Chat – Page 37 – Thimbleanna

A New Year…

39 Comments / January 5, 2009 February 18, 2011 / Chat, Holidays

I’ve been having fun slowly catching up with all of your New Year’s posts. Lots of inspiring stuff out there with lots of resolution-making! I gave up making New Year’s Resolutions a few years ago when I realized at the end of the year that I’d accomplished very little of what I’d set out to do. So, this year, I just hope to get a few UFOs done. Everything else is what I say every year, so I’ll say it to myself this year and save myself the embarrassment of failure.

I can’t believe the new year is here already, and sadly, the end of my two week break. Boy, that sure went by fast. The good: Lots of fun family gatherings with games and goofing off. (The cousins got a Wii Fit — what a hoot!) The bad: Too much cleaning and cooking. The good about cleaning: The dungeon disaster from all the Christmas sewing has been conquered. The bad about cleaning: There’s a hefty pile of UFOs waiting for me on my tidy work table. And just so that good cleaning can outweigh bad: I did the yearly thimble polishing which resulted in a new winter blog banner. Yay!

One of the New Year’s posts that caught my eye is Nanette’s post to remember Christmas ideas for Christmas 2009. She and Cheryl are making lists of their ideas and plan to start in September to execute those ideas in order to be better prepared for Christmas next year. I think that’s a great idea — I never get everything done that I’d like to do for Christmas. One of the things that I did this year, that I’d like to remember for next year was to wrap presents with the receiver’s picture on the package.

It started out as an attempt to avoid having curling ribbon on the packages as TheEmptyNestChild eats curling ribbon (which, you may remember, results in very expensive surgeries to remove those ribbons). I printed everyone’s picture and ran them through my little sticker machine. I really wish I’d done this when the kids were little — we used to have the kids pass out the gifts when we opened them and having pictures there would have made it so much easier. Anyway, go check out Nanette’s post — she’s listed some great ideas for next Christmas!

Do you remember the hats that I knit(ted?) before Christmas to send to Jean for donation to the homeless in NYC? Well, Jean gave away a ton of prizes to those who participated and I won this beautiful shawl that she made! It arrived during the mayhem of the holidays so I didn’t manage to get any pictures of it until today. It’s absolutely beautiful! I’ve never knit anything with such a fine yarn.

When SweetiePie was here this afternoon, she very kindly agreed to model the shawl so I could get some pictures. You really should click on the second picture to see the beautiful detail and precision of the stitches. Thank you SO much Jean — I just love it. It’s just perfect — it will go with everything and while I would normally reserve it for something very dressy, just look how pretty that gray looks with the denim of SweetiePie’s jeans! If you haven’t visited Jean’s blog, you should, especially if you’re a knitter or love beautiful pictures (she recently posted some gorgeous sheepy pics.) Jean was one of the first blogs I found a few years ago and she’s still one of my favorites!

(Oh, and pardon SweetiePie’s goofy pose in that third picture. She gave that pose some fancy European modeling name that I’ve forgotten — it looks more like an Arnold Schwartzenegger Girly Man pose to me!)

I hope you all have a good week! I’m not looking forward to going back to work, but returning to the routine will probably be good. (Yeah, if you believe that…) And don’t forget, if you’re interested in a chance at a bunny, leave a comment on my blogaversary post!

XOXO,
Anna

A Busy Blogaversary

112 Comments / December 31, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Bunnies, Chat, Recipes

WooHoo! It’s my Blogaversary! Well, it was actually yesterday….hmm, since it’s past midnight, I guess it was actually two days ago on the 29th. I meant to post yesterday, but there’s been lots of busywork around here. It’s nice to have time off of work to be able to catch up on some of the things that need to be done around the house. We were lucky this morning and managed to check off a big to-do without even trying. Some young men from Colorado knocked on the door and offered to trim our poor broken paper bark birch tree that was damaged in the ice storm last week. Here’s the before and during shots:

I didn’t think that poor tree would look normal again, as two big branches had been snapped off. I think the tree trimmers did a great job. They have a company in Denver but they said, in the wintertime, business dries up in Denver so they spend the season chasing ice storms. We’d been talking about having that tree trimmed for the last year or two, so we felt like we got a two-for-one job.

After the tree-trimming, I spent the afternoon with TheManoftheHouse helping him to clean his office at work. It was FIL-thy! I think his paper hoarding could rival the fabric hoarding in my sewing room. All the dust gave me a headache, but I’m glad that nasty job is over too.

When we returned from work, we tried a new recipe that TheManoftheHouse picked up a few weeks ago from a sample table at Sam’s Club. Cranberry Turkey Crescent Pinwheels.

