A Merry Christmas!

My Christmas this year wasn't filled with lots of stuff. I think that sometimes we get so distracted by all that "stuff" we forget to slow down and enjoy the holiday. So this year I went the no stress route. I didn't get lots of presents made this year, the only thing I made was an earflap hat for my little niece Brylee, and that took an evening. The little thumb-less mitts took only a couple hours, I worked on them as we drove to my parents for Christmas yesterday and had them done for her shortly after we arrived. Nobody had a lot of money this year, so we went with gifts for the little kids and just little things at that. Everyone still had a great time. We didn't have a huge feast that would have meant someone spending the whole day in the kitchen, that just seemed silly. I wanted my Mom, who does the vast majority of the cooking to spend time with us instead and it was great being able to visit with her while she relaxed. That was the best part, spending time with my family and laughing. So I have to say that it's been a great holiday and a peaceful one. I hope everyone else has enjoyed their holiday as much. Enjoy these pix of our Christmas.

Wow! Has it been that long?

Goodness! I didn't realize that I hadn't posted anything here since August until today. This fall was a really awful time for me, health wise. I started having problems with my balance and found myself on the ground numerous times. Also started noticing twitching in my hands and even in my legs when I was sitting. All really nasty symptoms. At first I thought it was a medicine I was on, and so my med was changed. The first med change was to a med that caused me to have swelling in my hands, legs, feet, etc. Ended up in the ER, and of course was changed to another med. This med didn't work and made my head so fuzzy I couldn't even manage to follow a simple knitting pattern. That obviously could not continue. About that time I saw a Neurologist, and he said the balance problem wasn't caused by the meds. (Yeah!) I took that info back to the other Dr. and was started back on the med I was originally on at my request. I've been back on it for several weeks now and am happy to say I can knit again. Such a relief! So now I'm busy trying to catch up on all the projects I've been wanting to work on/finish, and I'm slowly getting there.

My Review of Thermal sweatshirt by All American Comfort®

Originally submitted at WomanWithin

The thermal knit sweatshirt with full styling and cozy texture. We offer the best price & fit in plus size thermal sweatshirts.

• waffle knit for comfort
• ribbed trim accents
• crewneck pullover with long sleeves and cuffs
• V-neck inset

Thermal sweatshirt by All American Comfort®

A great top for winter layering

By Faded Lily from Danville, OH on 12/18/2010

 

5out of 5

Chest Size: Feels true to size

Sleeve Length: Feels true to length

Pros: Great Color, Comfortable, Flattering, Soft, Warm, Versatile

Best Uses: Layering, Going Out, Casual Wear, Cold Weather

Describe Yourself: Comfort-oriented, Practical, Classic

This is a great top! The fit is nice and the color, too. I've been wearing it as a layering piece and it works very well. It's warm and yet not super heavy wt. I also bought the hooded sweatshirt that is similar and between the two of them, I'm warm for the first time this winter.

(legalese)

My Review of Distressed thermal hooded pigment top

Originally submitted at WomanWithin

The distressed wash makes this top look like you've worn it and loved it for years. Our plus size knit tops offer great style, comfort & value.

• the must-have style of the season
• long sleeves
• notch neck
• attach...

Distressed thermal hooded pigment top

Love, love, love this top!

By Faded Lily from Danville, Ohio on 12/18/2010

 

5out of 5

Sizing: Feels true to size

Length: Feels true to length

Sleeve Length: Feels true to length

Pros: Quality Materials, Nice and warm, Versatile, Washes Well, Great Color

Best Uses: Casual Wear

Describe Yourself: Casual, Classic, Bargain Shopper

I really do love this top. I purposely bought it a little large and love snuggling up in it. For the first time this winter I'm warm. The sleeves are actually long enough for my arms, I'm tall and often find my wrists exposed (and cold, of course!) The hem is even long enough. I'm seriously thinking of getting at least one more of these in another color, don't want to miss out in case they aren't available in the future.

(legalese)

More pictures of the squares!

Just wanted to add a couple pictures of the squares laid out together. Even though they don't all "match", I think they are going to look really good when made into a blanket with the other squares I'll get when I'm MoM of Eddy.

And more squares for me!

