I'm dreaming of a mild weather Christmas

The weather around here has been so screwy lately it's been hard to get into the Christmas mood. But I'm not complaining. Things that have helped include putting up our tree, decorating the house, and wrapping presents. And that blizzard last weekend put some snow on the ground which makes a white Christmas seem possible. I like when there is nice snow on the ground, no ice, and no precipitation. Snowy icy Christmases make me nervous because I always think, what a terrible time for an accident to happen. There's a Debbie Downer moment for you. Enough silly thoughts.. onto my favorite things getting me in the mood for Christmas.


I couldn't wait to decorate the tree with these ornaments from Old Navy last year. We nearly bought out their entire supply on clearance, and they must have noticed because this year they have even more fabulous ornaments. I'll have to wait until Christmas is over before I splurge on 75% merchandise again. I think we are going to need a second tree next year.



They had pink and blue, green and purple. I got every one.








My sister and I made these adorable owl ornaments thanks to a pattern from Anna Maria Horner.








Curt & I will be celebrating our first Christmas as husband and wife this year. We just "celebrated" our six month anniversary (he was in Michigan, I was in Indiana celebrating with my friend/bridesmaid... I guess she was close enough, being a wedding-related person.) But we will be able to celebrate Christmas together, at my parents' house this year. We like to wonder when we will have our "own" Christmas... probably not for a very long time because we live in different states from our parents and their families. .I can just hear the [future] kids asking now..."How does Santa know we will be at Grandma and Grandpa's?"

I can't wait for Christmas to come, it's definitely my favorite. Curt's family is coming down this weekend to do Christmas early, then we will head up to Grand Rapids for the real thing.
Finnegan our dog just came out of the bedroom to tell me it's time for bed-- I won't argue. The folks across the street have all gone to bed, so I guess I ought to also.
As my Gaga always says -- TaTa and Toodle Loo!

night time photography

These are some adorable pictures I took of my husband and our dog Finnegan awhile ago while they were sleeping.

They looked so comfy cozy I couldn't help but snap a photo in the night. (I upped the exposure so you can actually see the picture, it's not daytime like it seems)

Grandma's Knit Dish Cloth

My grandma has been knitting for oh - half a century or so. One of her specialties has always been dish cloths that she knits for all her daughters and grand daughters (there are a lot of us). Unfortunately, her arthritis keeps her from knitting like she used to, and there has been a lull in knit dish cloth use ever since. My mom asked me to please get the pattern and make her some dish cloths, and then my aunts all joined in on the wanting. So I got the pattern and knit my first dish cloth tonight. It took a couple hours, but it turned out just like Grandma's, which I pride myself in. I want to keep the tradition going, so I will share it with all of you now. Hopefully some day I will put some pictures up.

Use number 8 needles and 100% cotton yarn (We use Sugar n Cream)

Cast on 4 stitches-knit across

Row 1- K2, increase in next st, K1 (5st)

Row 2- K3, increase in next st,K1 (6st)

Row 3- K3, yarn over,knit to end

Repeat 3rd row until there are 48 stitches on needle then decrease as follows:

K2, K2 together, yarn over, K2 together, knit to end.

Repeat this row until 8 stitches remain.

Next row- K2, K2 together, K2 together, K2 (6 stitches)

Next row K1, K2 together, K2 together, K1 (4 stitches)

Bind off

A December to Remember

Two days into December and temperatures here in Indiana were around 60 degrees today. And it was pouring rain for majority of the day. My parents were visiting for the weekend along with my sister, which was so much fun! Bri stayed at the house with us, and we had a blast staying up late and doing crafts. We used the pattern from Anna Maria Horner's blog to make holiday owls for ornaments and gift toppers. They turned out SO cute, everyone should go there and get the pattern.
I've also been working on a scarf for my grandma out of adorable Yarn Bee yarn I got for 99 cents from Hobby lobby this week. I love it when they have those crazy sales! I bought a bunch of different yarns and ended up getting like 6 for the price of 1, and you can't beat that! Now if I can just finish this report I'm working on so I can spend the rest of my days until Christmas knitting up all these gifts. (A scarf for my grandma, maybe one for my other grandma, a hat for my sister, and my sister in law, and my husband.) My husband bought a big HD TV a few weeks ago, so we decided that would be our Christmas present for each other, and we aren't going to get anything else, but I don't think a knit hat counts, especially since I'm going to use the same yarn for my sister and him and it was also on sale last week for $1.99 and it was more wonderful Yarn Bee baby yarn. I wish I would have gotten more, but I'm sure it will go on sale again soon. I also want to make my grandma's famous wash clothes for the women in my family. Grandma used to make them, but her arthritis has stopped her from knitting, which is terribly sad because it brought her so much joy. I hope I can continue with the family traditions of wash clothes, baby blankets, slippers, and booties, because they are so special to everyone.