Yarn Along

Since I have had a little down time, I am trying to diligently work on Mom's vest. The collar is done and I am now working the buttonhole band. The directions were nice and clear on how to pick up and knit the stitches and how many stitches to pick up. Perfect for this fairly novice knitter.

 After that I just have the button band, the armhole trim and weaving in ends. There aren't that many ends either. I still love this pattern. It is so easy. 

I have been perusing the Slow Cooker book that is gift from my in-laws. I want to try to get more use out of my slow-cooker. Unfortunately, Hubby and I are not fans of stew so it doesn't get as much use as it should. I always love Taste of Home recipes so I hope to find some winners in this book. 

My daughter gave me these books for Christmas.

 I just have to decide which one I want to read first. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but it has been dark and cloudy here on Long Island for the entire week and a half that my son and his girlfriend have been visiting. They are starting to wonder if they will see more than a couple of hours of sun during their entire stay with us.

I am joining Ginny for the last Yarn Along of 2015. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas gifts

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I can now share the Christmas gifts that I made.

Those Prairie Schooler Santas that I was stitching all summer became these layered ornaments. This was given to my daughter.

My son received the skiing Santa. He misses skiing now that he is in CA and there has been a decided lack of snow in the mountains. 

I followed Vonna's tutorial at the Twisted Stitcher. 

I received some crafty gifts myself this year.

I requested the corder. I could have used it when making the Santas above.
The two cross-stitch kits were surprises. Isn't that puppy adorable and the Santa is beautiful. I so look forward to making these.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today.  Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. I'm not sure whether or not I will spend time stitching as we have a houseful of guests and some ice-skating to do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas

Three Needle Bind Off

I learned a new knitting technique this week: the three needle bind-off. Thank goodness for video tutorials. They make it so easy to understand. This is absolutely an easy seaming method. I was an expert at it before I finished the 24 stitches on the first seam. 

Yes, those are the shoulder seams of Mom's vest. Now I have to go buy a couple of needles that I don't have to finish the collar, the button/button-hole bands and the armholes. I should be able to finish this very soon.

Our Christmas tree is finally decorated. Doesn't it look pretty?

I gave you both the night and day versions.

Our tree is filled with a whole variety of ornaments: hand-made, gifts, some from my childhood and my children's childhood. Almost all the ornaments have memories attached to them. The tree skirt is one of two that I made years ago for my kids when they each had a small tree in their bedrooms. 

I also have a small tree on our front porch next to my kids old sled filled with "packages".

 It makes me smile every time I enter our house.

These geraniums on the front porch are from the summer. I don't think they got the memo that Winter is here. They are just blooming away.

 I don' t have the heart to get rid of them.

This plant is also in bloom in front of the house. 

The unseasonally warm weather we are having has all the plants confused. There are some flowering trees in bloom in our neighborhood also. We are supposed to have record high temperatures for Christmas Eve.

I will be joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. As for my own reading, I will still be working with this Pre-Calculus book soon so that I can prepare my lectures for the next university semester. 

I want to get a head-start so I am not rushing each week. 

Thanks for stopping by!

The penguin is finished!

I did it! I was almost finished with the penguin when my son and his girlfriend were in flight to NY. I worked and worked on it until they arrived at our house at midnight. 

It wasn't done then, but with a couple of early mornings I finished all the stitching. On Saturday, I spent some time in my craft room basement and made it into a small pillow.

What do you think? 

I also finished my Prairie School Santas, but I can't show those until after Christmas. 

I am joining Kathy today for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her sight to see what other bloggers are up to. I don't think I will be doing any stitching today, because all I have is Baker Beach and it is currently sitting in my bedroom as my stitching spot is where all the present wrapping is being done and gifts being stored.   

Thanks for stopping by!

What was I thinking?

My Santas still aren't finished. Thank goodness the weather here is warm and I should be able to use the spray adhesive outside today or tomorrow.

Yet, what did I do? I started another cross-stitch that I hope to finish by Christmas.

