Wrapping up the Year (part one)

My Hubby and I went to a New Year's/Christmas party over the weekend, and I just couldn't help myself. I thought this napkin (circa 1995) says it all!

I finally finished them! My Embossed Leaves socks!

Pattern: Embossed Leaves, from Favorite Socks.

Yarn: Regia, sock yarn in pink.

Changes: none!

And my two-tone Fetching! I ran out of the blue, and when I went back to the LYS to buy another one, they were out of the blue! So, I used the brown! I like the way they came out.

Pattern: Fetching, knitty.com

Yarn: Brown Sheep, Lamb's Pride Bulky, blue flannel and sable.

Changes: Made four cable repeats at wrist (to make them longer) and used #7's to make a tight knit fabric (these are very, very warm!). They also match my blue flannel Utopia hat!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Day and your Christmas Season is going great! A New Year is coming fast upon us and if I don't get back to you all by Tuesday, I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

My Favorite Cookies

Yesterday was cooking day, today was baking day. Some of these very cookies got made in the Cactus house today! Enjoy!

Raspberry Kisses (this one my aunt gave me, very, very tasty! If anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I'll post it!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Butter Cookies (this is the same recipe my Hubby has been using in his family since he was a kid!)

Chocolate Crinkles (here or here) (I use the one my mom had, but it's very similar to these.)

biscotti (look here for a bunch!) (Any kind, as long as it's not too weird!)

Chocolate Brownie (any recipie will do, the chocolaty the better!) (Are brownies really a cookie though? Hmmm, don't think it matters in this case!)

Cream Cheese Fold overs (the fold over recipe is the only one on this list that's just like the ones my Hubby's grandmother used to make -- I use apricot jam or raspberry jam (seedless).)

peanut butter cookies (especially the ones with the Hershey's Kisses in them!

Happy Baking!

My Favorite Foods

Today is cooking day in the Cactus household. It's raining, so it's a perfect day to start the Christmas lasagna, made with homemade sausage (one of our friends makes their own sausage! very, very good!), homemade tomato sauce and lots and lots of ricotta cheese! So, in honor of all that, here are some of my favorite foods. (Again in no particular order.)

1. lasagna
2. pizza (of course!, no anchovies)
3. spaghetti
4. a Ruben sandwich
5. roast pork tenderloin
6. turkey with all the trimmings!
7. a good hamburger
8. Shepard's pie
9. steak and baked potato
10. green beans (I love, love green beans.)

What are some of your favorite foods? Let me know!

On the knitting side, not much is being completed around here (see above cooking). I'm still working on Stella's Hat from Knitting School Dropout and my embossed leaves socks (why they're taking sooooooo long I don't know). And the Fetching, I ran out of the yarn that matches the dark blue Utopia hat, so I'm trying to figure out something...I'll let you know soon (I hope).

And the kids are home on their first day of Christmas vacation today, so...well, you know how it goes!

My Favorite Socks (and Scarves?)

These are a few of my favorite sock patterns.



Monkey Socks (who doesn't love this pattern!?)

Embossed Leaves (from Interweave Knits, Favorite Socks)

Uptown Boot Socks (from Interweave Knits, Favorite Socks)

Brigit (from the Socktopia people!) (but for some reason, the link is no longer there, but check here (thank you Misfit Knits for posting this great picture so we can see what they look like!) (I do have a copy that I printed out of this if anyone wants it, let me know!)

Twinkletoes (that Knitty.com, gotta' love it!)

Jaywalker (Grumperina has some cool socks.)

Pedicure Socks

Earl Gray (oh, you Harlots will love this one!)

Nine-to-Fives



Let me know some of your favorites! (I've got a lot of sock yarn that needs to be knitted up before I can buy any more!)

(Oh, and there probably won't be a favorite scarves -- I don't really knit scarves! I mean, I know I should, and I own the Vogue Knitting, Scarves (from the "On the Go!" series), and there are several in there that I like, but I've never, ever even attempted (and I've had that book for quite some time, I might add.) So...if there are some of your favorite scarf patterns out there, let me know. Who knows? I may even attempt one! (Oh, and before you ask, I do own four scarves, my favorite being a woven wool turquoise extra wide wrap/shawl/scarf that I bought at Old Navy last year on clearance.)

My Favorite Fingerless Gloves, Regular Gloves and Mittens

(Anyone see a pattern here yet? No pun intended ... or maybe...)

Again, these are some of my favorite fingerless gloves, gloves and mitten patterns. Some (again) I've knit, and some I've yet to knit. Have fun! (Also check out this knitalong! There's some great patterns here!)

