Secrets Revealed

Like the new look? I'm trying to feel festive - it's just not computing that it's December and that Christmas is really almost here, so I'm trying to do everything to get myself in the Christmas mood. Even if that means making my blog look a little garish.

Anyway, I promised some knitting updates. And some secret knitting can finally be revealed. So in the last post you saw the Scurvy Pirate Mittens. Here's the close ups.
These were so cute and fun to make. I used Smooshy "Midnight Derby" again, held single this time, with more of the Swish DK in white. And despite all my worries, they fit!

Next up was my birthday present to my brother - a Notre Dame hat.
Sadly, I didn't get any "action" shots of this hat, but it fit - not as well as I would have liked (which probably means that sometime in the future I will make another version of this to satisfy myself). This was my first attempt at designing my own pattern. Just a basic hat with some colorwork thrown in, so it's not like I attempted to climb Everest the first go-round. But I'm pretty pleased with it.

And now we move onto the pink hat. That's right, I made a pink hat for my little brother. I figured since he's been in warm climates for the last few winters (South Carolina, Okinawa and now North Carolina), he might like to have a hat to wear around home while visiting.
It's the Turn a Squarae hat pattern from brooklyntweed. Love the pattern. And it's amazingly quick and easy. An action shot.
I won't show the first picture I took - it's not nice, and this is a family blog.
Both the Scurvy Pirate hat and the Pink Hat in action. What you don't see pink? Neither do I, but Tommy does. (PS - all he wants is a jolly roger hat - why can't he have a jolly roger hat like C4?)

I did manage to finish my Thanksgiving socks in time to wear on Thanksgiving. I don't have photos, because I forgot to take some while they were in use, but maybe next post. And then after those were done, I had a whirlwind of a weekend of selfish knitting. Yep, instead of working on Christmas knitting, I knit for myself instead.

I cranked out these Iro Mittens in like 24 hours - so fast and easy. And more than one person has mentioned how much they like them.... hmmmm....
And then in a little over 24 hours, I managed to make another Turn a Square.
This one's for me, to match my Noro Vacation Scarf. Love it. It's so pretty. Might go back and rip out a couple stripes to make it shorter - haven't decided yet. Right now it's a bit long, but it fits over my ponytail easily. We'll see, I may just leave it due to the amount of knitting I still have to get done in the next 21 days!!!

Pretty presents to show and then I'm done. My second shipment of the spindle and fiber club came. It's amazing, again.
That's 3 oz of mohair in a colorway that perfectly matches the merino I got in the first shipment, some silk in "Bright Peacock", and the class whorl spindle. So pretty.
Now I just have to get my gift knitting done, and finish at least one of my spinning projects so that I can play with my new stuff. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

Wow

The last week and a half have just flown by. Sorry about the silence, but playtime with the kiddos comes before blogging. Where to start? With the kiddos I think. The Jersey family arrived the Saturday before Thanksgiving. And there was much fun. The pictures will tell most of the story.
C4 and Ellie made a cake in honor of the Charlie's recent birthdays - the fun checkerboard one from my birthday.
I gave Charlie his presents (finally revealing some of the secret knitting!) - a pirate fleece blanket and some scurvy pirate mittens to match his hat. Arrrrr!
Elliott and C4 helped blow out the candle.

Sunday morning, C4 and Sarah hung out with us. I had been spinning when they arrived, and C4 was most intrigued. I got him to try a little bit, but he was bored quickly - mostly because he couldn't do it all on his own. So then the fiber became a plaything.
Wrapped around train tracks as a kind of obstacle. Until it got stuck in the train's wheels and was therefore a hindrance.
Sarah mostly slept. Grandma didn't seem to mind.
Charlie is big into games right now. Sorry and Sorry Sliders being his favorite - and we introduced him to Battleship which was a big hit.
Sarah's favorite game happens to be "Where's the kitty?" She would put her arms out and shake her head and then wander to Maddie's likely hiding spots. She's quick. Maddie did not appreciate the game.
Charlie made a craft with Grandma, at some point that week. I'm still not understanding the pirate wand myself, but whatever.

Thanksgiving was wow. I don't know what other word to use to describe it. The entire clan was together for the first time ever.
And the last time that the then entire family was together was October of 2005. Crazy. So, Thanksgiving was loud and crazy and typical for us.
The boys.
The best picture of all 4 of them. Contentedly watching Backyardigans.
What's better for a late night snack than an Uncle Tom sandwich?
The Sarah-mobile.
That child needs a hand knit hat! Poor Mason!

Friday was the last day with the Jersey folk. So we decided to go bowling.
There is nothing better than watching a four year old bowl for the first time. He was so funny about it. Unhappy that he didn't knock all of them down.

Granted, we played bumper bowling, but I would like to point out, that I had the high score. And didn't need the bumpers to get it.



And that night Grandma and Aunts were left in charge. Which meant that there was a lot of screaming and dancing and running around and camera flashes and belly flashes and general mayhem.

But dang it if they're not cute.

I'll post later this week with all the secret knitting that I can now reveal, as well as all the stuff I've gotten done for me. This post is just too long already.