Emptyknitster

At Christmas, The Chick brought me some sock yarn she bought a few years ago. At the time she only knew how to crochet and wanted some new socks. This was at a time when we thought if there was a crocheted sock pattern then it was possible…What a disaster!! A poorly written pattern, no give in the socks…WORTHLESS! She brought me the yarn thinking I could use it for the Rabbit Hole Mitered Square Blanket. What a thoughtful daughter! (I may NEVER have enough yarn to finish it!!) But alas, this yarn is 60% cotton, 20% wool, 20% nylon and I'm using 80% wool and 20% nylon... So I began a new pair of socks, now that I’ve found the Fish Lips Heel Pattern designing socks is a breeze! This is a very simple spiraled slip stitch that occurs every color change in the sock.   Pattern: Fish Lips Kiss Heel Pattern Yarn: 60% cotton, 20% nylon 20% wool Colorway: Pastel stripes Amount: One skein Needle Size: US Size 0

A little over a month ago, while The California Dreamin' Gal was in Africa at a conference, older sister sent me this SOS photo message: I found out later, The California Dad felt The Pirate could do without his mom or he could do without his sweater but he couldn't do without both! So, The Pirate wore his sweater to school until Christmas break. By then I had frantically begun knitting Pirate Sweater IV but even after completing three sweaters  previously, or perhaps because of it, I ran into a little technical difficulties . Following some discussion and soul searching I decided I could live with the imperfection. The skull and bones (minus the cross) would remain and I knit on. Meanwhile, The Pirate started the New Year minus his sweater. Last Monday, after a week without it, a friend brought up his loss. He was very happy to report that there would be a new Pirate Sweater on his back by the end of the week. The news went through the 5th grade like wildfire! The Pir...

Argh!! This is the fourth pirate sweater I've knit for The Pirate and I can't believe what just happened! Look carefully and tell me what you think: Usually I can't stand to have known errors in my knitting. However, ths time I knit a solid 6 hours after the mistake before I noticed. The Pirate didn't notice when he was shown the sweater...  Shall I rip it out and lose 12 hours total keep on? While I'm waiting for a verdict I knit on this: 202 squares and counting!

The Chick received a bread making machine for Christmas and was interested in this recipe: Cinnamon Sunrise Regular loaf                            Large loaf 3/4 c               Water                1 1/8 c 2 1/4 c            Flour                 3 1/3 c 1 T                 Dry Milk            1 1/2 T 21/2 T            Brown Sugar     3 T 3/4 t               Salt...

Socks: 26 pairs Sweaters:4 Clogs: 5 pairs Mittens: 1 pair Fingerless Mitts: 2 pair Hats: 8 Baby Items: 3 Scarves/Shawls/Cowls: 4 Dishrags: 6 Project bags: 12 (Mitered Square Sock Blanket: 186 squares) Grand total of knit items for 2013: 53 plus (186 squares) and a dozen project bags Favorite Item: Beautiful yarn given to me by Yarn Lovin' Lizzy creator of Vice Yarns Craziest thing knit this year: Socks for my brothers Spider Socks Old/New Griz Socks Favorite photo prop for knitted item: Daisies Favorite hand dyed item: Socks in the Poolside Bitch Colorway

A first: The California Dreamin' Gal has been singing the praises of Kombucha for quite some time. It is an acquired taste and on the last visit it finally happened! I like the fizziness and when it is a batch that has been brewed for a short period of time there is less vinegar flavor - delicious! SO this Christmas I received everything needed to start brewing my own Kombucha: The "mother" arrived. I let it brew for three weeks, mostly because I knew the bottles were wrapped and under the tree! Yesterday was the bottling day! Sterilized bottles: There's now a new batch of tea with mother and baby safely inside: Just a sip or two for tasting, a little tart for my taste - but three weeks in the brewing! My first Kombucha off to the refrigerator! Another six bottles next week! And a last: Usually when I start a project I stick with it until it's done. This one was rather frustrating, I envisioned the finished project differen...

Sadly, this year I didn't follow my own favorite advice to Grammas - I didn't have the kiddos decorate the Christmas Tree the night before they left after Thanksgiving. So, instead, the night the kiddos arrived for Christmas holiday the decorations went up! Now, it's time for the family to leave and it just doesn't seem right to take the tree down after such a short amount of time. BUT next year it's back to Gramma's Favorite Piece of Christmas Advice!