I have been meaning to blog for some time but December is flying by!! I'm sure a lot of you are also feeling this way.

So many things have happened this month. How about a fly-by blog post with a ton of photos?

1. We celebrated Erin's birthday at our last Book/Craft Club

Emily made yummy lemon bars to celebrate

and Abbey kind of worked on her girl owl:

it's funny, Abbey has been working on this owl for months but it never seems to change ;) bwaha

the spread was amazing, as usual:

Our next book is Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which looks very interesting and fun.

2. I received a wonderful wooly package from my dear friend, Lorri, in the UK:

Both hanks are incredibly delicious! I'm still undecided what to knit with them, but I think a little shawl with the green hank would be gorgeous.

3. We also celebrated my second brother's birthday:

4. Scott's mom performed in a Jubilation bell concert:

It was beautiful and tinkly-sounding and so lovely to experience. I tried to YouTube a good video of people playing bells, but a scary video of an exorcism came up in the results and freaked me out (see for yourself: YouTube "bell concert church" and it's at the top O.o) 

5. I fiiiiiinally turned the heel on dad's socks and am on the foot:

6. Our Book Club's First Annual Holiday Switchy Switch was last weekend and it was amaaaaazing!!! Of course, I didn't take photos, but here are some of the wonderful crafts I was gifted, and some handmade items I purchased from my crafty friends:

I am in love with these t-shirt coasters made by Autumn!! Thanks Autumn, and Erin for letting me have them :)

The following pairs of earrings are from my friend, Shari:

They are all gorgeous and I love them!

And this beautiful necklace was made by Katie! I LOVE sand dollars!

It was such a wonderful day spent with the best people. We watched Christmas movies, stuffed our faces, exchanged gifts, CRAFTED, and some of us took naps. I am truly thankful to have such beautiful ladies in my life.


That's all for now, happy Wednesday!

FO: Holly, Ivy, and Bunneh, and Owlies

The finished trio for my mom!

grandma's old ornaments; they are glass and I have no idea how old, but I LOVE them!

Holly:

Ivy:

Bunny nugget:

and the bunny I first knit is on the tree:

I would love to knit a ton of these bunnies for the tree! I have been knitting a lot of them, only I keep giving them away!


I also knit these Owls for Autumn! She's having a baby girl soon and she loves owls:

Pattern: Owl Puffs by Jenna Krupar
Yarn: Stash worsted weight, mostly Patons Classic Wool
Needles: US 5
Mods: none! The pattern is very quick to knit and easy to follow. Knit from bottom up, and closed with Kitchener stitch.


So this will be a super busy and fun week: there's Book Club on Wednesday, Holiday Switchy-Switch on Saturday (a full day event: our Book Club's holiday party where we will eat a lot, watch Christmas movies, craft, and give handmade gifts!), and for everyone in school, it's Finals Week!


How cute is this ornament?? I might have to make some, as well as all the others in her ornament series! Arg, I had better get moving. Why is it that when I have so much to do, I procrastinate the hardest?


Happy Monday! Stay warm.

More FOs

It is a gray Monday here, so I spent the morning baking these Cheesy Quinoa bites!

Autumn made them for us at the Halloween book/craft club; they are incredibly good, and I will be making these all the time now!

The recipe (which I basically copy and pasted from the email Autumn sent! I believe she found the recipe on Pinterest?)

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

Makes 28 bites

 

-2 cups cooked quinoa

-2 large eggs

-1 cup shredded carrot

-2 stalks green onion, diced

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-2 Tbs all-purpose flour

-1/2 tsp seasoning salt

-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together quinoa, carrot, egg, green onion, garlic, cilantro, cheese, flour, salt and pepper.

3. Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes

 

I ended up omitting the cilantro and green onion because I didn't have any on hand. I did add a bit of chopped red onion. Also, I used a regular size muffin tin since I don't have a mini muffin tin, which left me with a little bit of mix still. So by the tablespoon, I scooped little balls of mix on a greased cookie sheet. Worked just fine! I did cook the muffin tin cheese bites for about 25 minutes I think. I highly recommend making these!!

 

My knitted Christmas gifts bag is filling up slowly!

Dot:

a Rebecca Danger pattern

Honegart:

loooooove this pattern!

Pattern: Stephen West
Yarn: Knit Picks Biggo in Sapphire Heather and Green Tea Heather
Needles: US 9 and 10
Mods: I just did one pattern repeat before decreases

This is the second hat I'm giving Scott. The colors might be too bold for him, but I really like them. This is a great unisex hat pattern, and I will be knitting many more! Maybe not out of Biggo though... the bulky cables killed my hands.

