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December 31, 2007

Bee Fields Shawl

So the other day I was preparing my first day of the year post. You know, the one where I review everything I've knit all year and set goals for the coming year. Guess what I realized? I never showed you any photos of the finished Bee Fields Shawl. I can't even believe that. It's the most gorgeous, most complex, most time consuming thing I knit all year and I never showed you. Until now.

I've discovered a problem with my new camera, though. All the pictures come out so wonderful I have a hard time deciding which ones to post. I hope you don't mind.

Posted by Carole at 8:00 AM | Comments (51)

December 28, 2007

Eye Candy Friday

I thought it would be fun to have the final Eye Candy Friday of 2007 actually be candy. This stuff comes from Hammond's Candies and it's worth every penny.

Have a terrific last weekend of 2007!

Posted by Carole at 7:00 AM | Comments (26)

December 27, 2007

Guess What I Got?

I received some wonderful gifts this Christmas - clothes and yarn and jewelry and books and DVDs just to name a few. And yet there's on present that surpasses all of them. No, it's not a spinning wheel. It's a new camera from Dale.

Of course, I told him exactly which one to get. I had been wanting a digital SLR for quite some time and I had gone back and forth on which model. I talked with friends and read reviews but ultimately I decided on the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I've just got a fondness for Canon and that influenced my decision more than anything else.

We missed the part about needing a compact flash card, though, so I couldn't use the camera until we made a trip to the store yesterday.

This was my first picture with the camera:

This was my second:

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Posted by Carole at 7:15 AM | Comments (51)

December 26, 2007

Twas the Day After Christmas

Thank you all for the Christmas wishes. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Some really fabulous gifts were exchanged, we ate terrific food, drank a fair amount of champagne, played silly games, and laughed a lot. There were moments of sadness as we missed those who weren't with us but the over all tone was one of gratitude and happiness.

Nevertheless, last night as Dale and I were getting ready for bed we took a moment to enjoy the Christmas tree together. It was a quiet time in the midst of all the crazy-holiday stuff and I found myself thinking that while it had been a really nice Christmas, I was relieved that it was over. Even when we keep it simple - which we did - there's still a lot of preparation and planning that goes into this holiday. It will be nice to not have anything to do for a while!

The good news is that I can now show you the things I knit for Christmas. Yes, you heard me right, I knit for Christmas. Most of you know that I don't knit Christmas gifts. There's too much pressure and stress to get things done and I've learned over the years that many people just don't truly appreciate hand knit gifts. However, the two I knit for this year were two of my dearest friends and I knew they would be thrilled.

A Fake Isle Hat for Blogless Sharon.

She loved it and put it on immediately, despite her fancy Christmas Eve outfit. It looked really cute on her and she has promised to wear it while feeding the sheep and the alpacas.

And a pair of Serpentine Mitts for my dear friend Wendy.

Wendy was also very pleased with her gift. I made them for her to wear at reenactments but she has declared that she doesn't want to save them for just that and I suspect she'll be wearing them much more frequently.

It felt really great to gift my friends with items. But I still don't knit for Christmas.

Posted by Carole at 8:00 AM | Comments (31)

December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas '07

I've got two new ornaments on my tree.

Some mittens. Aren't they cute?

And a wee little Santa hat. Also very cute.

I had planned on making more of these but, well, you know how those sorts of plans often go. Truly, though, they are very fast. Twenty minutes per item, max. It doesn't get much quicker than that!

Tonight our house will be bursting at the seams with family and friends. I've baked dozens of cookies and yesterday Dale and I made 180 Swedish meatballs. Today I'll be stuffing finger sandwiches, baking beans and a ham, and making lots of deviled eggs. Mmmmm.

You can be certain that while I'm doing all those things I'll be thinking of you. I wish we could all spend Christmas Eve together - what a party that would be!

A toast to my blog readers. Merry Christmas from all of us at Carole Knits!

Posted by Carole at 6:48 AM | Comments (54)

December 21, 2007

Eye Candy Friday

White snow. Red berries. Winter Solstice.

Posted by Carole at 6:45 AM | Comments (18)

December 20, 2007

A Package for Mason

I do a lot of online shopping and this time of year there are packages arriving every day it seems. Dale is often home in the middle of the day and he will take whatever packages have arrived and leave them on the kitchen table. Yesterday when I came home there were 2 packages in the kitchen. But then I noticed there was one that he had left in the mudroom. That's odd, I thought, and I went to investigate.

