Valentine's Day and Socks

Temperatures are supposed to plummet this weekend (below zero for highs) with wind chill in the negative.  The weather forecast mentioned maybe and inch or two of new snow so imagine my surprise this morning when I woke to a steady stream of snow.  So much on the ground and so much more this morning!

This was first thing this morning, the snow is almost up to the top of the patio table. This is not drifted snow but actual snowfall that has been adding inch after inch of  snow each day without any thaws since the beginning of January.

Same view a bit ago with the snow up to the table top.  Amazing!  We are safe and sound (so far) inside with a pantry full since we did our shopping yesterday.  Nowhere to go since I had planned a nice Valentine's Dinner for two at home.  I really dislike going out on holidays like Valentine's or Mother's Day.  Too many people, too rushed servers to really enjoy.  So we are having fillet and shrimp with baked potatoes and sour cream with our Valentine's candy (Orange chocolate sponge candy) for dessert.

I have declared an extended moratorium on yarn purchasing after I caved and bought a striped Christmas sock skein.  I have declared 2015 the year of  "52 Socks in 52 weeks".  One sock a week in between other knitting seems a little nutty but something I can attempt.  

Saturday will be my day to mark my progress.

So far I have completed and gifted four pair of socks.  That is correct, not one for myself.  A pair for Chiara for her birthday, a pair I gave to Amy and a pair for Collin that I have been meaning to make for about 4 years.  I finished another pair for Steph but haven't been able to give it to her yet. 

Four complete pair, eight socks.  Since this is the seventh week of the year, I am doing great, so far.

I have another pair for hubby about half finished.

It is Paton's Kroy sock yarn that I have had in my stash for awhile.  I am knitting it even though I had horrible results from a Kroy yarn I used last year. It was a stripe that had a long repeat which made it very difficult and needed quite a bit of finagling to get both socks to match.  I was a little leery when I started on the pair I made for Amy, but it turned out beautifully, pretty colors no problems matching the socks.  I was tempted to pick up a few more skeins the last time I went to Jo-Ann's but remembering my resolve to not buy any more yarn for a while, I resisted.  Good thing!

The hubby socks are a very pretty blue and brown marle and I was very happy with it until I got to a knot; a knot that threw the repeats of the first sock off so much that I didn't have enough yarn to finish. That is finish with the correct color repeats.  I am about a toe and an inch short.  I started the second skein for the second sock hoping there won't be a problem with that skein.  Right now I am at the heel flap.  If there are no problems with this skein, I will see what I have left and try to piece together the yarn to match.

So here is my resolve: it is not worth the aggravation and time to make socks with a yarn that may be cheap, but gives less than perfect results.  No more Kroy yarn.  

I have tried Opal and love the way it holds up and it is not terribly expensive so that may be my go-to sock yarn.

I like all the hand dyed striped yarn, but most of it is $25 and up and is just too expensive for my budget.  I am sure the artisans who make these yarns are charging what their time is worth but it may be a luxury I can indulge in on rare occasions.

Besides, I have an entire storage bin of sock yarn to knit through before I need to replenish.

Making Progress

Its sunny but cold today.  We had a good storm last week Thursday and Friday that left about 18 inches of snow on the ground.

The kids had Friday off and Thursday my darling daughter picked up the kids so I wouldn't have to go out in the storm.  So I got four uninterrupted days to straighten out the mess that was my sewing/craft room.  It always gets trashed over Christmas as that is where all the presents get wrapped and the normal decorative items get stored.

I got rid of a boatload of old knitting magazines and cleared out a shelf on the bookshelf to house all the notions needed for sewing, thus clearing off the sewing table.

Clear table with happy pin cushions waiting for me.

Today I took advantage of hubby going to work and oiled the machine and changed the needle and sat down for some much needed practice.  Got to know my machine again and sewed on a simple little Christmas quilt

.  Straight lines and turning corners.  Perfect practice.

Another New Beginning

I love the start of something, a new season, a good book, a new knitting project.  But the best is the start of a new year.  All bright and shiny and full of possibilities.

This year is starting off very quietly for us.  A day to kick back and rest a bit.  Holiday parties and get-togethers are over.  The decorations need to come down but that is a job for after the weekend, I think. I hate putting Christmas away.

Resolutions for this year - stay healthy, live mindfully and lighten up.   I want to continue with organizing myself and getting rid of excess. I also what to do more sewing.  I have plenty of material to go through.

Again, continue to knit down the stash.  I did fairly well last year but there is so much it seems like I barely put a dent in it.

I finished 14 pair of socks in 2014.  Wow! That really surprised me.  During December I made 4 pair. They were the only projects I worked on in between all the Christmas stuff.  I started my first socks for 2015 last night.  I think they will go to Chiara for her birthday this month.

I am going to try and get all the afghans done.  I have yarn for four.  Today I am going to start the Dinosaur Afghan that I got yarn for so many years ago I don't remember.  There is enough yarn to make two, which were going to go to Collin and Chiara, if I recall.. They have both outgrown them, but Chiara says she would still like one, so I'll make it and maybe a Diagonal Blanket with the leftover yarn.  I hope I still remember how to do Intarsia.

