Birthdays and Christmas

Three of my grandchildren were all born on the same day, each four years apart.  This year they turned 10, 6 & 2.  To celebrate, their Mom and Dad planned a fabulous surprise, and they invited us old Grandparents to come along for the ride.

We met them at the airport bright and early on a Tuesday morning.  The kids were told that we were going to Idaho to visit their sick aunt, because she wouldn't be able to come home for Christmas.  Before take-off, the pilot came back into the cabin of the airplane and explained to everyone that we should have a smooth flight, arriving on-time in Idaho (he quickly added that he would explain that destination to everyone, later).  He then asked the "Thompsons" in row 13 to raise their hands, so we all did.  He proceeded to say, "Emery, Easton, Ezek we aren't really going to Idaho, we are going to Disneyland!"  . . . and the whole plane cheered.

We arrived at the Long Beach Airport at 8:00 a.m. and quickly rented a van and drove to Huntington Beach.  It was a little cold, but that didn't stop the kids from putting on their swimsuits and spending the morning playing in the water and building sand castles.  We spent some time on the pier too, watching all of the surfers and getting fun balloon creatures.  Note Easton's funky balloon shark hat.  That evening we went to a street fair there at the beach and ate some fabulous fish tacos.  There were some guitar-playing surfers there too, who were great entertainment, while we ate our dinners.

We stayed in a great hotel, that had bunkbeds and a miniature table and stools for the kids.  On Wednesday morning, we walked over to California Adventure, where we spent the entire day, riding rides, sketching Disney characters, and watching some fun shows.  We especially liked "It's a Bug's Life".  We were a tired bunch, walking back to the hotel, and we all fell into bed, eating cereal, candybars, and apples for dinner.

On Thursday morning (the kid's birthday), we walked to the Disneyland Hotel for a special birthday breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.  Lots of Disney Characters were there to celebrate with us.  The food was great, and we all left full, and covered in badges.

Our "little 10-year-old Princess", posing with Sleeping Beauty. 

Once he got used to them, Ezek loved the characters.  He kept chasing "Pluto" around the restaurant, hugging his legs. 

We spent the rest of the day in the Disneyland Park.  That Easton is sure a crazy driver!  The entire park was really decked out for Christmas.  Even "It's a Small World" was playing "Jingle Bells".  It was a really fun trip.

I thought I would get a lot of knitting done on the trip, but I was always too tired at night to knit.  I had to knit these Hot Water Bottle Covers for all of my co-workers and neighbors.  I was only able to knit one while I was gone, so Christmas is only 2 days away, and I still have 2 to finish.

I even recruited my Mother to help me this year.  She knit 6 of the 12 I needed.  Thanks Mom!  She is the greatest.  She is the one who taught me to knit, way back when I was about 8 years old.  She is still a fabulous knitter, and she has started helping me to test-knit some of my newly designed knitting patterns.

BE A WINNER!

I WILL BE DRAWING A WINNER FROM THE FOLLOWERS OF THIS BLOG, TO WIN ONE OF THESE "HOT WATER BOTTLES" ON JANUARY 31, 2012.  Be sure to sign-up, if you would like to have one, and tell all of your "knitting" or "non-knitting" friends.  If you want to knit your own, you can find my free pattern at:  Knit-Zilla Hot Water Bottle Cover - free pattern.

I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas, and . . . happy knitting!

Thanksgiving 2011

I've been so wrapped up with Christmas preparations, that I haven't had a chance to blog about the fabulous Thanksgiving Holiday, we spent at my daughter's house in Idaho Falls.  So . . . a little late, but here it is:

We arrived the night before, and all met up for dinner at "Bubba's BBQ".

The BBQ was delicious, and we hurried back to Carissa's house to start the preparations for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was cold, but the roads were dry, so it was smooth sailing on the drive up.

Hunter and Laura made the most yummy sweet potato pie.  She is a really good cook.

We all spent Thanksgiving morning preparing the dinner.  My sister, Carolyn, arrived with her family at noon.

My nephew, Charlie kept Nola entertained reading books and making faces at each other in the bathroom mirror.  She spent a lot of time giggling.

Great appetizers were served at 1:00 p.m.  They were so good, and we were all so hungry, that we ate too many of them, kind of spoiling our appetites for dinner.

The table was set and we were all ready for dinner at 3:00 p.m.

Everything was so delicious.  We all wished we had more room in our stomachs, as we were full much too fast.

Grandma Joan made the pies.  They were yummy too, however, I think Charlie had his whipped cream without the pie.

This was when Charlie told Carolyn and I that we were too old to wear "bling".  I think he may have received such a "talking too" from us, that his ears were burned off.

We were all a little tired, at the end of the day.

Especially me . . . you can see I wasn't getting much knitting done, after all the cooking and clean-up.  Right after this picture was taken, I changed into my pajamas and coat, gearing up to hit the "door crasher" sale at Target at midnight.

It was a wonderful day.  I am so thankful to have a healthy family and plenty of food on my plate. 

Our alpaca herd has grown.  We just acquired 5 adult male alpacas.

Meet Waffles, Spud, Melvin, Apple Jack, and Butterscotch.  Cocoa, Licorice and Chip were not there this day, as they had been sent to the farm to get Cocoa bred.  Such a hard life for these girls.  Always pregnant, even when still nursing a baby.

This is Butterscotch.

These are Waffles and Apple Jack.

