i don't really know how to explain the last week. the weather has been unusual and forced me to be more housebound than i prefer. i took the week off of work to spend time with friends during the holidays but ended up spending a lot of time by myself as the roads have been terrible and i wasn't able to get around (let's not talk about the fact that my car died too).

but now christmas eve is here and my family is coming over and i am pretty well over the cabin fever. it will be a white AND wet christmas here in seattle as the rain has arrived but there was just so much snow that it won't have the chance to wash it all away until probably friday or so (more snow actually predicted for tonight i believe).

don't get me wrong, i love the snow, but i miss seeing my friends during the holidays and not getting to do some of the traditions i am accustomed to.

so for my blogging friends, happy holidays and for those of my close friends who i did not get to see this week i hope we find a chance to get together before the new year.


(reflection of my christmas tree in my living room window)

not so long after all

well we didn't get too much snow but a nice dusting to make everything white. there are still some flurries out there. i'm just about to make myself a cup of tea and take a quick break from work to knit for a little bit.

sadly it won't be on my handspun christmas socks. despite the effort these were not enough of a priority for me to finish (since they are for me after all). christmas gift knitting is on the needles in their place for now. i will finish them after the holidays though so i can wear them next year.

i also picked up a great book that i would love to start knitting from but again - no selfish knitting right now.


i love the pattern on the cover and so many others.

and a little something i ordered this year after seeing the bazillion ads in martha about them...


i have ordered custom m&ms in the past but not with pics. lily is on one and cooper on the other. i just couldn't resist. and although i did get a concerned look from a friend i am not convinced this makes me a crazy cat lady.....yet. :)

long winter's night

we're settling in tonight as the snow is falling outside (ok it can't actually decide between rain and snow but we do have a blanket of white already). here is lily in her new favorite spot right in front of the fireplace. the funny thing is - no heat comes out of this thing. you can sit and almost touch the glass and nothing. these 70's fireplaces aren't really meant for high heat so i just use duraflames. my place is so energy inefficient it is terrible. with this cold snap i have realized that i will need to think about new windows sooner rather than later.

ok, enough about that boring stuff! but the snow! yeah for snow! i just love it SO much. i need some time inside to knit. i have some holiday gifts that still need to be knit up and when i realized we were just a week from christmas eve i had a near panic attack. nothing to show you yet but i'll keep you posted.

so for now, how about a pic of something i have never noticed in my place before? the moon through my skylights. it was very cool.


and one more pic very similar to some i posted last year - one of my favorite hang outs during the hoidays (though i have only been there once so far this season!)

yum! trophy cupcakes.

ok, off to get ready to see a movie. hope this finds you all well (oh, i see the roads seem to be all covered now! this is going to be an interesting night!)

catching up

*just a reminder that there is one last project bag sale this year - tomorrow at 10 a.m. pacific

all spun up!


here is my handspun from moonlight baker's holly jolly roving. LOVE. socks have just been cast on!

and for those who know how much i love snow - some recent goodies


two lovely snowflake books from my friend pat - an early christmas gift so i could enjoy them through december. if you haven't seen these you should check them out. it is really just amazing the way they photograph these real snowflakes!

and for fans of sunshine yarn, my lovely skein of first snow. i could not resist!

and not to jinx anything but we are looking at a very chilly weekend in seattle with the slightest possibility of snow. you don't know how excited that makes me! and i get to wear plenty of my handknit scarves and hats! yeah!

boy is december flying by!

more crafting

*fyi, the final project bag sale of the year will be dec. 9th on etsy

i took on a new craft recently (ok, not really, i used to make soap in the not so distant past - let's just call it bk - before knitting)


i made these cute soaps for the shop. i couldn't resist, i just love the skein of yarn and needles!

i also picked up some rubber stamping supplies for my christmas cards. now i'm not sure i'll get around to the stamping. and i was annoyed that i had to re-buy supplies - yet again - bk i was a stamper and had everything. when i became obsessed with knitting (there is no other way to put it - i'm not in denial) i sold all my stamping supplies on ebay. there is a good chance i'll end up doing store bought cards for the first time in like 10 years but hey what can you do. i promised myself i was going to enjoy the holidays and not over stress and over plan everything!

alright, signing off for now, more to come...

i should blog

i can't tell you how many times that thought has gone through my head the last few days!

so here it is, dec. 3rd and i haven't been very good at blogging recently (actually i have been a bit of a slacker all year!). plenty is going on, just not the inclination to pause and put it down on the blog. i was on the couch most of the weekend battling vertigo - something that i get more frequently these days. i did catch up on a lot of terrible christmas made for tv movies though and actually really enjoyed it! thankfully i had my house decorated for christmas the weekend before so i didn't have to stress that i wasn't able to get it done.

ok, but onto the backlog...

let's start with twilight.

i threw a little pre-bash before going to see the movie opening night. twelve of us total - it was a lot of fun. and i didn't take pictures. i had vampire and spellbound wine and vampire fang candy, etc. all i have left to share with you is the jones soda i had in honor of edward (swoon) or jacob.


the movie was eh but i'll see it again. the beginning was a bit painful but it picked up. new moon will be interesting as that was my least favorite book. wonder if i should make a trip to forks while they are filming? that might be kind of fun.

next up is my lovely "holly jolly" roving from moonlight baker.


i had this custom dyed. not a lot of holiday roving out there and i wanted something that i could knit up into house socks like my pumpkin fields forever (also by moonlight baker). christmas is my fav time of year!

and of course by now, the starbucks knitting themed christmas decor has made it around the knitting blogs. as soon as i saw these mugs a couple weeks back i had to have them. so very cute.


i think i have 6 total. my friend/neighbor who designs stores for starbucks is getting me a few for my christmas gift to add to those that i already have. i'm having an open house in a couple weeks and will have these out to serve hot chocolate in (shown here with all my favorite teas!).

secret gift knitting is going on too of course. i am also working on the advent trees from mason dixon but am only on tree 4. stitch markers for the vyt open house saturday are also being made.

this week proves to be busy and this weekend even busier. i have the vyt open house, urban craft uprising, a vintage button sale and a trip to bainbridge with my Tuesday knitting group! those should be some blog worthy events so stay tuned!