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!

I love goodies!

I love surprises and I got a lovely one in the mail yesterday! A box of goodies from my Winter Wonderland Swap Partner! Let's see what she sent me:
On top in the box we have a Nicky Epstein Felting book and a lovely handmade card

Next we have some sweet goodies for me and some fishy ones for the kitties!

Next we have more kitty toys, some holiday tissues and some playing cards with the St. Louis Arch (my buddy lives in MO)


Next is a small Christmas tin with more kitty toys!

And finally, a large Christmas tin with a gorgeous skein of Mountain Colors Merino/mohair blend yarn in all those fall colors that I love along with some crystal snowman earrings:

Here's a closeup of the earrings:

Thank you so much ArmyMom! I love everything!

Here are a couple of photos from our night out at Rams Head:

And here's the whole group!


I've been getting some shopping done and making gifts this weekend so there's not much else to share! Back to the old grind tomorrow!

Bushism of the day:
"The question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm a commander guy." --George W. Bush, who apparently is no longer "The Decider," Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007

Kitty Cam: Mokey looks perfectly at ease on Em's pink comforter!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . .

I put out my decorations last weekend and finally got around to putting my fresh greens around the house. We have a huge holly tree that has more berries than usual this year. Notice all the stockings? All 4 kitties and Elvis (the turtle) have them. It was really crowded when we had 6 cats and pet rats in addition! I had to hang 2 stockings on some of the hooks!

I decorate in 3 phases. The Christmas stuff goes up the first weekend in December. A week and a half or so before Christmas, the tree goes up. The first week in January, the Santas and other Christmas stuff gets put away and the rest of the snowmen come out. You may have noticed that part of the snowman collection graces the mantel. They will stay there until March. I will put more snowmen out when I put the Santas away!

Here are a few more of the decorations:

This is the creche that my Dad made in the early 1950's. I've had to do a little restoration. It is surrounded by antique bottle brush trees. They are my new favorite thing and I've been collecting them for a couple of years now.

More Bottle Brush trees!

Wooden Victorian Carolers on top of the china cabinet!

Snowman hurricane lamps on top of the bookcase!

I went to Joann's for the super sale yesterday and I picked up a couple of patterns and some fabric. I specifically went for this Simplicity pants pattern which got really good reviews on Pattern Review. This pattern has all kinds of fitting tips and separate pattern pieces for slim, average and curvy fit.

It is pictured with two pieces of stretch fine wale corduroy. I typically don't care for corduroy, but this is a very fine wale and it is really stretchy! I will actually use it for some pants from the Burda World of Fashion magazine. It ended up being about $2 a yard!

I stumbled on this pattern:

It is a Project Runway Simplicity pattern. There are long sleeves that have rouching along the seem and I will make it with those. I decided that it needed a slinky knit so I found a leaf green rayon/lycra knit:


Then today I stopped by the other Joann's in my area only to find that they were going out of business! So I picked up some sale stuff.
First I have a stretchy satiny suiting in leaf green to use for a skirt from Burda WOF and a brown herringbone polyester suiting for some dress slacks--most likely that Simplicity pattern pictured above:


And there was one piece of a herringbone stretchy denim which I will probably use for capri's since there is probably not enough for full length slacks. I also picked up more wool suiting. I already had enough of this for a skirt, so I thought I'd get some for a jacket as well.


I hope to devote more time to sewing after Christmas. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

DH and I got our Christmas Tree today. We ended up getting the first Noble Fir that we saw! It's unusual to find the perfect tree so quickly. We've gotten Noble Firs the last couple of years and I really love them. They are similar to Fraser Firs but less blue in color and the branches open out more. They last a good long time! It's sitting outside for the time being. Tomorrow we'll cut some off the trunk and put it in water then in a few days it will come in the house where we will let it open up. Since we are going to Pittsburgh on Thursday, we figured that we'd bring it in on Wednesday. It will have a few days to open up and we'll be able to decorate it when we get back!

