Feeling Greedy!

I don't normally mention personal stuff but I thought that the more prayer for this situation the better. My 18 yr old daughter is having surgery on Thursday. This takes place at the Shriner's Children's Hospital in Greenville, SC so we will leave tomorrow as it's 6 hours from where we live. She is having her right foot amputated. I know that sounds drastic and it is but this will give her a new normal looking foot (prosthesis). I won't go into details but just say that this is a good decision and she is excited to be able to wear any shoes she wants! She's worn some sort of high-top tennis shoe all her life. I am confident the surgery will go well as this hospital is for orthopedics alone and they do this sort of thing all the time. It's the healing time and adjustment that might be difficult. She will get her prosthesis in 2-3 months so that is a bit of time to wait.
So my greediness is for your prayer's for her. Thank you so very much!
Yes, I am taking lots of knitting and reading along with me.

Honoring Someone You May Not Know

I'm sure honoring someone that we don't know can be done in many, many ways. I found a way to honor a woman that has given her life for my freedom at this website The Mother's Day Project Granted it's not much but as I stitched her name I was able to pray for her husband and family members she left behind. This is 1st Lt. Jaime L. Campbell.
She was 25 years old, of Ephrata, Wasington. She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard, Anchorage, Alaska.; killed Jan. 7 when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Tal Afar, Iraq. She was a pilot in the Army National Guard and a member of the Arctic Eagles of Alaska. Her husband Sam Campbell is a captain in the Army and was in Iraq when she died. Her parents, Miki and Jeff Krausse, live in Ephrata.
I'm honored to have taken part in recognizing Jaime in this small way.

Mystery Vest

Since I don't have a good picture of this vest, the back of it at least I'll call it the Mystery Vest. I am hoping you will love how the back turns out. You can see the front in a post below. I am about at the arms of the back. Made lots of progress on a trip yesterday and today. I was a passenger so that gave me lots of knittng time. It's just a K4, P2 pattern. Simple is best sometimes. The yarn is Karabella Soft Tweed. Love it!

Amazing Thrift Store Find!!

No not yarn!!! Look at my beautiful clock! It's a Waterbury Gingerbread Style Clock made by the Waterbury Clock company in Connecticut in the late 1800's. I was in the shop and a lady had it in her basket. I commented to her that she had a really nice clock at a great price. $6.00 Well, she looks at it closer and says it doesn't have a key and did I want it. Well, sure I do. I was thinking that I didn't care if it worked I just wanted to look at it on my mantle. When I got home I set it on the mantle, walked away and later hear a bong, bong, bong....... It works! I set the time and it's been correct now for few hours! I'm shocked!

Find #2 - I found a Longaberger basket 1991 Centennial with the red, white and blue lining and the card that came with it. It was given to me! I was really blessed today! I LOVE THRIFT STORES!

Project Queue Makes for A Happy New Year!

Thank you to Mary who works at my LYS and to Nikki who both read my blog and saw my plight about missing the yarn sale. They emailed me pronto and let me know that indeed I did not miss the sale totally that I still had time. Soooooo, I went yesterday and came home with a few projects. First up is the cutest vest although the picture from the Knit N Style website doesn't show the back which really 'makes the vest'. It's from the Feb. 2006 issue. The collar is a large triangle down the back and ends in a tassel. I bought Karabella Soft Tweed in a rusty orange.

Next up is a cardigan by Classic Elite. It's in a booklet called, "City Park". I'll be using the suggested yarn of 'Sundance' a cotton/microfiber blend in a chocolate brown.

Then a summer top by Sirdar in their leaflet #5872 which is out of print and I can't find it anywhere on the Internet. It's a sleeveless ribbed mock turtleneck. I'll be knitting it with Cabin Fever's Cotton Tweed in cherry red.

I was needing some projects that required a bit less concentration and I could take 'on the go'. My Kinsale is just not that kind of knit. I'll be finished with hubby's sock shortly although I did cast on for that vest last night and I think it will be a quick knit! So there you have it, my sale haul. I'm happy!

Gifting One Sock

This is quite OK for family members, immediate family that live under your roof! The pair will be for my husband. I gave him one finished sock for Christmas and of course he knows the other will follow very soon. These are Elisabeth Zimmerman's Woodmen Socks. I've posted the pair I made for myself a while back. I wear them a lot. I did use a wool/nylon carry along thread at the heel and toe. He even tried them on so I could guestimate the length of the foot.

Knitpicks, Shamrock in color, 'Fitzpatrick'. Used a 7 needle. CO 44 stitches, k2p2 for the pattern. Simple. It's the perfect mainstay wool sock and a quick knit with worsted weight on 6 or 7 needles. The pair I did for myself was on the 6's and for hubby on the 7's.

