Happy Winter Solstice!

Around here the solstice is the kick off to the winter feasting that lasts till January. I made eggnog cake again, not as pretty as last year, but still amazingly tasty!

I found adorable winter hedgehog ribbon while picking up last minute craft supplies:

There was also Hobbit themed beer at World Market while we were picking up stocking stuffers:

There are still more cookies to bake and truffles to make, plus a few projects that need to be finished and the boxes that I've determined will be mailed out after Christmas (as I will still want to give people presents without the deadline looming over-head).  Just need to clean my house for company and I will be all set!

I think he likes it.

The Boy's gift came in earlier than expected.  After Husband made sure all the bits were there, I gave the go ahead and Husband handed Boy the keyboard to his very own gaming computer.  I barely managed to get the photo, but am so incredibly glad I did!

Daughter and I applauded when Boy took a knee....then fell off the couch laughing.

I need to learn from my cat this time of year

She seems to have the right idea.   I've pushed too hard and worried incessantly about all the people and all the things.  Worries about what needs to be done and what I can't seem to get to even though I should.  So, blam! I woke up 4am on Friday morning with a headache that made me cry.  Today, feeling somewhat closer to a functioning human, I will not knit on gifts or fret over what is for Christmas dinner.  I will listen to CraftLit. I will work on sweaters and socks for myself for when the cold finally decided to stick around. Gifts given in January are no less appreciated, if people are angry about the lateness of the gifts, they probably aren't very worthy recipients.

I took my crazy shopping

I decided earlier this week that I needed to get nail polish to match the red gloves I was making, (can't have clashing reds when I take off the gloves!).  Since the plan was a wee bit of shopping, I also decided I should look for shirts to go with my skirts in progress.  As all the fabric is rather colorful, it would difficult to get an exact color match from memory.  Oh hi there strip on the edge of the fabric with all the colors used listed separately! ( I have no clue what the name for this bit is, but it's helpful!)

Along with one (mostly) finished glove, these strips were crammed into a pocket of my purse to use as reference at the store.
I think I did pretty well with the nail polish, it's not exact, just amazingly close:

I found a couple of rather plain shirts in wonderful colors.  I may have gotten funny looks in the store as I checked colors, but dang it, they match my fabrics!

There was also a slightly less practical outfit purchase.  The pieces were found on the clearance racks and once picked up, I couldn't seem to put them back on said racks.  I may also have a pair of black, lace up, Victorian style high heeled boots that beg to be worn with this!

It may be a bit much for my normally grocery shopping run.  I will likely wear it anyway!

So, Halloween was good

Children and adults alike were afraid to come up, even for candy.  One poor kid crossed the street to avoid our house.  The weather was clear and warm, so we had close to 200 trick or treaters. 
Then, the temperatures dropped 20 degrees and it rained for three days to announce Fall had finally arrived.  Now I am frantically trying to finish all the sweaters (and socks...and mitts and...) I cast on months ago knowing the weather would get cold again, eventually and that I would like handknits to keep me warm.  While trying to calmly plan for Thanksgiving at least a little bit in advance, without knowing how many people will actually be here for dinner (could be four, could be twice that).
It'll be fine. I just am going to have to figure out where to put the piles of knitting that are in the living room so people have someplace to sit.

Not knitting

I did make another attempt at spinning this week. My drafting skills are still quite awful but the single is evening out, while still managing to be horribly over spun.

The weather became lovely and all my plants came back!
The mint is over growing it's half barrel and even the gardenia that got scorched is making a come back!

I have tomatoes!

And beans with beautiful blossoms.

I haven't gotten pictures of all the plants, but there are snap peas, salad greens, cucumbers, various herbs, as well as coneflower(purple) and bachelor's buttons(black).
I was starting to think there was something wrong with me as all the plants were dying.  I really cannot describe how pleased I am to find out it truly was the scorching heat and not my gardening skill that was the cause.  Now I have to hope that the winds and cold don't show up too soon and kill everything off again. 

Red and leopard print

I decided that I needed short red gloves (Petit Riens by E.A. Kelley) for my holiday party outfit a couple of months ago.  I was three-quarters of the way through the first one when I tried it on. That was when I discovered it was too small.  The unfinished piece was ripped and re-cast in a larger size.

It's really a bright tomato red(in Naturally Dawn wool/silk) that matches my high heels and contrasts beautifully against the black and green of the chosen dress.  I also under estimated how long it would take to knit a glove on 2.5mm needles! Guess what I am doing this weekend?
I finally overcame my fear of working a three color hat ( I would love to tell you the yarn, but I lost the ball bands. I think it's Berroco Vintage DK)  In fact, I'm surprised at how much I am enjoying it!

And the inside:

The hat is Stray by Andi Satterlund   I have to hope at some point it will get cool enough to wear such a soft, squishy hat outside!

This time of year...

I should not be left  unattended for more than thirty seconds.  Even the grocery store is full of festive pitfalls, so many adorable themed things I must have.

I think I need more...

I am kind of in love with this yarn. It's a fingering weight, alpaca/silk blend that is slightly fuzzy, feels like you are petting a kitten and comes in semi-solid jewel tones that glow.  And...it looks like it's being discontinued.  They have new line, same base, different weight and in solid colors which I am not quite as enamored with.
This means that a couple of skeins of their red(ruby), another of the blue-green(azurite) and maybe one more of the gray(smoky quartz) in the fingering weight may end up on their way to my house in the near future. I must acquire more of the luscious decadence before it goes away!

A Summary of September

There was knitting:

With time to spare for the little one's birthday.

A whole sweater, in a bulky yarn and a repeat pattern.

And a little something I cobbled together and now hangs on my purse.

There was cake!

The request was for a white chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting.  I found some white nectarines, a favorite, and decided the cake needed those as well!

A little cross stitch:

It will hang in my bathroom once framed. :-D

And a little llama wine:

Yes, I bought it for the label.

Now, now is the panicked realization that there are holidays and festivities happening all too soon and I am not ready!

A few things courtesy of the yarn stash

So I finished the big bag using stash yarn.  Before felting:

And after felting:

I also made a medium bag, to hold sundries in the big bag and a small notions pouch:

I've got another minion almost done, it's for the young son of a friend:

I'm also to the sleeves on an eyelet sweater, made with a few minor alterations and started earlier in the week.  There are kits put together, strictly from stash yarn; for a hooded lace cape, a pair of slippers (they will be red), a Dirty Martini sweater,  plus a couple of pairs of fingerless mitts, and a sweater vest.
I will also admit to having at least two more sweaters worth that I am still deciding on patterns for.

I think I need to knit a lot more.  A lot faster.