[cross-stitching] Baby Blanket

Stitched a baby blanket for Dollar's nephew, whose name we drew for Secret Santa.

Quick and easy. Used an alphabet from the book 2001 Cross-Stitch Designs and some tonal thread. I added some small yellow diamonds across the rest of the blanket, so it wasn't completely bare. 

[misc] Penny Wednesday

If I leave a papertowel or any kind of paper out, Penny finds it and shreds it. With all the Christmas wrapping I've been doing, I've tossed some heavy tissue paper to the floor for her enjoyment-

Penny, you don't look very excited. Maybe if we try to wrap you up in it:

Well that didn't work. 

Murderface came over to inspect the paper and a wrestling match ensued. Here's how 99% of the wrestling matches between MF and Penny end:

MF is a pacifist.

Looks like Penny gets to keep all the paper. Her crazy-face keeps everyone else away:

[crochet] Snowflake Ornaments

Finished all the snowflake ornaments:

SO. CUTE. Used leftover commercial angora for most- so soft and fuzzy. Also made a couple with handspun angora.

[misc] Murderface Monday

Um... where are the rest of my gifts?

[misc] Santana Friday

Finally, a decent amount a snow is forecast for the weekend. Good. 

Santana, what do you think?

Meh. If it's not going to snow food, she doesn't care.

[knitting] Aran Cap #2

A finished gift:

The pattern is from an out-of-print leaflet by Candide Yarn. I made an identical hat 2 years ago for Dollar's father. It's a smidge too short, so I made this one a bit longer.

Christmas presents are starting to arrive in the mail. I'll start wrapping things and putting them under the tree (for the cats to rip apart in the middle of the night). 

"Who? Me? Rip apart presents? I promise I won't this year..."

[crochet] Snowflake Ornaments

Working on ornaments to give as gifts this year:

The pattern is Snowflake Ring Ornaments. Last year I made wreath ornaments by the same designer. She has many other similar Christmas themed ornaments on Ravelry- I'm already planning to do stars for next year!

Oh wait, I have to finish a bunch more snowflakes for this year. Good thing they are SO easy. I made one in 15 minutes and showed Dollar. He said, "Wow, looks intricate." But it's not- it's only three rounds to do and the first two are just single crochets. 

Using up some white DK and light-worsted weight scraps from my stash. I've made a couple angora snowflakes that should only get softer and prettier over time.

[misc] Oh Christmas Tree

Got a Christmas tree at one of Nichol's lots (at I-89 Exit 18). It's an 8 foot tall Balsam Fir. I usually get a Frasier Fir because the branches are so much stronger and the needles stay on better, but the balsam smells so much more Christmas-y. 

Murderface is already waiting for presents under the tree.

[misc] Murderface Friday

Brought Murderface to the vet. Santana scratched/punched him in the eye. He was squinty in his left over after and hid under the bed. The visit to the vet was fine- she put dye in his eye and used a black light to see if his cornea was scratched. It wasn't, so he didn't need any ointment or medicine. 

[knitting] Plain Socks

I rarely knit socks but I started a plain ribbed pair, for something portable and mindless to work on:

I've spent much time recently in the auto mechanic's waiting in room, waiting for scheduled maintenance and winter tires. 

The yarn is dyed by me, during a class at one of the early Green Mountain Fiber Festivals:

Of course, I can't work on these "filler" socks now since I'm busy CRAFTING ALL THE THINGS for Christmas. Last night I finished knitting a gift hat and immediately started cross-stitching a project... But after one letter, I moved on to a knew knitting gift... But I need to make sure to embroider a new handkerchief for Dollar... And crochet a doily... And make some Christmas cards... 

Then I just go hide in bed and play iPad games and cuddle with the cats.

[knitting] Dabbling in Double

After taking the "Dabble in Double" class by Lucy Neatby, I was highly motivated to finally start tackling some double-knit potholders. I started with this elephant one:

I cast-on in brown and worked a couple rounds in brown before introducing the green contrast color. 

The opposite side:

A bit of the circle border design is lost on this side because I was working brown on both sides. In the future, I'd like to do a tubular cast-on for two colors (I think there is such a thing) and immediately start working the two colors on either side.

Next, because I've had this idea and wanted to do it for a while, I charted out a USACE castle logo and double-knit that:

I like it but need to revise the chart a bit. Also, I'm not so sure why my stitches are so zig-zaggy. That didn't happen with my elephant potholder and I wrapped all the stitches the same way. Huh. Hm. 

The inverse side:

I like making these potholders- they are small and quick projects. Once I feel more comfortable, I'll move on to larger double-knit projects.