Noolie Knits

Friday with Clover

 

Christmas Weekend Wrap Up

Christmas at Noolieville was very nice this year.  Christmas Eve was spent as it usually is, with half the day at my Dad's and the other half at my Mom's.  All (well most) of the family was present; we were missing one brother and sister-in-law and one of my nephews didn't make it with his wife and 2 kids.  It was really quiet without all the little ones; Clover and my niece's daughter, Kayla, were the only two little ones there.  They did have fun and were good for putting smiles on everyone's faces though!

Christmas day was a quiet day spent at home.  When Jay and Samm brought Clover over to our side of the house (where Santa had left the gifts) in the morning, she was still half asleep.  She saw all the gifts and just kept walking around the room for a while like she just couldn't believe there were more prezzies to open.

This is my favorite picture of the day:

It's like she's asking "This is all for me, really?!"  

How do you like the hair-do?  If you click on the picture, you can go see the rest of the Christmas Day pics, but be warned her hair doesn't get any better until later in the day ;-)

 

I received some very nice gifts; Samm, Jay, and Clover gave Chris and I a really nice digital frame to hang on the wall.  I can't wait to find some time where Chris and I can sit together and choose the photos to load into it!

 

I received a lot of fiber related gifts:

 

Hubby did an awesome job with the fiber related gifts:  Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard and Alden Amos' Big Book of Handspinning, Never Not Knitting calendar, an entire set of Susan Bates bamboo handled crochet hooks (these should make the crocheting a little easier on my hands), and from the Loopy Ewe, some gorgeous wool/seacell fiber by Creatively Dyed in the Key West colorway.  

My Dad and Step-Mom gave me two beautiful skeins of Les Oiseaux Laceweight from Skylark Yarns.  I have a couple patterns in mind for this.

Colleen's son (who sent Flat Stanley to visit me a while ago) sent me some very, very beautiful Faulkland wool combed top to spin from FatCatKnits.  Yummy; so nice.  Thank you so much Mr. Mayor!  Colleen also sent a fun book for Clover from her family; Samm had fun reading it  to her at bedtime last night.  I was listening in from the other side of the door and Clover really seemed to be enjoying it; she kept giggling.  Of course, that could have been because her Mommy sounded a bit silly trying to speak the Spanish words with an accent :-)

It's been great having five days off of work; I've been sleeping in late each morning and not really doing too much of anything.  This is really just what I needed because I've had a horrendous cold for the past two weeks, but I think I'm finally on the mend.  It's amazing how quickly you can get used to sleeping in; I'm not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  I promised you modeled pictures of Clover's Chrsitmas Sweater and I always keep my promises. (If you're on Ravelry, you may have already seen them).

 

It's very hard to get her to stand still long enough to get a good picture!  

Oh, I almost forgot -  I'm sorry I didn't respond to all the comments about Clover's picture with Santa.  I do have to tell you all that while she was afraid of him at that moment (and apparently for several moments before the picture was taken), right afterward, according to Samm, she was smiling and giving him high fives!  I do love that picture though, I love how calm Santa looks and I love the way he's holding her - so sweet!

HO HO HO

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Time to Spare

I finished Clover's Christmas sweater with time to spare.  I finished it Saturday evening; sewed the buttons on and everything!  Well, I guess not everything; I still need to sew a tag in it.

(I know this is a lousy picture; I will get better ones tomorrow when she's wearing it.)

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Pattern #23, Basketweave Cardigan Needles: Size 5 & 6 Yarn: Lion Brand MicroSpun in Lily White  

Mods: I used seed stitch for the bottom, cuffs, and button band instead of k1p1 rib. I also used only 3 buttons on the top instead of buttons all the way down the front.
I love how this sweater came out and it fits Clover perfectly. I think she loves it too as she carried it around a bit, rubbing it against her cheek, after trying it on. Yes, it's that soft!

I finished a few other small projects this past weekend.

Squares for the Afghans for Pine Ridge  project:

I used Berocco Comfort left over from the Monkey Blanket and a size I hook; the pattern is the Plain Jane square. I'll be mailing these before the end of the month; I'm hoping to send at least 2 a month throughout the next year.

