Christmas Treats and Visits

We had a houseful of guests for the holidays. After Christmas Eve services Great Grandpa, Poppop Billy was up from Connecticut and Moose was all prepared to take his order for homemade brownies.

Uncle Drew and Moose checked out the recipe and gathered the ingredients.
I loved the expressions on Uncle Drew's and Mommy's faces as Moose cracked the eggs for the brownie recipe.
He did a pretty good job since there were no shells in the batter.
The brownies were so good we didn't even get a chance to take a picture of them before they disappeared. But we made sure to save some for Santa.

The next morning we woke up to all these gifts so I guess Santa liked the brownies.

Moose loved his Viewmaster and gave everyone a chance to see the pictures in it.

Great Grandma, Nanny Boo, and Great Grandpa, Poppop Billy had as much fun opening gifts as did Moose.

Amanda received lots of knitting gifts this year.

And Moose really is a Moose in his new hat!

We stopped long enough to get a quick family photo of Phil and Amanda with Moose but as you can see, Moose was in a hurry to get back to the gifts.

Great Aunt Jamie, Uncle Drew, and Poppop received some yummy presents this year.

Nanny Boo and Aunt Jamie finally got to open their Ishbel shawls I made and they loved them.

Then came Moose's favorite gift.......

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! He carried that toy around for two whole days.
Sunday night Moose's best friend, Henry, came to visit and play. We all sat in the tent to hear stories just like at camp.

But all too soon it was time for Henry to go home. Moose was so happy to see him that he didn't want to let him go home.

It was a great visit with lots of family and friends and we look forward to the new year.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

From the Mason, Grandison, and Collins family, and don't forget Buzz Lightyear! wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with happiness, good health, and prosperity.

See you next year with some photos of Moose helping Uncle Drew make brownies and Christmas celebrations.

Four days before Christmas

Karin has been busy these past few weeks. She brought all these finished booties and a cute little hat to match.

And then dove right in for a quick consultation for Beth on the fine art of sewing together garter stitch seams.

Catie is in town for her holiday break from graduate school and picked right up where she left off over the summer on her scarf. Beth has made progress on the baby sweater she was knitting last week.

Maureen and Cathy are moving right along on their respective projects.

And I had to rip out a baby sweater and start over because there was this huge gap where a stitch should have been and I don't know how it got there!

My daughter took some portraits of Moose that I wanted to show off. He's such a handsome kid that I can't help myself! LOL!

And he is such a ham that he loves being the subject of the camera.

So with these happy smiles let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Just in time for Christmas!

Ian Thomas Kaulfuss, baby brother of Ellie, son of former Chick, Allison, and grandson of former Chick Joyce, made his debut yesterday, all 7 pounds and 9 ounces of him! What a beautiful baby!

We Chicks wish the whole family all the best and we can't wait to see Ian in person.

Welcome to the world, Ian and God bless you.

Filling up our inventory

Remember that pretty afghan Barbara was making last week? Well, she finished it and it's a beauty. Who knew stash yarn could make such a pretty finished product? Good job Barb!

We had a visitor this week. Kathleen's daughter, Pat, was in town for a visit. We always enjoy seeing what her knitting basket holds.
And she didn't disappoint us. This is the sweater she was making during her last visit a few months ago. She bought the yarn at WEBS when we all went for a field trip last spring. It turned out beautifully.

Kathleen started the hoodie sweater from the yarn she picked last week. I can't wait to see it with it's buttons.
I finished a shawl of my own design which I named "Flirtacious". Karin modeled it for me and until I saw it from a distance on someone else I couldn't fully appreciate the ruffled edge. I'm going to try to write up the pattern. Uh-oh! That means a trip through the cobwebs of my brain. Scary!!!
Since next week is Christmas week we Chicks are not sure if we'll be knitting together. So let me take this opportunity to wish you all a warm and wonderful holiday and a healthy and prosperous new year.

Getting things done

Finishing up some projects this week. I blocked this baby blanket, a square in the round. It starts in the center on double pointed needles and when it's big enough, the whole thing is transferred to circular needles.

Kathleen brought in another batch of baby hats and a sweater. She is the most prolific knitter I've ever known!
And she doesn't knit plain old stuff. Kathleen always picks such cute patterns.
Barbara is working on a stash busting blanket. It's looking really great and she's almost finished.
Beth made a Christmas stocking for ....well, I can't tell you because it is a Christmas gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll show you after Christmas.

Maureen is making progress on the pink blanket.
And I started a baby hat to go with the pink square in the round blanket.
Beth is making a baby sweater.

I finished another Christmas gift, a second Ishbel shawl. I used another one of Karin's hand dyed yarns.

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=franknits&search_type=handmade

Oh, to the nice lady I met at Capital Rep Theater Wednesday night, this is the finished version of the shawl I was knitting during intermission.

