Why Not!

Since I finished the king size quilt for a friend at work I decided that it cleared enough room off of my plate that I could start a new project. Luckily this project has a very short due date. I started another baby quilt for a different friend at work. It is due to her tomorrow. I have worked a little each night and have finished the quilt top and layered it last night. Tonight is the night for quilting, and hopefully I can get the binding on and throw it in the wash. It is such a cute quilt, if I don't say so myself. It is a view of a football field, looking through the helmet of a player. I would say that I'll post a picture, but I've yet to do that anytime I've said it!

I also started my first knitting project on double pointed needles.... 3 times. With some of the yarn from my secret pal I decided to try a hat for the pickle. It is a ribbed pattern, with faux cables from Knitting for Babies. I have a hard time remembering what I just did, so the knit 2 pearl 2 ribbing looks great on the first needle, a little less good on the 2nd needle and totally random by the third needle. I also thought I dropped a stitch or 2 off the end of a needle, so picked up what I thought was the dropped stitch to realize that it wasn't a dropped stitch. Then I decreased to get rid of it. At this point I decided to pull it all out and start again. This time I made a note as to what stitch starts each needle so while I might mess up on a needle I know if I should be starting with a knit or a pearl. Is there a secret I don't know to remembering what you should be doing? I have tried to look closely at a knit and a pearl stitch, but they both look the same to me when the come off the needle. I guess I just need to pay more attention and not plan on doing it while watching TV.

We went up to my parents last weekend to celebrate Christmas. I gave the girls and Michael the Mr. Dangles. They all seemed to really like them. I never did get around to making clothes for them, instead made necklaces with their names on them out of Shrinky Dinks. And I just went with buttons for eyes and stitched them on tight. I don't think it is a problem for the girls, but Michael might think they need a chew.

I am doing Christmas dinner at our house Sunday. D's parents are coming. I really wanted to cook it all myself and not have a pot luck affair. The MIL was really adamant about bringing something so she was assigned an appetizer. It will be interesting to see if she can manage to not bring something for dinner.

Tomorrow night D and I will be having Fondue. I am hoping to make it the Christmas eve tradition. We borrowed a pot off of a friend, but might need to invest in one of our own.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

'Tis the Season

I LOVE on-line shopping. There is really only 1 store that I venture into during the holiday season and that is for stocking stuffers. Everything else I search for and buy on-line. Lately I have been doing a little shopping on line and came home two 2 boxes. One huge one which is a sled for the pickle (shhhh don't tell him!) and the other I thought was a book that I ordered off Amazon's used book site. I thought it was funny that it was sent in such a big box for 1 book so you can imagine my confusion when I opened it and out poured skiens and skiens of yarn and a calendar and a card. It took me a moment to figure it out. It was my package from my secret pal, who was Kirstie (www.drivebyknitting.com and www.livejournal/users/itty_dragon). The package was awesome! I love the Calendar and the yarn... I will get a picture up soon, I seem to have misplaced the camera for the moment. Kirstie and I both lamented a bit about how we wanted to do more for our pals. I have not yet sent my final package as I'm waiting on something that I ordered for her. Hope it shows up soon!
My mom was down for the weekend and we hit 2 craft shows that were going on. The first at the north market was pretty small, and there was nothing there that really sparked me. On Sunday we went to Winter Fair at the fair grounds. There were so many beautiful things. I found an ornament for the Pickles first Christmas (It is a partridge in a pear tree.... Think I can keep this theme up every year?) and I also got him a bird pull for the light in his room. D holds him up and he loves turning on and off the light and the bird goes perfect with the theme of his room.
On the shopping front, I think I'm doing pretty well. I have D pretty much done, except for stocking stuffers. I have put together a Pickle calendar for the families, I have L's shopping done. I still need something for a little girl (almost 2) who loves princesses, particularly Ariel. Any suggestions out there? D is going to put together a baseball package for my dad, who is going down to fantasy baseball camp in January. I have a good idea about what I'm getting my mom and I still need to shop for my 2 SIL's but since they are into scrapbooking, it is so easy.
I am heading up a secret Santa exchange at work. I'm looking for little gift ideas to give to my partner are there any ideas out there? There is a 15.00 spending limit for the week, but I don't count anything made from my stash towards that. Ideas are greatly appreciated!