Turns out, it was a package for Mason and it was from his Auntie Cookie. Dale said when he brought it in the house Mason immediately came running and tried to tear into it. That's why it was in the mudroom when I got home - away from the prying claws of a certain cat.

Of course, the package was for him and I gave it right over. He proceeded to tear his way into it, making use of his claws and teeth.

I think it's pretty obvious that Mason loves his present of three catnip mouse hand knit by his favorite auntie.

Although, he did look a little glassy-eyed after he had played for a bit.

But yes, he's in lurve.

So, thank you, Auntie Cookie! Mason loves you lots!

Posted by Carole at 6:50 AM | Comments (41)

December 19, 2007

Socks for Lucy

Lucy is the daughter of my friend and colleague Amy. I have known Lucy since she was 10 years old and I've always had a special place in my heart for her. You see, Lucy is the one who connected us with our first Civil War reenacting group. It's a long story but the quick version is that Lucy's 8th grade history teacher was a reenactor and she knew that we had a burning passion for the Civil War and she got us together. We've taken Lucy with us to a few living histories over the years and she's really a great young woman.

Lucy started college this fall in upstate New York and when she did I started sending her emails. You know, just checking in, seeing how she was adjusting, offering a friendly voice in case she was lonely or just needed a friend. Turns out, what she needed was socks. It's cold in upstate New York!

The yarn is Claudia's Handpaint from the Loopy Ewe. The pattern is just a 60 stitch picot edge sock.

Lucy told me that her favorite color is pink but that she likes lots of other colors, too. I think these fit the bill.

I wouldn't knit socks for just any college freshman. Lucy is special and I'm so glad I could offer her a little bit of love in the form of a pair of socks.

Posted by Carole at 6:55 AM | Comments (37)

December 18, 2007

Cinnamon & Snow

I woke up Sunday with a craving for cinnamon rolls. Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the Christmas spirit, maybe it was residual visions of all the goodies at Faneuil Hall from the night before, but whatever the cause, I wanted something cinnamon-y.

I ignored my craving and sat down with a cup of coffee and read the morning blogs. And what did I find? Norma going on and on and ON about cinnamon. She linked to Pioneer Woman and her cinnamon rolls. I checked out the recipe but, quickly (and sadly) realized that I didn't have all the ingredients.

All was not lost, however, because Pioneer Woman's most recent post was the recipe for French Breakfast Puffs. Sure enough, I had all the ingredients. And they sounded so absolutely decadent and delicious and cinnamon-y that I just had to head right into the kitchen and make them.

Don't they look just like the ones on Pioneer Woman's page? Yup, they sure do.

And what better way to reward a hungry, cold and wet husband than with a fresh-and-hot-out-of-the-oven-cinnamon-muffin?

He approved. You will, too, I promise.

Posted by Carole at 6:30 AM | Comments (43)

December 17, 2007

Winter Wonderland

Here's a summary of our house last Thursday night.

The weather outside was frightful

But the fire was so delightful

It was the perfect night for our favorite Rankin Bass Christmas specials, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, and decorating the Christmas Tree.

Let it snow, indeed!

Posted by Carole at 6:45 AM | Comments (29)

December 14, 2007

Eye Candy Friday

The library poinsettia is particularly breathtaking this year, with pink, white and red blossoms. The red is my favorite, of course!

Posted by Carole at 6:40 AM | Comments (13)

December 13, 2007

Let's Review, Shall We?

All the excitement over my new studio and the compliments over my new mittens have left me speechless. So, in the interest of reflecting on the year past, I'm taking a card from Vicki's hand and doing a meme.

The idea is to post the first sentence from the first post of each month. But I'm switching it up a bit and posting the first sentence of my favorite post of each month.

January
You just never know what pattern is going to sweep through the knitting blogs like wildfire.
February
In Dale's family, Valentine's Day is affectionately called "Cream Puff Day."
March
Sit back, kids, because I've got a story that's over a year in the making.
April
Hannah went on a school trip with the history club last week.
May
Most of my yarn is kept on shelves in the computer room.
June
Dale and I were married ten years ago today.
July
Hannah failed her school eye exam this past spring so yesterday I took her to the eye doctor for her first check up.
August
On Friday I took Hannah for her back to school haircut.
September
As I'm sure you've figured out, my trip to Utah was wonderful.
October
We did something on our family vacation this summer that I never told you about.
November
Hannah wore her finished Central Park Hoodie on Thanksgiving, for which we were both thankful.
December
What's a knitter to do when she needs to wash all her socks and she can't hang them on the clothesline to dry because it's snowing?