They’re a great way to use up Thanksgiving/Christmas leftovers and we really liked them. Just take a can of Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Rolls, unroll the dough, and separate into rectangles (two triangles together). Press the seam together to make a uniform rectangle. You’ll have four rectangles. Spread about 2 tbsp. of cream cheese on each rectangle. Cover cream cheese with some thinly sliced turkey and then spread some cranberry sauce on top of the turkey. (The original recipe called for dried cranberries, so if you don’t have leftover fresh cranberry sauce, you could use those.) Roll up the rectangle from a short side and press the seam to seal. Cut each roll into 5 or 6 slices and place cut side down on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve Warm. TheManoftheHouse gets tired of all of our usual leftover suspects, but he really enjoyed these!

Now for the blogaversary. Can you believe it’s been TWO years??? I can hardly believe it! This last year has been really amazing for me blog-wise, and it goes without saying that the absolute highlight was making the trip to Scotland and cat-sitting for Isabelle. Meeting the fabulous Life family was so exciting and it would never have happened without our blogs. Like I mentioned to Isabelle the other day, every time I read her blog it’s like a gift that reminds me of our wonderful trip.

I’ve also had the fun of meeting Cami, Melly, Lucy, Gail, Abi, Sharon and Carol. (And I certainly hope I didn’t forget anyone!) All such clever, creative women. And then there are all of you, my imaginary friends. I’m terribly addicted to all of your blogs and everything that I learn from them. There’s so much inspiration out there it’s just mind-boggling.

Thank you, thank you for all the time you take to visit my little blog and leave me such nice and thoughtful comments. I can’t imagine blogging without the two-way conversation that comments provide. Now, if you’ve been here for at least a year, you know that a blogaversary means a bunny giveaway. If you’re interested in a chance to win Mr. Cupcake Bunny Pincushion, just leave a comment by, oh, let’s say, midnight (ThimbleannaLand time), Wednesday, January 7th and I’ll draw a winner on Thursday, January 8th.

In the meantime, my very best wishes to you for a Very Happy, Safe, and Healthy New Year!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Hat Knitting

31 Comments / November 26, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat, Knitting

Well Hello there! If you’re in the US, are you sprinting to the finish for Thanksgiving? I’ve lucked out this year and won’t have to do any baking, as we’re visiting the in-laws. I will miss my pie baking though — my family always lets me bake the pies, which is really fun for me. So…….sorry, there won’t be any fun Thanksgiving pictures here!

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, since dear Hester is out of commission and I’m not in charge of any holiday cooking, I’m going to try to squeeze in a few hats for Jean‘s hats for the NYC homeless. I started knitting one yesterday and it’s moving along pretty quickly.

TheManoftheHouse says this will be too small, but not to worry. I’ve made these before and they fit just fine. If they’ll fit my big-headed boys, they should fit most people. In case any of you might like to knit some of these hats for Jean, I thought I’d share my favorite easy pattern. Although, I must say, taking a peek at the hats already starting to arrive at Jean’s, I’m thinking I need to go in search of that rolled brim hat too — it’s pretty cute! Oh, and check out this exciting post — Jean is giving prizes and some of them are REALLY cool. Go on — go check it out — it will make you want to knit hats. I’ll wait.

Tap…Tap….Tap…

Ok. Are you excited now??? So, here’s the pattern I’m using. I got this several years ago from our LYS, which, sadly, is now out of business. They used to give this pattern out for free if you purchased the yarn at their store.

Beginning Knitter’s Basic Hat

Materials: 1 skein of yarn + scraps if you would like to add a stripe. Light worsted weight (Cascade 220 is nice).

Instructions are for knitting on straight needles, but I like to knit them on circular needles so that I don’t have to sew up a seam at the end. If knitting on circs, start off with 80 or 84 stitches, depending on where you fit on the gauge spectrum. Also, if knitting on circs, and adding stripes, there’s a fantastic tutorial here for making jogless stripes!

Gauge:

4.5 sts = 1″ on #8 needle

Beginning at lower edge cast-on 82 sts.

Row 1 (WS): P2, *K2, P2, repeat from * across.
Row 2(RS): K2, *P2, K2, repeat from * across.

Repeat last 2 rows until piece measures 1″ from cast-on, ending with a WS row.

On next RS row dec 2 st evenly across row. 80 sts remain. Continue in st st until piece measures 6″ from cast-on edge, ending with a WS row.

To shape top of hat:

Row 1(RS): *K8, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 2 and all WS rows: P.
Row 3(RS): *K7, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 5(RS): *K6, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 7(RS): *K5, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 9(RS): *K4, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 11(RS): *K3, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 13(RS): *K2, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 15(RS): *K1, K2tog, repeat from * across.
Row 17(RS): K2tog across.

