There will be no photos for this post. The camera is in the desk drawer with dead batteries. Also, I have been very lax about photographing my knitting, so there probably aren't many pictures on the memory card anyway. I have done some knitting, let's see if I can remember what I did anyway.

• Sea Mist Mittens: stuck on the thumb of the first mitten. I simply haven't had the energy to figure out the pattern.



• I finshed a pair of fingerless, embroidered gloves from a pattern in Kristen Knits as a Christmas gift for my friend Debbie. I made them from scraps and odd balls of worsted weight yarn in the stash. It's a shame I didn't photograph them because they did turn out well. I must say that I knit much better than I embroider though.



• At least three ball band dishcloths in Christmas colors of red, white, and green. The pattern is in Mason Dixon Knitting. I don't know why, exactly, I knit them except it was sort of soothing knitting away with the TV or CD player going in the background. I still have one green one that didn't get given away so I suppose I could photograph that one.



• A pair of mittens for grandson Jack in "Washington Redskin colors". I can't even remember which book I found the pattern in, it was a rush job for a last minute Christmas wish. This Grammy is a sucker for requests for handknits! I had some worsted weight Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks in the appropriate colors in the stash, so I just used that.



• One pair of socks I still have in my possession, so I'll try to photograph them when I get new batteries for the camera. They were just plain stockinette with a reinforced heel made from some Kroy sock yarn that I picked up at Michael's while shopping for something else. It's a self-striping yarn in the Summer Moss colorway. I started these socks a couple days after Christmas one afternoon at my Mom and Dad's house. My sister and her family were visiting from Chicago and she and I were sitting in the living room chatting while I knit. I finished one repeat of the stripes and said, "You know, this looks familiar, I think I have used this yarn before for a pair of socks." My sister took a look, laughed, and stuck out her foot. She was wearing the socks knit from that yarn!



• The Wee Willie Whistle sweater from Louisa Harding's book Miss Bea's Band. This was knit in about 10 days for a baby shower gift for the daughter of a dear friend. I used Rowan All Season's Cotton yarn in a dark blue for the main color and red for the contrasting trim color. I am kicking myself for not photographing this one, but it was barely dry after a wash and blocking in time for the baby shower.

I received two knitting books for Christmas, Stephanie Pearl McPhee's Free Range Knitter and the new Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. I really am enjoying both of them.

Ok, this post is going up, unfinished as it is!

O Christmas Tree!

This is the second part of the Deep Creek Lake Saga. On Saturday afternoon we all went out to a local christmas tree farm to cut trees for my daughter's family and her in-laws, Bob and Mimi. We drove way up to the top of the distant hill you see here, where the "big" trees were.

We tramped around the entire hill, so that daughter Chris could examine each and every tree to find the very best one.

We looked at a lot of trees, and Chris finally chose one a few feet from where we parked the car! But, she claimed, it was the best and how could she be sure unless she looked at them all?

Tom and Stephen cut it down and it was hauled back to the car.

At the foot of the hill, the tree was put through a machine that wrapped twine around it to bundle it up and it was then secured to the roof rack on the car.

Bob and Mimi then chose their tree from one of these pre-cut trees.

I'll end this post with some pictures of Katy and Jack playing in the snow back at the house.

No knitting pictures for this post, but I have actually finished a couple of small things. I just have to take some photos of them.

Deep Creek Lake

The day after Thanksgiving, we packed up two cars and my son, my brother, my parents, myself, and two dogs headed for Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. The plan for the weekend was to relax and visit with my daughter, her husband and two children, and her in-laws Bob and Mimi. Not to forget Bob and Mimi's dog Skipper! So there were nine adults, two children, and three dogs in this 5 bedroom house. It was full, but cheerful. This is the back of the house. It's built into the side of hill that slopes down to the dock on the Lake where two boats are kept in summer and sun bathing and swimming take place. There is a big deck the length of the house accross the front, with a grill and picnic table and lots of chairs for lounging and reading and just sitting in the sun. I didn't get a picture of the front because the snow was too deep to wade around to the front. Since it was winter, we contented ourselves with indoor activities like sitting by the fire:Here are "Gigi" (my Mom) and "Grandpa" (my Dad) rocking and toasting their toes.

We did a lot of reading:

Son-in-law Tom.

My son Stephen and son-in-law Tom.

We played games:

Uncle Steve, Katy and Jack play Candyland. Jack won, but we suspect he may have stacked the playing cards in his favor! We also had some wild Zingo tournaments, but I didn't get a picture of that as I was too busy shouting "dog", "house", "smile" etc. to leave the table and get the camera.

Katy and her Great Grandpa spent some time looking at family photo albums.

The dogs were not neglected!

And enjoyed long walks through the snow.

That's all I have time for today. More tomorrow.

What I did on my vacation

Heh. I wonder if teachers still make school children write compositions on that topic? My vacation was a week off at home, spent with my dog and my parent's dog. My parents were vacationing in Mexico, so that's why their dog was with me. Perhaps they could write a more interesting post on the vacation topic, but afterall, it's my blog!

Ok. Here's what I did:

1. Finished the Old Navy Socks. This is an 1870 Pearl design. I knit them on size US 1 double points, using a mystery yarn from my stash. I think it was Opal sock yarn thought.

2. Completed most of the first Sea Mineral Mitten, all except for the thumb. I looks a little lumpy, but it will block out nice and flat. I like knitting with the Knitpick's Palatte yarn. The colors photographed nicely. This design is by Spilly Jane.

