Shaker Style Throw

This is a crochet blanket that I made Dad and Elaine for Christmas 2013. It turned out much better than I expected, I was modifying a pattern and that's not something I had ever done with a crochet pattern before. I ended up doing 12 columns by 16 rows and 5" squares so it came out to be a queen size throw instead of a lap blanket. I didn't actually finish it until January 3rd, I think, but thankfully they were understanding. I let them see the in-progress blanket at Christmas, hehe. 

It was tough to part with this one, it was so heavy and soft. I absolutely love it. Sly did too, he kept saying they couldn't have it, lol. 

Here's a link to the original pattern - Shaker Style Throw.

Here's a link to my Ravelry project page.

Merry Christmas

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a safe and great day. We had lots of family yesterday and today, it was fantastic. Lots of good food, good company and the joy of seeing Sylvester open presents. :)

Menu Monday... The Return...

Stovetop Granola from Allrecipes.com

• Slow Cooker Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
• Meatball Subs
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Blueberry Muffins
• Egg Salad
• Stovetop Granola

It's Christmas time! Woohooo!! I'm writing this post on Yule, it's currently 78 degrees in my house and I'm loving being sock free. I'm not going to lie, I love hand knit socks, but I love not having to wear socks. :p

Alright, this week is a little weird because it's Christmas week. We're doing two celebrations - Christmas Eve we're going to have Meatball Subs and chicken fingers. My Dad and Stepmom just moved (they will have been here for 3 days) and we just aren't up to doing a huge dinner after that. And frankly, we don't care, it's about being with family. Christmas day we are doing a larger dinner, Sly's family is coming over and the whole nine yards. I'm only making the Mac 'n' Cheese this year, thankfully. 

Merry Christmas! Merry Yule! Happy New Year! :)

P.S. I've been making this granola weekly. Double batch. It's amazing. We sometimes add pecans or cinnamon. Pumpkin spice... cranberries, raisins, etc. We haven't bought chips since we started making this stuff. Why eat chips when you can have this? It's amazing stuff. 

Trimming the Tree

Sylvester has been so excited to see all the lights and "pwetty" trees this year. It's so much fun to see their excitement! He put the star on the top of the tree and yelled "TADA!!" I think Sly was nearly deaf, haha.

Merry Christmas 2.0

What a weekend! We did Christmas at our house tonight, the third and final Christmas dinner we will have this year. Whew. I think we're all exhausted, Sylvester was up until almost 9pm! Poor kid was so tired from all the excitement he could barely walk when we finally got him upstairs and settled down.

Here's a few pictures from tonight. And I promise I'll get a menu up tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a wonderfully warm and safe Christmas Eve. I wanted to drop in and say Merry Christmas to everyone!

We went and saw Sly's family tonight for Christmas, tomorrow we're going to go to see my Dad and then Monday we're having Christmas dinner with my Mom. It's going to be a few busy but wonderful days! I love seeing all the family around the holidays. I wish it happened more often through out the year.

I can't believe this is Sylvester's second Christmas. It doesn't seem that way because he was so young last year, but he is really enjoying seeing everyone and playing this year, which is a total delight. I can't wait to post pictures from Christmas this year! I love my little family.

Christmas Week Menu

This weeks meal planning was pretty easy. Not only will 3 days be taken up (Sat, Sun, Mon) with Christmas dinners, I didn't want a lot of left overs because I know we'll bring home Christmas left overs.

Monday:
Taco Casserole
Tuesday:
Marinate Chicken (Lemon Pepper)
Wednesday:
Left Overs
Thursday:
4-Square Family Pizza (featured picture)
Friday:
Grilled Cheese
Saturday:
Christmas dinner with Sly's family
Sunday:
Christmas dinner with my Dad


In an effort to lose some weight I've started eating a salad before lunch and dinner, which has done a great job of cutting down on the food I eat. I forgot to weigh in this morning, but I'm hoping for some good news tomorrow!

Did you know...

This was supposed to be a crafting blog too? I think I'd forgotten. Whoops! It's been a while since I posted anything crafty, so I'll do a picture post tonight.

Wire work rings

Wire work Christmas ornaments, earrings and rings

Paracord bracelets

Ribbon Christmas tree

 I saw so many of these on Pinterest I had to make one. Mine doesn't look that great, but from afar it looks good!

Christmas Wreath

We bought a ton of Christmas decorations after Christmas last year, because we didn't get a chance to decorate, so I made this wreath from left over stuff. 


If you've made it this far I'll let you know that I am holding out on you, but the rest of the pictures I have I want to go into more detail about so I'll save those for a later post. Thanks for stopping by! If you like something, leave a comment and let me know. 

Winter Wishlist

I finally finished Michael's Slytherin scarf! I was surprised when I saw I started this bad boy in January. I guess when I learned they were moving to California I thought he wouldn't need it, so I set it aside, until he reminded me how cold it gets at night in the desert.

Modeled by Sly. You can tell he likes it, right?

Link to Michael's Slytherin scarf on Ravelry.

With the cooler weather (not really around here, but I'm seeing more Christmas decorations) comes a desire to knit and crochet warm things for me! I've decided to branch out into felting to start the winter knitting off!

First thing I want to make is a pair of slippers for Sly. I've decided on the pattern Patons: Family Felting booklet. I'm going to use the colorway Forest, because my Mom had some on hand that she got on clearance for $1.24 a skein; which brings the slippers to a grand total of $2.48. This makes me much less nervous about my first felting project!

The second project, which I believe will be a quick one, will be a pair of Edna slippers for myself. I could use eight or nine pair of these, since my feet constantly freeze and Sylvester likes to hide my slippers. As far as yarn for this project, I've got lots of Red  Heart in my stash, so I'll use something on hand. That will keep costs down and be a stash buster project - win win!

Last, but not least, is the Penny Arcade Jacket. There is something about this jacket that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it on Pinterest. I've never crocheted a jacket before, so this will be an adventure, too. I've also got lots of Caron yarns in my stash, so I'm hoping to make this a stash buster project, too. 

Thanks for looking! I'm going to go cast on for Sly's slippers now! - Holly