Anniversary and New Year!

Well with Christmas come and gone, it was time for hubby and I to plan a little get-a-way for our 48th wedding anniversary. We were married on December 30, 1962 in Boise, Idaho - seems just like yesterday. When we were younger it was always a decision every year whether to celebrate our anniversary on the 30th, or celebrate it on the 31st - New Years Eve! Sometimes New Years Eve won out and sometimes the actual date the 30th won out. As we grew older, we certainly either couldn't afford to go out two nights in a row when we were raising a family, and now we're too tired to go out two nights in a row!

This year we chose to go to the Quinault Beach Resort near Ocean Shores, Washington to spend some together time, rejuvenate ourselves and just plain "appreciate each other".

In this first photo, showing 3 inches of snow at our house on Wednesday morning when we left home:
This next photo shows the view from our room on the 3rd floor - note the blue, sunny sky which we had for all 3 days. Cold though - the highs were just about at freezing level and it was quite windy. Good staying inside and knitting weather!

The next two photos were just because I like looking at the ocean.


On Wednesday (anniversary day), we took a drive south to Westport, WA and drove out to the marina area. We stopped in front of a condo for sale, and when getting out of the car, I stepped on the only ice in the entire parking lot and fell grabbing ahold of everything I could get my hands on, on the way down (wasn't pretty). Consequently, I'm now wearing a sling for hopefully just a pulled muscle in the rotator cuff/shoulder area, and limping around with a twisted knee. I have to give them a week to get better or go back for x-rays and further treatment! So that was kind of a damper, but we still had a wonderful time and look forward to our next get-a-way.

I would like to thank all of you who follow my meager blog and wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

What a Nice Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas, with:

Family around playing cribbage


Grandkids playing with newly received hand-held games:


Lots of good food at one of my daughter's houses, so I didn't even have to cook, except to bring the "traditional" casserole: Cheesy Broccoli. Must have been a good dinner as the guys: hubby, and two sons-in-law went out and walked the neighborhood for 2 miles to "walk off dinner".

I'm kinda glad Christmas is over for another year, and now I can get back to the knitting. Knitted a swatch for the Every Last Yard cardigan in a beautiful charcoal color. Just have to wash the swatch now and determine which needle size I want to use. This cardigan is part of a KAL (knit-a-long for you non-knitter readers), so I'll have lots of help. This is the first clothing item I have knit for myself (other than fingerless mitts). Wish me luck!

I'm Done......???

Well, really, the only thing I'm done with is going to any kind of a store until next week! I have my gift shopping done (not my gift knitting done), and hit the grocery store this morning for the last time. Ended up having to go to a 2nd grocery store because the first one didn't have one of the ingredients I needed for the Breakfast Casserole I make for Christmas morn. Had to drive around and drive around to find a parking space, then inside the store, the aisles were very crowded and since I only had a few items (6 or so), I was trying to hurry along...well forget that. Anyway, now all I have to do is make the pretzels w/Hershey kisses on top for snacking, the traditional sausage/egg/bread casserole for Christmas morn, a broccoli-cheese casserole for Christmas Dinner at our daughters, as well as homemade cranberry sauce for the turkey! For Christmas eve, I think we'll do the pizza thing before heading out to Christmas Eve service.

Anyway, this is my last post until after company leaves and things return to normal, so Merry Christmas to all of you who have followed along with me on this blog, and I'll see you on the other side.

Am I Going to Make It?

I suppose there are others of us who are frantically trying to finish up the Christmas knitting besides me. I hadn't really planned on doing any gift knitting until about three weeks ago, then all of a sudden I got pretty excited about it. So...I knitted a one-row scarf for my grandson:

and 3 fun-fur scarves for the granddaughters:

Then I wanted to knit some fingerless mitts for our two daughters so came up with these Cozy Thermal Mitts by Karen Everett,


I still have to make one more of the "bordeaux"-colored mitts before Friday - eek! It would be fine if there weren't other things like last minute grocery shopping, house cleaning, a party to go to as well.

Carry on............A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone out there!