This one took a little longer. I started on Saturday night and finished Tuesday morning.

SHUT UP! LOL!

This was the first one I made a couple of weeks ago. The yarn was another of Karin's hand dyed and this one has a little cashmere in it so it's amazingly soft.

I really enjoy knitting this pattern and it's great for that one skein of special sock yarn you have stashed away and don't know what to make. I used a skein that had 450 yards of yarn and there was some leftover. So if you have a pretty sock yarn that is just too special for socks, this might be the way to go. Enjoy!

Look at what greeted me in the morning!

Last Christmas my son gave me a box with a flower pot, soil, and seeds as a stocking stuffer gift. This past spring I planted some of the seeds and then transplanted the seedlings when they were big enough. And just the other morning I was walking through my family room, past the picture window and something red caught my eye. Check it out!!! I don't know if we'll eat them though. The seed packet did not specify if they were hot peppers. It just said "peppers". I don't think I'll be taking the chance to find out. But they look so festive with my Christmas decorations.

Kathleen was a busy little knitter again last week. She brought all these in on Tuesday. There are going to be some warm babies around the Capital District this winter.

Beth made this darling Christmas stocking for a dog! Yes, I said dog. Can you see him in the pattern? I used to have a Christmas stocking for my pets when we had them, so why not! She did a beautiful job!

Maureen is working on a baby blanket and I'm making a shawl with Karin's hand dyed sock yarn. http://www.etsy.com/shop/franknit

Beth and Cathy were hard at work too.

Moose and his parents came for a visit on Thanksgiving weekend and Uncle Drew taught Moose how to play "Angry Birds" on his Smartphone. Now all Moose asks is if he can play Angry Birds. LOL! The little rascal can really play it too.

While he was here, Moose helped me put up some Christmas decorations. I let him arrange the Nativity Scene any way he wanted so he decided that all the figurines had to be in the barn. Baby Jesus is somewhere in the middle. I was holding my breath while he handled the figurines because some of these date back to when I was a little girl. My grandmother used them in her scene along with lots of others. She used a six foot long picnic table to make different villages with skiers, ice skaters, St. Peter's Basilica, and all sorts of characters. My sister and I used to laugh when we were old enough to understand some of those things weren't around when Jesus was born. But it made an interesting holiday focal point. I keep mine on a much smaller scale.
It's time for some shopping and baking so I'll leave off for now. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. And for all my Jewish friends, Happy Hannukah!

A lesson in patience

When I tell you I've been waiting almost 15 years for a plant to bloom you will probably think I'm off my rocker! But my oncidium, for which I have faithfully cared and repotted biannually, has finally blossomed! I bought it shortly after I received my first orchid as a thank you gift from a friend. It was blooming at the store and looked so pretty that I decided I had to add it to my collection of houseplants. It continued to grace my garden window for a few more weeks and then the blossoms dried and dropped, as spent blossoms should. I watered it regularly and followed the guidelines for it's care. And I watched...and watched...and waited...and waited. FOR 15 YEARS! It grew new pseudobulbs and roots and outgrew it pot every couple of years. It had me well trained too. It got a new repotting whenever it needed. But no flowers. Until this year. I think it was well worth the wait.

My dendrobium, another slow grower, keeping company with the oncidium.

I finished some shawls this week and they are blocked. This purple multi is from my imagination, just yarnovers and K2tog wherever I felt the urge. The yarn was donated to the Chicks by my friend Elise Hiller. Thanks Elise!

When I last visited my daughter a lady stopped me and wanted my shawl I was wearing. She was a tough cookie to convince she couldn't have mine LOL! but I was able to make one just for her. I like it so much I'm not so sure I want to give it away! Well, I still have mine.

This soft baby alpaca shawl is a pretty lilac and also a pattern I just winged my way through. It's amazing what you can do with a few yarnovers and k2tog.

Kathleen finished another Leaf and Lace hat and sweater. She always has such great buttons for her sweaters too. And under the sweater is a baby blanket she made with a very soft fluffy yarn.

Elaine wanted to show us a finger puppet she made for her granddaughter and I caught her having some fun!

Sheila shows it with it's turkey feather tail. A little stuffing and some eyes and it will make a little girl laugh with delight.
Kathleen is working on another shawl for our new project. We're making shawls for mothers and clothes for babies for Esme's Comfort (http://esmescomfort.com/).
And Sheila is making progress on her Pelerine http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pelerine-so40

I was concentrating so hard on my knitting Tuesday night that it completely slipped my mind to take photos of the evening group at work. Sorry Chicks! I'll make sure I remember next time.

We are taking next Tuesday off for the holiday preparations and family visits.

My wish for all of you is that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your turkey dinner.