Cut yarn leaving a 20″ tail, thread through remaining stitches, pull tight and sew back seam.

Abbreviations: dec-decrease, inc-increase, K-knit, P-purl, RS-right side, st st- stockinette stitch, sts stitches, tog-together, WS-wrong side.

It will be a few days before I can do my normal blog visiting, but if you’re in the US, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. (If you’re traveling, travel safely!) And if you’re not, you should make a pumpkin or pecan pie just because they’re so darn good!

XOXO,
Anna

Guess What I’m Knitting

71 Comments / September 18, 2008 February 18, 2011 / Chat, Knitting

How’s everybody’s week going? I’m just doing my monthly hang-out-in-a-hotel thing, so I started a new knitting project. Can you tell what it is?

Anybody? It looks kind of goofy and that’s not the greatest picture for you to be able to tell. But I guess that’s sort of the idea. I’m thinking maybe we could have a little Guess What I’m Knitting contest. If you want to play, put your guess in the comments and everyone that has a correct guess will have their name thrown into a pot from which I’ll draw for a prize. (I’m pretty sure there’s something grammatically wrong with that sentence, but you get the idea!)

How ’bout a brand new, only-out-of-the-cellophane-for-this-picture, Vera Bradley wallet/passport holder?

No cheating. Not sure how you’d cheat, but I thought I should say that. I know someone will ask, so how ’bout three guesses per person? I’ll just leave the contest open until I have a finished project to show (which, at the rate I’ve been completing stuff lately, could be February!)

In case you’re not a knitter or don’t follow Little Cotton Rabbits (IS that possible?) I thought I’d repeat, as she said, “an opportunity to spread a little happiness.” If you’d like to take a few minutes out of your day to send a card to a very sick little girl who loves to receive mail, you can get the address and more info HERE. Wouldn’t it be great if this little girl received more cards than the wall in her room could hold?

(Update: Brilliant Brigette noted that the link above is a little confusing about where to send your card. It needs to be sent to the TN address. You can find out more HERE.)

And one last thing. Felicia posted about a book festival she attended recently and one of the attending authors was Billy Collins, a past US poet laureate. Several years ago I convinced two of my coworkers to go hear Billy Collins do a reading at the Library of Congress and we had an amazing time. I LOVE Billy Collins. He’s written MANY awesome poems (and has quite a few books available.) If you have a few minutes, you can check out my FAVORITE poem of his HERE. Oh, and you might need a hanky.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

A Day with the Girls

39 Comments / September 15, 2008 February 12, 2012 / Chat, Peep Days

Did you all have a good weekend? We got lots of sorely needed rain — yipee! Our rain came from the leftovers of Hurricane Ike and it was gray and perfect for a day inside sewing with the blogless quilty peeps.

Jewels was our hostess and she went all out. She had her house all decorated for fall and I had to take a picture of her adorable china closet. How cute are these dishes? They look like they just walked off of the Martha Stewart set!

Jewels greeted us each with a fantastic Halloween gifty bag. She had them all tied so pretty with a little Halloween ornament — I hated to open mine up. But I had to, ’cause just look at all the wonderful goodies. (I LOVE candy corn season!) Look at the Halloween fabrics — I love them!!!

We had enough food for the four of us AND all of you, and I’m not kidding. By my count (and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something) we had two appetizers (fresh veggie dip and pumpkin cracker dip), two soups (Pumpkin and Maritatta — YUMMY for both!), 5 (yes FIVE) salads (Bruschetta, Broccoli, Apple Taffy, Seven Layer, and Hot Chicken), and umpteen desserts (Martha’s S’More’s Cupcakes (YUM and they looked just like Martha’s!), Apple Cake, Iced Sugar Cookies, Karen’s Awesome White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, and HolyCrapTheseAreAmazing Cookies (Holy Crap, the other stuff was more amazing!)) Oh, and a wonderful variety of drinks which included hot apple cider — perfect for our stormy weather. Ok, so we got carried away. But it was all fantastic, and I don’t know about the other girls but TheManoftheHouse and I had leftovers all weekend.

In between all the eating, we sewed. Jewels worked on her fantastic Grandmother’s Flower Garden.

Gurney worked on these super-cute embroidered squares for a baby quilt for her granddaughter.

Junie made these adorable pillowcases for her daughter. I wanted to take them home!

And I worked on my little blue wren project which STILL isn’t done. I was hoping to get it done this weekend, but I’m getting slow in my old age.

There were no Princess and the Pea beds or alcholic beverages harmed in the making of our day (like at SOME wild parties), but we did have a lot of fun and I can’t wait to do it again SOON! Thanks for all your hard work and for hosting us Jewels — and Big, Big Smoochies to the best quilty peeps ever!!!

XOXO,
Anna