SEWmuchKNITting

We celebrated Christmas a little early yesterday with my Mom and Dad. A pork loin roast (marinated with garlic, rosemary and olive oil) was on the menu, along with some of the kids' favorites: broccoli salad, cheesy potatoes and red applesauce jello. Apple pie and homemade cookies (thanks to the Cookie Walk at the library!) rounded out the dessert menu. This evening is the annual Christmas Dinner with my local quilt group, an event I look forward to every year! We have a handmade ornament exchange, and I made mine last night of course. Thanks to The Feathered Nest for a great tutorial! I also need to take a dessert to share, since I failed to meet the UFO challenge in 2009. These Mini Cappuccino Cheesecakes will be my contribution.....I think I need to sample one just to be sure they taste okay! Do you think anyone will notice that the plate will hold 23 cheesecakes and not 24???? UPDATE: If you count you'll see that there are fewer than 23 cheesecakes....those $%&# li...

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Chicago at our daughters' condo, and the whole family was able to come this year! We had a blast, like we always do when we are all together. We had a great Thanksgiving meal, played a board game , watched sports and saw some great theater . Eating at Fogo de Chao was a highlight (the salad bar....OMG!), and I think the guys really rocked the 'all-you-can-eat' option! I didn't want to knit on the legwarmers since they require my undivided attention(!), and so I brought along a little Lorna's Laces worsted and some size 4 DPNs. LOVE this sock, so warm and cushy! I'm ready to knit the toe decreases and start the second one.....no second-sock-syndrome for me!

Daughter Kristen has asked for some legwarmers and chose the pattern Mosey from Knitty .com . As you can see, I knit the two ribbed cuffs first, since knitting 2x2 ribbing is not my favorite. The cable patterning is fun and not very complicated....that is if you pay attention to the chart and don't get distracted! Last night when I knit on this project, I noticed that it wasn't resembling the charts at all, and needed to rip back 8 rows or so to correct my errors. Yes...errors plural! I'm just glad I noticed it early, and now I think I'm back on track. These are being knit on size 7 Denise needles with Paton's Classic Wool in Winter White.

Woo-hoo!! I finished my February Lady Sweater ! Actually....... it's been finished since early last summer, just needed to have the ends woven in, washed/blocked and buttons sewn on. I am REALLY happy with it! I don't have much experience knitting adult-sized sweaters, and I think this one is a winner. Love the color, love the yarn ( Dream in Color Classy - November Muse colorway), and love the fit, altho wearing it over a brown turtleneck doesn't show off the lace work very much. I even think the buttons match perfectly, I picked them up at Haberman Fabrics : they have SUCH a button selection!

Last weekend I got a chance for a quick get-away with some of my quilting buddies. The 5 of us went to Caroline's Sewing Room in West Branch for a mini-retreat: a weekend of sewing and relaxation. Usually when I get the chance to spend a whole weekend sewing, I am under a deadline for one quilt or another. This time was the exception! So, I grabbed these 9 inch (well, most of them were 9 inches!) blocks from two Christmas block exchanges that I participated in with my local quilt guild. The blocks were from 2004 and 2006......high time they got placed into a quilt! I am really pleased with this top, and can't wait for it to be quilted and on my bed. I plan to take a much better picture of the finished quilt. FYI: I made the block in the top row, second from the left, and in the fourth row, third from the left.