YOP LIST 2023-2024

Sunday, December 30, 2018

WEEK 27 AND LIFE


Happy 5th day of Christmas.  How are you spending your 12 days of Christmas?  If you don't celebrate.....how are you spending the last few days of 2018?  Do you make resolutions? (I don't)  Do you pick a word for the year? (I don't)  Do you consider January 1 a way to start fresh again? (I do)

Since this is the last post for 2018, I decided to write what I wanted to write.  Not just about crafting.  But, since this is mainly a crafting blog, let's start out with that.


Still working on the Advent Scarf 2018.  The progress keeper is where I was last Sunday.  I was a bit further along until I noticed I had gotten off row count somehow last night.  Out came 4 rows of knitting.  I have put 2 of them back in though.  I am on December 18th, so only have 5 more days of pattern and then the ending ribbing.  I am averaging 3 days of clues each day.  It should be done by next weekend.  (fingers crossed)

I have not touched any other knitting or crocheting this past week.  We have been so busy, I am lucky to have found time to work on the scarf.  However, working on this scarf and learning some of the Japanese stitches has inspired me to learn more.  Therefore, Amazon got a little business from me.


Going through this, I have visions of socks with lovely intricate patterns on them in the near future.  Not to mention, fingerless mitts, hats, shawls and possibly even a sweater!  Looking at the designs as a whole, it scares the stuffing out of me.  Yet, the creator of the Advent KAL told me to just look at it one stitch at a time.  It worked!  I have not thrown in the towel and am looking forward to learning more of this type of knitting stitches.

We hosted a party last night.  We have this party every year for MANY years and have so much fun with friends and family.  It starts around 2 in the afternoon and ends around 10 in the evening.  There is lots of food and fun.  There just might be a few adult beverages involved in it too. (Hence the reason the scarf got off count)  To get ready for this annual event, hubby and I go to great lengths to make sure our home is welcoming to all.  We spent the week doing normal cleaning, lots of food prep, recipe searching, decluttering and finishing up decorating Christmas.  Since it was a short week, we really had to scramble to get it all done.  Even our dogs got groomed for the event.  While they were at the groomers, we vacuumed all the furniture and then to make sure there was not copious amounts  of dog hair on it 2 days later, we did this:


I told hubby, it reminded me of Grandma's house.  She would cover her furniture so it would not wear out.  Anyway, it worked and no one walked out of here with dog hair on them, other than when my dogs crawled into their lap.

I have to show you something that is becoming an event for our Grand Daughter.


She and our music director at church love to have tie contests.  She won this one.  The last one was a toss up (tie).  She loves to challenge him periodically to the contest.  BTW.....She just got glasses a week ago. I think she looks pretty darn cute in them.

This year has been pretty tough.  There were all those 'firsts' to go through without my mom.  Christmas day was the hardest ever as that would have been her 91st birthday and then, the day after was the 1st anniversary of her leaving this earthly life.  I found my eyes leaking off and on during those days.  Especially when I was working on decluttering my craftroom.  I still have all of my mom's beading supplies as well as a needlework Christmas stocking she had started and never finished.  It is still on the stretching frame.  The memories are sweet and yet sad at the same time.  

I am so ready for a new year to begin.  In preparation of making lovely new memories, I have been getting some supplies ready for it.


My new journal for 2019.  I get them at Hobby Lobby.  It is a lined journal and while many people prefer dotted journals, I like having lines to write on.  There was also an order for these:


They are bleed proof markers.  Since I like to do a bit of artwork or use stencils for fun, I wanted markers that don't bleed through.  I also use colored pencils (which I have waaay to many of).

There should be one more delivery today from Amazon.  It is my stickers for bullet journals.  I. LOVE. STICKERS.!      



They look like so much fun.  

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of my MIL's stroke.  It was a blessing she was visiting us when it happened.  We were able to get her to the hospital in 20 minutes of the stroke.  She has regained most of her abilities.  The only thing she can not do is walk.  She is wheel chair bound and that frustrates her quite a bit.  She celebrated her 91st birthday in May.  Unbelievable!

