Happy Holidays 2014

Here is my 2014 holiday card to you, dear blog friends. May your homes be warm, your knitting perfect and your hearts full of happiness - 

 Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve is here once again - the knitting is finished (temporarily), the gifts are wrapped, the food is cooked and the anticipation of something wonderful is palpable. My little dog was certainly feeling the mood and wanted in on the action this afternoon as I worked on photographing this year's holiday greeting card (check the card out here tomorrow...). 

Wishing you a joyful, safe and warm holiday, Merry Christmas Eve!

Warm Christmas Wishes to All!

Warmest Christmas wishes to everyone!

I hope you have a joyful, 

safe holiday and I wish you much

peace, blessings and happy stitching. 

link photo

link video

Wrap it Up!

It always seems like there are one or two people on my Christmas gift list who are difficult to find something for. Either they have everything they need already, or they make wonderful things themselves, or they are just picky! In these cases, I find that a consumable gift, particularly one made with my own hands, is always a good idea. And a gift that is thoughtfully wrapped makes the presentation extra beautiful and special. 

With this in mind, I've put together a few fast and easy-looking ideas I've come across via Pinterest lately. First the consumables: 


 Butternut Cookies via Sarah Wilson

Cookies are always a favorite at any gathering and are easy to pack for giving. These are gluten free.

Coconut Cakes via Scandi Home

 

Chocolate Amaretto Truffles via Sweet Paul 

Yum. Just yum.

Chocolate Haystacks via The Primalist  

Only 3 ingredients!

Roasted Smoky Almonds via Bake Your Day

 

Gourmet Mustards via Martha Stewart

 

Flavored Salts via Minimally Invasive. 

I made these last year and they were very popular. They also come with a free, downloadable pdf label. 

 
Cinnamon Honey Butter via Heather Bullard 

Wrapping your consumable gifts can be as simple as a piece of waxed paper tied with a bit of yarn, or as fancy as some of these ideas: 

Print your own gift wrap via Annixen 

I love that this looks a bit like stranded knit stitches.

Make special gift tags via Cambiandostrada

via 3EggsDesign

via  Fellow Fellow

Use yarn leftovers (because I might - cough, cough - have a few of those...) via Elisabeth Heier

via Bo Bedre

via Fellow Fellow

Make special food packaging via Cannelle-Vanille  

via The Fab Guide 

via Making Nice in the Midwest

I'm also intrigued with furoshiki fabric gift wrap, using a pretty kitchen towel, via Cotton & Flax

Wow, I guess I'd better get busy! 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope this post helps you with some ideas for those last-minute, hard-to-gift people on your list. Or, of course, you may see something tasty that just needs to be made as a little something for yourself!

A Christmas Wish

Wishing you 

a Christmas 

filled with peace, 

love and light.

Decking the Halls Knit Style

Every Christmas I get a wild idea that maybe this will finally be the year I actually make a few of those knitted ornaments and decorations I admire. Once again I'm afraid I must admit it won't be this year. But for those of you who have the time you might like to consider a few fun options like these.

I thought this knitter did a lovely job on her version of a knit star ornament by Karolina Eckerdal.

These Pint Size Pines cork toppers by Julie Tarsha are hot on Ravelry right now.

The 2012 Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue has some adorable stockings I'd love to make for family members, especially the little Swedish horse version (it about killed me to not be able to submit a design for this issue when I saw the sub call from Interweave, but other obligations precluded that idea).

For those with a bit less time available, here are some interesting stitch-related ideas including knit-themed letterpress greeting cards,

free downloadable stitch-print wrapping paper by minieco (and other yarn wrap ideas on my Pinterest board like the one shown in the first photo at the top of the post from the Boxwood Clippings blog), 

and these free downloadable knit print gift tags from eatdrinkchic.com.

I hope these ideas help you get started decking your halls! Now I'd better get busy with same...

Holiday Wishes

angel with harp, artist unknown

My holiday wishes for you this day, dear friend, are for all your stitches to be even, for your yarn stash to be fruitful, and for all your projects to fit perfectly. May your Christmas be joyful and filled with love, and your home be blessed. And may angels watch over you and yours always.

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to (all)
From heaven's all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

 From a classic Christmas carol, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, based on a poem written in 1849 by Edmund Hamilton Sears, and set to music in 1859 by Richard Storrs Willis. Word in parenthesis, mine.

It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

Someone, please pass me the smelling salts, because I about fainted dead away when I saw the response to my new pattern, the Bosc Hat. THANK YOU to everyone for the kind comments, and for making this pattern the #1 hottest pattern on Ravelry.com (holy mackerel!) for all day yesterday.

I'm sure that for many of the wonderful designers out there whose work I greatly admire, having their design on the top 20 patterns list is a ho-hum, all-in-a-day's-work kind of thing, but for me it was very exciting. 

And for those of you who've asked about the photo, well, this one was rather difficult, but the final shot of the gold hat was the result of me running back and forth from the camera to the exact pose spot 68 times while trying to maintain composure, hold completely still, not gasp for breath, and not mess up my hair (a monumental task in itself).

With the Christmas holiday upon us, I also wanted to share just a few seasonal ideas, like this rosemary tree. 

I've had this little tree for about 5 years now, having purchased it at the grocery store for only a few dollars thinking that even if it died, the dried herbs themselves would be worth the price.