What did I get for Christmas? I know you knitters might not get too excited but I love this new gizmo! My Zojirushi Bread Machine. A gift to myself actually but of course the whole family benefits. So far it's been great. I've done Whole Wheat and White/Oat/Spelt and it's all wonderfully good. This bread pictured is still hot and I just ate the end piece!



Hubby came through with a gift certificate to my LYS! I found out today that they had a sale on Friday. I'll call tomorrow and hopefully hear that it's still on cause I am just so mad that I missed it. I would have, could have been there! Gee, I just remembered they are closed Mondays and of course it's part of the New Year's Holiday too. I think I missed out. 25% off is quite a bit to know I could have had if I was in the know!

Enjoy you Christmas Eve

Painting titled: EMANUEL GOD WITH US by James Seward found at AllPosters.com (click on the picture and you can view it a little larger) It's beautiful!

I hope you have a wonderful time making memories with your family and friends. I'm sure we all have special Christmas Eve traditions and continue to establish new ones.

A Cabler's Dream

Maybe not quite but almost! This is a Cable Wrap from Vogue Knitting Winter 2005/2006. I've started this over a couple times. I used the wrong size needle then counted wrong and even now I wish I had used an even larger needle. It's on a 10 but the next size might offer a little more drape but I'm not taking it out again. I think it will block to about 15 inches wide and I hope it softens too after a washing. Yarn is Peace Fleece purchased from Kary at The Knotty Sheep. It's kind of tweedy and a soft seafoam green. I bought the yarn for a shawl a while back but never knit it. This pattern just showed up and I cast on without much thought! You know how it goes with 'destashing'?

Addendum: 12/25 Project canned!!! It's too stiff, not drape at all, not wide enough for a stole and too wide for a scarf. Got about 10 inches into it and I know I wouldn't use it. Too much work for something useless. So, I have 7 skeins of this!!! Now what?

12 Christmas Facts for Our Family

I've been tagged by Jody at Gumbo Lily to share my own random 12 facts about Christmas:

1. It's all about JESUS

2. The world has lost sight about the reason for celebration

3. I love Christmas Carols

4. This is our first year for an artificial tree. We usually go cut one down.

5. My sister has given my kids an ornament every year since their birth, always from a place she has traveled.

6. Because of my sisters ornament gifts when my kids have left the nest I might have a bare tree!

7. We have a Koala Bear tree topper. Why? I don't know! We like him.

8. My children open their gifts to one another on Christmas Eve.

9. My husband does Christmas breakfast . Our 2 older sons and their friends always drop by at just the right time!

10. I refuse to travel at Christmas. Celebrating at home is important.

11. We have no outdoor lights. It's an old house and no outside outlet.

12. We gather in our bedroom and read the Christmas Story from Luke before going downstairs to open gifts. It has to be light outside before the kids can wake me up!!

I'll tag Catie and Erica.

Need a service project involving your knitting?

How about joining the Bandage Brigade? Bandages for leprosy patients in Vietnam! Found out about it here from Junie Moon scroll down to Dec. 9. Check here as well leprosybandages for tons of information and see pictures of how this can be such a blessing to a lot of people. This will be my first KAL of sorts so I am pleased it will be a helpful one. Come on. It's quick and easy with a purpose!

If you are interested in a great book about a physician that worked with leprosy patients check out, Ten Fingers For God. It's an amazing and wonderful story.

Finally finished!

A gift to mark 25 years of LOVE for my sister and her husband. It's taken me 3 years to complete this quilt probably due to my knitting habit!

She requested all neutrals. Her husband is a bluegrass musician so I included a few musical notes. At first I thought it would be kind of unexciting but I love the colors. I'll be shipping it off to Colorado tomorrow.

Scottish Shortbread My Favorite

Made some shortbread today for our Spinners and Knitters group Christmas gathering tomorrow night. I love this stuff. Butter, brown sugar and flour. It melts in your mouth. I kept thinking of some kid song so I looked up the lyrics. It wasn't shortbread at all but short'nin. Remember this?
Put on the skillet,
Slip on the lid,
Mama's gonna make A little short'nin' bread.
That ain't all She's gonna do,
Mama's gonna make A little coffee, too.
Mama's little baby loves Short'nin', short'nin',
Mama's little baby loves Short'nin' bread,
Mama's little baby loves Short'nin', short'nin',
Mama's little baby loves Short'nin' bread.

Kinsale Revived!

