Making Merry

Found these cute glasses at Sam's. They come as a set. I am thinking they will be cute with not just drinks but dips or soaps or M&M's in them.

We waited until sweet daughter came home from college to trim our tree. I made a big pot of potato soup and set out some treats. It was so fun to share time as a family, I cherish our time together now as I know as the kids get older we may not have as many chances to be together like this, just the 4 of us.

Or should I say the 6 of us, can't forget Wrigley and Kodi!

I finally mastered the spritz cookie press this year! I made 10 dozen cookies, 7 of which I brought to an annual cookie exchange. It is always a pain to make that many cookies but so nice to have a wide variety of goodies to set out during the holidays.

One of my traditions is to make chocolate covered cherries (dear hubby's favorite) each year. I make them the weekend the boys go deer hunting and let them set up for a couple weeks before serving. You will see those on the top dish. This is one of my favorite serving pieces. My dad gave this 3 tier spode server to me one year for Christmas. I always think of him when I get it out and put cookies on it.

I made peppermint bark this year, first time I have tried it. Found out that you really need to follow the recipe and not double it. I thought thicker would be better, wrong, it needs to be thin to stick together when you break it up. Some of the peices broke apart, in this picture there is a piece that held together and it was yummy. Ok, now off to the treadmill!!!!

Sweater surgery and other crafy things

I love the way this beanie turned out for dear Son, it is based on a 1940's pattern for a watch cap. I had to knit it over about 3 times though because I was having a hard time getting the correct length. He likes it and it will keep him warm.

I did a gutsy thing with my heather hoodie sweater. You may remember this from last year about this time. Well, I never liked the hood on it. The hood was over sized and made the whole sweater hang wrong. So I took a scissors and cut it, then unraveled it and re-knitted it to have a collar instead of a hood. I had to do this when I was with my sweet Iowa City friend as I needed moral support for this sweater surgery. Now I need to block the collar and sew on the buttons. Need to do this before Christmas as I think it is the perfect Christmas sweater.

Here is some of my handspun. It is a color way called Haunted Vineyard. It is out of polworth sheep. I love it, soft and snugly. I got 237 yards out of 4 ounces, it is worsted weight. What does this all mean to you non-knitters? It means I have enough yarn for a hat or mitts but not much more than that. I think it will be a hat.

I am trying to make homemade vanilla this year. Basically you take vodka and vanilla beans, put them together and let it sit for a month or too. More on the results in a future blog post.

Birth month

I celebrated a big "0" birthday this year. So rather than celebrate for just one day I celebrated for pretty much a whole month. I went to Des Moines to see the Zach Brown Band concert with some girlfriends that I have been friends with since I was a child.

It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed shopping in East Village, followed by a nice dinner at Star bar and then the concert. We had pit tickets and although the view was great the next time I go to a concert I will make sure I have a place to sit.

The following weekend I went to DSM again with my husband and kids and enjoyed a great time watching Wicked. We joined my sister and brother-in-law and brother and SIL for a yummy dinner out at The Latin King restaurant. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so don't have any pictures from that fun day.

Finally dear hubby, son and daughter surprised me with a cake and candles. What a month, I think that should hold me for another 10 years until the next big "0".