A Wild New Year

Tonight we went to the MN Wild Hockey game and now we're headed to a New Years party. Here we are decked out in our new Wild hats, of course mine's pink! Thanks Santa mom & dad.













And of course they won, they played the Canucks!!!! Yes!!! ;-) It was a really good game once the 1st period was over.










Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!!!

Snow Day

A while back my brother, who lives in sunny Hawaii (83º right now) asked me if we had gotten much snow this year. Does this answer your question Chris? I'm not sure what has fallen thus far but I know it is very heavy, wet snow and it's still coming down. I think I heard 4-5 inches with another 4 on the way. We had a bit of a heatwave the last 2 weeks so we lost most of the snow we had gotten earlier in December. I'm glad it's snowing again. This was the view I had at noon today when I left to meet my friend Kim for lunch, it's a view up my street.

Knitting Related Gifties *Installment #1

I love pin cushions so when I saw this cute donut shaped one last year I had to have it but it was one of those things that I didn't really need so I didn't buy it. When Christmas rolled around and my mom was asking what I wanted, I sent her a link to Sewdorky. I think my mom must have forwarded the link to Santa because the pink sprink donut showed up in my stocking this year! And check out the fun stuff Sewdorky includes in the package, an eraser ring, a plastic fly, a little sewdorky pin and magnet. Sewdorky rocks, thanks Santa!!!













Pink Sprink will now join my other favorite pin cushions. Does anyone know of any other unusual pin cushions??










I know pin cushions aren't really knitting related but they're close enough for me.

Christmas Knitting *Installment #1

Whew! It's been a crazy week, sorry it's taken me so long to get some updates on the blog. I actually finished all my Christmas knitting well before Christmas (Dec 23 ;-)) so the stress level was nil. We had a very nice relaxing holiday and now we're both off work for many, many days. Ahhh...

I knit this buttonhole bag for my mother-in-law who usually carries nothing less than a purse the size of Texas. I pray to the knitting gods that she actually uses it. I knit it for her because she adores anyting I make so I guess if she just enjoys looking at it it'll be OK. A buttonhole bag is a quick enough knit that I'm willing to take the chance. I used Araucania Nature Wool Chunky color #126. I like the way the hand dyed wool gives a nice color variation without being to bold.










Casey needed to get in the way again and I couldn't resist snapping a photo. He had a vet checkup yesterday and he's a very healthy boy. He even lost a little weight which was good since he was getting a bit too chunky (no joke-he was nearly 100 pounds).










Paula T., do you recognize the quilt in the background??

Waiting For Santa

We're patiently waiting for Santa to show up!!
Merry Christmas to all!

Favorite Ornaments

This is the little tree we've been decorating the past few years. It's just enough for us and it takes up little room. The only trouble is it doesn't hold many ornaments so each year I have to pick my favorites. I really like the little angel I have on top. I think it's my mom's since it has an S written on the skirt with glue & glitter. How it made it's way into my ornament box I'll never know. The quilt underneath the tree was given to me by my sister-in-law about 3 years ago. I keep it out all year but around Christmas it becomes a tree skirt of sorts.













This wooded santa is one of my favorite ornaments. In fact I have a bunch from this artist and some are unusual like trout and bears. Just like my favorite decoration I like them for the detail and the quirkiness.













This next one I like because my brother made it along with a few others like a moose and a fish. I don't get to see him over the holidays so having one of his ornaments on my tree reminds me of him.













Just like my mom said in her comment, I like these glass birds because my great-grandmother had one (maybe more?) that my mom now has on her tree. I've gotten one the last couple of years but missed out this year. I settled for a clip on Kermit the frog this time...I LOVE clip on ornaments.










So there you have it, my favorite ornaments of 2005. What's yours?

My Favorite Christmas Decoration

This hand painted santa is my favorite Christmas decoration. A Santa in the rain with a duck? I like it because it's unusual and well painted, it's not something that was handed down to me or given as a gift. I bought it just for me. This Santa is one of the things I have to put out every year, I don't always dig everything out from storage. I can't even remember where I found this, some boutique I suppose. What's your favorite decoration?

Santa's Workshop

I did a little yarn dying this afternoon, among other things. Instead of the house smelling like cinnamon or gingerbread it smells like a giant popsicle melted in my kitchen.










And check out my hands! After this skein I started wearing gloves.










Family & friends stop reading here! NO PEEKING! For those of you who are curious about my holiday knitting click here and here.

