Switching Holidays

I hope Thanksgiving was a well enjoyed holiday for you all!
My Thanksgiving was pretty good.
Thankfully David did a good majority of the cooking while I made just a couple of easy side dishes and my mom brought pie and a tasty side dish made of sweet potatoes and brown sugar.
It was a wonderful feast and we snacked on leftovers all weekend long and don't have that mess hoarding our fridge any longer.

Brodey has been asking me for a while now to make him a Wiggles Hat.
Not any particular style... just the colors Yellow, Blue, Red, and Purple.
I managed to come across a hat pattern on Ravelry and figured out how perfect it would be to incorporate all 4 colors without it looking super busy.
I finished his hat Thanksgiving day and he loved it so much that he insisted on sleeping in it.
He sure looks cute in it :)

Yes. He is giving "thumbs up". lol

So now that Thanksgiving is over I was able to justify setting things up for Christmas yesterday.
It didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. or maybe it just seems that way because I did a little bit at a time...
I just love this time of year because we imediately switch from Thanksgiving to Christmas and it seems that Christmas is a month long event with all the parties and dinners that people are throwing. Not to mention I spend longer than that preparing for it.
It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in the Willy household!
Now for that dreaded "S" word.
I will admit that snow does help contribute to the whole Christmas scene.
So as much as I don't like driving in it... It will be nice to see it when I look out my window.

Now to finish my Christmas Knitting!

Are you making your Christmas gifts this year?!

Well I must get back to work.
Hope you are doing well.
Love you ALL!

Blessings,
Caren

Gobble Gobble

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I figured I would write today seeming as how tomorrow will be spent with family, friends, and food.

I did a search for knitting patterns using the keyword "Turkey" seeming as how that is the "mascot" of Thanksgiving.
I had expected that I would find some cute little stuffed turkeys and maybe a few washcloths with a little turkey image on it, but the hats I found seriously took the cake.

The name of this pattern is the "Sexy Turkey hat".

My thoughts were as follows.
1. How in the world could a Turkey be considered sexy?
2. What makes this turkey hat sexy?
Kudos to the person that made that hat. I mean seriously.
It's great!

But it is not sexy in my own personal opinion
The last thing I would put on my head to feel sexy would be a turkey hat.
But seriously put a smile on my face!
Gobble Gobble, Baby! Grrr Gobble Gobble!

Anyway.
Moving on.

I found this super cute baby hat and I seriously wish I would have found this pattern sooner cause I would have made one for my kids.
Here is the link if anyone is interested!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jive-turkey-baby-hat
Seriously. I love it.
And if you make it, please let me know!


So excited for Thanksgiving!
I pray a blessing over all of you during this Holiday.
May you continue to find things to be grateful for year round!

Love you ALL!

Blessings,
Caren

Winter knitting

Feels like winter is settling in Wyoming for a cold and miserable stay.
Who is old man winter and can I file a complaint?
It's not that I don't like the cold or the snow...
I just don't like being cold or driving in the snow.
You'd think I live in the wrong state or something.
But once I get past the shock of going from 5o degree weather to below zero temps... I come to appreciate the beauty of it as it justifies my yarn stash and compulsive knitting.
Nothing is better than curling up on the couch with a cozy blanket, some comfort food (or drink. depending on if you are hungry or thirsty, or both), and a good movie, book, or for me KNITTING.
I've been thinking about what I can knit while curled up (partially cause I need free hands) under a blanket and I was thinking...
ANOTHER BLANKET!
I went to www.ravelry.com which is a knitting and crocheting community where I go for inspiration and a ton of free patterns.
Here are 3 afghans/blankets/throws that have caught my attention.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mitered-crosses-blanket--for-japan
I love the accent of the crosses against the neutral. I think this is one blanket my husband would appreciate because I love lots and lots of color.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/falling-leaves-afghan-wtv1602
I thought this one was beautiful! Seriously love the colors!
Think I'm stuck on fall and I'm ok with that.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boldly-colored-plaid-afghan
Yeah I love this one too.

I love color.
I love bright colors.
I love many colors.
And it drives me nuts.
Ever heard the term "less is more"?
I can agree with that but more than likely I will have a very colorful blanket and I will either love it or dream of it in other colors.
Guess we will see!

Seriously just crossed my mind that I would jump out of my seat from pure joy if I saw granny square snuggies! I challenge one of my crochet friends to make me one! ...please...

Christmas Knitting Progress....
It has begun!
Finally!

I hope you all are keeping warm where ever you may be!
Love you ALL!

Blessings,
Caren

Honoring

Today I've been thinking a lot about my father inlaw.
He passed away 3 years ago, this month, and
Since then David and I have proudly displayed his flag and picture.
I wasn't told much about his service other than he was a hero.
That he put his life on the line for the ones he was fighting with and for the ones he was fighting for.
That he was a man of strength and determination.
That he was a man that was passionate about his country.
That on a boat he saved the lives of his crew mates by risking his own life.

