Thursday, December 27, 2007

Lovely Christmas Gift from Deb

A lot of hugs to you Deb for all this lovely gifts. I love it all. I recieved this delicious gifts from Deb. You are one of a kind. I am sorry I first got time to show the pictures now. The gifts was opened the 24. december.

1. Interweave Knits Magasin - Holiday Gifts
2. The Crime Santa Cruise
3. An CD with Christmas Music
4. A Christmas ornament
5. A recipie how to make Eggnogs Cookies. I will try baking them for the 31. December Evening.
6. 100g handpainted yarn from Colinette my favorite color
7. A snowman (Finger Puppet) with a peppermint flavored candy stick

Thank you very much Deb for the gifts. I love it all. You really are a sweeti.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Thank you Irene!



















Thank you so much to Irene for my wonderful Christmas swap package. As you can see she sent no end of treats. There were lovely knitting patterns (given the $ doldrums I have only lusted after Rowan patterns--how nice to have some) and a copy of our current read. Not only did she send a recipe, she also sent some of the cookies and the spices with which to make them. (Please note that cookies are not in photo...they were really good:)). Also included were lovely red hearts for the tree made by her mother, and candles made by her sons (who obviously inherited their mother's craftiness), plus she sent paper nisse and a woven angel from her childhood. This was a unique and thoughful box that--beyond the presents--made me feel included in a very special Danish Christmas.

Thank you Irene and Happy New Year

Monday, December 24, 2007

Thank You Barbara and Karen!

Just look what I received in the mail today - not one, but two Holiday Swap packages. (yes - I had two pals for this swap!) They both arrived perfectly timed on Christmas Eve, and I was overwhelmed by both of them. I opened Barbara's first (we swapped with each other), and could not believe all that was in it - couldn't even get it all in one picture. There were ornaments - wooden ones, a beautiful embroidered felt bird, a cute

nutcracker, and toy soldier. A kit to make a beaded medicine bag, some Plymouth cotton yarn, body wash,lotion and lip balm, candy, coffee, a beautiful fabric decoupaged serving dish, The Knit It Holiday issue, and the book, Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingsbury, which I can't wait to read. And some great recipes I can't wait to try.

I am really overwhelmed by Barbara's generosity - thank you so much Barbara.





But there is more!

Next I opened the package from Karen - and once again was overwhelmed! And once again could not fit everything in one picture. There were little notes on each package - lots of fun.
There was a container of Ginger Snaps, and some Cinnamon Plum tea - which was inspired by the book she sent - A Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich - Visions of Sugar Plums (how clever is she!) a recipe for Lebkuchen (German Honey Bars) a pop-up magnifier to help with that small print, an adorable keychain sock blocker with a pattern for making a mini sock to put on it - and some Opal sock yarn to make it with! I think that will turn into big socks for me though! There was also a cute mini stocking that I have turned around the wrong way in the picture - it has a star on the front of it.

And, if you look closely, under all of those goodies is a Trader Joe's bag - I never have enough project bags!
Thank you so much Karen - again, I am overwhelmed by your generosity!

I feel like I'm am so blessed to have found all of you wonderful "whoduknit" friends and hope that all of you will be spoiled as much as I was today!!!!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Dead of Midnight Winner

Well after much stress and so many sleepless nights (if you believe any of this, I have some land to sell you....lol), I have come to a decision. My decision is not to have one winner, but to have two. There were two projects that I could not pick between.

One was Penny's bookmark and the other was Jane's green socks.
I loved the explanations Penny put as to why she thought a bookmark was a neat thing to knit and the fact that I just love all kinds of bookmarks anyway.

I am partial to anything green, especially socks my newest passion in knitting.
Both projects are awesome, so I made an executive decision to award both entries a pair of wooden sock blockers.

Since I'm still in the motel and using Chuck's laptop, can Penny and Jane please email me your shoe size and address to mail the blockers. All of my addresses are stored on my desktop at home.

Congratulations to Penny and Jane!

And to everyone else, I really enjoyed seeing your projects and reading a description of what you would have made if time had allowed!

Happy Knitting!

