Trying something new

 Amidst the projects which I am already trying to finish, I found myself compelled to try something new.  I am using some of the same yarn that I am using for my granny squares.  I love these blues and greens together.



It looks funky in the middle because there is a hole.



Any idea what it is yet? 

 Here's a big hint...

 A teapot cozy!  I am trying to follow a pattern from the lovely blog Crochet with Raymond.  My teapot is shaped a bit differently so I must make adjustments.  My goal  is to figure this out on my teapot, then purchase another teapot and make it a cozy for my husband to bring to his aunt in Holland next week.  Wish me luck!

Some more progress

I have made some progress on Daniel's blanket. I think I am finished with the stripes on one side of the blue center and have started working on the other side.

 I am trying to add different textures along with the colors. The latest are these purple popcorns. I intended them to look like diamond shaped clusters of 4 bumps each.  Not sure if that's the way they read but they are there to stay!

 I am using Caron's Simply Soft.  Love the yarn, but oh boy am I having trouble getting the skeins started. I can't seem to find the free end of the yarn easily.  Have you ever reached into the end of the skein hoping to pull out the loose end and ended up pulling out the skein's innards instead?   A special thanks to Kathy and Carol last night for untangling my latest rat's nest!

a gift that speaks a thousand words (to me anyway)

Happy New Year!


As I was making my morning tea I decided to photograph one of my favorite gifts this year. 

And Santa apparently did not get the message as I found NO yarn under the tree this year or in any packaged handed to me that day.  Not that I am complaining (okay, maybe just a little), as I have more than enough yarn in my yarn stash (just ask my husband - he likes to complain about it).  I am sure the wish for more yarn is in every knitter's or crocheter's dreams.

Thank you Ruth, I love my mug and really appreciate the sentiment.  Maybe next year Santa will get the hint.

Peace,
Carol

Inspirations

Where does your inspiration come from? I started playing around with granny squares after making one for a swap with  Debi Y. I played around with different color combinations and liked what I was getting but wasn't 100% sure where it was all leading.  Then Santa, in the form of my husband, gave me this beautiful Vera Bradley tote bag for Christmas.  (I had admired it while we were Christmas shopping and he remembered!)  I love the combinations of the lights and jewel-tone colors against the black background.

I took a second look at my stash and realized I had many of the same colors. 

There's a few I did previously that may have to be weeded out, but maybe not.  We'll see.  I am planning to connect them and edge the blanket with black.  Stay tuned for yet another work in progress.
Peace,
Cynthia

Eldorado

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"

"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied-
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
       Edgar Allen Poe

In memory of  someone very special. The poem his daughter said he loved. Rest well my dear friend.  You are missed.

On the opposite side of the world

My daughter Emily is studying abroad in Australia.  She arrived yesterday which is our today and is now onto tomorrow.  We are just figuring out the communication thing because she currently does not have a phone.  It is 4pm today for me and 7am tomorrow for her.  This is exciting for all of us.  And if I must admit, a bit scary for me.  While Emily spends most of her year in Boston, Australia is the farthest she has ever been from home.  Really, really far!

So when I stand up and my feet touch the ground, her feet are touching the ground, our heads aim opposite, and the whole world separates us. Got it? 

g'day, Carol

On the fifth day of Christmas...

Some Christmas Remembrances

The book from my childhood.  It's falling apart, but will never be replaced.

  We spent Christmas Eve all together watching "It's a Wonderful Life".  The ending brings me to tears every time.  Then it was pajamas and time to read "The Night Before Christmas."  I have a collection of "The Night Before Christmas" books, but, on Christmas Eve, we must read from the one my father read to my brothers and I from.  No matter how many other beautiful illustrated versions I have, this is the one for me.  Up until last year, if my father was over, it was his job to read the story aloud to us all. Sadly,  Dad's dementia has advanced to the point that reading aloud to us is no longer possible. So the kids piled into bed with their father and I and we read the book aloud.  Boy we used to fit in that bed with a lot more room to spare a few years ago!  But I'll take that kind of crowding any day.  Then off to bed so Santa could visit!

 Christmas morning!  Our savior is born! 

The nativity set of my childhood.  One of the wise men is missing.  We will find him one day in one of our many Christmas boxes.  For now, we pretend he has temporarily stepped back from the scene, perhaps to ponder with amazement where the star has lead him. 

With two teenagers and one just turned 20, gone are the days of my husband and I being woken up at dawn. Our youngest, 13, was still the first one up, though it was an hour or two after sunrise.  His older sisters had to be gently nudged awake.
On Christmas morning, first come the stockings.  There are always two things we can count on Santa leaving in each stocking. The first is a fresh, juicy clementine in the toe of the stocking.  Santa does this to remind us of how blessed we are.  Omi, the children's great-grandmother, and my grandmother, grew up in a small, simple  house on a farm in Germany with 10 or 11 siblings. As you can image, money was scare.  On Christmas, each child received an orange as their sole gift.  It was a special treat and something they treasured.
 The second thing Santa always leaves in each of our stockings is a little piece of Christmas wrapping paper.  This is Santa's hint as to which presents under the tree belong to each of us.  What a smartie that Santa is!

 Next comes the hunt for the pickle!  Somewhere on the tree is hidden a blown glass pickle ornament. The child to find the pickle first gets to open the first present.  But do you know what?  Santa forgot to hide the pickle this year!  So Daddy came to the rescue and, as the children hid their eyes,  he hid one of his favorite ornaments instead.  Eva was the lucky seeker this year.  More tomorrow...I have kept those dirty dishes waiting long enough.