Teresa's 2010 Completed Knitting Projects

Travel Gnome Friend, Christmas Star, Angora Scarf for S, Reproduction Christmas Stocking, 10 Owl Coffee Cozies, Shawl from Mom's Gift, 7 Little Turkeys, Twined Coffee Cozy, Hat/Mittens for S, College Gnomes, Irish Shalom for S, Two Baby Owls, Four Felted Huggable Hedgehogs, Two Felted Penguins, 4 brown helmet liners, Irish Shalom for me, 4 green helmet liners, Blue Mr. Greenjeans, Senior Prank Aliens (11), Four Little Piggies, Buncha Baby Spiders, Baby Bat, Arania, Nellie & Joy, Sheep Shrug, Lamb Shrug, Bat Wings Shawl, Pink February Baby Sweater, Fox Head Mittens, Green Sweatshirt Sweater, Charlotte & Baby Spiders

Travel Gnome

I'm Dena's Travel Gnome!  Dena sent me to visit the east coast to see things I haven't seen out west.  I am seeing things I've never seen before!

This is a coffee/tea cup.  Not sure how I got in here or what I'm doing.

We went to visit the beach . . . they made me read this sign . . .

Then they showed me the dunes.  Lovely view!

Then they put me in the vegetation on the dunes to take a picture.

I hope that wasn't illegal.

The beach is gorgeous and the ocean is spectacular.  I think I like the east coast.

Except maybe the jellyfish . . . they look dangerous. 

(They told me that Windex takes away the sting if you get hit.)

They let me get really close to the waves, but told me not to get wet cuz the water is cold this time of year!

Then they took me to the bay side - this is a little pond.  We saw pelicans, great blue herons, egrets, anhingas and several other kinds of birds on this pond - but the turtles were not out (thankfully - would have hated it if they'd bit me!!!)

I climbed a palm tree and learned all about spanish moss.

I sat in the sun.  I grabbed a handful of spanish moss, but they said I couldn't bring it home with me because spanish moss is full of chiggers!

I hung out with the dog - she was asleep, but we still hung out.  Her fur is warm.

I thought about visiting the jungle but decided to hang on the boardwalk instead of looking for panthers.

Look at the really cool bugs they have in Florida!!!

(A little scary tho, aren't they?)

This road is totally lined with live oaks that have spanish moss draping to the ground on either side.  It's shady no matter how sunny it is and it's absolutely beautiful.

Heck, I even made some friends on the east coast.  

Ok, I didn't actually make them, Teresa and Girl Far From Home made them.

But they are now my friends!

 And when we got back home from Florida, we drank margaritas and ate cheese dip and chips!

Yum!

Florida Crafting

We always try to spend a few days at the beach during the holidays and this year is no exception. I have gotten pretty good at packing enough knitting and tatting supplies for the trip, mostly by packing three times as much as any two people could accomplish in twice the allotted time. That works as long as I am the only one knitting and tatting. Sometimes I am not the only one.

This trip we had Inspiration from Dena and no supplies for the desired projects. Thankfully, I keep a bag of spare yarn in the trunk with the spare tire - both terribly important in case of emergency. Unfortunately, there was off white but it was too close to white to be gnome skin color. But I also had some Constant Comment tea. We did what had to be done and let the knitting commence!

The knitting happened in restaraunts and the condo. It happened during the day and in the evening - between beach walks and seeing True Grit (loved it). After a quick trip to Walmart for eyes and stuffing and a last little bit of knitting, we are heading home with more Traveling Gnomes than we left home with!!

Arrival in Florida . . .

Yarn from the trunk of the car . . .

Constant Comment Tea.

Tea dyed yarn . . .

Knitting in the restaurant.

Knitting in the evening.

Bits from Walmart.

Gnomes!
(Pattern is by Raynor Gellatli and can be found on her blog Knitted Toy Box or on Ravelry here.  I made some major changes to the pattern as Raynor knit the gnome flat and in two pieces and sewed the back seam and the bottom on.  Since I don't do seams if there is any way to avoid them, I knit my gnome in the round and in one piece.)