Rushin' Along towards Christmas

With just 18 days to go, I'm really behind. Of course it doesn't help that I have a cold, fever, etc. so not much ambition to do anything. We did manage to put the tree up yesterday.
Working furiously on some knitted items for daughters and granddaughters (so had better not post here in case they peek!
I don't know when I'll get to mailing out Christmas cards - this may be the year when it doesn't get done.

I went outside and took this picture a day or so ago - isn't it magnificent?

Thanksgiving!

We traveled to eastern Washington, Richland, to our oldest daughter's place. Her husband and two children were so gracious and a good time was had by all. Our younger daughter, husband and 2 daughters rode along with us in our van, which made for good company and a reasonably fast trip (about 4 hours). We arrived Wednesday evening and had some good Papa Murphy's pizza.

Thursday morning some of the group participated in a local 5K Turkey Trot in the freezing cold weather (low 20's), while the rest of us began preparing for the big Thanksgiving Dinner. We had broccoli and cheese casserole, green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and two turkeys - one cooked on the barbecue grill and one in the oven.

The grandchildren had fun in the hot tub in the 20 degree weather with snow all around them.

Some of my time was spent showing one granddaughter (aged 11) how to knit, and another granddaughter (age 7) and one grandson (age 9) how to crochet. The 4th granddaughter already has been taught - so we all sat around knitting dish/washcloths and making crochet chains. It was fun working with the kids and who knows, maybe one or all of them will still like this handcraft and keep it up.


All in all it was a great weekend and we returned to western Washington during mid-day on Saturday. The Pass still had snow on it, but was not too bad driving.
It was nice to get home where the 6' of snow we had when we left had all melted and it was raining.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED!!!

It's been snowing for the past 24 hours, but we only have about 4 inches so far. This is very early for this area to be receiving snow - sounds like we're going to be having a hard winter.


Finished a hat which is destined to be sent to our troops in Afghanistan for them to wear in their "off duty" times. It's made from Sunshine yarns worsted in Bitterroot color.
I'm finishing up a hat for Christmas giving and will follow with a picture later.

Rainy Weather Knitting

We've had lots of rain and once in a while a beautiful Fall day thrown in around here of late. Yesterday it was beautiful, temperature in the 50's and today it's been gray and rainy and this next week looks like the same is continuing (the rainy part, that is).

Good knitting weather though. I finished up one project and got quite a bit done on two others:

My Cozy Thermal Mitts are finished!


And, working on these two hats:

Troop Hat in beautiful Sunshine Yarn Worsted in Bitterroot. This is going off to Afghanistan for troops to wear and keep their ears warm while off duty.


and this Waffle Hat for hubby with beautiful Sunshine Yarns in Edward's Volvo Worsted:

Progress

I've been working on my Cozy Thermal Mitts and just love this yarn and the pattern. This is my first attempt at any kind of gloves/mittens and these being fingerless helps keep it simple. I've already cast on for the 2nd mitt and am sure it will go pretty fast now that I have everything figured out.


You may have noticed the "countdown clock" on the upper right of my blog. There are a number of gals in my knitting group who are all going on the train to Portland, visit a few yarn shops, eat at some special place, and come home the same day. We'll get in a lot of fun, knitting, etc....

Too Many WIPS's

I have a serious case of "startitis". I'm working on my Thermal Mitts

but have received a couple of skeins of cashmere to make Christmas gifts for my daughters, just today received this Luxury Sportweight, which will make another pair of fingerless mitts or maybe "duckie" socks.

and........I have at least 6 or 8 uncompleted projects. Get to it, Darlene.

A Day at the Beach!

We had a beautiful get-a-way at the beach (Ocean Shores) the last couple of days. The temperature was in the low 70's, no wind, full sunshine - couldn't ask for anything better. We did some serious beach-walking, a little casino playing and all in all a wonderful time with our friends.

Yarn Enabler!!!

Found another source of beautifully dyed yarn..this one located in the Seattle area...called Stricken Smittin.

I've received these two skeins of yarn from them just recently.

First...is fingering/sock yarn in The Spice Trade:

and the second is Aran Twist in Aubriana:
I've cast on the "Cozy Thermal Mitts" pattern by Karen Everitt, and they're looking beautiful in this deep burgundy/purple colorway. I'm thinking someone may get a pair of fingerless mitts for Christmas.