It's about time too. I don't know why this sweater has to wait so long for me to concentrate on it. My Christmas gifts few that they were are finished so I am back to what will one day be a favorite sweater I'm sure. Last night I was checking out the Kinsale's on Ravelry and was encouraged. I want to finish this before I get back to my Karabella cardigan and before I start the Pearl Buck Swing jacket that I manged to purchase yarn for in haste just a month ago. That Jaeger Extra Fine Merino is being very patient waiting to be cast on! I think Kinsale will be my manly sweater. I mean isn't gansey more masculine? The whole fisherman ideal, the Scottish coast, the moor's, the lighthouses, the waves crashing on the cliffs, etc. He awaits me now!

Knitted Nativity

Can you imagine? I would love to knit this Nativity scene. It's from Jean Greenhowe's book 'Christmas Special'. Lots of other goodies in the book as well. The Nativity is done in DK weight yarn and on size 2 needles. If you're on Ravelery check 'qualitystreet' that's her name. Go to her projects and you'll see her Christmas dolls. Click on the photo so you can see lots more pictures. My picture here is from the book. There's even Christmas Tea Cosy patterns in the book. Jean Greenhowe Designs I bought my book from here just the other day and it was sent asap! Frugal Haus I don't think I could finish all the set in a years time but it will be nice to work on and add too as each piece is finished.

Pretty and Complete

Finished this chevron patterned scarf for a certain someone. It's not your typical chevron you've seen so colorful on many a blog though. This pattern came from a calendar of knit patterns from a few years ago. I actually borrowed the pattern from my sister. The yarn is KnitPicks, 'Gloss' 70% merino, 30% silk, fingering weight with a size 5 needle. I think the recipient will be happy.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100:4,5

Bread of Life

Yes, I know it's white (don't tell) ....... but it's King Arthur's unbleached bread flour with oatmeal. And oh so good! (Recipe on the bag) I used a food processor that is ancient and it started smoking! Guess I need a new one. Yesterday I tried whole wheat but by hand since I thought the processor would probably blow up! It was good but I need to experiment to get it to rise better and be less dense. The baking dish on the right was my grandmothers. I have one a little deeper one as well but missing the lids. I used to mix my breads in a huge Tupperware bowl but I melted that! No need to explain. Now, I use my wooden dough bowl which is more authentic anyway, right?

"She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

"Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
Deut. 8:3, Matt. 4:4

VETERANS DAY

America the Beautiful
Ray Charles, lyrics
Oh beautiful, for heroes proved,
In liberating strife,
Who more than self, our country loved,
And mercy more than life,
America, America, may God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain devined.
And you know when I was in school,
We used to sing it something like this, listen here:
Oh beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties,
Above the fruited plain,
But now wait a minute, I'm talking about
America, sweet America
You know, God done shed his grace on thee,
He crowned thy good, yes he did, in a brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.
You know, I wish I had somebody to help me sing this
(America, America, God shed his grace on thee)
America, I love you America, you see,
My God he done shed his grace on thee,
And you oughta love him for it,
Cause he, he, he, he, crowned thy good,
He told me he would, with brotherhood,
(From sea to shining sea).
Oh Lord, oh Lord, I thank you Lord
(Shining sea).

America the Beautiful, original lyrics
by Katharine Lee Bates
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! (1st stanza)

It's VETERAN'S DAY, Let a Veteran know you are thankful for them.

Second Elke Satchel

Yep, it's the second Mission Falls bag. It's from their book called, Harvest. One is for my sister. As for which I am not sure yet. I just might ask her which colors she would like. I still need to line both because I'm afraid of things catching the yarn on the inside. I'm just glad to be in the 'finishing' mode! It's a great pattern if you want to practice Fair Isle!

Sausage and Spinach Quiche.


I made the best quiche last night! I took a picture of it before it was cut to pieces because it looked so good. Then my family kept saying it was the 'best' and why hadn't I made it in a while. I must say you need to use Neese's sausage to get the best. I don't have a recipe written down. I tend to add what's on hand.




This picture is my 'DESKTOP'. That is a picture of a needlepoint. I found it online a long time ago and now can't find it again. I don't even remember what kind of place it was, a blog or different website. I've searched but haven't found it. I'd love to give credit to it's creator. I think it's wonderful.

Knitting? I'm still doing that too. I missed my local knit/spin meeting last night due to a number of things. The main reason is that I was in a frustration mode about the time I should have left the house. I was frogging a fingerless glove. One completely finished, ends woven in and all! I was working on the match when I realized the first one wasn't matching the second due to an extra row. Sooooo, I took the first one apart because I was afraid I would have enough yarn. It's a one skein project and I wanted it to stay that way! I'm back on track but I was in a tizzy then and would have walked in the meeting teary eyed had I gone. All is well now or at least better.