100th Blog!

I can't believe I actually have made it to 100 blogs! Of course a celebration is in order!! I haven't selected the exact goodies yet, but a drawing is definitely called for. I can pretty much guarantee yarn but haven't selected it yet. Anyone who comments on this blog by end of day January 4 will be included (that means all five of you so your chances are good :-))

Now that Christmas is over I have some pictures of my Christmas knitting projects for your viewing enjoyment. You'll have to envision these colors darker since the flash tends to wash them out.

These are Nicole's monkey socks (and yes there are two). She was very happy with her new socks and wore them all Christmas day. As you all advised, the Trekking yarn did get much softer after washing.

These are my daughter-in-law's transition gloves using Shibui knits wasabi and periwinkle. The pattern is seriously lacking in directions for a beginner to Fair Isle and knitting thumbs, but I was able to puzzle through it.

This is my son's new hat (scarf still in process). I used Dream in Color superwash worsted in the special blue they do exclusively for The Loopy Ewe. It is an absolutely beautiful blend with shadings of blue and purple.

There was a definite knitting theme going in Nicole and my Christmas presents. She got a yarn sampler from Knitpicks and a variety of knitting themed stocking stuffers. Here are some photos of my Christmas haul.

The knitting bag and yarn were gifts from my daughter. She picked out the fabric and her friend Billy made the bag (she's a quilter). The yarns are all local products from when Nicole visited Colorado over the summer. Nicole's new boyfriend contributed one of the skeins so he gets some brownie points. The books were from my husband, a loving and generous man. I'm saving my new Sanna book to read New Year's Eve and Day.

I'm ready for 2009 knitting with new Knitpicks interchangeable circulars, Harmony dpn's, Custom Knits and a good laugh with "It Itches". Thanks to all of you for your support of my knitting efforts in 2008 with particular thanks to Amy Lane for bringing me over to the dark side :-) I never would have thought a year ago that I'd be so excited about all my knitting presents!

I told you all I was working on some special projects for the kids, which I can now share. For years I've wanted to transfer our home VHS tapes over to DVD. I was concerned about fading or breakage on the oldest ones. My husband and children did a lot of local theater over the years and all of those performances were on VHS too. Last year I used my birthday and Christmas money to buy a Panasonic VHS, DVD, hard drive recorder but never got around to doing much with it. November and December of this year I transferred roughly 50 videotapes on to 35 DVD's and made 3 sets. The kids each received a set for Christmas and I kept a set. I used archival pages, for storage so hopefully they will hold up well.

My other fun project I learned about from Dani at Sunshine Yarn. She had posted on her blog about a website called Wordle, where you can create free word clouds. Since I was looking for some low cost Christmas gifts, I went there and made each of the girls one. My husband and I picked words that made us think of each person and then the program generates a pattern and colors. There is a lot of flexibility in colors and patterns. You can't save your projects unless you are willing to publish them to the web, so I just printed them out once I decided on a pattern.

Tomorrow we take my son and daughter-in-law back to the airport. I can't believe how fast the visit went! Nicole and I took my daughter-in-law maternity shopping while she was here so she can breathe in her pants again. It was a great outing and we had so much fun. We've watched movies, read new Christmas books and eaten way to many cookies. All in all, it has been a great holiday and we look forward to 2009 with anticipation.

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!