of knitted fabric comes that way. I am not undoing a piece of knitted fabric that someone took the time to lovingly hand knit. It came as one piece of fabric. And it was white.

K then dyed the sock blank in the manner of her choosing, with the colors she wanted to work with.

The blank was knitted double-stranded. That means that however K dyed it, when it unravels to become the sock yarn I make the socks from, the two seperate balls of yarn (which were knit together, side-by-side, into one piece of fabric) will knit up two identical socks. [This is a huge benefit to the people who must have identical twin socks....i.e. stripes must match up when the two seperate socks are layed side by side.]

Here's a shot that shows the two seperate strands coming apart from the knitted fabric, each going to its own sock. (I am knitting two socks at once on 2 circular needles.)



I met a woman at the car dealership last week who looked at me as if this were some sort of magic. We were both getting our oil changed in our vehicles. She was a crocheter. First off, she'd never seen "such tiny knitting needles!" Then she was convinced I had knit the sock blank fabric and changed my mind when the piece turned out too small to be anything useful. She seemed mesmerized by the whole process. We chatted for 15 or 20 minutes beyond my car being ready to roll. And I got a pattern for crocheting pot scrubbies from nylon cord to boot!

What have you been working on?

Happy knitting!