A fun group of ornaments!:

Holly and Ivy, and a bunny nugget

I still have one monster left to complete the trio, but I am dreading it because it's a three-color striped one! Eek. Maybe I will use self-striping yarn... These guys are sitting on Turn A Square, kind of a nice seat don't you think?

Cross stitch progress:

Yikes, I need to get ready for work! Too much fun baking and eating and blogging :) Hope you all have a wonderful week!

FOs

Oops, I meant to post this on Friday! Oh well, leaves me room to add things :)

Holly:

the trio will be for mom

Christmas Cafe au Lait:

for my cousin

This was such a great pattern! The texture is awesome, and they are a nice, snug fit - which I love.

 Cross stitch update, I'm finished with week two:

The more I stitch, the more I love it! Each square seriously is cuter than the last.

And last but not least, I'm currently working on the second monster of the trio, Ivy, and reading a new book!

I am such a fan of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling (you probably knew that already) so I am incredibly excited that she wrote another book! I read a lot of negative reviews on the book, but I will see for myself. Part of me thinks people will hate just to hate, especially since she's had so much success. It's a darker book, that's for sure.

I hope all you of enjoy your weekend! It seems like it will be wet and chilly here.

Kawaii

It was a good weekend for my Kawaii Winter Wonderland sampler, I completed three squares! (I finished Day 9 after I took this photo). Day 9, incidentally, might be my favorite so far! But the penguin is super cute too! Basically whichever square I finish most recently is my favorite :)

It is a bad weekend, however, because I am sick. It started Saturday night; I was achy and cold and tender and my throat was sooo sore. The worst I felt was definitely last night. Today has been better, but I still feel lethargic and cold at times. And now Scott has the chills.

We've been watching a fair amount of films lately: Brave, Midnight in Paris, and Total Recall, and I'd recommend all!  

• Brave is obviously cute and a well animated Pixar movie, and an instant favorite for me.  
• Midnight in Paris is very interesting, starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, about a couple who visits Paris. Owen Wilson's character is an actor who is an aspiring writer, and is transported back into time to meet his literary heroes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as artists Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. The conflict happens when he falls in love with a gal (from the 1920s) and realizes he doesn't love his fiance, although, from the start McAdams and Wilson don't really have chemistry....  
• Total Recall is a good sci-fi thriller. It runs in the same vein of Inception and The Matrix, what is reality? but takes its own approach. (it appears this is a remake of a 1990 film also called Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). 

 Whew! I didn't mean to write so much about movies. But a few new movies I do want to see are Life of Pi, The Hobbit, and Cloud Atlas!

How about some crafty love?

• Noodlehead's tiny tree ornaments made from fabric scraps are so cute
• I love Andi's hexagon afghan, it is stunning
• This stripey, slouchy hat of Kepanie's is just perfect
• Check out Ellen's fabulous DIY yarn bag for controlling multiple strands

Are you watching Baltimore play Pittsburgh? Do you see Pittsburgh's throwback jerseys?! Call me crazy, but I like them. I'm in the mood for a large bowl of ice cream...what do they say about dairy and colds? Is it bad to mix them?

Looking forward to a short work week, spending time with family, and eating a LOT of good food.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends :)

WIP Wednesday

I have a few gifts in progress to show you.

The first is a pair of socks for my dad. The pattern is Simple Skyp by Adrinne Ku, and the yarn is Knit Picks Stroll sport in Midnight Heather. It is a little more blue in person; it's pretty black in the photo. I am loving this pattern!

The second gift WIP are these mitts for my cousin:

Isn't it pretty? I am in love with this mitt. The pattern is Cafe au Lait by Paula McKeever, in Ella Rae DK. I haven't cast on the second one yet, but the first only took a few days.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed by Christmas knitting, especially since I started cross stitching and that's taking half my free time :) I went idea shopping today though, and I am starting to feel a little better about the situation. I can't share what I bought today because it might be for someone who reads my blog! ;)

new craft

I couldn't resist this super cute cross stitch pattern:

photo via http://meylah.com/thefrostedpumpkinstitchery

....so I have started cross stitching! It will ultimately be a calendar for December; each week a new block will be available to stitch.

My first one! (a little hard to see the white floss)

It is entirely too addicting and Christmas knitting is being forgotten.
 

Aren't new crafts fun?!

bunny nuggets and things

Wow, I can't believe it's already November 1st! We had a pretty unspirited Halloween... no costumes, no pumpkins, no trick-or-treaters! This is the second year we've lived in this house, and we didn't have any trick-or-treaters last year either. I think because we live so close to the mall, most kids go there. Scott and I have been having a Matrix marathon, and finished the third movie last night.

