Replenishing the depleted stash

Survived Christmas. One more little "craft" gift to show off. I received one of these many years ago and have always wanted to make some. And this year I finally did:



I don't think this is legible, but here is what it says:

This is a very special gift that you can never see. The reason it's so precious is it's just for you from me. Whenever you are lonely, or ever feeling blue, you only have to hold this gift, and know that I love you. You never can unwrap it, please leave the ribbon tied. Just hold the box close to your heart, it's filled with love inside.




Okay, enough with the mushy...

I also finished another pair of short socks (this time for myself!):



Quick toe-up socks. Made with Knit Picks Bare yarn. Very cute and easy to work with. I have found that making a new stitch every fourth stitch in the second to last row gives me enough stretch to get the socks on easily.




Being off for two weeks, and not going anywhere, there is a lot of time for movies and knitting. My goal, aside from replenishing my "gift stash," which has been depleted for Christmas, is to use up my boxes of remnents:





I started out with this artsy purse/bag:



Just a plain front and back purse with three looped cords braided together for a handle.



And pockets sewn on in different places. One around the side, one around the bottom, and one even on the inside.




A pretty bright yellow button. Lots of different fancy and colorful yarns, like Lion Brand's Fun Fur and Fancy Fur in different colors, all kinds of left-over Lily yarns, and whatever else I could find bits and pieces of in my boxes.


I really liked the result. So I decided to continue with the patchwork theme:



Just cast on about 60 stitches on some chunky needles and knit along... Maybe a vest? Or another bag/purse thingy? Who knows...

All I want for Christmas...

... is to get in one more blog before December is over as well (no post in November). Not much blogging, but I did knit. Lots of homemade presents again this year:

Socks for Wanda (who came for just a couple of days, but it was still great to see her!):





Remember the toe-up "circle socks" I made on our road trip around this time last year? The original design was on Ravelry by Anne Campbell. Yarn is Patons Kroy Socks 4 Ply.




Socks for Melanie (our new friend and fellow exchange student host mom):

Oops, it appears, I forgot to take a picture of them before I gave them away. I need to catch her wearing them...

A very simple Lion Brand Fun Fur scarf for her niece, Brianna, who, by the way is a wonderful, beautiful, I-am-running-out-of-adjectives young lady:



A chap stick or lip balm holder with Sugar'n Cream for Theresa:



And presents from the heart (with no material content) for Malinda and Gwen (the two invited me this year to come along on their annual pre-Christmas shopping madness trip - it was one of my best Christmas presents to hang out with them for hours while hunting for some last minute presents), Theresa and Katrina (not knitted, but hand-made, nonetheless):

Oh, and, of course, the usual barrage of cookies for friends and coworkers. This year, I had a lot of help with baking from Theresa, which was fabulous!!! It was so much more fun and so much easier. She loves to bake and decorate, but she also likes to eat cookies :), as do I, of course. Aside from tons of cookies, we also made the most wonderful cheesecake (with a few tweaks: add a little eggnog and reduce the sugar, no extra sugar in the crust, 6 eggs instead of 5 eggs and 2 yokes, and then drip a little eggnog on top, along with a little nutmeg and cinnamon) - a real joint family effort - it was quite cute, the four of us in the kitchen, all doing our part to make this work.

And then Theresa also made a super yummy and very light cake - Maulwurfkuchen - that was gone within minutes :).




Now, if that doesn't look yummy!!!!

Socktoberfest, again...

Gotta hurry and get my Socktoberfest entry in. I did actually knit a few pairs of socks this month. A pair for Theresa's birthday...




a pair for Katrina (sh... she doesn't know yet)...




and a pair of little toe socks...

I ran out of the Patons Kroy Socks in Denim Jacquard and actually found a skein on eBay. So I could finish the pair I had started. I was amazed, though, how different the colors were on that one skein that came from a different batch. Oh, well, they are just socks...

Lots of people gonna get socks for Christmas this year or whatever other handmade little things. I have definitely picked up my production some again, but am still a bit uninspired these days. I do have to show off my cute little toddler hoodie, though. Here is little baby A.:




Isn't she just the most adorable little thing?!



