Christmas In Review!

Soooo, Pretty has officially made it through Christmas. . .whew! I hope that you did, too, and that you found something to celebrate along the way! I don't want this blog post to last clean into 2011, so I am gonna get right to the Christmas knitting:

First up, "But can you knit slippers?," said the brother-in-law to the knitter at the 4th of July picnic. Yes, Brother-In-Law 1, there is a knitter in the family. . .and here are your Christmas Slippers (P-p-p-poker Slippers, under a table for five after Christmas dinner):
"Well, I want Bunny Slippers," challenged Brother-In-Law 2, at the same summer picnic. So, he shall have fuzzy, pink bunny slippers. . .because. . .you know. . .bunny slippers have to be pink and fuzzy!
Brother-In-Law 3 did not chime in, perhaps thinking that he would like to wear his special, hand-knit by Pretty out of the house to show it off? (A knitter can dream, can't she?) Whatever the reason, there had to be a knit for the third BIL, so Pretty got going on a looooooong, double-knit scarf for the winter. These brothers are tall, very tall!
Once the BIL knitting was finished, I got right to work on College Girl and her friend, Snake. Confession - "Snake" is the Boy Friend. I figured that I can't call them College Girl and Boy Friend forever (especially since he is now technically the fiance), so one day I asked if he would like any particular blog name. He said Snake, and I warned that I would use that. Snake seemed unfazed, so Snake it is! And Snake has been knitworthy since I met him (Yay!), so he got TWO hand-knits this year! Socks. . .
. . .and slippers! College Girl said that Snake had seen the other slippers and LOVED them, so I was honor-bound to knit him a pair as well! lol
Of course, with such a knitworthy guy as Snake in her life, you know that College Girl is knitworthy as well, and so she simply had to have socks to match his, and here they are!
In the middle of all of this secret, Christmas knitting, you may remember that there were a couple of other things happening in my pretty life as well. . .the biggest of these was the Baby Shower. . .and you may remember hearing about some pink mittens and a scarf that the mommy-to-be requested. . .

While these were not secret, I thought I'd take a minute to let you know that the mittens. . .
. . .and the scarf (a takeoff on the Palindrome Scarf) are officially finished!

They have been packaged up and shipped off to Wifey-Poo, and not a moment too soon! She and Army Boy live in the southeast quadrant of the great US of A, and they got some very snowy weather this week! I know that she will be glad to see some more hand-knits in her sightly-more-southern-than-"home" climate this winter!

There has been other knitting as well, like the finished December Socks and a new Hat for Pretty, and I promise to tell you all about it in the next few posts. For now, though, I think I have adequately filled up the 2010 blog year. . .my first full year of blogging! Thanks for stopping by today, and for continuing to follow my Pretty Knitty Adventures! I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us all!

Knit in Good Health!

PS - many of these items were knit with a pattern in mind, like the "Converse" slippers, but no actual pattern. I am hoping to write up patterns for items like these in the coming year. . .of course, if 2011 proves to be as busy as 2010, who knows when that will happen. . .just wanted to let you know! :)

Merry Christmas, Blogland!

For those of you who know me, you know that I observe this winter holiday season with much Joy and Celebration! As my kids grow up and move on with their lives, our traditions are changing, but I still plan to celebrate the birth of the One who saved my soul with great Joy today!

I am not sure what celebrations each of you are observing in December of 2010, but I hope that you are enjoying some time with family and friends, and also doing some celebrating. I wish you all the best of health and happiness this holiday season and in the coming year!

You know what else I want to wish you? You got it!

Knit in Good Health!

THREE Days Before Christmas. . .

Sooo, it's three days before Christmas. Yes. 3 days. Hmmmm. . .I think I am ready. I am not sure, but I think I am ready.

I have not done much shopping. I have not done much baking or candy making. . .indeed, the Christmas Food Parade was much shorter this year than it was last year (check out last year's December blog posts, the food made it into 4 of them!). . .I still made the turtles, and the peppermint break-up, but I stopped after that on the candies. And we did do two gingerbread houses, and some little house cookies with tiny gingerpeople. . .and even some teensy, tinsy little houses. . .and I sent some sweets to the out-of-town parents-to be. . .
. . .but there is nothing under my tree. Nothing. Nada. Well, except for a couple of stuffed bears from Christmases past. . .and the cats, who are doing their level best to find a way to eat something from the tree. . .not that there is anything edible anywhere near the tree, but you know, they are cats!

So, the presents are lacking, but the knitting is not - Yay! Here are the December Sa-weet Socks, which I am loving, they are currently over 75% done!And there were several Christmas knits (I think 6 fairly major projects this year, pix after Saturday) that are FINISHED - Super Yay! So even though I haven't even thought about where we are Christmasing, or what our actual holiday will even look like yet, I think I am ready! I look forward to spending time with College Girl and her boyfriend, as well as the extended families, and I even went shopping so that I can say:

"There is food in the pantry for a great Christmas feast,

And Pretty herself will carve the roast beast!"

After that, who cares? I hope that your holiday plans bring you peace and joy, and that you have also planned some "down time" for yourself, so that you (and I) may Knit in Good Health!

Two Weeks Before Christmas

No, Pretty Knitty has not lost it totally. . .yet. She knows that there is only ONE WEEK until the Big Day. This post is simply part of the explanation as to why the gingerbread is not baked, the presents not bought and the candies not made and packaged up for giving. . .yet

You see, Two Weeks Before Christmas, this is where Pretty Knitty sat:

In the passenger seat, with parts of puppies on Pretty, there wasn't much room for knitting. There wasn't much room for anything. . .well, except napping!

Oh, there was awake time, too. . .

. . .but mostly napping!