4. Lots of dog walking. No surpise there!
5. Joined Curves and did the workout 5 times that week! I'm still being very faithful about going 3-4 times a week. I'm definitely stronger, though I can't see any body changes yet (too soon for that).
6. Went to my weekly Weight Watcher Meeting. Lost 1.8 pounds that week. My goal is NOT to gain anything this holiday season. I've been going to Weight Watchers since May 2007 and have lost a total of 32 lbs. For me, it's a slow process, but I'll get there eventually. I am very lucky, my employer, the Cleveland Clinic, pays for Weight Watchers and now Curves as part of our Employee Health Plan. There are some strings attached, of course, but it's really a great benefit. They expect it will pay off down the road, as less medical costs for treatment of chronic medical conditions caused/exacerbated by obesity, smoking, and inactivity. They also pay for Smoking Cessation Programs, but I never smoked so don't need that.
7. Had a manicure and pedicure. Such luxury!
8. Lots of reading. I finished several books from the library.
9. Went out to lunch with a girlfriend and we had fun catching up on each others lives.
10. Church on Sunday, and then coffee and dessert with friends on Sunday evening.

And that was the vacation week. I'm back to work now!

Relief

I woke up feeling much better about the world this morning, knowing that Barack Obama is our President-Elect. George Bush and the republican party have left this country in a terrible state. This isn't a political blog, so that's all I'll say about this. I'm also relieved that all the campaigning is over! Living in a "battle ground" state is not a lot fun. I am sick of negative ads or even more positive ones, and getting robocalls up to ten times a day. Just sayin.

I'm almost done with the Old Navy socks. I'm working on the toe of the second sock. Here is a picture of the first one.

I did some stash diving to see what colors I had in Knitpicks Pallette and came up with this.

It's the yarn needed for the next project, the Sea Mineral Mittens. I've actually started the first mitten, but haven't got around to taking a picture yet.

I'll be dog sitting for my Mom and Dad's dog, Chelsea, next week while they are vacationing in Mexico. I'm going to take the week off work, and just be home with my dog and Chelsea, so hopefully I'll post more often next week. It will be a good chance to get some chores done at home. I really should do some silver polishing before Thanksgiving comes too. I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my parents, my son, my brother, and probably a few more relatives. And I need to plan a Holiday Party with a friend for our Gourmet Group. It should be a busy week and a good change from work.

An Autumn Weekend

It was such a beautiful weekend, crisp and cool, but sunny. The leaves are a bit past their best colors, but still pretty. Missy (my dog) and I enjoyed walks on both Saturday and Sunday. The last of the outside seasonal chores were done too. I took the birdhouse down for cleaning, turned off the water to the outside faucets and stored the hoses for the winter. The leaf sweeping is done by the condo association's landscapers.

Saturday night I went out to dinner with a group of friends and then on to a concert by a baroque orchestra called Apollo's Fire. The music was beautiful--coronation anthems by Handel and one of the Brandenburg Concertos (I forget which one) by Bach. Altogether a lovely evening.

I slept in Sunday and went to the noon Mass at church. The Anointing of the Sick was this Sunday and it made me think about how fortunate I am to have good health. Two rows in front of me was a little boy who was anointed. He was about the same age as my darling granddaughter Katy, and it made me tear up to see him. He did look healthy, so I hope that his health condition is in remission, or sucessfully treated. I have several friends dealing with health problems right now. None of them life threatening, but definitely worrying, affecting quality of life, and with associated disabilities. So I said prayers for all of them.

I have finished a knitting project! It is the Forest Forbes Scarf by Kathy Zimmerman. I really wanted it to be longer, but I ran out of yarn (Knit Picks Merino Style in Cornflower) and I procrastinated about ordering more. There is no way I could match the dye lot now, so I just knit until I ran out and cast off. I think it looks pretty good. It will be a birthday present for a friend's birthday next month.

In other knitting progress, I finished the first of the Old Navy Socks and started the second. I thought I had taken a picture, but there isn't one on the camera, so i guess I just thought about taking one! I've also pulled out the longest unfinished project in the project basket, Jade Starmore's design, Beadwork, from a Collector's Item. I've now finished the back and both fronts, so I cast on for the first sleeve. I've been working on this project for three winters now.
Maybe this is the year I'll finish it, but don't hold your breath! I want to start some colorwork mittens and I'm pondering this pattern or maybe this one or possibly this one. Just gotta make up my mind. LOL.

Well that's it for today.

Traveler's Socks

I finally got around to getting pictures of the finished Traveler's socks, though because I took them last night in artifical light, they are not great. Why is it that camera batteries die so quickly? Or is it maybe just my camera? It seems to me that they die even if you don't actually use the camera. I put new batteries in a couple weeks ago, took a few pictures of my grandchildren, and when I tried to turn the camera on last night, they were kaput. I had to replace them to take these pictures. When I first bought the camera I had rechargable batteries, but after awhile they didn't hold a charge, so I threw them away. I guess I'll get some more rechargable ones as I still have the charger. Why am I rambling on about batteries anyway? Here are the finished socks:

Surprisingly, they are a little too big. I was going to give them to my sister, but she has little feet. I have size 8 feet. I think this pattern was a Women's Medium in size. Oh well. They are still bright and pretty, and I had fun knitting them. They may tighten up a little after a trip in the washer!

Here's the current sock on the needles:

The pattern is called "Old Navy" and the Designer is 1870 Pearl. I'm not sure what the yarn is, as it is from the stash and the label has been lost. I think it is an Opal yarn.

And here is a close up of the detail.

I actually have another project finished too, and I hope to get it blocked this weekend.