Bushism of the day:
"Amigo! Amigo!" --George W. Bush, calling out to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish at the G-8 Summit, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008

Kitty Cam: Harley naps in the one little sunny spot he can find!

This 'n that!

First off--Here's Jon Stewart with his commentary on the latest trash talk!


On to other stuff--I've been somewhat unproductive this week. I'm coming down with something--just sort of dragging all week. Ems came home Monday night. We didn't see her all day and night on Tuesday then she hung around with us last night before going back to the Burgh. I had taken her sewing maching in to Sew Fair for repair as the needle arm wasn't going up and down. I was afraid that I would have to get her a new one. Her current machine is the Singer Athena 2000 which I purchased for $500 back in 1979. The Athena is the first computerized machine ever built. That machine served me quite well for a number of years and I used it to sew most of my contest entries back in the day. I replaced it with a top of the line Elna in 1992 which my parents got me for my birthday. I was thrilled that the repair to this machine ended up only being $100. I was also delighted to find that Sew Fair carries Kwik Sew patterns. G Street has discontinued them and since Hancock closed I haven't been able to find them! I picked up three:



The last one is perfect as a layering piece. I had been looking for a scoop neck knit top.

I also stocked up on McCall's patterns at the Joann's sale. First I got a bunch of jacket patterns. I love jackets since I turn the heat off in my classroom.




Here's my favorite:

My frustration is that I can't get enough of the fabric I want to use for that pattern! I had seen this fabric a couple of weeks ago and it stopped me in my tracks! At the time, I didn't have a pattern in mind so I didn't get any. I won't buy stash fabric because I never know how much to get. This fabric, for example is 60 inches wide and typically 2 yards would be enough to make a jacket, skirt or slacks. Unfortunately the pattern I now have in mind takes almost 3 yards. When I went back to get the fabric, it was gone. I called every Joann's in a 50 mile radius and only one which wasn't very far away had some of this fabric.

If you look at it carefully, you will see that it is not a typical houndstooth. I was able to get a yard and a half. A couple of stores have it on order so I will check back with them. If I can't get enough then I will make a skirt.

I also got a dress pattern and a couple of skirt patterns:



I will have a lot of sewing to keep me busy!

I've been working on the lace part of my sweater. I've decided that I will spend tomorrow night (TV night) plugging away at this sweater. I've totally lost my motivation and I really need to finish it. All I have to do is finish the lace. The seams have all been stitched and the ends woven in. Once I finish the lace and block it, I will weave ribbon through the eyelets.

The color looks a little washed out in the photo. It is sort of a light greenish gold. The yarn is Tahki Sedona which is a silk, linen, cotton blend. I want to finish it so I can start the SKC knit along. There are 3 choices and I want to make two of them. I already have the yarn (Malabrigo Silky Merino) for the Silken Scabbard. Here is the pattern:

I may change the sleeve either to a 3/4 length or a belled sleeve. The color I have is a lovely buttery gold. The other pattern which I like and just purchased is called "Baby Cables and Big Ones."

I really like this version that I found on Ravelry:

Note the belled sleeve. This style of sleeve is more flattering for me so if I get around to making this, I will make that modification. I've been looking a yarn and I found an apple green or a rust color that I like for this. I will wait until I'm almost finished the first one.

Last weekend I went to New York State to do some genealogical research. I left on Friday and spent Friday afternoon roaming some historic cemeteries taking photographs. Saturday I spent the day here:

This is an old courthouse built in 1841 which houses the Orange County Genealogical Society. I was able to get a lot of sources for births, marriages and deaths that I couldn't find anywhere else. New York is not a good place for research as they did not require vital records to be kept until the very late 1800's so you have to find things like deeds, wills, old newspapers, church records etc. Fortunately a lot of local records to the area were compiled by volunteers and are housed in the research room there which is open all day on the third Saturday of each month. We didn't have school on Friday so it worked out really well. I drove home Saturday night and got home around 11 pm. Now I have to catch up on stuff around the house!

Bushism of the day:
"Information is moving -- you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007

Kitty Cam: Chelsea and Mokey snuggle together.