Pumpkin Sunrise

The very best part of Christmas break is the lull after the official holiday.  I thoroughly enjoy having no pressing matters on my mind.  I think the week or two before Christmas gets hectic with all of the last minute items that need to be bought or wrap.  I am a very detailed list maker but every year I seem to forget to put something on my list and it usually happens very close to the due date.  Part of me wants to be a better list maker (as if!) and the more rational part of me wants to simplify my holiday.  This week after Christmas I am leaning towards simplifying. I have been dutifully working on the Purple Majesty sweater .  So far it is extremely easy because I am working on the body.  My son wanted a hemmed edge instead of a ribbed edge.  I am super excited at how nicely the edge turned out :D  I decided to do a contrast color for the inside hemmed edge.  Here is a picture: My Elderberry Wine Shawl is making some progr...

Well I guess mine are not hung as of yet.  Ginny, over at Small Things  hosts a Yarn Along on Wednesdays.  Everyone who likes to read and knit can link their blog post with their books and projects on the needles! I finished the Orange Green Socks ! Apparently I am a slow reader, I am still reading Drowning Ruth. This week I have been frantically making stocking ornaments for presents.  I am definitely giving one to our dog groomer and the others I like to have on hand just in case I need a present.  My mother made one before the 1980's.  I am guessing it was made in the '70s but it is just a guess.  Can you see where a little mouse nibbled on my heirloom ornament???  This was before I learned to store my Christmas decorations in a plastic bin. Six years ago I decided I wanted to make this little stocking but was too lazy to search for the original pattern that was somewhere stored in my many boxes.  So I invented my own patte...

I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite old ornaments that I have hung up on our tree.  The first ornament is a wishbone (yes, the real thing) that my grandmother crocheted around and decorated with sequins.....it is from 1975! The next ornament is a plastic canvas sleigh that my mother made when I was a teenager, this is a broad estimation.  The little baby was my grandmother's and when my daughter was little she enjoyed putting the baby in the sleigh.  So now they always go together. I am pretty sure that the next ornament was made by my grandmother.  I do not have an exact year but I am guessing it is more than thirty years old. This doll ornament used to be my absolute favorite on our Christmas tree growing up.  My mother made many of them.  I have two or three hung and have saved a few for my son and daughter when they have their own Christmas trees. This is not an old ornament.  But it is based on one t...