My son's girlfriend loves anything that has penguins so, of course, I decided I needed to make a penguin cross-stitch. What was I thinking? They arrive from California on Thursday. I don't know if I can finish it by then. It is adorable though. You can find it  at StitchX. It was free when I downloaded it. Wish me luck in finishing it.

I am joining Kathy for some not so Slow Sunday Stitching today. On Monday, I will join the Stitchery Linky Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

A gift and some Christmas decorating!

I was trolling around my usual blogs when I came across a giveaway Karen at Quilts.....etc was having. Guess what? I was the third winner. I won this great EPP book!

I have always wanted to try my hand at this and now I have a book to help me. This was a wonderful early Christmas gift. I know I will spend many hours perusing this book.
I am finally getting my house decorated for the holidays. Hubby and I got all the lights, roping and wreaths up outside.

 Hubby surprised me by putting up the icicle lights and the red and green spotlights while I was out one day.
I tried out a new spot for my Santas and snowmen this year. 

 I like the way they look on top of the china cabinet in the dining room.
This little vignette is in the cabinet that holds my everyday dishes in my kitchen. 

 I have yet to take out my Christmas dishes. They are usually out on December 1st, but not this year. 

The village is up. I remember it going up easily last year, but that was not the case this year.

 The painting above the village was done by my Aunt Emma.

 Finally, this little guy greeted me this morning. 

He was on the deck railing right outside our living room. That is the cover of our pool that you see behind him that gave the photo a blue tint. He is still adorable.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas House!

There are several houses in my neighborhood that go all out with the outdoor Christmas decorating. There is one house that does much more than the others. Hubby and I visited it on our way home from dinner on Sunday night.
This family collects donations for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. 

They have donated over $5 thousand in each of the last couple of years. Their donations have grown over the years. 
I thought I would share just a glimpse of the wonder and magic of this home.

This vignette is set up each year in the garage of this home. Mrs. Claus used to have a cup of tea beside her, but this year she has a hot chocolate.

 What a wonderful welcoming entrance.

 These animated carolers are along the driveway. There is a animated dog on the sled.

 The reindeer in the barn are also animated. Do you see the raccoon peeking out of the barrel in the front?

 The ice-skaters on the right and the igloo constructing penguins on the left are all animated.

Can you believe how many decorations there are? Can you see the hot air balloon full of reindeer?

Finally a close-up of Santa.

Thanks for stopping by!

Festival of Trees

This past weekend Hubby, daughter and I went to the Festival of Trees that is held at the Cradle of Aviation museum here on Long Island. We had last gone when our children were little and the festival was just getting started. 

I thought I would share some pictures of pretty trees and aviation history.
It started with a fall themed tree.

Here is a more traditional tree.

This is one of the handcrafted trees.

 Isn't that a beautiful ornament?

A mostly plaid tree.

Another handcrafted tree. This one with "A partridge in a pear tree" theme. It is full of knitted and crocheted ornaments.

Here are the Three French Hens ...

and the partridge and pear.

 One more handcrafted tree. Look at that crocheted skirt.

 After looking at those pretty trees. We moved on to the museum. This wonderful plane hung above all those trees that you can see in the lobby below.

 Examples of early designs.

The reason this museum is where it is on Long Island is because it is near what was once a world famous air field - Roosevelt Field.
Long Islanders now know Roosevelt Field as a large shopping mall.

 This is a display of what you may have seen at local air-fields. I love the clothes.

 This is an outfit worn by Charles Lindbergh.

An early passenger airplane.

 A war plane.

Daughter, Katie, playing pilot. I climbed in with her in the co-pilot's seat. It is surprising how small this is inside.

 Finally, the pride of Long Island. The Lunar Module that landed on the moon. This is one that was made for a future mission that never occurred. It has been modified to represent the first lunar module that landed on the moon. Many people, including our daughter, don't know that this was made by Grumman Corporation on Long Island. 

If you ever get a chance to visit Long Island, this museum is a must-see. We spent 3 hours there and couldn't really read all the information or explore all of the planes, because there were holiday vendors set up throughout the museum, sometimes in front of displays. It was still awe-inspiring.

I hope you enjoyed this little overview.

Thanks for stopping by!