Knit One, Quilt Two: 2008 Wrap Up

I haven't written in my blog for some time now, so I thought I would do a final wrap-up of 2008. I had an extraordinarily busy December, working on many Christmas projects and shopping, but unfortunately I couldn't share them with you because my family reads the blog now, and I didn't want to spoil any surprises! Now that Christmas has come and gone, I am happy to share!

We had a wonderful holiday, Santa was too generous, as always! The new mantle did a wonderful job of holding up those heavy stockings! Daughter Jessica and granddaughter Kaylee spent the night with us, so we had four stockings filled to the brim!

The biggest and most ambitious project I finished this year was a wedding quilt for Josie and Richard who were married last March. I worked many 12-hours days at piecing and quilting, determined to have it done by Christmas, and I made it! Here is a picture of Gary holding up the finished quilt (I find it absolutely hilarious that the sun was so bright that day you can see Gary's silhouette through the fabric! However it did not give us much warmth...)

Here is a picture of Josie and Richard after they have opened the present. I am so glad they liked it! It is on their bed now. Richard is wearing an alpaca hat that I knitted for him. I didn't make Josie's crown though, it was the prize inside a Christmas cracker! We all got a crown, a joke, and a tiny present, a fun new tradition for this year.

I made a pair of Malabrigo merino wool mittens but I ended up falling so madly in love with them I couldn't bear to give them away. I like to knit while listening to audio books, so I have decided to start naming my projects after books listened to while knitting. Therefore I dub these my "Edgar Sawtelle" mittens! Sorry I couldn't get a better picture.

I knitted a pair of alpaca "Salto" socks for Josie, from natural cream colored alpaca. The pattern comes from Knitty, the online free knitting pattern site.

And here they are on Josie's feet:

I made felted angora blend mittens for Josie and Savannah:

And a scarf for Savannah from my handspun bamboo/merino yarn along with some commercial bamboo yarn:

Isn't she the cutest thing in that Santa's elf dress? Here is another cutie (Kaylee) on Christmas morning with her Grampy:

And here is granddaughter Bryanna with the Peek-a-boo mittens I knitted for her. The tops can fold back and button down to have your fingers free:

Daughter Jessica got that fancy mixer AS SEEN ON TV:

And Harley Rose got a new bed to put next to the fireside. She loves it.

I also made socks for daughter Sara, (I don't know why I didn't get a picture of them) a hat for my son Jed, and fingerless gloves for Jed's girlfriend Jacque and also for Jessica, shown here:

Since Christmas we have had an INSANE amount of snow, and temperatures as cold as -20. Lucky for us, we have been able to hire this amazing shoveler for the cost of a Tootsie Pop!

One morning I opened the back door to put Harley out and found a foot of fresh snow! The flash on my camera refused to work, sorry...

I have finished my Rivendell socks, from the book "The Eclectic Sole" by Janel Laidman. I used wool that I hand dyed a delicious emerald green. I love them!!