You know, for something that I thought would be a quick post, this took a long time. I could have knit something new to show you in less time, in fact. Ahh well, at least I enjoyed my trip down blog memory lane.

Posted by Carole at 6:45 AM | Comments (17)

December 12, 2007

Annemor #16

I finished my Annemor #16 mittens from the Selbuvotter book and I love them!

This is my first stranded colorwork and once I got going I really enjoyed it. My only advice is to keep those floats loose. If you think they are loose enough then make them even looser.

The yarn is nothing special, just some Plymouth DK weight that I had lying around. Next time I'll use a better quality yarn but these are washable and that's a bonus since there's a lot of white.

My favorite part is the back of the thumb. I just love the way the palm pattern continues there. Quite clever, that.

The entertainment factor definitely made these go fast - I finished the pair in exactly one week. And I can't say enough about how wonderful this book is. Thank you, Jan, for recommending it. Allow me to now recommend it to all of you.

C'mon. You know you want mittens like this, too.

Posted by Carole at 6:15 AM | Comments (70)

December 11, 2007

A Room Of My Own

I never mentioned it on the blog but last May my 25 year old stepson Luke moved out. His room sat empty over the summer as we contemplated how to best use this new space. Last month we came up with a plan that made me very, very happy. The first part of the plan was to move Hannah into Luke's old room. This room has more privacy, more space, and a closet, so Hannah quickly agreed. Dale did lots of work and the room was finally painted (blue, brown and lime green) and Hannah took over the space. It's nice but that's not what made me very, very happy.

What made me very very happy was our plan for Hannah's old room. It has become MY studio. (We first called it a "craft room" but I told Dale I thought studio sounded way more sophisticated and that's what it's now called.)

Once again, Dale did lots of work.

Look how cheerful he is!

Bye bye, green.

Hellooooooo, red.

I like this photo because I think the shadows are cool but also because it shows the two new colors, red and taupe, along with the old green paint.

Are you ready for the finished pictures? I hope so because here they are!

We picked out this kitchen island piece from Ikea. It was a bitch to put together, but Dale suffered through it and got it done.

This bureau holds all my fabric.

That's my grandmother's old sewing machine table with my machine on top. And a new Ott lite, too.

I have to show you the trompe l'oeuil fireplace that we had painted years ago. It's my favorite feature of the room. The basket of handspun is a nice feature, too.

I think we've created an excellent space for all sorts of creative pursuits. A studio of my own. It's just what I've always wanted.

Posted by Carole at 6:30 AM | Comments (88)

December 10, 2007

Wreath Making

I hate you, too, Bloglines

Last week the Hungry Quilters (which we're still called even though we don't necessarily quilt anymore) got together at my sister-in-law Mary's house for an evening of wreath making. Mary has been making her own wreaths for over 15 years and when I asked her if she'd teach Lois, Sharon, Wendy and I how to do it she was eager to comply.

Now, Mary lives in a log cabin built by her husband, Randy. And I'll tell you, it doesn't get any cozier than a log cabin at Christmas time. The wood stove was providing the most luxurious warmth and the air was filled with the scents of pine boughs and cinnamon sticks and cloves. Mary had everything decorated beautifully with white lights and evergreens and red bows. There were home made chocolate chip cookies to munch on and warm apple cider for us to drink. I could have sat there and enjoyed the ambiance all night long.

But Mary would have none of that and we were quickly put to work. She provided us with straw wreaths and loads of pine boughs that Randy had brought home from his last trip to Maine. We attached bundles of pine to the straw wreaths with florist picks until there was no straw showing through.

Then we proceeded to decorate the wreaths with all sorts of natural things. We had red berries and feathers and milk pods. There were dried flowers and herbs and bird's nests. We used glue guns to attach our decorations and we each had a beautiful wreath in short order.

I love how different they all are!

Mary then gave us each a grapevine wreath and two huge baskets of pine cones. We glued the pine cones to the wreaths with lots and lots of hot glue. Wendy, who works in a florist shop, made us each a beautiful bow for our pine cone wreath. These went together super fast and are really quite elegant, I think.