He didn't really much talk about it.

He lived his last years, months, days,
doing what he enjoyed.
Panning/dredging for gold
hunting
fishing
skiing
hanging out with his best friend, Rod, at the Lazy J where he lived in his motor home.
He was a son.
a dad.
a grandpa.
He was a veteran.
When I think of him today I think of how proud I am to have known a hero.
Happy Veteran's Day, David Alexander Williams.
You are loved and you are missed.

Thanks be to my Uncle Dennis and his service.
Thanks be to all of you who have served and never reached it home.
Thanks be to all of you who have defended our country.
Thank you!
God bless you and your families for the sacrifices they have made and are making.

With sincere gratitude,

Caren

I shall blog!

I've kind of been missing the last few days!
It's hard to be motivated to blog when
1. life is busy
2. my computer runs as fast as a herd of turtles
But I had a chance to and so I shall blog.

Seeming as how this is a "knitting blog" I suppose I should share my recently knitted item.
Brodey and I went on a date one night to a costume party and so I worked diligently on this hat that I've been wanting to make for the past 3 years.
I finished it just minutes before we needed to be to the party and was thrilled because honestly... I like dressing up and even if it is just as simple as putting on a hat.

I was bear.
You're welcome for stating the obvious!
Brodey of course was dressed in his Yellow Wiggle Costume and was quite the center of attention as he danced, giggled, and played.
It was a perfect date!

In my blogs I keep talking about Christmas knitting.
Well, I haven't even started and I am hoping that this weekend is when it will start.
Birthdays and holidays always seem to pile up at the end of the year and I sadly can not knit fast enough to keep up.

Things on the home front have been well though.
Saiya is growing and learning all the time as she moves herself around our home and discovers new things. Lately she has been "talking" and gets really serious with this baby babble business. Soon enough I will understand but am loving just listening to her in her own little language.
Brodey has been quite excited over the past couple of days.
He has been moved into his very own bedroom which means he no longer has to share with his little sister. I am so glad we did that cause I think with all the things he has had to adjust to over the past year... he deserves it.
He also has a new best friend which is about 7 inches tall and is dressed in a yellow shirt.
My mom bought him a stuffed wiggle doll.
He corrects me and tells me that its a toy. not a doll.
It's a doll.
BUT
a very special one that is stuffed and huggable and small enough to go just about anywhere.
Such a sweet little boy that deserves nothing less than to be loved and blessed.

Over this last weekend I went to Living Proof Live Featuring Beth Moore with my mom and sister and came home feeling pumped about all that I learned and totally refreshed.
check out the blog posting from Beth Moore, recapping on her Casper experience.
http://blog.lproof.org/2011/11/living-proof-live-casper-recap-video.html

Another fun thing...
Snow.
It happened last week and I'm hoping it doesn't happen again for a while.

I hope you all are having a blessed week!
Love you ALL!

Caren

Post Halloween

Halloween had been a long thought in my home for a few months when Brodey decided that he wanted to dress up like the Yellow Wiggle (and not just for Halloween).
The plan was for all of us in our family to dress up as the Wiggles but unfortunately they didn't make a shirt small enough for Saiya and it was far too expensive to purchase the shirts for dad and I. We had looked for iron on patches but were unsuccessful in that search. I was pretty bummed out because I know how much Brodey was looking forward to it and thought that it would be fun to have a family costume!
We did buy Brodey's though and was shipped promptly from Australia and ever since then Brodey asks if we can go there.

I hadn't really thought about what to dress Saiya up as but I didn't want to buy a costume that I knew every other little girl out there would be wearing.
I decided that she would make the perfect Garden Gnome and so I knit.
This little girl seems to get spoiled with knitted baby things cause I made her a little red pixie hat and matching ruby slippers.
The overalls that she wore were made by my Grandma and out of recycled denim which i thought was perfect for her little ensemble!
So this little girl was just covered in handmade things.

Trick-or-Treating happened at the mall where the kids just walk from store to store in their costumes where the employees usually are dressed up as well and are handing out candy.
We've done that for the past 4 years with family and works out well considering we don't have much ground to cover and its indoors.
The weather was abnormally nice for this time of year and so David and Brodey did manage to make it out house to house while I hung out with Saiya and my friend, Emilee, at her house.
We enjoyed a very tasty dinner with our friends (whom I am so thankful to for offering to feed us last minute.) and headed home to tuck in our tuckered out little munchkins and relax after good conversation and great company.

It was a simple Halloween full of random crafts through the month of October and a night of dress up and trick-or-treating.
A month of popcorn, fun school projects, fake cobwebs and spiders, vase full of candy, pumpkins, and cute movies.
(Including "Hocus Pocus" which was watched about 3 times on Halloween day)

All in All pretty simple.
Just the way I like it!

I hope that you all had a fun and safe Halloween!
Love you ALL!

Caren