We're leaving in the morning for a couple of days in Ocean Shores, traveling with some friends. I'll be getting in some knitting time in addition to playing, beach walking (if the weather is decent), and visiting. Looking forward to a get-a-way.

Our Trip South and Back

Over a week ago, hubby and I traveled to southern Idaho for his All-Class Reunion at Weiser, Idaho. It's a long 9-hour drive, but on the good side, I got lots of knitting time in. I worked on this One Row Lace Scarf by Turvid in beautiful Willow Green in Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK. I finished up one ball, and didn't bring any additional along, so had to work on another project that took too much attention to be done in the car (or anywhere else for that matter). The Bamboo yarn is delightful to work with, draping nicely and definitely shows off the lacy pattern.
After spending five days in the Boise area (temp in the high 70's and low 80's), we headed back north. Stopped in the Tri-Cities area and stayed with our daughter, son-in-law and our two grandchildren, as well as son-in-laws parents who were visiting from Kansas. Was good to see everyone - watched g-daughter practice with her swim team; had a little excitement when their BBQ caught on fire, well-seared the meat on the grill, and melted the knobs, etc. so we went out for pizza.

We headed home the next day and drove through Mt. Rainier National Park on Hwy 410 over Cayuse and Chinook Pass. Stopped and took lots of pictures as the scenery was spectacular. First time we had traveled this way - it's a little longer, but very beautiful. Saw spots of snow up at the top, and of course Mt. Rainier has lots of snow.
When I got home, I had this waiting for me in my mailbox: Sunshine Yarns Merino Worsted in Edward's Volvo color. This is for a knit hat for hubby. Now all I have to do is get him to tell me which pattern he wants - and this may be a chore.
Spent today with the wonderful laundry catch-up, and hopefully can get in some knit time tomorrow.

Labor Day Weekend Good Stuff

Can't believe I'm blogging two days in a row, but wanted to show you what I'll be sending away soon to the person coordinating the preemie hat collection for the Univ. of Maryland Hospital Foundation:


These little hats are so addictive and so fast to knit, it's hard to quit making them. But I do have other things to knit, and other things to do besides knit (called a life)so I'm taking a break.
This weekend we have family coming from eastern Washington with two of our grandkids, and we'll be getting together with the other two grandkids on the western side of the state for a great weekend. We have two more grandaughters from the east side, but they're older and both working - and we will miss them.

Some Things "Off The Needle"

I'm finally seeing some finished objects coming off the needles. I have 7 unfinished items to go.

This one-row lace scarf has been in the "To Do" pile way too long! Turned out beautiful and luxurious in Knit Picks sport weight baby alpaca Andean Treasure.

I finished two more preemie hats over the weekend. They are so fun and rewarding to knit. Think I'll make just one more, then go back to finishing up some other projects.

Also finished the Baby Kina Sweater in Sunshine Vampire Sport yarn. I'm going to look for some other buttons for this sweater, maybe a small rounded pearl-type. This was fun to knit, but I have no one to give it to at this time. I'll just set it aside for future gifting.

Fall is nearly Here!

Since I last blogged, it seems time has been flying by. We had some really hot weather a week ago, and now although the sun is shining, there is a definite feel of Fall in the air. School starts this week and it seems like that's when the weather changes.
I've been doing some knitting on the Baby Kina Sweater
Also finished another preemie hat, and working on a "Wild Blueberry" colored one. These are such fun to knit and so special to a tiny little one just coming into this world.
I also got in the mail this week, this beautiful set of mini-skeins of yarn and am thinking a multi-colored scarf needs to be made:

So today, after finishing up a little (and I mean "little") housecleaning and putting a roast in the crock-pot, it's time for some knitting.....let me see, which project shall I pick up to work on...I have so many different ones????

What I've Been Up To

I haven't blogged much of late, because not many things have been happening, EXCEPT THIS:



This is another preemie hat done in Sunshine Yarn Sport in Peony color. It's only 4 inches high and 9 inches in circumference. Such a sweet little thing for a sweet little baby. I hope to make a few more of these before it is time to send them off to the University of Maryland Hospital Foundation.

