The Things I Did Right in 2008 Contest

Each year we make New Year's resolutions and each year we break them - leaving us feeling guilty and depressed. Oh sure, we could, of course, choose not to break our resolutions and then it would be a positive thing, but hey, sometimes we don't even have enough energy to empty the dishwasher, much less lose weight, exercise more, recycle everything, organize our lives, finish all those UFOs, de-clutter our houses, and solve the world's hunger problems. So, for this contest, instead of telling me what your New Year's Resolutions for 2009 are, post a comment telling me about the good things you did accomplish in 2008. You know, like you never once lost your car at the mall in 2008 (well, okay, only once). Or maybe you can actually walk into your craft room without tripping (that's one I can't claim), or, since this is a knitting blog, maybe you learned a new stitch, or finally mastered the art of knitting lace (can't claim that one either), or knit your first pair of socks (or a sock). You get the idea. A comment here gets you one entry in the contest. A link to my contest (grab my contest button) on your blog gets you two entries. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing on January 15 and gets to choose.........

Behind door #1.........

Knit One Felt Too, plus two skeins of my favorite felting wool -Paton's Classic or........

Behind Door #2...........

Knitted Flowers by Nicky Epstein plus one skein of Plymouth Indiecita Baby Alpaca Worsted or.......

Behind door #3.....

A Tote bag with a surprise inside.

So tell me what you did right in 2008!

Merry Christmas From My Family to Yours

Christmas Eve Surprise

What a surprise when the mailman came to the door this morning with another package. I thought that all the packages I was expecting had already arrived but this was one I wasn't expecting! It was from my friend Patty in Florida (who I'm sure wishes she had some of the snow we have on the ground here). Inside were these crocheted snowflakes (I'm guessing her DH crocheted them - he does the most beautiful work!) and this beautiful lighthouse ornament. Patty knows that I collect lighthouses, and that this one will stay out on my shelf all year long. Thanks so much Patty - what a great way to start off the day!

It's Christmas Eve Day - and as you can see, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. I bought the teddy bear stockings the year the twins were born, and even though they are 15 now I'm still using them. Tori's is the smaller one - but believe me, it is filled so tight it is bursting at the seams. I'm thinking that next year I may retire the baby stockings and knit them each one that they can take with them when they leave home (which I hope won't be for at least 10 more years!).

The presents are wrapped and under the tree - do you think there will be enough? I never think there are enough - but there has to come a time when done is done - and Christmas Eve is that time! I try to use gift bags and decorative boxes that don't have to be wrapped as much as I can - they usually come back to me the next year with presents for me in them!

A very merry Christmas Eve to all of you!

I am so spoiled..........

I received a package from my Whoduknit Holiday Swap pal today. The swap was to include a handcrafted ornament, a holiday themed mystery, a holiday recipe, and a treat. Sharon send me that and a whole lot more - come on over to the whoduknit blog to read all the details!

Goodies from Norway

Look at the goodies that arrived from Norway today! It is all from my dear friend Vigdis who is a member of my Whoduknit Group. She sent all of these goodies to use a prizes in our mystery and project contests......and, she said I could pick out some for myself too! There is wool, alpaca, cotton, sock yarn, bulky yarn, lace weight yarn, plus some knitting books and cross stitch books. She also sent some of her beautiful hand made stitch markers and dpn holders. It must be Christmas!!!!

Winter Wonderland

We woke to a winter wonderland this morning. The first significant snow of the winter. The first snow is always pretty, but by March it gets pretty old! We were away this weekend and I didn't get my mail until this morning- and what a treat! In it was my package from my Knitting Circle SP, who turned out to be Kathleen.
She made me a pair of really pretty, comfy slippers and some fingerless mitts (which I am wearing now) I've been wanting to make myself a pair but just haven't found the time so I was very excited to get them. She also sent some hot cocoa mix and a book called Murder Can Crash Your Party - both just perfect for a snowy day. And can you see the knitting ball ornament in the picture - how cute is that?!


One of the reasons I haven't had time to knit myself a pair of fingerless mitts is because I was getting ready for a craft fair. Last Thursday night was the annual Christmas Shopping night for our town and the 8th grade class always sponsors a craft fair to earn money for their trip. I did pretty well (if I don't stop to think about the amount of time I spent knitting all the stuff I sold!) I found that using pretty manikin heads (leftover from my DDs beauty school days) helped attract customers, who said "I want to look like that!" LOL. Some of the things I sold were felted bags (you've seen enough of them on my blog!) and felted hats, headbands, scarves, cowls

One lady walked away wearing this felted hat (after paying for it of course) and it looked so cute on her - she was good advertising also!

I sold a lot more than I expected to - and now I have more money for yarn!

Christmas Calendar

This is really neat - A Christmas Countdown Calendar from Garnstudio with a knitting pattern for each day. Only problem is, you can't peak ahead!
And a question for you. My DH went to the town office to renew his registration and a friend of mine who works there and reads my blog asked him to ask me what DH means. DH does not read my blog - (would have no idea how to get to my blog even if he wanted to) but his guess was 'Damn Husband'.
So what does DH mean to you?