Parliament

Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament? I did not until I knit my own parliament. It started simply enough. Girl Far From Home came home and had a friend come over to go to a midnight movie. We all went out and while out we got a cup of coffee. I used one of the cozies Mom gave me and the friend  admired it.  She was offered and said she would love a knit cozie.  I knit one - the off white one - but was

told the young lady wanted turquoise.  So I grabbed the turquoise, blue and  green that I had spun and never used.  Then Girl Far From Home thought these would make nice gifts for her friends far from home. I grabbed more handspun and knit more for them. Then I just couldn't stop. There are two in this parliament that will be flying west to stay with Mom and Dena. There is one that will stay with me. And there is one that will belong to The Divine Miss M.

And now I am done with owls . . .

Happy Birthday

Today is the anniversary of the birth of my first baby girl. It is hard to remember what I was doing 19 years ago this morning and I guess that is a good thing!





We had a little party this afternoon but no cake yet. She loved all the gifts and send her thanks and squeals to you. Please notice the paper I wrapped the teapot in.





The blue scarf I knit from angora/merino handspun which should keep her warm.


She loved the card calendar and the tea set. I loved the tea set too!



All in all, it has been a good day so far! Tomorrow you get to see what crafting is going on, and there is quite a bit of it!

Road Trip!!!

First, Dena sent me the traveling gnome and we all know they like to
travel. Then it decided to snow on Christmas for the first time since
1842! All that was just too much for us, so we are heading south
(further south than we already are) to look for some relaxation and
hopefully warmer weather!

Besides, Casey hasn't gotten to go on a long car ride for several
months!!

It was a plentiful Christmas

 I'm not naming any names here, but someone got up earlier than the rest of the kids and opened her stocking.    She took it off the couch and sat in the middle of the rug trying to get the stuffs out of it.  Thankfully, she only opened her own stocking because the other girls got chocolates in theirs.  Hers had Dingo bones in it (sealed in a plastic bag) and she must have smelled them (how?) and wanted the Santa toy.  She really enjoyed the bones once she got them and she's been carrying around the Santa toy all day.

There were plenty of presents under the tree for all - maybe too many?

This was a very special gift to me from Girl Far From Home.  I can't quite figure out how she managed to get it, but I know where she got it.  There is a visitor center just off the Blue Ridge Parkway where they sell handmade items from local craftspeople and artists.  She and I have stopped there before and I admired the beautiful dolls and was amazed at how relatively inexpensive they were given the amount of work that went into them.  I also remember them from my own childhood.  Somehow she got back there and this is what she bought me - be sure to read the tag - it's a wonderful sentiment!

 Bad picture but such a beautiful bunny doll!  I really was blown away by this one!

 A combo gift for Steve and Me - hmm, friends don't let friends drink and knit but I haven't heard that about tatting yet . . . wonder if Dena is trying to slow me down?

I love Ice Wine and did not know it came in reisling or merlot.  Cant wait to try it!

Unwrapping was fun, reusing the wrapping bits was also fun!

The girls got way too much stuff, but it all seemed to be stuff they wanted or needed. Miss M got several puzzles from Gramma and puzzles are definitely one of her favorite things.

Someone was a little bored since she opened all her presents before anyone else was up. 

What a mess!  

But much happy playing and even sharing!

Still bored.  Wonder if anyone wants to play with me?

No?  Ok, I'll just go hang out under the tree with Santa.

The drinking gal's Mystery Sock Knit a Long!  

Family Jewels in Plum Wine.

Can I drink my ice wine while I knit it?

Do they make Plum Ice Wine out there?

Knitting books!  Lots of Knitting books!  (Thanks Mom!)

Coffee!  And a coffee cozy!

More about this one later . . . .

A gorgeous tea cup for Tatting Tea Tuesday.  I can save this one and hand it down to the girls when they grow up and move out.  The tea is orange cinnamon and it smells soooo good!!  I can't wait to try it.

I've offered to let Girl Far From Home use some in her new infuser cup - she can even take some back to school with her if she wants.

Tatting thread and lots of darning needles.  I guess next time I lend one to my only sister, I won't have to insist she give it right back so I can keep it safe.  She can hang onto it until she's really and truly done with it!

And a knitting gnome . . . wonder where he wants to go?

Lovely little stork scissors all around . . . from both Mom and Dena to all the ladies here!

  

And there is more yet to come . . . looks like the Girl Far From Home's Birthday is going to be plentiful too!