Baby Stuff!

You just have to go to this blog and see the darling baby pictures together with the beautiful designs/fabrics/decor her mother has put around her. Unbelievable!

Next, I read about a Charity Knitting opportunity here so I got out some of my beautiful Sunshine Yarn in the colorway "Over the Rainbow" and made this cute little preemie hat. It knit up so fast and I'm looking forward to doing some more of them. I got a nice warm feeling as I held it in my hands and thought the Rainbow color was inspirational to the life of a preemie.

A Not-So-Good Day Ends In A GREAT Day!

Okay - to start out with the not-so-good day, I went to Part II of my Toe-Up Sock Class at my LYS to learn how to do short-row heels. I think I'm thoroughly confused, but we'll see how it goes when I try it on my own socks. Today we just used scrap yarn and practiced. Seems very difficult to me - guess I'm kinda dense.

From the class I went to my local knitting meet-up group at Forza Coffee, had a great latte and sat back and enjoyed the conversation. I needed that "wind-down" from the tension of the fingers doing the short rows.

Then from there I went home and in my mailbox was my wonderful Sunshine Yarn from their latest update. I haven't decided what to knit with either of these for the Sunshine-A-Long starting tomorrow, August 1st. Probably will knit a pair of socks.
The top yarn is Sunshine Yarns Classic Superwash "Hunting Wildflowers", and the bottom color is "Over The Rainbow".

Great Give-A-Way

Over on Peacefully Knitting's blog, Tina is having a super give-a-way of a new book: Gifted by Mags Kandis, known for her colorful knitwear designs featuring gorgeous and very creative embellishments, features more than 30 knit and crochet designs that celebrate the pure joy of crafting. I know there's a ruffled scarf pattern in there that I would surely like to make. Be sure to go over and enter your name in the contest before it closes on Sunday, August 1st at 8:00pm PDT. Good luck!

Friday Wrap-Up

I've been working on my Toreador socks whenever I get a chance and I'm really pleased how they're coming along. They're about 6.5 inches along the foot and I'll have to stop soon, as my next class isn't until next week where I learn how to do the "short-row heel". Socks are fun and portable. I need to practice the Judy Magic Cast On so that I can get it right for the 2nd sock.

Leaving shortly to get a cortisone injection in my sacroiliac joint. This is still pain from the rear-end auto accident we were in on Halloween 2008. Getting tired of this!

We're supposed to have a week of no rain and beautiful sunshine with temperatures in the 70's and 80's. Looking forward to that!

Toe-Up Socks

Yesterday I took Part I of a Toe-Up Sock class at Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood, Washington. This is my progress so far. I'm using the Magic Loop method of knitting. The yarn I'm using is Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Sock Yarn in the Toreador colorway. It is 60% merino wool, 30% bamboo and 10% nylon. I made a pair of worsted weight socks several years ago (top-down), so thought I'd give this method a try. So far, so good.

Picture Blanks

Don't know why there are a number of pictures missing on my previous blogs, but I apologize. I'll try to re-load them tomorrow. Took a "Toe-Up Sock" class this morning using the Judy Magic Cast-On. Looks nice and I'm anxious to knit some more on the socks tomorrow.

Aaaaah! More Jam, More Iced Mocha and Knitting

I don't know why, but I've been on a "jam kick" of late. My last post was the result of a half-flat of blackberries, and today I preserved a half-flat of raspberries. Here's the results, along with my favorite iced mocha. Hubby's golfing, so I'm now taking some computer time, then on with knitting!
From this: to this:
I also finally finished my two shawlettes and got them blocked for picture-taking: Wide-Eyed in Sunshine Yarns Classic Superwash Sock, colorway Peony and my Simple Things in MauiYarns Superwash Merino Fingering Weight Yarn, colorway West Maui Mountains.

Stocking the Freezer - 2010

This is what I spent part of my day doing. Bought 1/2 flat of blackberries from Spooner Farms and made 10 pints of yummy frozen blackberry jam. This is my favorite jam, and also that of my grandkids. When they come to visit this is what they want on their PBJ sandwiches, and on occasion I send a jar home with them.