Happy New Year

 Oops, somehow I forgot to write my blog for the last half of December.  I guess it is because DH has been on Christmas break and he has been making plans for us.  Once the Nutcracker was done he completed finals week and then we went to the movies, twice Christmas week seeing The Hobbit and Night at the Museum.    We enjoyed both, each for very different reasons.

                                        
Here is one of the owls I got this Christmas, from DS#3 & DDIL.  It is a backpack but around here it is going to be a knitting bag.  I am enjoying it so much: I have it hanging on the lamp next to my living room chair.

























The other owl I got is this one.  He is about 9” tall and has a battery operated light.  I currently have him sitting by the fireplace where I can see him while I am watching TV.  This one came from DD.  The fun came because she was able to spend Christmas Eve with us so got to see me open it.   With  3 of our 4 children living in different states this was the first time in a long time we had one with us for Christmas Eve.  We even made her pass out the gifts. 
















This is the picture of the rest of our gifts that I put on Facebook Christmas Day.  We really have some fun family members.

This week saw us back at the movie theater watching Into the Woods.  We had seen the stage version several years ago and I didn’t much care for it but the movie was GREAT.  Not only is it an interesting interpretation of 4 fairy tales but the music and voices were tremendous.  Now we will settle down for a few weeks but plan to see Cinderella for our anniversary in mid-January.  Funny how that keeps coming around.



  I did get this little afghan done but haven’t gotten a picture yet.  I’m still trying to decide if I want to put fringe on it or not.


















And I have begun stitching the parts to my heavy cardigan together.  I have the sleeves attached and have half of one sewn together.  I plan to work more on it tomorrow morning cuz it has gotten quite chilly here so I want to begin wearing it.

The owner of our local yarn shop has begun dying yarn to sell in her shop.  Today I went to see some of her recent work but it was still damp so not yet ready for sale.  But while there I found a skein of some bulky she had died earlier so I bought it and have started a hat.

Now we just have to see if we can stay up until midnight (not likely).  We haven’t made it to midnight for several years and yet the New Year seems to come anyway.  So HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all.   Gari

Hot Hook

I am so excited.  My Tunisian crocheted afghan is a little more than half way done.   And it has gotten easier and easier: this means that I am going a little faster than when I first started.  Staci suggested stopping, when that larger section is done, to do a cross stitch name.  However, I can’t decide if I want to do a name or not so I will probably wait until I have the afghan done and blocked and by then maybe I will have decided what I want to do.

 

And I have decided what my next knitting project is going to be.  This is the cowl Judy just showed.  I have found that my neck really likes being warm when I am out in the winter and this cowl pattern looks great and will provide me a terrific challenge (new stitch and cables).



I still have to get back to knitting on my short sleeved cardigan, right after the afghan is finished.













I have been doing some sewing.  I made this twin sized throw.  It took me over a year to find the red fabric so I was very excited to be getting this project donel














And I did get some Step 1 blocks done for Grand Illusion.  I still have to make parts for many more of these but I think that I will devote this weekend to Step 2 (Step 3 comes out tomorrow so I don’t want to fall much more behind. 









One of the reasons I think I will be able to get a lot done this weekend is that DH is again dancing in the Nutcracker: he is Drosselmeyer and does not really dance but since he has been doing this for over 35 years he does make an impression with his entrance: children remember him all year long and recognize him when they see him out and about.  They have already done a school children’s matinee and now have two evening performances as well as a Sunday matinee.  See why I will have some studio time?


I hope you will have time to work on your projects as well as checking out what others are accomplishing  over at Patchwork Times.  Gari

A Little Cutting and Sewing

Given that I have done very little on the quilting front, I am very excited to have begun Bonnie Hunter’s Grand Illusion Mystery.  These are the beginning units.  I cut 2 1/2” strips with the GO, laid out the strips right sides together  and then cross cut with the Easy Angle Ruler.








Here are 20 of the 52 units I completed.  My current plan is to make 140 of these units before completing the Broken Dishes units.  Of course I find that I can’t go on right now because I seem to not have the bright yellow fabric I knew I had laid out for this project.  I searched my fabric stash and seem to not have any bright yellow so I guess I will have to visit the three fabric shops that are close by.  And of course I already know that as soon as I buy more fabric I will find what I already have.    Meanwhile I will finish the HSTs and cut the black squares so I can be ready to finish step 1.


And of course, I haven’t forgotten that step 2 came out Friday so if I have some time I will try to get started on that also.


I am almost to the halfway point in the Tunisian crocheted afghan and hope to have it done before the end of the month.


As you can see I have a pretty full plate that also includes  doing some embroidery for a couple of gift projects that will not be going to anyone soon and a quilt that has been on the frame since June and needs to be finished.


Whew, all that has tuckered me out so I think I will take a breather and knit a little on the sweater that I have ignored for the last week.  While I’m at that why don’t you click on over to Patchwork Times as see what other’s are up to.   Gari

One Hook, Two Needles, and the Fun is On

Who is this?  Gari returning from the land of silence.  It seems that I wasn’t getting much done so there was nothing to write about.  Then I decided I better figure out a way to get on the stick and thus this picture was born. 

So, what is this? This is me crocheting.  I watched Staci’s video on the afghan stitch and remembered when I tried it many, many years ago.  I had written instructions and NEVER could figure out how to do it.  One viewing of the video and it was clear as glass.  So here is the beginning of a baby afghan.  I would be making a baby quilt but right now I can’t stand for long periods so cutting fabric and/or quilting is not happening here for a while.






I did finish the sleep socks DH asked me to knit him.



















And they seem to be working, don’t they? 

























And this is our nature study photo for today.  DH pointed out this perfect spider web made on the lip of a bucket.  Can you see it?

















Here is a chot from a different angle.  I love the way the sun glinted in a perfect circle with the tiny spider as part of the circle.







I am going to see my doctor in January and then maybe we will find a way to fix my hips and I will be fully back in quilting business.  Meanwhile I am going to spend this weekend and next week trying to catch up on Bonnie Hunter’s Grand Illusion Mystery, perhaps a smaller version than hers.  Wish me luck.  Gari

Linking with Patchwork Times.