Emptyknitster

We had a wonderful time this Christmas. The Chick arrived on Christmas Eve and since the Hubby was working, we did a little shopping without a purpose, ate out, and went to a movie. Christmas morning and most of the afternoon was spent relaxing and waiting for the NorDak family to appear. Fam is just a little unsure how to get through Hubby's turkey farm. Of coarse, the moment they walked through the door there was only one thing to do...OPEN PACKAGES! The Tiger, NOT happy about the clothes BUT loving the box! They love the pillow pets The Chick got them... The Tiger got a frog, who he named Snowflake. We did a little sledding, a little skating, and a lot of just having fun together! When the family gets together usually the youngest gives the gift of the flu. It marches its way through the entire family, youngest to oldest. This holiday, because Hubby was in such a giving mood,  he couldn't wait to get the tradition underway. We quickly dubbed it the "...

After all the coastal rain, it appears that the California Dreamin' and Oregon kiddos are dry... Chloe A LittleBit, Christmas 2010 The Pirate, Christmas 2010 Joe, Christmas 2010 Sam, Christmas 2010 and with a blizzard scheduled for tomorrow, the NorDak kiddos are warm! The Tiger, Christmas 2010 SadieLou Who, Christmas 2010 Looks like everyone is happy, incuding Gramma!

This year I added a small item to my Christmas decorations, my mother's mittens knit by my Great-Grandmother Jamison. I love these little red mittens that have been carefully mended. I have knitting needles that belonged to a Great-Grandmother. The mittens could be construed as proof the needles were Great-Grandmother Jamison's but I know Great-Grandmother Cheney loved to wear hand knit lace because Mom said that my Grandmother spent many hours starching and ironing her mother-in-law's lace collars. Sadly, I'll never know for sure whose needles they were.... Emily Plowman Cheney Catherine Hedges Jamison

Have I mentioned before, the only good sock is one on your foot NOT on your needles? For a long time I've felt that a person might as well knit a sweater for all the work done when making a pair of socks! I have always hated to knit socks, but loved to wear handknit socks soooo… I found Donna's Easy Sock Pattern , and put them on the needles. They are a breeze! I love all the funky colors out there in the knitting world but a gal has to have some plain jane socks too! This is an easy little sock pattern that will now allow me to fill my sock drawer without frustration!  Life's changing, I'm having a great time knitting these: This is what I’ll be doing for awhile... NO problem! Today I received an article from Knitting Daily entitled, 10 Tips for Longer-Lasting Socks . There were several tips that I wanted to remember and pass along: * Don't wind your yarn into a cake until you're ready to knit. Winding a skein into a cake pulls fibers taught and ...

I've been promising a couple of my followers these recipes for quite sometime. The first recipe is a spice tea recipe that the California Dreamin' Gurl brought with her the last time she came up. It is outstanding hot or iced - my new favorite! Spiced Tea 2 tbs fennel seeds 1 tbs cardamom seeds 1 tbs coriander seeds 1 tbs fenugreek seeds 2 tbs cloves 2 star anise 2 inches of cinnamon bark I use this recipe and multiply it many times to make a big batch. Grind in the coffee mill and brew. The other beverage that I have recently discovered is a flavored coffee. I use a 4 cup french press pot (that makes one big mug for me) so you will have to do a little calculating about proportions, but this is what I use: Spiced Coffee 4tbs heaped full of coffee 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice Hmmm, good!

The weekend that is right in the middle between Thanksgiving and Christmas was a very special one when I was a girl. It was a holiday in my eyes. That weekend my family, my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins would get together and go Christmas tree hunting. My uncle, who was a realtor, often bought and sold land but he had a special soft spot for and old over grown strawberry farm on the Peninsula of Washington and he hung on to that property for many years. This piece of land was his declared "Best Christmas Tree Grounds Ever." "Little" Auntie Florence, Bill, Kit, Mary, Bob, Uncle Fred, Aunt Merab, Mom, Aunt Kit, and me My family would wake up and take the ferry from our home in Seattle and across the Puget Sound to the Peninsula. One year I dug a small tree and decorated it for my bedroom. When Christmas was over my mother planted the tree in the front yard and the last time I visited the house it was a mature tree many feet high!! Uncle Fred, ?, Bill, Kit, Mom, Mike...

Baby Boy's Charity Blanket Pattern: Moderne Baby Blanket by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne Yarn: Red Heart worsted Color: Eggshell, Bisque, Rose Brown, and True Teal Amount: Two skeins each color Needle Size: US size 8 Recently Karen F., a former coworker, called to say said she had many skeins of yarn at her house and wondered if I could use them for my knitting class at school. I arrived at her doorstep to find a box of Red Heart Yarn. The full skeins of yarn were in lovely colors so rather than give the yarn away, I decided to do a little charity knitting and use the yarn for this blanket.     I do prefer knitting with Cascade 220, a lovely wool yarn, but I live by the by saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Besides, there were many years I only had Red Heart to knit with.  When you love to knit, a person will knit with whatever is available! I understand that there is a growing group of knitters who knit with yarn from recycled wool swe...