It is very cold and the wind is howling today.  We did have some snow overnight but not enough to even need shoveling.  I think a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire is in order.

Christmas Eve

The last shopping is done.  I got up at 6 this morning to stand in line at the bakery to get our traditional Christmas morning goodies.  Next year I have to call and order early.   Cherry cheese danish, walnut melt-a-ways and pineapple cheese.  Also distributed and back home by 8:00.  Yeah!

Kids are still sick and I feel just miserable, like I'm fighting something off, with aching joints and back.  I'll be drinking lots of orange juice and tea today and taking Tylenol to help ward off the miseries,.

I love the bags I found for the hand knit Christmas gifts this year.

Off to stuff shells and make a cake for son-in-law's birthday trifle.  Why are there December 24th birthdays?

And Closer Still!

All the kids are or have been sick this week.  It's just not right to be sick at Christmas.
We made the obligatory Gingerbread People

And the Christmas Village

Both are Martha Stewart recipes.

Makes quite the mess, but is fun.  We included an igloo made of tiny marshmallows that I think may reappear in years to come.

I also made Jam Thumbprints, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Pizzelles.  Just going to make some Peppermint Bark tomorrow and cookies will be over for another year.
 Everything is bought, arrived and wrapped.

Today we went out for our presents to ourselves, a new TV and DVD player for the bedroom and an IPod and Bose speaker for our tunes.  Can't wait for Christmas to try them out.
 Tomorrow I will make the Christmas sauce with Brasciole and clean the house.

Christmas Eve the only thing I will have to do is put together the stuffed shells, Triffle and artichokes and get the Christmas morning Danishes and distribute them.  Whew!

Christmas is Getting Closer

And yet I haven't started to panic.  All the gifts are purchased or made and ready to be wrapped, sauce will be made next week, cookies this week.  Cards are going out today.

The weekend was great.  Fig cookies were made and turned out delicious. We made a full batch of dough, so we probably got about 30 dozen or so (not sure how many).  Daughter #2 took a big container and I gave my aunt another big container and I still have 12 dozen or so left.

Here is the roaster pan full.  I will frost as I serve them or give them away.  I prefer them plain.

The snow we had last week is melting away and the amount we had covering the solar panels, slowly slipped off.  It was fun to watch.  We might actually make some electricity now although the short, grey days of December aren't too conducive to it.

I finished another pair of socks, my Christmas yarn that I actually got last year.

December Days

Had a new batch of snow yesterday and today that left about a foot of snow on everything, making the backyard look like it should two weeks before Christmas. Lots of strange shapes in the yard

along with some really beautiful sights.  Nothing like pine trees covered with snow! Those white streaks are snowflakes falling.


While I thought that Christmas was going to kick my butt this year, I feel as if I have everything under control.  Presents are all made or bought, just waiting for delivery, most going in gift bags so not  lot of wrapping to do, all the decorations are up and the house looks great.  This is a big job since the grandkids want everything out, while I would like to cut back a bit.  They helped and it is worth the effort.

We have our tree up and decorated which has to be a record for us.  Some years we have waited until the only thing left were Charlie Brown trees or incredibly expensive ones, but this year we went out on the afternoon of  December 8th.  It was a warmish day, no snow, just before the current weather system was due to come and dump on us. We were able get two lovely smallish trees (just the right size) very inexpensively.

One of my favorite ornaments, a sheep I got probably thirty years ago when I worked at a knit shop is next to the only ornament left from our original tree; 46 years of decorating our trees.  I think we lost most of the originals due to kitties.  It would be such an adventure for them to try and knock down the tree, climbing and chasing each other through the branches.  Every year there was a good deal of breakage or with the dogs, grabbing and gnawing some up.  I wonder how many we would have had without all the loss?

Now on the dark mornings I get to turn on the Christmas lights and enjoy the beautiful glow!

Making:

Christmas cookies are on the agenda starting this weekend.  We actually started by grinding the fig filling last weekend.  It is mellowing in the frig.  Cucidati cookie blitz this Saturday.
Then next week I'll make the gingerbread dough and pizzelles, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Jam Thumbprints.  Peppermint Bark is another easy recipe that everyone loves.

A few years ago I brought home some Perler Beads (or Hama Beads) hoping that the grands would have some fun with them on rainy days or days too cold to swim.  They were a resounding success.  So much so, that I have boxes of beads and lots of sites bookmarked with great designs to make.  That sucking sound is me being pulled in as I found snowflake and Christmas ornaments galore on Pinterest.  It is a fun and soothing little craft that I am really enjoying.  Great for small motor exercise.

Not sure where I'm going to put them, but I'll find a place.

Santa likes them, too!

Knitting gifts are all done and ready to go.  Bath Mitts for the whole gang!

An easy pattern that I think everyone will like.

The rest of December is making things for me!