I was recently gifted a pattern on Ravelry by a dear and kind friend, and although I'm sure she would not mind if I mentioned her name, I will keep her anonymous. I just wanted to say thank so much, you are a wonderful being, and I was absolutely floored that you did this! The pattern is Hitchhiker, one that I've wanted to knit for some time, and now Hitchhiker and this wonderful RAK will always be synonymous in my mind!

A few things off the needles recently:

Bunny nuggets!

Pattern: Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport in Sunny Day
Needles: 2.50 mm
Mods: none! super cute. I used 6 mm safety eyes and glued little pom poms for a tail instead of making one.

Starting a new book, the first physical book I've picked up in a long time

Daybreak! Will have an actual photo shoot soon...

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West
Yarn: Knit Picks Chroma fingering in Galapagos and Stroll in Dove Heather
Needles: US 4

Mods: none!! Perfect size after blocking, not too big or small, just right.

for Aunt Linda...first Christmas present knit!

Pattern: Cranberry Sauce by Brittany Tyler
Yarn: Knit Picks Cadena in Cranberry
Needles: US 9 & 10 1/2
Mods: none, but it is a little short. Good news is I didn't run out of yarn like I thought I would!


That's about it, hope you are all enjoying your week!
Thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Socks for Lorri

These socks were sent to the UK, and since my friend has received them, I must share photos!

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL
Needles: 2.25 mm
Modifications: Magic Loop

The texture is hard to see in the first photo, but you can see it above. I think this pattern benefits with a lighter color yarn :)

This was my 13th pair of socks for the year!

Halloween swap!

Wheeee! A fabulous package from my stitch marker swap partner:

My partner added a TON of extra Halloween treats for me :) Some of the items she sent me:

cute flag :)

these are the greatest stitch markers!!

And I love this reversible bag she made:

Daybreak in progress

Halloween and something for the rest of the year:

so cute!!!

I just wanted to share these great items with you :) My partner was a great swapper and I am overwhelmed by her generosity and thoughtfulness <3 br="br">

xx

Today our furnace was replaced because our landlord wanted us to have a new one (the old one was over 30 years old but still worked. Just not very efficiently :) ). Now we have a high tech, fancy thermostat with programmable temperatures for when we leave and return home, and it's supposed to be much more efficient. The installers warned me that the first time it kicks on, it would set the smoke alarms off. And it did. I had all the windows open and every fan going, and I was running back and forth fanning them for what seemed like a long time (for the record, they are really loud). I am so thankful our landlord decided to replace it because I think this is a really good furnace :)

And I am officially signed up to take classes in January, yahoo!

Goodnight, early rise tomorrow :)

LP

Anybody else as obsessed with this song as I am?



Today has been full of grocery shopping, cleaning and organizing the pantry, laundry, and now, finally, knitting and football :) 

Halloweening

Last night was Books Crafts Wine Snacks Club and as always, it was fabulous. Autumn held it at her house and she is the best hostess of us all:

so festive and spooky!

These quinoa cakes are amaze-balls!!! As soon as Autumn sends out the recipe link I will post it here because they are fantastic! I could have eaten the whole plate:

how cute are these napkins and plates!? and the ghost mug hehe

We celebrated Abbey's birthday too! No candles, but we all sang a very spirited Happy Birthday to her :)
(our singing needs work)

do you see the bloody handprints on the glass? scaaaaary!

 Autumn made a red velvet cake and used GLITTER icing! 

cute decorations

I was the only one who crafted, though I suspect other girls brought something and just didn't bring it out... These mittens are part of KnitPsycho's Finish or Frogtober KAL on Ravelry:

As the name suggests, for the KAL you must either finish or frog an unfinished object that was started before September 1 of this year. No problem, since I started these October 2011! All they need is the green double stitching.

We began discussion on our book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and will finish discussing it at next meeting since not everyone had time to finish it. I am really eager to know what the other clubbers think about the ending.

That's all for now, Happy Thursday!

WIP Tuesday

I had planned to type this tomorrow, when it will actually be WIP Wednesday (and sounds better), but I am working in the morning so I'd rather write it tonight.

Right now I have two major WIPs, one is this afgahn:

I have almost knit six skeins, and will probably buy one more to add a little length. It's not a very large blanket, not something for the bed, but it's the perfect thing to cozy underneath on the couch :)

and the other WIP are my Cakewalk socks. I haven't made a lot of progress on them since their last photo so I won't post another :)


Tomorrow night is Book Club!! I will be sure to take a lot of photos of everyone's crafts and of the food :)