me and my little princess

A link to the whole set on Flickr.

I made the little tutu she’s wearing and the patchwork slippers. Her aunt Olivia made the cute, beaded necklace.

I really am going to post some knitting content pretty soon. The light has been dreadful for photographing knits lately. We’ve had loads of rain and clouds. Nasty. But I have been knitting, and it’s cute baby stuff! (Like most of the stuff around here….)

My little bear is one year old today! I know it sounds cliche, but it really does seem like yesterday that we brought her home. She has stolen my heart!
Edda at 2 days old:
newborn edda

Edda today:
1 year old edda

We were watching the birds eating seeds on the back deck. Fun time!! We are having a small, family party tomorrow afternoon; I’ll be sure to post pictures. (I sewed her a cute birthday party outfit that I’m dying to show off!)

I made a really cute hedgehog toy for Edda for Christmas. He needs a name. Any suggestions?

felted hedgehog

He’s perched amid some of Edda’s other presents. (The Plan Toys drum has been a big hit! No pun intended…)

Also, I made her some tiny, purple fingerless mittens. The yarn is leftover Cherry Tree Hill Supersock (in Iris, semisolid) which is my all-time favorite sock yarn.

Edda wearing her mitts(3)

Now she can walk the dog in style! Of course, she won’t wear them for more than 20 seconds or so.

granny's hand/wristwarmers 3

Easy Fingerless Mitts in Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

I almost kept them because they were soooo comfy, but I was a good girl and gave them to my Granny. I’m going to have to make some for myself.

… I am completing things in my own way. (As in late. haha.)

December 27 Social web moment. Did you meet someone you used to only know from her blog? Did you discover Twitter?

Hmmmm. I guess I blogged more last year, does that count? I definitely Facebook’ed a lot more last year. Nothing new, though.

December 28 Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?

Home made cards. Absolutely.

December 29 Laugh. What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?

That would have to be the time when I was playing peek-a-boo with Edda and I sneezed suddenly. She was so overcome with laughter that I could not help joining in. We both laughed so hard that we got the hiccups! (Yes, parenthood makes you decidedly uncool. I don’t really care.)

December 30 Ad. What advertisement made you think this year?

How about I change this one up a bit and say which was my favorite ad? I don’t think there was one that made me think. My favorite ad (on tv) that I can remember off the top of my head was the yellowtail wine commercial in which a couple is having lunch on a rooftop and the girl spills a bottle of wine and expresses her grief operatically. (My love, what have I done? My burden is too heavy!) I’m a huge fan of red wine, and it kind of made me think of me, only not quite to that extreme.

December 31 Resolution you wish you’d stuck with. (You know, there’s always next year…)

I have actually NEVER made a resolution. Until this year, that is. This year my resolution is to organize/decorate my house.

I decided (very, very late in the game) to do this blog challenge, “The Best of 2009.” I will not be starting from the beginning, but I will go ahead and do December 25th and 26th today. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep it short.)

December 25 Gift. What’s a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?

That I gave myself….. It would honestly have to be my beautiful, blue socks. I’m not just saying that because this is a knitting blog. I guess either the socks must be totally awesome or I just don’t give myself gifts very often.

December 26 Insight or aha! moment. What was your epiphany of the year?

Now this is embarrassing. It was definitely the moment when I realized that the reason that my biscuits have never been good is because I have been over-kneading them. I have agonized over my stupid, hard biscuits for years and it was a glorious realization when I discovered the problem. (It’s really easy to over-knead. I don’t really knead at all anymore. I just kind of smush the dough once or twice, then pat it out and cut.)

Knitting/Christmas photos to come! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did!

I just realized that Christmas is next week and I have one Christmas gift that I haven’t even begun to knit and three that are WIP. Yikes! With that in mind, I naturally began a new project that has nothing to do with Christmas knitting: mittens for myself. I know it’s ridiculous but I probably won’t have time to finish my gifts before Christmas anyway and besides…. my hands are really cold.

my mitten

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yummmm.
In other news, I’ve been doing a lot of holiday baking lately. These aren’t really “baked” as much as “prepared,” but they are fabulous. You make a little sandwich out of Ritz crackers and peanut butter, then dip it in chocolate coating (I used this kind) and put it on waxed paper to cool and harden. It’s probably the most fattening thing ever, but it’s soooo yummy.

Every year before we eat Thanksgiving dinner my family stands in a circle and we all take turns saying what we are thankful for (we give abbreviated lists, of course). It’s a simple tradition, but I always enjoy it. This year the things I am most thankful for are all family-related and God-related. I am so extraordinarily blessed! I’m especially thankful that God has blessed me with a beautiful, healthy daughter that I adore and a handsome, loving husband (that I also adore, tee hee).

Our thanksgiving dinner was a huge to-do with about 21 guests in all. I made enough green beans to feed almost twice that much… it gets hard to estimate such large quantities! We have a lot of leftovers. I also made six pies. It was a good time.

A good friend of mine took some family pictures for us, so I will close this entry with a few family photos for you. (Sorry, no knitting photos until I can find my camera cable…) My mom sewed Edda’s dress. Also, note the handknit blanket… :-)

olly and edda

The family!

Edda, standing with mommy and daddy

 

I finished the sweater that I’ve been referring to as the “Robin’s Egg Sweater.” I realize that the name seems to suggest that the sweater has some kind of egg pattern on it, but at this point the name has stuck. (The name actually refers to the color, which I believe is robin’s-egg blue.) The pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple’s Bulky Baby Pullover and the yarn is Snuggle by the Alpaca Yarn Co.

I think Edda likes her new sweater. She also has a new hat. (Please excuse the messy, unmade bed…)

I’m also working on a Fiber Trends pattern: Huggable Hedgehog (FT228) and some socks (for me) and some Christmas stuff. I can’t really give any details about most of that because of the need for secrecy and all.

In non craft-related (and most exciting) news: Edda said “mama” for the first time today!! At the risk of sounding truly silly…. I almost cried. I have been trying to get her to say “mama” for months. She would say “dada” and “dog,” but not “mama”! I was beginning to think she never would. I was beginning to feel a little insulted. (I mean, “dada” is one thing, but “dog”?) However, she has finally figured it out and now I am reassured that she does indeed love me.

 

 

I’m actually separated from the computer from which I usually do all my blogging, so I can’t post any photos. The lack of posts is not an indicator of lack of knitting, however. I have been knitting up a veritable storm, but sort of secretly.  As soon as I can get to my photos, I will begin to share some of my goings-on with you.

Hey, I do have a few photos on flickr that I forgot about:

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some homemade jam and a ballband dishcloth as a birthday gift for my grandmother

IMG_0521.CR2

and some lovely, delicious socks for myself.

 

Current WIP’s

Mom's Felted Slippers.

Plain Socks.

Baby Sleep Sack.

Forest Green Baby Sweater.

Edda's Green Jumper/Dress.

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