Deb
gallerybydeborah@gmail.com

Favorite Ornament Contest Winner.....

Is Patty! Thanks for posting that adorable ornament. I'll send you a list of prizes to choose from.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Holiday Decoration Contest

We had a lot of fun with this one last year so I thought we would do it again. Post of photo of your favorite Holiday ornament or decoration and tell us the story behind it. A winner will be drawn on the first day of winter (December 22). The prize - a holiday/winter themed book.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The 300th Post Winner is.....

Stephanie! Congratulations on posting Whoduknit's 300th post. A set a Mini Merry's will be on it's way to you soon!

From halfway 'round the world


My swap package arrived all the way from Denmark and is now waiting patiently under the tree (blue package with gold ribbon at front and center) for me to open it on Christmas Day. I can not wait (though expect my family will make sure I do). I'm a huge admirer of Irene's creativity and knitting abilities.(Really everyone you need to go visit her blog--she rocks!).
Many thanks Irene, and I'll post photos of the opened package after Tuesday.

I can finally celebrate Christmas

I just now found out I passed my comp. exam....and have to share with everbody cause I am bursting and my dog jsut isnt getting it!!!

I think I have lost about 2500 lbs and my neck and shoulders have relaxed into normal position!!!!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Dead of Midnight Project that Wasn't

My ambition is greater than my ability at this point! After reading Dead of Midnight I imagined knitting a pair of "Firestarter" socks by Yarmissma in a pink Dream in Color Smooshy yarn called COOL FIRE. Alas, there were too many other projects to complete before Christmas. (Plus as a new sock knitter it was going to take some concentration to get the "toe-up" construction figured out.)

Just imagine our cool murderer standing there in her pink ensemble, complete with pink socks!

Check out the beautiful socks at www.yarnissima.vox.com

Merry Christmas from the OR Cascades


Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone. Hope you get all that you asked for, needed or wanted, that the sweets are never fattening and the yarn is always perfect.--Stephanie (with the DD and DH)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Thank you Joan from Texas

I received my wonderful package last week on Thursday. I had to find where I put the camera!
There was a copy of A Christmas Beginning by Anne Perry that looks like a great read. I never read any of her books, can't wait to start it. It also came with a bookmark. And the wildest postcard from Texas! The recipe Joan sent was for Cranberry Salsa. It looks great to make. Hubby will have to make 2 separate batches though. His (jalapenos) and hers (wuss here, no hotties!) Also there was this little round box full of Chocolate Bars. Yummy milk and white chocolate swirled, with pistachios and cranberry's. These were so good I didn't want to share them with hubby!! I some what begged Joan for the recipe for these special treats and she was very kind to give it to me. I will share that with hubby.
I got a cute little sweater (below). We didn't put a regular tree up this year so I have it hanging on the mantel with the stockings. It looks so adorable hanging up there. But hopefully next year it will go on the "official" tree.

This package came at a time when I need cheering. Thank you very much Joan. And I hope You and everyone here at WhoDuknit have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!!

Merry Christmas from Marielle and Santa too!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Thank you Patty!

It really is killing me to be camera-less!

Anyway - today I recieved the most lovely box from Patty in Florida. And at the risk of spoiling things, Patty, by next week you are going to know why - before I opened the package - I was having a giggling fit! It is such a small world...

Anyway - I recieved a lovely recipe parchment! A recipe for Jeff's Double Batch Dutch Babies (try saying that real fast) that looks so good....I just think a sample should have been sent too!! LOL!

A lovely Christmas tin with handmade crocheted snowflakes in them which will go on the tree tonight....I know you made them Patty and I thank you so very much. I love those snowflakes. I once tried to make some...yeah....I didnt cherish those like I am going to cherish these!

A book I have never seen before and cant wait to start - complete with a bookmark - The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson.

Holiday ornament balls filled wiht kisses and reeses pb cups (you know - those things I have been craving and snarking since Halloween!!) And the CUTEST "Gold Antler Reindeer" with more candy. He is so cute - I am going to have to put him up high to keep him for myself from my grandkids!

Great gifts - the swap was great fun - thank you so much Patty!!!!

Package received from Penny

Good morning everyone!