A couple of Christmas Ornaments for Clover:

Again, the red is left over Berocco Comfort and the white is left over Microspun from Clover's sweater.

Patterns: Santa Baby Ornament and Mini Mittens

I plan to make Clover two ornaments every Christmas; you may remember that last year I made a mini sweater and mini stocking from her Sweet Clover yarn.  Now, if I could just find those ornaments, it'd be great.  Guess I'll have to do some digging through all the Christmas stuff from last year.  We only have a teeny tabletop tree this year, so I didn't even get into the Christmas boxes.

Fear not, I'll find them!

Catch Up

Whew!  Isn't it nice to be able to catch your breath after all the rushing around that comes with the Christmas season?

I have a lot of catching up to do.   I haven't spent very much time on the computer over the last week; want proof?   

That was as of this morning; THREE HUNDRED FORTY FOUR new posts!   I guess you guys haven't been neglecting your blogs, have you? 

There's been a lot going on in the past week so let's start the catching up, shall we?

Saturday:
I'm sure you've read on other blogs that Franklin came to Maine last weekend.   He was here visiting family and took time out of his visit to do a 1000 Knitters photo shoot at Purl Diva on Saturday.   Brenda, Patti, Annie, and I all jumped at the chance to be a part of this project.   It was an excuse to hang out with some friends and to check out another yarn shop; who wouldn't jump at that chance?  We arrived at the shop early (thanks to Brenda's smart planning) and were assigned numbers 3,4,5, & 6.   We did a little shopping while waiting; I picked up some DK weight Cherry Tree Hill yarn and some Schaeffer Anne in a gorgeous red color (pictures later).   I know the CTH will become some nice winter socks for me, but I have no plans yet for the Schaeffer Anne (other than to gaze at its beauty).   I was a little nervous about having my picture taken, but Franklin is very good at putting a person at ease.   We chatted while I knit on the scarf and he snapped picture after picture (hopefully, I'll look half way decent in one of them).   

Sunday:
Clover had a special visitor on Sunday afternoon:

Patti was finally able to meet her in person.  I had told Patti that she hardly ever cries, so what do you suppose she did while Patti was there?   Yep, she was a wee bit cranky.   She had a good reason though; the poor little bugger has a cold.   She was cranky with it on Sunday and that was it.   She's feeling better every day.

Christmas Eve:
Christmas Eve during the afternoon is when my whole family gets together to celebrate Christmas.   We spend a few hours at my Dad's house and then head over to my mother's house for a couple more hours.   There are a LOT people gathered and it can get pretty crazy.   It was good though.   Samm & Jay brought Clover and she was the hit of the party (even though she slept through the entire day).

While it's good to see the family, I find it very tiring.   I'm always glad to get home and get into my jammies and relax (after finishing up the wrapping of course).

Christmas Day:
Christmas morning was wonderful; sharing it with a new baby and her Mommy and Daddy really made it special.  I was up very early and had some coffee and just relaxed while waiting for the rest of the family to get up.   Samm and Jay brought Clover into the living room like this:

How cute is that?   She really is the best Christmas present ever!   She, of course, was totally spoiled rotten with lots of clothes and toys.   Doesn't she look thrilled?

You may be wondering (or not) if I was able to finish the Christmas knitting?   Well, as anticipated, Jay received one finished sock with a promissory note for the second one (which I started last night).   I had already ditched the idea that I'd get the fingerless mitts done for the BIL, so he ended up with a warm head and feet, but cold hands (I did get him a Dunkin Donuts gift card though, so he can buy some coffee to keep his hands warm). 

I also knit a couple of ornaments for Clover:

A mini sweater and mini stocking.  I used the Sweet Clover sock yarn from Heather and the pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  I wanted to start a special tradition for Clover and decided that a couple of handmade ornaments each year would be nice. 

I  finished the spinning I was working on:

There's about 260 yards of what I'm guessing is a light worsted weight (I forgot to check the wpi's, so that's just a guess).  I wish that I had done a better job plying this; but its okay.  Brenda and I are planning to take a class with Amy sometime this winter and I'm hoping I'll get some good tips for plying a more even yarn. 

Well, I think I've gone on long enough for one post, so I'll end here.  Have a great day!

Can you find the baby?
(if you'd like to see more Christmas pictures, click here)