Can you smell that?

The new year is coming, only hours away now.  Like the smell just before a cleansing rain, only it is snowing here.  You will not read of any new year's resolutions here though. I am a strong believer that if a goal is worth having it is worth starting now, not to be saved for beginning of a new year.

Of course that does not mean that I am not full of hope for the coming year.  Namely, I am full of hope for another glorious year with these two men in my life...

...Grandpa's backyard sunset...

As we ring in the new year with family and friends I wish you all a happy and healthy new year filled with the love of your own family and friends.  Cheers!

Christmas Casted Off

Now that the presents have found their lovely recipients, I can share a few finished knits.

Mittens for my nephew, Ryan...

Mittens for my niece, Sadie...

Slippers for my beautiful sister, Summer...

And a cozy hat for the Raska family gift exchange, which Lori ended up with...

Photo Update

Wow! Where have I been?  Sorry for so long in between posts.  Here is a little narrated photo update of the last 2 weeks (2? really?).

....tree is decked and dandy.

...five hour power outage in below freezing weather with no alternate source of heat = great excuse for every candle to be lit and to snuggle with the honey under piles of blankets.

...finished these twisted mitts for my Winter Solstice Swap partner. (Trilsea'n by Kalurah)

...took another knitting class from the beautiful Laura Col at Paradise Fibers.

...witnessed one of the cutest results of a nap I have ever seen.

...the results of visiting with a naturopath MD.

...knitting up Christmas presents like crazy. 

Feeling Sassy!

I spent my entire Saturday with fellow fiber lovers, including Mary Scott Huff.  She is the author of The New Stranded Colorwork and was also our instructor for the day.  The first class was the Sassy Selbvotter class where we learned how to do Norwegian stranded colorwork (similar to Fair Isle, but a bit different) by knitting her gorgeous Queen of Hearts Mittens.  Here is a WIP picture of what I have completed so far.

I am using Brown Sheep wool and am loving my color choices.  I was nervous about learning to do stranded colorwork, but I was pleasantly surprised that it is far easier than it looks!

After our 4 hour session with mittens (seriously, it flew by!) and an hour break it was time for Mary's Mad Hatters class.  In this class we learned how to design our own stranded colorwork hat.  I have cast on my hat with some DK weight Misti Alpaca 100% baby alpaca and will be using a warm brown, rich purple, and bright green for the hat. The chart I designed includes some darling dragonflies.  I will share a picture when I get to that part of the hat. 

I must say that Mary is an amazing instructor!  She is herself quite a sassy lady and therefore a joy to learn from and with.  We spent as much time laughing and sharing as we did learning and knitting, and for me that equates to a perfect class.  Thanks Mary for an amazing day and thank you Paradise Fibers for making the classes possible!

Handspun Love

I finished my fingerless gloves using the handspun I purchased from theurchiness.  I love how these turned out!  The colors are beautiful and the pattern was so quick and easy with a nice detail.  Unfortunately the lace detail does not show up great in this photo, but it does in person.  I used the Cafe au Lait Mitts (rav link) pattern by Paula McKeever. 

Can I say I am also loving the HiyaHiya 9" circulars (my newest investement in my knitting haven)?!? I started by just buying sizes 1, 2, and 3 to test them out, but I have fallen in love with these little circulars and have since bought nearly every size. The best price I have found on these babies is at Y2Knit and there shipping is so VERY reasonable. 

November Celebrations

It had been a busy week, but busy in all the ways that I love.  Saturday we celebrated Mark's birthday with his family by going to sushi and sharing a few (okay, maybe more than a few) libations.  Then on Sunday I got the supreme joy of watching Mark open his birthday presents.  I always love watching people open presents I have gotten them.  I love that look of joy that crosses their faces when I have got it just right and given them something they have been craving or given them something they never knew they wanted until I gave it to them.  The second is what I got from Mark's main present I made him.

I took a couple days off work to drive around and take photos of signs on various buildings around town and use the letters to spell out his last name.  I think it looks great against the red walls in our kitchen too!

Of course there was Thanksgiving day itself.  I love celebrating any holiday with Mark's family.  For one thing, Mark's family has become my own.  Second though, you have to love a family that potlucks the big meals and celebrates with jello shots...

and truly know how to demolish mexi-layer...

Mark and I also took on the insanity that is Black Friday.  We gathered some great buys, but my favorite stop was my favorite LYS where I snagged some Lantern Moon bags I have been eyeing and some lovely yarn that just need to come home with me.  Some of my goodies from Paradise Fibers will find their way to my swap partner for the Winter Solstice swap on Ravelry soon.

Puppy Sitting

Today I got to puppy-sit Porter for a few hours.  He is Kerri and Justin's newest baby.  The afternoon started with some extensive playing...

Then it lead to some heavy napping...

Charlie tried to help me knit Sadie's second mitten for Christmas, but he just could not keep his poor sleepy eyes open...

Don't fret though little Charlie Bear.  I was able to finish it with your cozy little body keeping my lap warm.