Fast away the old year passes . . .

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses . . .

The years seem to come and go more quickly, the older I get. So does my winter break! It takes the entire break just to regroup. Forget actually getting stuff done around the house! The holidays take up the first part then I need to recover and get some sleep! This year was busier than most because we had Bird's graduation party. It was fun though. Now I can only hope that he can get a better job before those student loans come due. Speaking of jobs, Ems lost hers so we will have to help her out a bit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I've decided that I am going to seriously try to not buy stuff. I got some nice things for Christmas and I really just don't need anything. I may make one more yarn purchase for something that cannot be knit from stash:

I typically would not attempt a coat, but this is chunky yarn. The actual stitch count is the same as one of my usual sweaters so it should take about the same time to knit. The one issue I see is that the "plain" parts of the sweater are done in seed stitch. That might just drive me crazy. I'll see if the sale yarn I want to get is still available on my next payday. If so, then I will get it. If not, then it's not meant to be at this time.

The only other things I can spend money on:

Gifts
Consumable items that I use regularly--In other words, no browsing around Sephora for new eye and lip colors. I have a ton of stuff already.
Notions and patterns which enable me to use my fabric and/or yarn stash
School items --which are usually reimbursed anyway.

Here are some of my holiday FO's:

First--the Struan hat I made for Bird:




Details:
Pattern: Struan by Ysolda
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Blue Graphite
Needles: Size 5, 16 inch Addi's and Size 5 Brysun D
P's
Here's Ems' Struan:



Same details except the color which is called Shocking Pink!

I just finished the Fawn Earflap Hat for Ems:




I'm not exactly the best model for it. It will look so much better on Ems!
Here are the details:
Pattern: Fawn Earflap Hat from the book Boutique Knits
Yarn: Twinkle Soft Chunky in violet
Needles: Size 15--16 inch Addis and size 15 wood DP's

I love everything in Boutique Knits. They are all accessories and all of the styles are different and a bit edgy. Now I have to finish my Silken Scabbard. That will be a priority.

My secret pal sent me some nice goodies for Christmas:

I love the cable stitch mug from Starbucks! The green tea and chocolate covered almonds are going straight to school!

I got some nice things for Christmas from the family as well. DH got me the Cole Haan boots I've been wanting for over a year. They appeared on Ebay brand new, in my size and a fraction of the original price: The leather is like glove leather. The shaft of the boot is woven leather strips. They are stunning and the photo just doesn't do them justice! DH also got me this:
I've been dying for the Ally McBeal boxed set. The problem is they aren't available in the US due to some copyright issues with the music. You can get them on Amazon UK but they are not the correct format for players in the US. This set is a region free format and they were ordered from Hong Kong. I need to try them out to make sure they are okay. The reviews were good so I hope these work! I watch dvd's when I sew. I've watched all 6 seasons of Sex and the City and I'm now almost done with season 4 of Six Feet Under. Ally McBeal is next!

I've been cooking more during my break. I'm trying to plan meals better so that I don't waste money on food that doesn't end up getting used. Last night I made pizza from scratch. I used to do this all the time. Trader Joe's has pizza dough which I was using, but I decided to go back to making my own. It takes literally 5 minutes in the bread machine. It mixes and rises in the machine over a period of a little less than 2 hours so I may start making it the night before.This is before the pizza was cooked. I like this dough recipe because it is easy to hand stretch. Here is the recipe for a thin 14 inch crust:

Pizza Dough

2/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast.

Put all ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order listed and set on dough cycle. When the cycle is finished, stretch dough to fit a greased 14 inch pan. Put desired toppings on pizza and cook for 15 - 20 minutes in a 450 degree preheated oven.

My pie was topped with Arrabiata sauce, 4 cups of shredded mozzarella, vidalia onion, yellow bell pepper, black olives and Trader Joe's precooked spicy Italian chicken sausage. We only ate half of it and will have the other half tonight!

It's back to the old grind tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to getting up in the dark. I've been keeping my preferred hours of going to bed around 2 a.m. and getting up around 9:30 a.m. If only I could keep those hours on a normal basis!

Happy New Year to you all!

I'm running out of time for the
Bushism of the day:
You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President." --George W. Bush, ABC News interview, Dec. 1, 2008

Kitty Cam: Both Samantha and Harley have enjoyed the Christmas Tree!