Btw, the doggy in the background is Woody, a Shar Pei mix, who is desperately looking for a permanent home.

But back to Christmas presents... I also finished a few more picture frame earring holders. Just need to get my husband to get out the nailgun to assemble them with me. Oh, and another shopping bag:

Confessions of a Sporadic Knitter...

I can't believe I have not posted anything since March. I have a lot of different excuses.

Let's see...

Excuse # 1:

Somehow, knitting, in my old German mind, is for cold days, long winters. And since I live in Texas, I have a hard time getting the knitting needles out in the summer.

So, at least I made some summer fare. Technically, not knitting, but at least some form of handy-craft. Flip-flops for all the summer visitors (Alicia modeling a pair):




Or...

Excuse # 2:

I have been working longer hours here and there and had less time for knitting...

But you can always use some shopping bags (and they also make great gifts - one of them was for my lovely friend Jane):







Okay, so technically, those were not knit, either. Maybe crocheting is for summer and knitting for winter?

Or...

Excuse # 3:

First, we had summer house guests, and now we have an exchange student from Germany (a permanent house guest for a year), and I have just been too busy. Here is another one of my lame excuses (the excuse is lame, not Theresa!!!) as we pick her up from the airport:



Which brings us to...

Excuse #4:

What with all the rearranging we had to do to accommodate the extra people in the house...

Or, how about...

Excuse #5:

We have been fostering puppies and dogs...

Here are Inuit, Tammy, and Penelope:



And this is our current foster dog, Woody:



Or...


Excuse #...

Oh well, enough with the excuses.

As you can see, I actually have been working on the occasional project (as you can see me sitting and knitting with my daughter):



I actually have been knitting, or crocheting, or whatever. I just have been really bad about posting. And I have an excuse for that, too:

FACEBOOK!!

But to catch you up, here are the other things I have been working on:

I crocheted a small cell phone holder for around the neck, because I have a wireless blue-tooth (is that redundant?) headset that doesn't reach if I hold the phone in my hand or have it in a pocket or purse. And I listen to music on my cell phone, so I need a good connection.

I finished another little baby blanket (squares are knit, border crochet) with the remainder of the yarn I had for my co-worker's baby blanket. This one will be for Karen:



Of course, with the obligatory lady bug!!!



A little baby/toddler hoodie. I have another one (much smaller) in the works, but am not sure if that one will ever get finished :). You know how that goes... But here is the one that did get done:



With pocket, of course :)




And remember, I had all those different kinds of Sugar'n Cream from all kinds of different projects.

I crocheted a little hat for a very old doll (almost as old as I am):



And I little iPod cozy with lipstick holder:



I tried to use all the remains up with this pillow cover:



It was also a nice chance to try out all kinds of different patterns.




I also made another attempt at felting:





As you can see, lots of little projects. But nothing really earth-shattering. Just lacking the right motivation (and time). But, Austin temperatures are finally below 100 degrees and maybe the slightly cooler and more pleasant ambient climate will help me to take a closer look at my stash...

Sugar and Spice, ahem, Sugar'n Cream...

I love Lily Sugar'n Cream yarn. It is so versatile, comes in an endless number of different colors and color-combinations, is easy to work with, and is inexpensive. I had already made all kinds of little things with that cotton yarn, like these cute little soap sacks for the shower:





Or this little cell phone (or i-pod) "hoodie":


I have also made a baby blanket and matching hat and socks for my friend Cissy and her baby girl Ayla a while back:



I had some of the orange-pink-yellow left and wanted to crochet another easy market bag similar to these I had already whipped up at some other time (also with Lily yarn):



But in the end, it didn't turn into a market bag, but rather a totally improvised, cute little backpack, which immediately found a new owner in Jenna, my friend Malinda's little 6yo daughter.


As always, my daughter the ever patient model...


And to show my appreciation to the model, I made this little lip balm holder for her:


...which she promptly attached to the belt of her robe (but which also fits around her wrist or could be attached to a key chain).


I still have a whole big bag full of Sugar'n Cream in all kinds of different colors. Oh, the possibilities...