We toasted our friend Debbie (we miss her so much), we reminisced and shared stories and had a wonderful night full of Christmas spirit.

Posted by Carole at 6:45 AM | Comments (32)

December 7, 2007

Eye Candy Friday

Apparently, Bloglines hates me again today.

Haul out the holly . . . Put up the brightest string of lights I've ever seen.

Posted by Carole at 6:40 AM | Comments (27)

December 6, 2007

Mittens for Me

Thank you all for the nice compliments on Hannah's new hat. I agree that it looks smashing on her. However, I found it on the floor under the computer desk this morning. You would think that Hannah would know better than to treat hand knits in this manner and yet, there it was. So, Hannah's in a bit of a hand knit time out, if you know what I mean.

The good news about that, though, is that these new mittens are now for me.

This is the farthest I have ever gotten on a stranded mitten. I've tried before but always ended up ripping them out because my tension would be all wonky and it would look like crap. But, a little advice from my library knitting group gurus and I think I'm finally on the right track with this stranded knitting business. Yippee!

I can't say I'm at the point of actually enjoying the process just yet, though. I haven't figured out how to hold both yarns at the same time -- I'm a thrower -- and that makes for slow going. On the other hand, I do love watching the pattern emerge and find myself knitting "just one more row" to see what happens next.

Sometimes I think I am way too easily entertained.

Posted by Carole at 6:50 AM | Comments (53)

December 5, 2007

Fairy Tale Hat

Have you ever seen something on a blog that made you want to cast on right that very minute? Of course you have -- we all have. It doesn't happen to me very often but it did last week when I saw Cassie's Gretel hat. I immediately purchased the pattern from Ysolda. Honestly, if I hadn't been out sick for the previous three days I think I would have feigned an illness so that I could have gone home immediately and started knitting.

I held it together, though, and started Thursday night. I worked on it every spare moment (and there weren't many considering I had to drop in at the paying job on Friday and the Christmas decorating and various social obligations) but I managed to finish it Sunday morning - just in time for our first snow fall.

Isn't it adorable on her?

The yarn is something I bought ages ago at a yarn shop on Cape Cod. I can't remember exactly where and I can't remember exactly when but I it was at least 2 years ago. I had been saving it for something special and it worked out perfectly for this hat.

I love the color and the cable-y goodness.

The recipient is quite pleased with it, too. Even if she is a goof ball.

Posted by Carole at 6:45 AM | Comments (56)

December 4, 2007

The Stockings Were Hung

What's a knitter to do when she needs to wash all her socks and she can't hang them on the clothesline to dry because it's snowing?

Hang 'em by the chimney, of course.

This is the first time I've ever done this and I can't believe I never thought of it before. They dried in no time and I got a lot of pleasure from glancing over at them all afternoon.

Too bad it wasn't Christmas Eve. I'd have made out like a bandit.

Posted by Carole at 6:50 AM | Comments (67)

December 3, 2007

Knitted Unto Others

A bit of blog business: The 20,000th comment came in on Thursday morning and it was left by my real life friend and fellow blogger,Betty! Watch for a special package from me, Betty. And thanks to all of you who comment. I read and respond to every single one. They really mean a lot to me.

Okay, let's talk about knitting! Charity knitting. Yeah! So, how did you do with Knit Unto Others? Due to my confinement to the couch for much of last week, I did better than I expected.

That's 3 pairs of mittens and 4 hats. Yeah me.

Truthfully, I don't like to make a big deal about charity knitting. It's something I do now and again and I try to be gracious about it but I do get antsy to get back to my regular knitting. So, for me anyway, Knit Unto Others is perfect. I do it for two weeks and then I'm done. No guilt, no glory.

Now is the time to tell us how you did with your charity knitting. Send an email to knituntoothersATgmailDOTcom and tell us you participated. You don't have to tell us how many things you knit or where you sent them because you only had to participate to be entered into the random drawing. However, it might be fun to add up all the different items that went out to all the different places so if you want to include that information, go on ahead and do that.

We'll award prizes next week so get those emails to us by Friday, December 7th, okay? And, thanks to the generosity of Anne, Gale, and Kirsten, they won't just be from Margene and I.

Let's hear it for the kindness of knitters everywhere!

Posted by Carole at 7:00 AM | Comments (27)