I think that about sums up everything I wanted to 'talk' about today.  May God bless all of you in 2019!

Until next time.................Happy Crafting!!!!

10 comments:

  1. Hi Marsha :) Lovely that you're learning new stitches. I know that feeling of being scared of knitting lol...though you're much better than I am! I will take that advice in the future, one stitch at a time...it's just like life right? One step at a time! I'm sure you'll produce some gorgeous pieces with those lovely new stitches!

    Your granddaughter looks very cute in her specs. Her tie is awesome!

    I'm sorry you are feeling sad these days, you had a rough year. I'm actually glad to see 2018 go. It's a new start for greater things. :) Alex and I will spend the next few days eating and drinking and enjoying each others company. No big parties for us! Wishing you a lovely 2019!!

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  2. Your Advent scarf is coming along great, Marsha. And I love that thought about learning new stitches. That is so true! I'll be honest, though... I can believe it more about crochet than knitting. Everything about knitting looks hard to me (well, except for very basic stuff).

    What a fun thing between your granddaughter and music minister. I think her tie's the winner, too. And she sure does look cute in her new specs. Your party sounds fun. I'm sure it's a memory-maker for all who attend.

    I can only imagine how hard Christmas Day and the day after must have been for you. Anniversaries of a loved one's death are hard, but to have it marked by another significant day (like Christmas)??? I'm just so sorry. I'm glad you're looking forward to 2019, and I hope you have have continued healing and many happy days, friend.

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  3. You are making great strides into your advent scarf. It is lovely to see you really enjoying the different stitch patterns.
    Your granddaughter looks great in her glasses and tie.
    I can only imagine how hard this time is, I hope the good memories start to outweigh the sadness. Here's to a brilliant new year.

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  4. Your advent scarf is looking great Marsha and you will love the book. I couldn't give any better advice than to take things one stitch at a time, you know how to do all the stitches. Your grand-daughter looks super cute in her new glasses and the tie challenge made me smile.

    I know just how you feel, all the firsts are tough but Christmas especially so. Perhaps because it is so family orientated that's why it feels worse and the memories are good but always tinged with a little sad now. Wishing you a very happy new year Marsha x

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  5. The Japanese knitting sounds interesting and something I may look at. How fun of your granddaughter to have the tie competition, I love that. I wish you a very happy new year and hope each Christmas gets a little easier for you.

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  6. I've never realized how big knitting can be in other countries other than Western ones. While browsing through Ravelry, I stumbled upon a lot of Japanese users. That's pretty cool, I wonder how Japanese knitting is different from regular knitting.

    It was my mother's first Christmas without my grandfather. It's always a little bittersweet. Hope you have a happy new year!

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  7. Glad you were able to 'back up and regroup' on your advent shawl. It is beautiful and you have done a marvelous job on it. Glad you had a party to cheer you this season as I know anniversaries are not always pleasant when you miss someone. Let me know how you like that book. I've thought of ordering it several times but haven't. Your granddaughter is so cute with or without glasses and what a great tie! Love your new journal and stickers. I hope to re-supply my stickers when I go to Mountain Home on the 18th. Happy New Year!!!

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  8. Understand and agree the first of everything is always hard. When my Mother passed I wrote memories of her using the alphabet. There are still a few letters that I didn't come up with anything. It's on my blog if you want to take a look. It helped me focus on the positive, rather than the negative. It also helped me smile a lot. Have fun with your stickers.

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  9. You have had quite the year, and I pray 2019 will bring you some peace and ease with your grief. God bless you as well, and I always enjoy reading about your exploits, both crafty and otherwise.

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  10. Your granddaughter is so cute! I love how she challenges the music director. I'll be interested in seeing how you lay out your journal. Bleed proof pens are a must. While I don't have any, that's the reason why I switched to a multi media journal because I know my inks would bleed through as I have the innate need to color white spaces up.

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