Hello Again!

I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post!  All I can say is that I got caught up in the whirlwind of the holidays and enjoying my family, and POOF, more than a month has gone by.
Here are a few highlights from the past 6 weeks.

All the boys were home on the same weekend so that we could pick out a tree as a family.  I think it's been 5 years since the last time that happened!

We had a wonderful day celebrating Christmas with Tom's side of the family.  We were only missing our niece and her family, and Justin who was back at school.

The following weekend we had a fun day celebrating with my side of the family.  Our family continues to grow with the addition of 2 baby girls in 2012!  It was really fun having my niece Morgan and great-niece Aubree even though they were too young to understand what was going on.  We ahd extra fun for them.

I had a few knits that I gave as gifts too.  This is Jesse's Christmas Hat that I knit for Tom.  He got a new winter jacket this year so I made him a hat to go with it.  I used Lamb's Pride Worsted.

Matthew got a Fake Isle Hat.  I used Noro Kureyon and Cascade 220.  I'm not a fan of Noro yarns generally, but the concept of this hat is pretty clever and I couldn't resist!  I'll probably make this hat again, but I will use some Lamb's Pride for the solid contrast. The Cascade 220 was a little too thin and made it a little challenging for me to properly tension the stranding.

I made Moody's Stockings for Danielle, who is Matthew's girlfriend.  She is a big fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, so she appreciated the tie-in.  I used Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in Acmon Blue for these.

I made Alpine Lake in the infinity size for Emma, who is Chandler's girlfriend.  I used Lamb's Pride Bulky for this. It came out great and Emma LOVES it :-) The Lamb's Pride may not have been the best substitution as I ended up using a LOT more yardage than the pattern called for, but the end result was beautiful.

Justin said he would wear a hand-knit hat "if it's in my school colors and has the Alabama A on it"  That was a challenge I couldn't resist!  Off to the yarn store I went to pick out some yarn and then did some planning with my graph paper.  Ta-Da!!  He loves it and so do all his friends back at school.  He says someone is constantly swiping it from him :-)

Chandler made the varsity hockey team this year!!!!  We're so proud of him and happy for him too :-)  He's worked hard for this and there is very stiff competition for the position.  He is one of 5 goaltenders at his school who tried out.

I decided my boy needed a new hat, and wouldn't it be fun if it matched his jersey?  I found cheap yarn that could be used and abused in his school colors and made him a hat with hockey sticks on the front and I also put his number on the back.  This was a huge hit with his teammates and everyone wants one. After much waffling on the subject, I've decided to give it a try.  My goal is to complete 21 hats by the end of the season which is February 23rd.

Wish me luck!  I'll keep you posted on how it's going.  If I can make 3 hats a week for the rest of the season, I can get it done.  As of today, I am about to finish hat #5....

I hope you are all well and had a wonderful holiday season too!