I hope everyone is surviving the storms that seem to be covering most of us. We were supposed to go see Beauty and the Beast yesterday afternoon and Lindsey's Christmas Concert at Baldwin Wallace College was supposed to be yesterday evening. Everything was cancelled. It wasn't that we had that much snow (about 6 inches) but the wind kept everything blowing around all night.



If any of you caught any of the Browns v. Buffalo Bills game from yesterday, you saw what the big boys got to play in . . . silly game.

I remained ensconced in my home all day. We finished decorating and I finished most of my Christmas cards (I think).

Therefore, you all know how very excited I was to get a package from Penny this morning.



There is a bag of wonderful candy (which I am going to hoard and limit myself to one, maybe two, well, possibly three a day). A mystery ("Sugar Cookie Murder"). Two lovely crocheted ornaments -- they don't show up in the picture too well, but they are very lovely. Some handcream (my hands greatly thank you), a little notebook and a bookmark.

Thanks Penny!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Dead of Midnight (and the Holiday Swap)

Well, I had great plans to make a project for Dead of Midnight. I figured a toe up cast sock was in order, but alas, I never got it made. Sigh. I do have ideas for A Farewell to Yarns and maybe I will have better luck getting that made!
I recived a very awesome Holiday swap package from Jane this week. Great knitted sheep and lama oraments, chocolate, and lots of cool reading material! The best treat was the custom note cards she made for me! I am thinking I might have to order some more from her!



Thank you so much Jane!

Dead by midnight


Here is my project. It had to be something easy, so I could read and knit. So it was a set for my grandchild, Markus, age 3.

Friday, December 14, 2007

SLIP KNOT PROJECT PRIZE RECEIVED

There was this big puffy in my mailbox today and it was my Slip Knot Prize from Joyce.

What a wonderful prize I received. A great sock pattern and some lovely yarn to make the socks with. One skein is of Kroy and funny thing is I have two other skeins of it and neither of them have the same dye lot. Even this third is a different dye lot but the colors are not really that much different from each other. There is also a skein of Bernat Hot Socks which is photographed upside down. Sorry about that. There was a lovely note included. AND there is some delicious candy. Here is a close up of all the candy.
I can't tell what these photos look like on the blog but they seem fine in my camera.
Thank-you Joyce for my prize.

DEAD OF MIDNIGHT PROJECT COMPLETED

I have finished my Dead of Midnight project and will be giving it to a friend for her birthday which was last week. I wish I could afford to give her more but, alas....

Anyway, since this story was about mystery books being sold in a cafe bookshop I made a bookmark. The shop should have bookmarks for sale or give one with every book purchased. Here is a photo of the one I knit. It is made with Grace cotton and is probably a bit bigger than what it should be but I like it. Here is a close up of it.
You can find it here: http://grannys-garret.com/pattern/leandra_e.pdf. It is bookmark Leandra which I got from Pattern Central here: http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/bookmarks.php if the the first link doesn't work.
It is an easy knit and does make a good gift whether given with a book or not.

My New Favorite Ornament


Vigdis made this Gnome for me and sent it in the Christmas Around the World Swap - isn't he adorable?


Wednesday, December 12, 2007

My favorite ornament!

I love Bugs Bunny! Good clean fun is what you can find in the old cartoons. When Hallmark started having Bugs made into ornaments I had to get this one. My favorite character that played opposite of him was this cute little character called, Gossamer. He was first seen in the 1946 film Hair-Raising Hare. I have a special little tree where my favorite little Hallmark's hang at Christmas, but during the rest of the year he is in my curio cabinet. You have to admit, he is cute.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Recipe Contest Winner

Thanks for posting all of those yummy recipes for left-over turkey! The winner of the drawing is......Casey! Please send me your address Casey (grammiknits@yahoo.com) and I'll send you the cookbook.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Leftover Turkey Recipe Contest

(For Whoduknit Members Only!)


Post your favorite recipe for using up those Thanksgiving leftovers by Sunday, December 2 and your name will go into a drawing for a cookbook put together by the kids in my school as a fundraiser. (Even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving - post a recipe for using up any leftovers!)