1. Fetching (I've made two, almost three pairs of these! Great)
2. Dashing (not yet)
3. Subway Mittens (from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007)
4. Little Gems Mitts (Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007)
5. Dragon Scale Fingerless Mitts
6. Armstulpen (these look too cool!)

Again, these are not in any particular order! Let me know your favorites! (Also, check out yesterday's posting, I've added some new hats!)

My Favorite Hats

The following are my favorite hats. Some I've knit, some I've yet to knit. Only one isn't a free pattern, the rest are (links included). Have fun!

1. Utopia Hat (I've made two, so I think I like it!)
2. Father/Daughter Hat (I've made about five, four for the Hubby and one child-sized one for the Munchkin.)
3. Droplet Hat (from Knitting in Nature by Norah Gaughan; check it out at your local library or this knitalong!)
4. Shedir Hat
5. Oddessa
6. Foliage
7. Anna of Green Cables Hat
8. Stella's Hat (I've just started this in a great purple!)
9. Norwegian Earflap Hat

These aren't in any particular order, but I do love my Utopia's!

If you've got some favorites, let me know!

Cactus Notes: Added on Wednesday, Dec. 19:

Jacques Cousteau Hat

Helping Hats

Dayflower Hat

Dependence

Space Helmet (from Vogue Knitting, Knit.1 magazine, Fall 2007) (For some reason this hat is oddly compelling.)

Dogs On Thursday

A birthday card MyHubby got from one of his friends. I think it says it all!
(card from Avanti Press, Inc., http://www.avantipress.com/)

Snow on the Mountains

These two pictures were the first we've seen of the mountains in about three days! I took these about an hour ago, and now the mountains are again covered in clouds!


Pattern: Utopia, from Smariek Knits.
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky; color - blue flannel; 1 and 1/4 skeins.
Alterations: Made the bottom rib longer and used #9 needles.
Notes: I had the yarn in my stash, but had to go buy another whole skein to finish the hat! And to tickle your funny bone, I started another pair of Fetchings, and am going to have to buy another skein to finish those! This all started with stash yarn!!

This hat is great! I love this pattern! With the bulky yarn and the smaller than suggested needles, this hat is warm and toasty! And rain-proof too!

May I Present...

...the Celtic Tote!!!!

Before the bag was felted.
After felting, you can see the way the cable is softer and less defined. I had to go in and sort of pull at it a little bit and get it to stand up a little bit.
I love this fabric! It has a teal and brown color and was sort of patchwork. The wavy part in the middle is the bottom. (from Hancock Fabrics)
The lining all sewed in! I put a couple of pockets and a small zippered pouch too (not pictured).
The final bag! All it needs is the button closure.

Pattern: Celtic Tote, from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007.

Yarn: Cascade Ecological wool (1 skein - with a little bit left over); color #8087 (a medium brown); outline in Cascade 220 Wool; color #7822 (dark brown).

Needles: I think I used #10's.

Modifications: made the handle one more cable length than called for, and will probably re-enforce the handle with some cording sewn in when I make it to the fabric store (I don't have any in my supplies).

A Good Thing for the Season (and for always)

I was checking out the new knitting blogs, and came across this at A Knitting Knutty.

It's my challenge to myself to not take on other's garbage (sort of like toxic people).

Have a great night all!

Wow! What a Weekend!!!

This weekend went by soooooooooo fast! I can't believe it's December already! (I think I said that about November, too!) A busy weekend what with the last soccer game of the year, the Munchkin's team played the consolation round and lost, but they did a great job! To be 4th in a league with fifteen other teams is pretty good! It was so cold out there (8:00 AM), we had that winter storm move through last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And we got lots and lots of wind, cold weather and much needed rain! So, me being the knitter, wore my hat, and my purple Fetchings (over other gloves)! It was great to be able to wear my stuff and be warm! Both kids had birthday parties this weekend, too. One on Saturday and one on Sunday at the park, but it turned out to be a nice day. The outside Christmas lights went up yesterday, too. It's easier with help! We also put up our tree on Saturday and the kids did all the ornament hanging! They did a great job!

I forgot to mention in my WIP Wednesday review about the Embossed Leaves socks. I'm still working on them-- I did most of the leg, heel and turned the heel over the weekend. I'm going to try to finish them this week.

I'm still working on the Celtic Tote lining (actually I haven't had time to start at all).

This is the start of a baby-sized hat based on my Hubby's favorite hat (the Father/Daughter, of course)! The LittleOne's god-mother is due any time this week. There's nothing like knowing for eight months that the baby's coming, but putting it off until the week the baby's due! Oh, well...it's small!

(I've got to change that date stamp!)