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The WIP Sunday update
Maybe if I make a point to blog my gift project progress, it’ll help keep me on track? Hats: 1/4 (maybe more, if I have time, but 4 is the minimum) Quilt blocks done: 2/48 (Oy.) Socks… to be honest, I have no idea who I’m even knitting these for, yet, but socks always seem like a lovely gift idea for those I love. The trouble, though, is knowing what size the recipient wears to knit them to the correct length. Ornaments made: A big, fat zero.
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Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic
56 days until my deadline on this quilt (right before Christmas). 48 blocks to make this up quilt. Even if I did one block a day, that won’t account for holidays where sewing isn’t possible, nor will it account for the time it will take me to quilt the beast on my tiny machine and then hand-stitch the binding up… it also doesn’t take into account that it’s supposed to be a Christmas gift and, therefore, a surprise even though he knows he’s getting a quilt (he asked for it, after all) so sewing too much of it around Declan isn’t going to be ideal. Do the math and factor…
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Easy as Pie(ish)
Pattern: Easy as Pie, though knit without the edging Yarn: Handspun from some Fat Cat Knits fiber I realized, today, that I’m in a funk, so the goal of this weekend is some solid self care. Sunshine, making sure I eat (if you know me, you know that I constantly eat… that should have been my first tip that something was off), and spending some time doing the things I (usually) love. With the holidays coming up, and money being tight at the moment, I’m throwing myself into some gift knitting/sewing with the bazillion craft supplies I own. Probably more adventurous than I actually have the time and energy for,…
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Baby Hikers Cardigan
I don’t write here much, so I figured with a random day off of work I might as well show off the sweater I finished for the grandkid in the family. I feel like a giant slacker that this is the first handknit he’s going to get since he was born in December… but life is busy and I don’t get to knit as much as I used to.
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Macaron practice
I’m working on my 2nd attempt at macarons. I tried them a few weeks ago when I was feeling overwhelmed and like I needed to just… make something. The first batch wasn’t terrible, but obviously not right. With the long holiday weekend I figured I’d attempt them again, this time aging the egg whites. They’re still sitting, waiting to develop that “skin” before baking, but so far I think the texture from piping is much better than the last batch. I threw in some orange zest into these, because I love the combination of chocolate and orange, and I’m thinking maybe a white chocolate/orange filling if they turn out.
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The not at all picture perfect Christmas
I am generally a grinch about the holidays. It’s not the decor, or the songs, or the cookies – it’s the rushing around everywhere, the buying gifts for every damn person and their brother when you know that I know that you don’t need another candle/movie/whatever else it is that I finally settle on buying you because I feel obligated to give you a gift. Humbug. But having a child does stupid things to you, and this year I actually looked forward to the holidays a bit. The rush of the holidays was more stressful, despite my very organized Christmas spreadsheet, but we managed and it all led up to…
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This week, in photos
My stocking was finally blocked and dried, so it was hung on the fireplace with the rest. And now I need to come up with a stocking for the new grandbaby for next year. Spent Sunday baking and making candied orange peel The niece and nephews came over to shovel the snow, so Sean took Declan out to play in it. Orange peel drying before it can be packaged up for gifts Ice off the porch – the whole street was a sheet of ice this morning after temps warmed up enough for it to rain but not enough to keep it from immediately freezing up.
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The week, in photos
This year Christmas came early, and in the form of my very own DSLR. For years I’ve used Sean’s 20D, or (my preferred) Canon point-and-shoot because the 20D was big and bulky for my smaller hands. I hate sharing – I’m just not that kind of person. I like my own computer, my own camera, my own Kindle, etc. Sean knew this, and gave me the option to pick between two cameras he had already looked into for me. The Rebel T6 is what I decided on, and shortly after it arrived I unboxed it so I could start using it already (opening presents as an adult on Christmas morning…
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Holiday crafting
The whole house has been hit with what appears to be (or at least feel like) the plague. We just keep cycling through, with one of us passing it to the rest of us and, for a brief moment, we all feel somewhat healthy again before it’s right back downhill for all of us. I’m beyond tired of it and my patience is wearing super thin at this point. The lack of any personal space with a toddler on a normal day drives me bonkers, but with a sick toddler? DO NOT WANT. Gone, I guess, are the days of a leisurely sick day – the one where you get to…
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Today feels like a good day to tell you about my weekend.
I don’t want to talk about the election today – there’s nothing I could say that others haven’t already said, anyway, and there’s really no use in dwelling on things. So allow me to distract you (and myself) and tell you about my weekend. For 6 years now I have been blessed to have my best friends join me in a cabin in the middle of the woods for a knitting weekend together. It’s something that started off one year after I complained about how expensive knitting “retreats” are, and has since bloomed into this annual tradition that we all look forward to. We take turns cooking for each…
– Handmade in Ohio –