But not only has it not died, it's grown about double in size and my husband has decreed that I am no longer allowed to pot it up larger lest it become too mammoth to be moved indoors for winter. Since he is the one who carries it in, to grow in a south-facing window with the aid of additional grow lights, I had to agree. :)  

The tiny glass bell ornaments are part of my favorite collection of vintage ornament shapes from the 1920's-1950's. They are just the right size for my little tree.

We also have a regular tree in the living room, complete with lights.

As a long-time sewing enthusiast, I have a small assortment of vintage household and sewing tools from my grandmothers, like the old folding yardsticks shown here. These jointed sticks are easily bent into fun shapes such as a star, shown single in the photo at the top of the post, or layered as seen below.

 

I love rooting around in drawers to see what I can 'find' to make use of without purchasing anything new.

Boxwood or other greenery is easily formed into a simple wreath and can be tied with a scrap of ribbon or as here, a length of burlap. 

For those who celebrate Hanukkah, I loved this local store display of plain white candles in unmatched glass containers, although the contemporary glass menorah/ hanukiah is quite lovely too.

The mirror placed underneath multiplies the effect of the candles and glass. This is such a pretty tabletop idea for anyone at anytime of the year.

I hope you find a few inspiring ideas here, I'm planning to do my wrapping and baking today and tomorrow, and will try to squeeze in another post before Sunday - we'll see. Happy knitting everyone!

Interweave Knits Pattern - Northwoods Coasters

With Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2011 special issue about to be released and the pattern preview posted on the website, I can finally share news about a pattern I designed for this issue - the Northwoods Coasters squares!

Although I've had print and downloadable patterns available for some time, this is my first magazine design and I was thrilled to work with such wonderful people at Interweave Knits.

This issue is packed with gorgeous patterns to get started on your holiday knitting. 

The Northwoods pattern is included in the 'Log Cabin Knits' story theme, and makes a nice  project to cozy up your winter tabletop, or as a set for a quick but thoughtful gift. 

These easy short row squares are knit all in one piece from very small amounts of yarn.  The squares make wonderful drinks or mug coasters, but might also be cute (perhaps made with leftover project yarn) pieced together for sofa pillows, table runners or even blankets.  

I'll do a proper post with more photos, information and details about the pattern soon. Holiday Gifts 2011 will officially be on newsstands September 6th, so check your LYS or local bookstore for it, and you can see the full issue or pre-order it on the Interweave website here.

With dozens of gorgeous patterns for knitting and gifting included, this issue is a terrific value, and will certainly be one of those 'keepers'.  

Magazine cover and mug photos courtesy of Interweaveknits.com

Season's Knittings

Last weekend was a blur of cooking, wrapping, celebrating with my family on Christmas Eve, then getting up Christmas morning to travel several hours to my husband's family home on Lake Erie.  

 

Lots of knitting was accomplished, including work on another version of a Lingonberry Loop cowl scarf in worsted weight, and miles of swatching for the cable cardigan I'm planning. 

I also blocked the cardigan I've been puttering on for the last 3 months.

Our Pomeranian proved herself very much the lap dog and crafting buddy cuddling with my mom as my mom crocheted en route to the celebration.  

After a family gift exchange, I caught my husband, his brother, and my sister-in-law  sneaking off with the cookies as we walked up the street to a friend's house for a large festive gathering.  

It was a nice weekend but I'm glad to be home to take a long winter's nap before diving back into more knitting...

Love and Joy Come to You

To you my friends, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your beliefs may be -

When many are celebrating the advent of the the Light of the world, my hope and prayer for you is that you will have it's love, joy and warmth in your heart and it's peace upon your home.  

Merry Christmas, God Jul, Häid Jõule, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Hauska Joulua, Wesołych Świąt, and so on to everyone who visits today (I hope I got all those right, LOL), happy knitting to all, and to all a good night!

My Favorite Things

 

I've managed to crank out just a few ornaments for our tree this year, and that's going to have to do.  My desire was to use only things made by my family and friends, or picked up at art festivals, but I had to cheat and add a few small commercial glass things to fill in the gaps. 

Yes, we have an artificial tree.   After years of chopping down live trees (I hate to do that), and ending up with a mess of needles on the floor, we broke down and purchased one we can use over and over again for many years. 

For some reason I've had a terrible time getting a photo of this knitted SnowflakeOrnament, designed by Katie Himmelberg.  This project is knit in the round to create a star shape, then the very simple crochet lace edging is added.  

We've certainly received our share of the snow from the storm walloping the eastern part of the country.  Although modest by most standards, our two inches was pretty.  

The snowfall caused me to haul out one of my favorite things - my pair of Yaktrax Pros.  

This rubber and Velcro device stretches to fit over your shoes and is covered in wire coils that grip the snow and ice for great stability.  As a winter adventure lover, these babies give me the ability to scale hills and steep inclines even in terrible conditions. 

This snow before Christmas is such a treat for us, I'm enjoying it immensely.  

 

This week, while busy for many people, will be a crazy one for me as I finish up the Lingonberry Loop pattern and some other secret projects.  I hope you are staying warm and cozy with lots of knitting, spinning, or whatever you enjoy doing.  Peace, blessings and happy knitting!