The Very Long Update - Part Deux

And now to continue...

For this year's Christmas exchange, I received a wonderful package from Nancy!

There's a pack of note cards and matching notepad with my initial, a pack of pins, a fabric bag filled with See's peppermints and a dark chocolate bar (See's is my favorite!), a Stacy Nash Primitives chart (Fancy Peacocks Hanging Pinkeep) with the floss, some lovely paisley fabric, a beautifully sewn sewing pocket two skeins of WDW, crocheted pot holders, and two lovely stitched pieces from the Y is for Yarn from the Y&Z chart by Prairie Schooler - a pinkeep and a scissor fob! WHEW!









As soon as I saw the inside of this sewing case, I knew it would be perfect for holding my double pointed knitting needles and the large pocket in the back is perfect for my circulars! And since I knit, but don't really crochet, the pot holders are really appreciated :)








Here's the outside of the case with the great peacock fabric (Nancy knows how much I love peacocks!) and the back of the fob.







And here's a close-up of the sewing set. They're filled with crushed walnut shell, which gives it a wonderful feel.


Thanks again for everything Nancy!



I sent a package to Gaby - and I just found out today that it finally arrived after over three weeks - I was all set to stitch a replacement piece, so I'm really glad it showed up.

I forgot to take a pic of the entire package, so I snatched hers :).













I stitched Gaby Reindeer Parade by JBW Designs from A Few Favorites and made it into a Trinket Tray.

I used the instructions I found here. This was the first time I've tried this kind of finish and I had a lot of fun with it. I used a Christmas plaid taffeta, which gave it a nice stiffness.









Then I let the knitting bug take over!!






I really wanted to stitch a mini stocking and I found this wonderful pattern!! It's from the blog Little Cotton Rabbits. I love how it turned out! I'd like to make a whole bunch of them and hang them on a garland.



I knit slipper socks and ear-flap hats for Dad my Step Mom and DH this year for Christmas.








This is the third pair of these same socks I knit this fall. They were made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick with a free pattern from their website called New Cottage Socks The first pair I did in Wheat and kept for myself, the second pair I did in Cranberry and donated to a silent auction and this pair was for my Step Mom in Blossom. I added the suede bottoms because they have hardwood floors.













I knit two pair of these slippers, also a Lion Brand free pattern - called Knit Slipper Moccasins made with Wool-Ease Chunky. The first pair was for DH in Walnut and this pair was for Dad in Bluebell.








For the hats, I knit this one for SM in Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Raspberry. The pattern is Snowstorm (also from Lionbrand.com)














This hat for Dad is made with the same yarn as his socks with an added cream crocheted boarder. The pattern is Ski Hat with Ear Flaps and can be found here.

I used the same pattern for DH's hat, but I still need to take a pic - I just finished the ties on it yesterday.





I wanted to give something to DH for him to unwrap, since I gave him his slippers as soon as they were done and he saw me knitting the hat, so I made this neck warmer. The pattern is from the Bernat website. The yarn is Debbie Mumm Traditions in Adirondack.















My most favorite thing I knit this year was this guy! I found the pattern surfing on Ravelry and it was love at first sight - LOL. The pattern is by Danial Yuhas of Molting Yeti. I used the same yarn as the neckwarmer and it was SOOOO much fun to make! I've already started on the Christmas Trees and I hope to make the Octopus after that.












He looked adorable sitting on top of DH's stocking Christmas morning.


I think that's actually it for craft updates!





I made some additions to my Christmas decorations this year - mostly in my kitchen. This is all stuff I had, but I arranged them differently.








Here's my little kitchen tree - I just wish I had room in my kitchen for a bigger one! LOL











And since I have so many ornaments I took all the balls and piled them in some of my antique silver pieces and put them on the soffet.














And last, but not least, here is this year's Christmas stitching tree (with the addition my little knit stocking!)

The Very Long Update! - Part 1

WOW! Almost 6 months since my last post! Thinking about doing an update is a daunting task, so I think I'm just going to work on it a bit at a time.

