Wednesday WIPs: Advent Edition Pt 1

 

I swore last year, after watching all of the vloggers opening up their Advent packages, that I would have one this year. I signed up for the very popular Cozy Knitter 24 Stripe Advent Sock notifications so I wouldn't miss the pre-order window. I missed it. Then I saw on her website that she was going to send out her overstock and I missed that too. I checked back last week and saw that she was dyeing more and would have it out when she could get it out so I went ahead and ordered thinking it wouldn't be here until later in the month. It was here on December 1st. Squeeee...

That's what one of the holiday project bags was for. I didn't know the colors yet but looking at her past Advent colors I bet on jewel tones and I was right. How perfect is that? 

Monday night I was furiously winding so I could catch up with the day's stripe. I was very happy to see that the skeins were marked as to where you should start to get matching socks. Much appreciated and a huge time saver. I'm caught up but they don't  look like much yet. I'll show them off after I get a few more stripes on.

TNT: You Can't Have Just One

 

It's December so it was time to get the Christmas Quaker back out. My goal this week is to fill in that empty box on the right. I had to stitch it twice last night because counting is hard.

I was really excited last year to find this old kit in my stash and planned on using it for an Advent stitching project but when I started working on it this week I realized it was BIG. Too big. I also didn't like the 14 count Aida it came with. I'm going to order a 16 count and see if I can shrink it up but none of that will happen this year so it's back in the stash for now. 

While I was digging around in the stash I found this old project that I had started ages ago. I have several of these Santa kits. I finished the one on the left a while back. I'm going to try to get a few grid squares done a week. It's very slow, tedious stitching but it keeps my brain busy while I'm watching those brain numbing Christmas movies on Netflix after dinner. This year's crop is really bad.
 

December!!!

 

I don't have any festive decor to show off yet. The holiday weekend wore me out but I did make two holiday knot bags last week before all the crazy started on Thursday. I've got planned projects that will go in them but one is not here yet. I'm watching that tracking carefully.

I also made a holiday grime guard for my biggest Q Snap. What a nightmare that was. The math wasn't mathing for me and neither was threading that elastic through that long casing.

I ordered a set of bodkins after reading about them on one of your blogs. I haven't tried them yet but I have high hopes. Anything is better than safety pins.

I'm going to try them out on this old drawstring bag that needs a new string. 

I ran out of steam in the sewing room but I've still got the material to make one more bag for January projects. Right now December looks over planned with new holiday projects. Let's see how far I get with any of them. If December goes by as quickly as November did, I'm in trouble.

Lighting Up the Town

 

Brrrrr.....last night the town had it's annual tree lighting ceremony and holiday marketplace. The only problem was that it was COLD. Wind chills in the 20's. We were lucky enough to get a nearby parking space so we went back and forth to the car to warm up while waiting for the countdown. Pup was bundled in her stroller with no complaints.

In spite of the weather there was a big crowd.

There were a surprising number of vendors who came out to brave the winds. The Mister bought this collection of fancy whiskey. I bought some kettle corn.

Since Halloween, we've been watching the city workers put up the displays all over town. 

The koi pond park turns into a fairyland for the season. 

If this weather keeps up we'll be ice skating on that pond. 

It was so cold that the usually long winded mayor just did a short countdown and flipped that switch so we could all head back home.Thank goodness for that. I was freezing. The weather changed so suddenly here that I never had a chance to dig out my really warm things. I guess I'll be doing that today.

Giving Thanks Pt 2

We left early Thursday morning to get up to Daughter's so I could see the end of the Macy's Parade. I turn into a kid the minute Santa comes on the screen. It's always nice to have one of the littles around to share the excitement. 

Up in Detroit the other Little Grands had a bird's eye view of their parade. That whole city was rocking because of the football game being played there. They didn't win the game but they did win the half time show competition. Jack White AND Eminem? Yes, ma'am.

My artichoke dip was a bust but dinner went off without a hitch. SIL smoked a turkey and there was a honey baked ham. It made it very hard to stay a vegetarian but I stuck to the carrots, green beans and Brussels sprouts. 

We had arts and crafts time after dinner with the Really Big Grands. We made glittery turkeys.

There was a baby's idea of music but only when he wasn't running around the room. I can't believe how well he's walking now and how long he could keep it up. He rarely sat down all day.

After everything was cleaned up The Mister and SIL had a fire while watching the last of the day's games while sipping on Black Walnut Old Fashions in the 30 degree weather.

While the babies were in bed and the men were outside, Daughter and I put up her Christmas tree. When Big Grand came down in the morning he was very surprised that Santa had dropped off a tree for him to decorate. He liked the tree but said it needed "rainbow lights". It wasn't long before he discovered the switch that changes the color of the lights. It's going to be a battle between him and his mother from now on for control of those lights. So far, he's been winning.

And...I was asked about what went wrong with the dip I made. I think it was the addition of sour cream and Parmesan cheese. I've made this before and it was good but I think I pulled up a different online recipe this time. I do believe the recipe I have used in the past had no sour cream and used mozzarella instead of the Parmesan. I do know I spent a lot of money on the ingredients for something that went right in the trash. It was that bad.

Giving Thanks Pt. 1

 

Pup and I slept on the couch Wednesday night so I could be up bright and early to get food prepped. First was my grandmother's infamous jello salad. Carrots and pineapple in orange jello topped with mayonnaise. Everyone in the family hates it but I love it. It tastes like Thanksgiving memories to me. 

Then it was some Spinach Artichoke dip that had to be mixed. I was hauling all this up to Daughter's to be baked. I should have just chucked this whole thing in the trash before I left because it was terrible. I’m never making that again.

I gave a big sigh of relief when I was done chopping vegetables for a relish tray. I was certainly giving thanks at this point. I was thankful that this was all I had to do other than knit 2 hours in the car on the way up.

Gobble, Gobble

 

Old Tom Turkey wants to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving before he gets packed away until next year. I might get a little more done before the calendar turns over to December on Monday but I doubt it. We've got a long weekend packed with things to do.