My Elf Name

This is quite funny. Ho Ho Ho

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Sunflower Snackeroos

The other night while knitting/surfing/watching TV (yes, all at once) I noticed fellow blogger & motorcycle rider (!) Cece of FiberFish was having a contest, a Christmas cookie contest. Who in the world doesn't love a contest?? Here's my entry --more of a candy than a cookie I suppose-- Sunflower Snackeroos. The easiest and best thing on earth to make.










1-12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1-11 oz bag butterscotch morsels

1 1/2 C sunflower nuts (I use salted)

3 C Chow-Mein noodles

Place the chocolate and butterscotch morsels in a glass bowl and microwave for ~3 1/2 minutes. Stir until completely mixed and melted and add nuts and noodles. Mix until everything is covered and drop on waxed paper in desired cluster size. Let cool (I sometimes place mine in the fridge, it's faster) and enjoy! Oh, don't forget to lick the bowl.

I store these in the freezer since they thaw fairly quickly.

I apologize for the poor photo, who knew at 3 pm it would be too dark to take a non-flash photo?

S-N-O-W

"The biggest snow storm since March" said the weatherman! This was my view on the way to work this morning and it's still falling! I love it. If we're going to have winter, bring on the snow.










As I was surfing through blogs last night, I saw that Stacey of Sheep In The City made spritz cookies with her Grandmother recently. She has a photo of the cooky press on her blog and it looks exactly like mine! I think this is crazy and Kyle just said, "It's not like you have the only cooky press ever made." I still think it's neat-o.










For those of you who I give gifts to...stop reading here.
If you really want to see what I'm knitting for Christmas click here....and leave comments about Christmas knitting there not here please.
NO PEEKING for those of you who I give gifts to, and I really mean it!!!!

I've Been a Bad Blogger

There is an upside to me not blogging a lot lately. It means I've been busy knitting, baking, crafting and shopping which means as soon as the holidays are over I'll have so much to blog about it will make your head spin (maybe).

This is a view I had on my way to work last Thursday. All the trees were covered with frost, so white and serene. I wish I could have gotten closer to the trees but I had to view them from the TCAAP wildlife lookout. I live very close to the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant so there is a huge plot of undeveloped land between me and my office. It's very pretty and makes for great photo ops!

Too Many Lights For One House

I drive past this house everyday and finally had an photo op. I think this is crazy ridiculous...there's not even a theme (besides lightbulbs) it's just TOO much. And what do you think the electric bill is like? It reminds me of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Oy.

I've Got Mail

I received a really awesome package from amandamonkey today!!! All this great stuff because a scrappy little dog ate my dpn's, I never thought that dang dog would put a smile on my face! The Mauch Chunky will become a pair of fuzzy feet slippers, and I'll have to think of something fun to make with the fabric. THANK YOU Amanda!!!!

The Answer Is...

And the winner is...Tweezer of Good Clean Fun who guessed 2100. There were guesses ranging from 520 to 5,321!

This was fun. Now I have to find a good, clean and fun prize to send to Tweezer. Good guessing!!

Miniature Talent

Casey doesn't seem to want to look straight into the camera lens lately. He gives me a pose instead. Does anyone know of a doggie modeling agency where he can get some lessons?













There's about 24 hours left in the contest! Go take a guess...

I'll leave you tonight with a photo of the mini sweaters I made last year. They were tons of fun and I enjoyed making the tags almost as much as the sweaters!

Snow Lights

Minnesota has been hit with a lot of snow this past week and today was no exception. Technically we received 3-4 inches but it seemed like a bit more than that when I was shoveling. Casey enjoyed being outside today until he had to get a bath and then he was a bit too wet to be out in the cold.
























Tonight we saw what at first we thought were Northern Lights but later realized were ice crystals reflecting city lights. The photos still look neat-o.

What's in the Basket?

I've got Christmas knitting on the schedule for tonight & Casey is awfully curious.










Now I just have to decide, what should we do for dinner?

Fuzzy Feet

I joined the Fuzzy Feet knit along in hopes that it would kick me in the ass & I'd maybe get a pair knit for a Christmas gift. I don't think it's going to happen, I have quite a few other things I need to finish first. I did knit a pair of fuzzy feet many moons ago with an itchy alpaca blend by Cascade. I barely ever wear them since I seem to be slightly sensitive to alpaca, they shrunk up a bit too much and they shed a lot. I literally picked these right out of the drawer for the photo hence the flatness. Maybe one of these days I'll cast on for another pair of fuzzy feet.










December 1st, it's December 1st! I told myself after knitting gifts on Christmas morning last year I wouldn't stress myself out like that again but I seem to have my plate full. I think I'll concentrate on a few things this upcoming weekend which will help cross a few things off the list. I vow to not knit gifts past 12/23...

One more day of work this week, whoo hoo!