Let's start celebrating.......................... Sam's Christmas Sweater 2010 Joe's Christmas Sweater 2010           The last of the Christmas sweaters are complete! I'm blocking them now and they will soon be in the mail and then under a tree. Pattern: Wonderful Wallaby with a Western Sea by A&J Starmore flair Yarn: Cascade 220 in Ecru           Plymouth Classic Wool in Denim Needle Sizes: US size 6, US size 8 What can I say…I LOVE this pattern! This time I’ve added a Gansey pattern from A&J Starmore’s book The Children’s Collection (The pattern is: Western Seas). I began with a tunic bottom, knit the lower border pattern from the Starmore pattern rather than ribbing and then attached the front and back of the body adding the charted pattern points in the round. When knitting the sleeves, I knit 4 inches short of attaching the sleeve to the body and then repeated the Gansey pattern....

Our feathered friends have been here to visit and enjoyed a good morning's breakfast... The Famous Buckhorn Exchange Bean Soup is in the crockpot...  Outside it's a winter wonderland.... And "Christmas Sweater Knitting" is coming to an end... Life is grand!

Last Friday Hubby and I went up to Montana's equivalent of the Super Bowl: The Griz and Bobcat Game. Because we have season Griz tickets we also get tickets to this game when it is hosted in Missoula. I left school at 11:30 and we set out on some of the slickest roads I have ever been on! We weren't 40 miles out of town before I had lost count of rollovers, slide offs, and accidents involving multiple vehicles. I hung on for dear life and my knitting needles flew, row after row! First Montana snowstorm 2010 Both the weather and the game went downhill with the coin toss. It was a hard fought game but the Bobcats were a stronger team and will be going on to the championship play offs. Griz vs. Bobcats 2010 After the game we drove to The Chick's house and spent two nights there, waiting to see if the weather would change. In the end we slid home with The Chick's kitty serenading us in the backseat. We were hoping that would help make a less stressful trip for The C...

Chloe A Little Bit will have a new Christmas sweater this year. I'm no fortune teller, I don't read tea leaves laying at the bottom of empty tea cups, and so I wonder - will she like this sweater or not? Chloe's Christmas Sweater 2010 Pattern: Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan Yarn: Plymouth Encore Colorway: Deep Purple Amount: 4 skeins Needle Size: US 6, US 7 I am not pleased with the underarm stitch pick up. They look like they will pull and and be uncomfortable once they are on Chloe A Little Bit's arms. I can't wait for the final verdict to come in!

It's a good thing that I cleared out all the UFO's (unfinished objects) before school started because once again there is a basketful under the family room table! I've put Chloe A-Little-Bit's Irish knit sweater on hold. By the time got to the armholes it was obvious that the sweater was to large. I finished the back of the sweater, put it aside, and will finish it after Christmas. It will be among my stash of completed items until my little grandgirl grows a bit more. This created an immediate problem. What to knit that would provide the little gal with a cute sweater but wouldn't cause the Gram to much stress. (I like to have all Christmas gifts done by Thanksgiving) Any knitter knows this means a visit to Ravelry's pattern section. The tiny tea leaves cardi looked like a cute and fast knit. The pattern was bought, the color and yarn discussed, and finally the sweater was put on the needles: Tiny Tea Leaves Cardi I wish I hadn't gotten such a solid c...

The wicked witch The Incredible Hulk The Hawaiian Cleopatra And proof of what to much candy can do!

Halloween 2010  What a scary surprise to find a Halloween story  and letter in my mailbox. The ghosts flying around on the stationary were very spooky! Thank you Pirate, I love to get mail from you!

In the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz, Snoopy often began his stories with "It was a dark and stormy night..." People think that a good Halloween story must include that setting. Mine, however, is just the opposite... When we built our house fifteen years ago, we chose the location because it is out in the country and surrounded by nature. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, a view that allows you to see forty miles to the north, and animals everywhere. A few miles to the east is the Crow Indian Reservation and forty miles further is Little Bighorn Battlefield. The moment I set foot on the property I felt a presence. I envisioned a young Indian brave sitting on the edge of the ridge keeping watch over the valley, perhaps patiently waiting for another tribe, a group of warriors or a wagon train to come into view and move slowly westward along the Yellowstone River.  Although the house has central air conditioning I enjoy the clean fresh air. I quickly discovered that ...