This is Spud.  He has extremely high grade fleece, but he is not the sharpest tool in the shed.  However, he is the only one who will fight with Melvin for food.  Melvin seems to be in charge of everything.

I just made my first trip to the mill, to see how our fiber would be milled into yarn.  It was fascinating to see the process, and so exciting to choose the weight, and other fibers to be combined with the fleece sheared from Cocoa and Licorice, last Spring.  I can't believe I forgot my camera, but I'll be sure and take lots of pictures the next time we make the trip.

Christmas knitting has me so bogged down, that I can hardly think of anything else.  Happy knitting!

Christmas Slippers

For the past 10 years, I have been knitting these felted slippers for my family and friends.  They are so warm and cushening, that I receive lots of request for new ones.

It generally takes me about 10-12 hours to knit a pair, so the time really adds up, when I receive multiple requests.  So, since I have 10 pair to make for Christmas this year, I decided there had to be a faster way.  So . . . . I decided to try and write a pattern for a crocheted version.  The pattern is posted at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-felted-slippers

This is how they begin.  Two strands of 100% worsted weight wool is used, along with a size K crochet hook.  Above is the toe shaping.

Then the foot and heel are created, along with the foot opening.

A pair of slippers takes 2-3 balls of yarn, at a cost of approximately $15 per pair.

A separate soul is crocheted, and attached to slipper.

This soul piece makes the slippers so cusheny.  They are a great thing to wear, when you have to spend an extended chunk of time, standing.  I love to wear them when I have a full day of cooking, or folding laundry.  I can't get them on fast enough, when I get home from work at night.  They are great on your feet after a day of running around in heels.

I've even converted from knit to crochet, when making the roses and leaves, which are attached to the girly slippers.  The instruction for making the roses and leaves, is included on the pattern, along with careful instructions on how to felt them.

This is how they look, once they have been felted.  They look just like the knit version, if you ask me.  The felting can be tricky, as they are placed in hot, hot water in an agitating washing machine.  The pattern is sized for Youth, Women, and Men's sizes.  Once you've made a few, you could even size the pattern down for children or babies.

They often come out of the felting process, completely different, so they have to be stretched and shaped, when they are wet.  My husband has really strong hands, and he is a necessary part of the stretching done on my slippers, to assure that two in the same pair, end up being the same size.

Crocheting these slippers, has reduced the time it takes me to make a pair to 6-8 hours, if I can convince my husband to sew on the flowers.  Being a taxidermist, he is use to hand-sewing wet leather hides.  This has probably contributed to the arthritis he is experiencing in his thumbs.The only down-side, is that crocheting with such a large hook and with such thick yarn, tends to make my hands hurt.  Knitting, even on large needles, seems to be easier on my hands.   However, it could just be that I love to knit and hate to crochet, so perhaps my hands are just not used to it, or perhaps it is the pressure to crochet as fast as I possibly can.

This is the pair I have been wearing for the past 4 years.  If you look closely, you can see the holes in the toes and heel.  I wear these slippers all of the time, even outdoors.  I wear them to pick vegetables in the garden, to take out the garbage, and to even run to the car on a snowing evening, when we are making a trip to the gas station or to get some late-night ice cream.  When they start looking like this, I simply sew up the holes with regular sewing thread, and throw them in the washing machine on "hot" for an additional felt.  This tightens them up, as they stretch out, over time, and the fibers re-felt where the holes were.  This adds years to their wearability.  I really need to make "me" a new pair, but I can never seem to find the time.

It is my hope, that the publishing of this pattern will give me a resource to refer people to, when they ask me to knit them a pair.  In addition, I've decided that if I really charge for my time, the slippers should cost at least $40 per pair.  Perhaps this would be a good deterent too.  There seems to be a lot more people who know how to crochet, than to knit.

Well I better quit blabbing, and get back to my Christmas Knitting.  I have tons to do, and only a few short week left for knitting.  I've even high-jacked my newly-retired Mother to help with my Christmas knitting this year.  I'm sure she thinks I am completely crazy!  I say this every year . . ., but next year I'm not committing to knitting anything for anyone!

Hurry and crochet yourself a pair.  They will come in really handy when you are cooking that Thanksgiving Dinner, later this week.   Have a Happy Thanksgiving!  . . . and happy knitting.

The Annual Halloween Party - 2011

Every year, my sister hosts a fabulous Halloween Party.  This year was no exception.  We had a great time.  We ate delicious Navaja Tacos, and lots of treats!

As always, the costumes were great too.  Here are the "Coats" as Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

. . . and the "Halls" in all their striped glory.



. . . and the "Straups".  Trever hates to wear costumes, so I thought they
were quite creative in their costume design this year.



. . . and the "Steadmans".  Our hosts for the party.  Thanks Care!



. . . and the "Thompsons".  This year's costume design WINNERS. 

As you can see, they came as the "Angry Birds".  Emily is wicked with a glue gun.  We had a great time!

I spent this last weekend trying to design a knitted cozy for a hot water bottle.  I often need something to warm up my feet when I go to bed at night, and I hate to use something electric, that I have to try and turn off, when the toes are warm.  This seems to be the perfect solution. 

I even searched out the method for a two-sided cast on (magic loop cast on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhBIS0AhhQY ) so I could knit this little wonder in the round.  It worked out great, and I can now see why you would want to knit socks, from the toe up.  There would be no annoying seams across the toes.  Happy Knitting!

My "Hot Water Bottle Cover" pattern is available for free at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/knit-zilla-ravelry-downloads.