My Squares as Group Gauge's MoM

As the MoM for July, I asked for squares in purple and green colors and more solid squares, not real lacy as I want to put these into a blanket. These are the squares I've gotten so far.

Baker's Dozen Square for Group Eddy/July

The MoM, Christina, plans to make dog blankets with her squares and donate them to her local dog shelter. So the squares needed to be washable and not have any holes, etc to catch claws in. I found this yarn at That Place on Market and thought it would work and it's pretty besides.

Lion Brand Organic Cotton Swap- My part

I spent quite a long time on my part of the Lion Organic Swap. I wanted it to be very special as Jan is a very special person. I ordered organic soap from Mountain Mama at http://www.etsy.com/shop/mountainmamachic and some of the coolest pottery I've seen from The Muddy Muse at http://www.etsy.com/shop/muddymuse For the knitted part of my swap package I chose to make a shawl/scarf called Saroyan. It's such a cool pattern, and my first that included lace on such a large scale. The pictures of the package I'm including are the ones taken by Jan, her's are much better than mine! The lovely girl modeling the scarf is Jan's daughter. I also included a skein of the organic cotton, and a scarf pin that was my own. I wanted to give Jan something of my own. Here are the pics, enjoy!

June Swap for Group Gauge

Our swap square receivee (is that a word?) for the month is beekay, a very nice lady who likes teals, purples, blues, she also wanted the yarn to be washable. After searching my considerable stash, I found this yarn. It is Red Heart, one of their better lines and had a nice feel against my hand. Again I went through a search for an appropriate stitch pattern (this part always takes me forever!). I finally found a stitch called Grass Stitch in the 400 Knitting Stitches book. I like how it looks with the yarn, I thing the contrasts with the stockinette and the Grass stitch is really cool. I think beekay will like it, too.

June Swap for Group Eddy

I'm probably repeating myself, but joining this swap has been a great experience. I'm learning new stitch patterns as I'm trying to do each square in a different pattern. Also it's teaching me to finish project in the time needed. (Something I'm still working on, but I'm learning!) This square is for emayfieldz on Ravelry. As she lives in the southwest, I wanted to go with a southwest theme. I was searching through my huge stash of yarn (which will be the subject of a future blog, shudder), and came across this yarn that I had bought from Karl on Ebay. The colors are perfect! Faded tan/browns, blues, greens, rusts. The yarn is a very raw cotton, it even has little bits of the boll still in it. It's hand spun and hand dyed, and very sturdy when knit up. I used this same yarn in a different color to make a market bag and it's stood up to quite a bit of punishment by me, carrying pretty heavy loads. I looked through some my pattern books for quite a long time before I found a pattern that I thought fit the yarn. It's called Crossed Stitch and I found it in a book called 400 knitting Stitches (a very good reference!). It gives the square this really cool woven effect, which, of course, ties in with the southwest theme. Anyhow, overall I'm really pleased with the square, I just hope emayfieldz likes it, too. I'm including here some pictures of not only the square, but also the yarn and some of the other cotton yarns in the different colors. Most of the other yarns will probably be market bags. The bolls make the yarn a little rough for anything that would go against the skin, although the yarn does soften, and the bolls are removed as you wash it.

Lion Brand Organic Cotton Swap

Wow and super wow! I'm a little late getting this posted as I received my package some time ago, but it's so wonderful, it still gets a wow! It really couldn't have been more on target if my partner and I had been friends for years instead of just having met on-line for a few weeks. The gauntlets/fingerless mitts are exactly what I've been wanting for ages and have never taken time to make for myself. Even the style is right on target and they fit perfectly! The lacy cowl/collar is so lovely, I've already thought of several things I will wear it with. The earrings (made of rose quartz and sterling silver), are in my ears even as I type. I'm using the stitch markers in one of my current projects. I've placed the sachets in my dresser drawers and the smell when I open the drawers is so wonderful. The dish cloth looks wonderful in my kitchen and the soap and facecloth are terrific in my bathroom. All in all the best swap I've been in, it will be hard to find a better partner in future swaps I'm in, and I really hope that my partner and I can keep in touch!

May Swap for Group Eddy

And here is the May swap for group Eddy. This square is of a wool bought on Ebay. I like this pattern, it wasn't so hard to do once I did a few rows. I may just use it again.