Lisa Kay Knits... and Quilts!

Mitchell woke up around normal time and rushed out to see if Santa had come. He was worried he had gotten on the "Naughty List" at the very last moment... Right before bed time, he pulled a towel bar off of the wall, leaving a large hole in the dry wall. Chris and I were not pleased. As he went to bed, he said, "Am I going to get any presents, tonight?" Well, Santa came, anyway... Mitchell was surprised by the T-ball batting set. It wasn't on his list! We had gift exchanges with both sets of grandparents, and all four grandparents joined us for lunch and dinner. Gma W was more interested in watching Mitchell than in her presents! Grandmas... go figure! I made both grandpas fingerless mitts. I think Chris liked the magic wand from his parents as much as Mitchell did. Mitchell is a huge Lego fan, and Santa (and grandparents) brought him some Hobbit Lego sets. We spent all afternoon putting together, Attack of the Wargs. I showed Gma E the proc...

The Fiddlehead Mittens were part of the Southern Cross Fibre “semi-solid” spin along on Ravelry . I just finished them last Friday. I included them in the gift summary in the previous post, but I have a bit more to say… I’ve been working on these mittens for a couple of months, in between the other Christmas gift knitting and such. You can find more info on the handspun yarn and pattern in this post from November . The fact that I spun seven colors of yarn, combined with the fairisle design and then the lining, made these mittens a bit more involved than some of the other Christmas gift knitting. I didn’t bother to hide the process from my mom, because that would make it harder to get done… and she had no idea they were for her, anyway. At one point in the spin-along forum on Ravelry, I mentioned something about having to get them done before Christmas. Another member of the forum, said, “Whoa whoa whoa. Are you saying those mitts will be Christmas gifts?!?” I said, “Yes. The...

I've been working up various little gifts for folks over the last couple of months. I held off posting them until after the holiday. Now that everything is gifted, I can post them. (The links go to Ravelry project pages.) Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

My mom baked cookies with me and Mitchell, yesterday. Baking cookies together is something my mom and I have done for as long as I can remember. This year, we made sugar cookies, Gingerbread Boys, and Santa Surprises. The Santa Surprises are basically a piece of Snickers bar wrapped in peanut butter cookie dough. After baking, they get drizzled with Dove chocolate. They're awesomely decadent. Here are some pictures of cutting the Gingerbread Boys. The sugar cookie recipe we use is one that my mom got on a label of a new cookie sheet in 1964, when she and my dad had their first Christmas together. I think it makes the best sugar cookies in the whole world. Of course, for me, these evoke memories of childhood Christmases. Even allowing for that, and attempting to be impartial, they seem terrific. Given the source and age of the recipe, I imagine I'm unbound by copyright limitations in sharing this recipe: Mom's Sugar Cookies Ingredients: 2 cups sifted flour 1...

Mitchell sang in his Winter Musical on Tuesday night. All the kids in First Grade were either snowflakes or snirts. (Snow plus dirt). We didn't feel ready for snow, but we got some on Thursday. Since today is the first day of winter, perhaps it was time... Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Mitchell likes to mix things and see what happens, a practice that began with his first "baking soda and vinegar" volcano. Now, if he slows down enough to be slightly bored, he's known to say, "Can we do an experiment?" We are very blessed. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

I made it to the bottom of the Bohus yoke, and I added some "dripping" colorwork at the bottom of the chart, after dividing for the sleeves. I worked the entire chart, even though it was designed for much smaller gauge. The result turned out to be a "funnel neck," which I actually like! I thought I was going to end up with the neck as expected but the body starting late (underarms well below where they should normally be). So I was pleasantly surprised, which is just luck or good knitting karma or something. I can't claim to have made it into a funnel neck on purpose... Here is a closeup of the "dripping" at the edge of the yoke. Some blocking will make it lay a bit flatter... but I'm happy with how it fits! So far, so good. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Mitchell's birthday is this week, and we enjoyed his party at Edison's Entertainment Complex , with a couple games of laser tag. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay