Looking forward to 2011

I'm planning to make 2011 a more productive year in my life....boy is my life flying by these days!  My husband & I put up a calendar in November, we each noted 1 thing that has been on the back burner for way too long.  We agreed to encourage/cheer each other on to completion and then write another thing and another, etc.  We have discovered we both need that visual to help keep us motivated and focused.  We are excited about all the projects we'll complete in 2011!!

I'm also trying something similiar at work for tasks that seem to stay in the red, week after week.  I have no problem with my daily routine, the problem is adding other things.  Unfortunately, I'm all about routine, so that disruption feels like a bomb being dropped.  Need to create space in my routine for those unexpected things and if none develop, I get to go home early!!  My reward and honestly, I deserve it but rarely take it, which might explain why the items at home stay on the back burner too long :).  Imagine others can relate, yes??

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

May you all find something that makes you smile in the festivities of the coming weekend.

Blessings to those who believe the birth of Jesus Christ is a reason to celebrate and even more blessings to those who don't; you're missing so many reasons to smile :)

Hugs to all!

NOT JUST YOU!

Interesting Coralee, I had some similar thoughts myself. My husband and I went out for a nice dinner at a nice restaurant after some Christmas shopping. It just so happened that the man at the table next to us is a) a real loud jerk or b) had too much to drink which made him a real loud jerk. Needless to say, I was ready to get out of there as soon as the eating was done. So then we go to do more shopping and encountered a child in need of a little disciplining. When we walked out of that store I said to my husband, "I am getting old. If it's not a drunk adult, it's a screaming kid...I can't take this anymore." :) As for Walmart and 1am, that was my salvation in the early years of child rearing with a self employed husband. Once he was home and the kids were tucked in I would head out to Walmart. That is how I know that the cash registers at Walmart automatically log the cashier off at midnight and they have to move to a different register to log back in...just so happens once that I had just unloaded my buggy onto the belt and the cashier said "I'm sorry. We have to move to a different register." She was very apologetic but it don't bother me none, I was in no hurry and had all the time in the world.

OH MY

Shopping has suddenly developed into an activity that does not interest me.   Is it me, my age (55), is it other people's ages....I'm in a sullen mood right now over this development.  Fun and shopping were once a wonderful pair of words that worked well together in my vocabulary.  Perhaps I'm too particular, demanding or impatient......my age????  Disappointed my best local options after 5pm are WalMart & KMart......not dissing either one, just disappointed.  Though on a brighter note, it is nice to be in Wal Mart at 1AM getting groceries....... unobstructed, wide, quiet aisles, Oh Lord... it's me!!!  Tomorrow there is sunshine in the forecast, everything will brighten up and maybe, I'll give it, another try.

Every mother's child is gonna spy

Today's post about a last minute hat is at Toxophily.

It's two weeks until Christmas.  Do you know where your loved ones' presents are?  (I do.  Well, mostly.  Don't worry, loved ones, they're on their way.)

The hats are on the heads!

We gave the hats to the clients of Conway Cradle Care today. And your contributions were part of the event! It was amazing, and I wish you had all been there to see it.



Can you see the hats you made in this crappy no-flash picture, taken prior to our marathon wrapping session?




Hey, there's more over there! That's about fifty hats, people, all handmade expressly for this project.




And here's what they looked like wrapped and ready for the party!




Michael got that Cascade 220 hat Diane made, the one I really considered keeping for myself.

Loads more pictures on my blog. I didn't get pictures of all the hats with their recipients -- I was running around like a crazy person -- and some of the presents will be given later because the recipients weren't at the party. But know that every single hat (and toy!) you gave will be going to a teen mother or father, or to one of their children (a few of which will be arriving in the first few months of the new year).

Even if you didn't make a hat for this project, I owe you one. I wouldn't have invited y'all to participate if our whole team hadn't been so wonderful. The students wouldn't have been inspired by the knowledge that folks they never met were crafting alongside them. And we would have been several hats short today. So every single member of Five Alarm Fire deserves the credit for this day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Leah's scarf exchange

I want to share pics of the great scarf I received as part of Leah's scarf exchange.  I should also be showing pic of the snow that is surrounding my house, 42" since Friday at midnight.  My middle name is "shovel the deck and the walkway" !!  But these pictures are a lot more fun!!

 It's tubular in shape but appears to be knit flat and joined, great work.  Taking self portraits can be trying at times, 15 shots for 1 that I feel is halfway acceptable.  Hard to smile at yourself.......
 Beth, my scarf gifter, said I might also be able to wear it as a cowl and she was correct, it fits perfect.  Much better pic this time!!

This is the scarf I knit for my exchange partner, mailed it to her over the weekend with some hand crafted notecards, a crocheted angel and chocolate.  A perfect package, I hope.

Donna, after I finishing hemming my husbands hunting pants, you'll have some hats coming your way.  I had some laser eye surgery today, so I might not get started until the weekend.....as things begin to come back into focus.

Crafts

If anyone is interested in doing Christmas crafts with children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or just yourself - this is a great blog to check out: http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/

Not all the projects are knitted and best of all the patterns are free. There is a lot of cute ideas on it not only for Christmas but year around.

Hat Pattern

Here is the link to that hat pattern.

Busy

We got back from our Thanksgiving in Michigan. Although the weather was cold, we got to spend time with my brother and his family. It was special because we got to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in his new home. On Friday we went to a pottery store and painted ornaments. It was the first time my husband did something like that. Bob showed some hidden talent we didn't know about. We played a lot of Wii and watched several movies. It was a long six days away from home with so much to do to get ready for Christmas.

Donna you are spot on about the yarn for my hats. The grey hat is Cascade 220. I use that yarn on most of my hats. The pattern is One Row Hat and it's free on Ravelry. The cable beanie is Knit Picks Capra. I got some to play around with and found it's more light worsted then a DK weight. The pattern is also from Ravelry but I wouldn't recommend it. It wasn't test knitted so I had to work out the mistakes. I only paid $1.00 for it. Now the designer is asking $4.95 for it. The baby hat was knitted in Be Sweet.

Coralee we didn't get to see the new Harry Potter movie. My nephew said we had to see the movie before this one in order to understand the newly released one. We didn't have enough time to watch the previous Harry Potter movie. It wasn't on my brother's list for us to watch.

I have two grandchildren. My granddaughter is six years old and is in kindergarten. My grandson is three and in nursery school. My daughter and her family live in the Cleveland area. Something you didn't know about me.

Since I been home I've been working on gifts for teachers. My daughter asked me to knit scarfs for my grandson's teachers. I started one and decided to keep it for myself. I know, I'm bad..... Now I have to start over. I felted all day today on the small entrelac bags. It's more difficult to felt something small than a large item. They are for my granddaughter's teachers.

This is going to be a busy weekend getting the house ready for the holidays, baking and going to our Farmers Market to order the wreathes.

Hope I'm not too late....

Hey there everyone. I finally got a second hat finished for Donna. Hope to get it in the mail soon but it may be Monday before that happens. I am afraid it has become an obsession..haha..Made one for my youngest daughter...one of my niece's saw it and liked it so there is a second one in the making for Christmas and then there is another niece so might as well make it easy and make them both one for Christmas...