On The Road Again

Despite the blowing and drifting snow, my oldest granddaughter and I are traveling to the Philadelphia area this morning to spend the week with the lil' cowboy and his parents.  I wish that the roads outside were as warm and dry as they are on the My Little Town play quilt that I made for the lil' cowboy's second birthday, but I'm certainly not going to let a little snow keep us from all of the fun we have planned for the week!

Merry Christmas!

The branch that bears the bright holly, the dove that rests in yonder tree.
The light that shines for all to see, the peace of Christmas Day.

May your home be filled with peace and love this holiday season!

Christmas Eve

Cookies For Santa

Peppermint Shortbread

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup flour
1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy canes
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1 cup white chocolate melting candy
1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extract. Mix in the flour, and then crushed candy canes.

Shape dough into 2 x 1/2 inch logs. Place logs 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in preheated oven, or until firm. Let cookies cool completely before removing from pan.
Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler, stirring frequently until smooth. Dip one end of each cookie into the chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Place onto waxed paper until set.

One To Go!

One last pair of mittens to finish before Christmas. (What was I thinking when I decided to make FOUR pairs of mittens in December as Christmas presents?)  As long as I can keep up the feverish knitting pace, I shouldn't have any trouble getting them done and remarkably, with time to spare!  (Someone please remind me to start my Christmas quilting and knitting a little earlier next year!)

The Knit-a-thon Continues

The good thing about knitting for small children is that the projects are small as well and they go together quickly!  These mittens are for my 3 year-old granddaughter and I should have them done with a couple more hours of knitting time...in plenty of time for Christmas!

Another Pair Of Fingerless Gloves

Fingerless gloves seem to be all the rage these days because Miss Two also asked for a pair.  I made these using the same pattern that I used for her sister's fingerless gloves, only I used a 2x2 rib at the cuff and a smaller size needles for a better fit.  I guess now that the two older grandgirls will have new mittens for Christmas I should make the two younger girls mittens as well.  How many days until Christmas???

Selvage Cup Cozy

Here's another quick gift idea...a cup cozy!  I based my cozy on the tutorial found at House On Hill Road.  I did make the template a bit larger and I pieced together selvages instead of using a solid piece of fabric, but other than that I followed the directions as written.  Now I just need to add a coffee shop gift card and maybe a few cookies and I will be able to cross another gift off my list!

Pillowcases!

Pillowcases are fast and easy to make and now they are even easier to make with this tube method.  Pillowcases make great gifts and they can even be used as gift wrapping, so if you need a quick last minute Christmas gift or gift bag, a pillowcase project might just be for you.

If you have all of your Christmas shopping and projects finished and need something to do, consider making a pillowcase or two and giving it to a shut-in, sick child or anyone who could use a bright spot at this time of year as part of the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.

Chocolate Pretzel Rings

There just doesn't seem to be enough time in a day to get everything done that needs to be done before the holidays.  There's the decorating, the shopping, the wrapping, and then the baking,  How's a girl to get it all done and still have time for quilting?  Thankfully there are these little chocolate pretzels that only take three ingredients and only minutes to make...easy peasy and time leftover to quilt!

Chocolate Pretzel Rings

1 package pretzel wheels
1 package milk chocolate or white chocolate wafers
1 package M&M's

Place the pretzels on foil lined baking sheets; place a chocolate wafer in the center of each ring. Bake at 275 degrees F for 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is softened. Remove from the oven. Place an M&M on each, pressing down slightly so chocolate fills the ring. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Store at room temperature.

Ami Simms Is On The Quilt Show!

Ami Simms is this month's special guest on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims!  You can watch the full one hour episode at www.thequiltshow.com for free simply by registering a user name and password with the website. This show is a "must see" for anyone whose life has been touched by Alzheimer's or for those who want to learn more about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

Another Kool-Aid Experiment

For this dye session I used a skein of "I Love This Wool" in Winter White from Hobby Lobby.  It is a blend of 93% wool and 7% polyamide (a type of nylon) and according to the label it is machine washable.  I had a 40% off coupon, so I thought it would be worth a try to see how it would accept Kool-Aid dye.  I used Blastin' Cherry Berry, Pink Lemonade and Black Cherry Kool-Aid and as you can see the yarn preformed well through the dyeing process.  I do have to wonder how it will wash once knitted though.  Even though the label clearly shows that it can be machine washed and dried, on the inside of the label is a pattern for a felted bag that uses "I Love This Wool" yarn. (???)  I think it will be a good idea to hand wash whatever I decide to make with my new variegated red yarn!

Kool-Aid Addiction

Who didn't love a glass of ice cold Kool-Aid on a hot summer day when they were a kid?  My favorite flavor was always lemonade, but now I love ALL of the flavors colors!  I'm not drinking it though...I'm dyeing wool yarn with it!  I began with this tutorial from Knit Purl Gurl, a few packages of Kool-Aid and a skein of Patons Classic Wool.  My crock pot was not large enough to hold the yarn, so I used a large glass baking dish (with a lid) and the oven (set at 325 degrees) instead, but other than that the process remained the same. 

As you can see, my yarn turned out beautifully and I'm afraid that I am now hopelessly addicted to Kool-Aid!

Snow Lies

Normally I can knit and no one pays much attention to what I am making, so I don't have to hide those projects like I do the ones that are in the sewing room, but that was before Miss One learned how to crochet!  Apparently she has developed a yarn addiction that rivals her grandmama's because she spotted this project from across the room and wanted to know what I was making with the "sparkly white yarn".  I had to think quick, because they are actually the fingerless gloves that she has been wanting for Christmas, so I told her that I was making more mittens for the mitten tree. (A friend of mine calls these little white lies told at holiday time "snow lies"...isn't that cute?) Anyway, I guess I'm going to have to be more careful about where I leave my knitting from now on!