You see, Army Boy and Wifey-Poo (and Puggle and Beagle, the granddogs) had come "home" for the Thanksgiving holiday, and Wifey-Poo and the puppies had stayed on for a baby shower, since our lovely daughter-in-law is expecting! Of course, that means that she and "the girls" needed a ride back to their state after the shower, and also that the parents-to-be had a lot of nuts and bolts to figure out in setting up the Nursery!

Grampa to the rescue! Sweetie and I spent most of last Friday shopping with Wifey-Poo and putting together furniture (which, by the way, is be-a-u-ti-ful!).

After the literal nuts and bolts were all connected, Mom-to-Be put her own finishing touches on everything, arranging tiny pink clothes and blankets "just so"!

The beagle approves! (The puggle would also approve, but I am sure that she was off napping somewhere. . .that dog takes a LOT of naps!)

When it was all said and done, it was truly a work of art. . .

. . .and our granddaughter will have a lovely space to start off in! We are thrilled!

Of course, after all of the shopping and assembly, Army Boy and Sweetie had to take a break to play some golf!

I did get to knit some in the evenings at the kids' apartment, but mostly my knitting was in the car on the way home. . .where I finished sock one of the December Sa-Weet Socks. Unfortunately, I am not too far into sock two yet, because I got side-tracked by another project. After all, when you are visiting someone in another state, and she asks you to make pink mittens with a flap-top, and she takes you to a store to get the yarn, and then she picks out just the right pink. . .well, you know what I had to do!So, the mittens are finished (and they are not a secret), and the scarf has been started! I love this mitten pattern (it's mine!), and this is a really nice wool blend, I believe it's a Hobby Lobby brand. The scarf is a hybrid of a couple of patterns, and I am also loving it!

So, that's where I was Two Weeks Before Christmas. Today, I am still trying to decide what will get done, and which items I will not get to before next Saturday. Then I have to figure out which end is up! I hope that you are where you want to be in your holiday preparations, but either way, I hope that you will have some time to Knit in Good Health!

A Little More Christmas. . .

'Twas two weeks before Christmas, when I looked around,
and noticed that there was no tree to be found
in my house, for I had been preoccupied
with a turkey, a baby, and a great snow outside!

So, up to the attic, my feet, they took me,
where I grabbed all the boxes, then I put up the tree! Once the cats had inspected, and declared the tree fit,
we decided that Christmas was coming, This was it!

The calendar stated that the season had started,
and Cleveland Knits West had planned a great party. . .

The stockings were hung on the banister tall,
And the kitchen was filling with foods, great and small. . .
There were bacon crackers, chocolates,
Salads, pastas, lick your lips. . .
Even veggies and fruits, kinder to the knitters' hips!

And then in a twinkling, I looked down at the floor
to see hand-knitted socks. . .

and picture-taking galore!

(And, in case you are worried about our sock-smarts,

we all do know that we can buy socks at Wal-Mart!)

We had so much fun, thanks to Tricia, our hostess,

and thanks to Joe Cocker, the spaniel with the mostest!

SQUIRREL!

That's not to forget Chase-the-cat, no, don't chase him. . .

allergic, or not, we all got to face him!

There was laughter and fun. . .

knitters from near, and way far. . .

and stockings stuffed with great gifts. . .

Thanks, ladies! You know who you are!

By the end of the evening, from our heads. . .

. . .to our toes,

we had had so much fun, but it was time to go. . .

Snow was falling outside, it was coming down quick,

we knew it was time to stop clicking our sticks. . .

So we all packed it in, and loaded it up,

then trucked it on home, and admired our new stuff!

Under my tree at home, all my new stuff sat,

and I thought to myself, "Now, Santa, top that!"

Christmastime truly IS the most wonderful time of the year, and my knitting group is really tops! Thanks again everyone, you all made and brought such wonderful gifts and yummies! I pray rich blessings on all of you throughout the holiday season, and into the new year!

Knit in Good Health!

A Little Christmas

Well, in my last post, I mentioned that we need a little Christmas. No, Pretty's tree still is not bought. No, the Christmas knitting is not complete (but the December socks are over halfway done). No, there are not even any gifts bought to put under the tree yet (unless College Girl has found something at the mall while shopping today..."if I buy something, can you give me back the money and call it my Christmas gift, Mom?"). Well, I guess whatever makes them happy makes me happy, so we will still call it a happy holiday season in Pretty Knitty Land!

In the absence of my own personal tree and decorations, I did participate in a family Christmas event at my church last weekend...and since we all need a little Christmas, here it is! This family Christmas came complete with Christmas cookies...

...Christmas crafts (and reindeer games, apparently!)...

...a Christmas choir, caroling...

...Christmas candy and prizes (hey, if you're gonna have reindeer games, there should definitely be prizes, right?!?)...

There were even kids in costumes! (Yes, I know that those are just antlers. I was trying to stick to the original alliteration...but I guess it may be Chrismassed out!)

Speaking of antlers, you know it's Christmastime when even the lead guitarist and keyboardist are sporting antlers of their own!

Why, we even saw Santa at the event! Look at that little cutie, trying to help the grown-ups convince his sister that Santa is safe...he's a good guy, really!

Hey! Santa! Are you eating cookies again? lol Gotta maintain that figure somehow!

We even had some photographers from Shutter Clutter there to snap family photos for the Christmas cards! Look at that teenager, doing her level best to not look thrilled. snicker

That was more than a little Christmas, and it was a great night! I am so glad that I participated, especially since I haven't gotten around to putting up my own tree. Hmmm, looking back at these photos may have inspired me...perhaps I will venture up into the attic this weekend...

In the meantime, I hope that you are enjoying the sights and sounds of your holiday season. Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!