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!!!!