Let's see - the first thing that happened after my last post was the receipt of the color exchange by Lody. Here are all the purple packages unwrapped :)


Since purple is one of my favorite colors, I had a blast finding all kinds of purple goodies.

I knit another Zig Zag Scarf with some Yarn Bee Boucle Traditions.









I found this Triangle Waves bracelet in the August issue of Bead and Button magazine and I just HAD to try it!! It was tons of fun, I'd love to try the pattern again.













And I tried bead crochet for the first time! The pattern is from a book I bought at the Bead Renaissance show in Ogden in 2007 called Bead Crochet Basics. It was a lot of fun too, but I couldn't for the life of me make the join look nice for a bangle, so I ripped back and attached a toggle.


Lody has much better pics of the package at her blog.





I received my Color Exchange package from Dane. My color choice was a pink and brown combo, and Dane did a wonderful job! You can see her post about it here. She sent two German chocolate and strawberry candy bars (NOW I know why I like pink and brown so much! LOL) and some lovely soft pink Permin linen.









She stitched me a wonderful needlebook and scissor fob by Tournicoton called Rose Chocolatée Nécessaires and sent some fabric, thread and buttons for me to make the matching Biscornu. And she included matching scissors.

I hope to get the Biscornu stitched and finished in 2010.






Let's see, what else?



I made a birthday card for my assigned birthday partner at work and stamped on a CD with Versamark for the first time. I love how it turned out!





Jodi's birthday was in July, but as usual, I was late with her present. I made her some jewelry.




I made this choker based on one on the cover of a book in one of my favorite series - House of Night. I love the choker on the cover of Chosen.












And I made this set from a Bead Retreat kit, but I swapped out the black crystals and used Tanzinite.
















The next exchange was Halloween/Autumn and I received a great package from Laura! She sent two fun pillow cases that she made, cup cake liners and sprinkles and a chart from my wish list - Ghoul by Plum Street Samplers.







She stitched me Something Wicked by La D Da and made it into a charming cube. I don't know if you can see it in the pic, but that's a tiny black cat in the center of the bow.

The back of the piece had this wonderful black cat fabric. This was a great addition to my Halloween decorations :)









And I put together an Autumn themed package for Nancy.

















I took a class at Kitchen Kneads to learn how to temper chocolate, so I tried it for the first time at home by dipping home-made toffee for Nancy.










The stitched piece was Gathering Acorns by With My Needle and Thread. I'd never put together a pillow like this and I was a little nervous, but I think it came out great. I'd like to make one for myself someday.

I also knit her a drop stitch scarf with some beautiful autumn ribbon yarn.





I couldn't find the pictures I took of this stuff, so I snatched them from Nancy - thanks for the pics! :)





I also had some pretty major finishes!






I finally finished Little House Needleworks Americana Sampling which I started on my trip to Virginia last March.









Then I got on a bit of a Halloween roll...







I finally stitched the Pumpkin Bag by Shepherd's Bush which I purchased at the Shepherd's Retreat in 2006. I also have the other two bags - RIP and Brew. I even think Brew is started. Hopefully I can finished them before next Halloween - they're quick to stitch and are already finished - gotta love that!














And I actually finished the stitching on the Haunted Needle House by Charland Designs from the Shepherd's Retreat. You can see close ups up individual panels on this blog post - I really didn't have that much more to do. Now I only have to do the finishing on it!










I also finished the front side of the Brightneedle class piece Ghosties and Ghoulies. I love this piece! This was an 0n-line class offered by Elegant Stitch in 2006 - another thing I need to finish! :)





And best of all - drumroll please....

My Halloween Fairy by Mirabilia!! I started this the summer of 2006, pulled it back out in June 2007, and finally finished it!! Now I can start on the Christmas Fairy - LOL.




I think that takes me up through the end of October! I'm going to try to post everything else by the end of the weekend - try to start the New Year off right! - LOL