WEEK 24 OF YEAR 10

 

Hello everyone.  Welcome back.  It is time for me to once again update y'all on my crafting for the week. 

Let's start with my FO.

Reyna was completed on Tuesday evening.  Wednesday, she got a good blocking.  I am so glad I added the beads to her.  Even though it is a slow and tedious process, it is well worth it in the end.  Otherwise, this yarn would have had no weight to it and would not have laid very nice when being worn.  I have been asked how I add the beads.  I use a teeny tiny crochet hook and slide the bead on it, pick up the completed knit stitch with the hook, slide the bead on the stitch and place the stitch back on the knitting needle.  

I wear my neck shawls in two different ways.  It depends on my mood and the effect I am going for.  This is the 'over the shoulder' style I wear most of the time.  It is not for warmth but for fashion.

If I need warmth, then I wear it like the above photo.  The pattern was pretty easy to follow.  I was able to work on this while watching TV too.  

Once that was off the needles, it was time to pay attention to another WIP that has been waiting in the wings to be worked on.  The "It Really Fits Cardigan" got brought out of hiding and is now receiving my love.

I completed the first sleeve this week.  The sleeves on this cardi are quite generous and even with me decreasing 2 stitches every 5 rows, it was still large at the wrist.  I like my sweaters to be snug at the wrist so the wind can not go up the sleeve and give me a chilly arm.  So, I ignored the instructions and made my own cuff.  It fits perfectly now.

Sleeve number 2 is under way and I am hoping to get it completed this week.  Since this is all just knitting in the round (magic loop style) I can do this while listening to my book or watching TV.  Nice relaxing knit.

After sleeve two is done, I will try it on to see how much more of the body I need to do.  I am not going to knit the waist that is in the instructions.  (I don't have much of a waist anymore LOL)  So, will just continue on until I get the length I like and then will do the neck/button band/bottom of the sweater.  Those three items are all knit at one time.  Since this is my first cardigan to knit, I am looking forward to learning how to do the finishing bands on this.  It is chilly enough here now to wear this so I am hoping to get it done before we warm back up.

That is it for crafting this week.  Yesterday, we went to our BFF's house for a tamale making party.  It was the first time for any of us to make tamales.  Hubby and I made green chili corn and my BFF made chicken and beef tamales.

This is 4 dozen of the green chili corn tamales..............before steaming them.

Here is 2 dozen chicken before steaming

Here is the group (minus me) spreading and wrapping the beef tamales.  It was quite a learning experience.  It took almost 2 hours of steaming them to get them cooked through.  So, from start to finish it took about 4 hours total.  We did buy premade masa which helped cut down on prep time.  My BFF had all her meat cooked and shredded the night before which also cut down on prep time.  We spent about 30 minutes watching various videos on spreading and wrapping before we started too.  Would we do it again?  You betcha!

I leave you with some photos of our inside Christmas decor.

This is just inside our entry way that leads into our family room.  This will be the last year for this tree.  We will never buy a flocked tree again.  We spend most of our time cleaning the flocking off the floor, our clothes, the dogs etc.  It gets everywhere all the time.  The lights on the tree are supposed to do several colors and functions.  At the present time, the only thing it does is warm white on a steady glow.  Kind of disappointing.

Since we can seldom use our fireplace because of 'no burn' days.  We use it to display some of our various decorations throughout the year.  I love my 'flameless' electric candles. 

 

The cross stitch nativity is one my mom made years ago.  After she passed away, I was pleased to be able to showcase this each year.  Before she passed, we would hang this over her bed in the assistant living home she was at.

This is the fireplace (a fourth of it) showing the needlepoint stockings she made for us too.  My mom was a whiz with a needle and floss/thread.  I felt sorry for her when her hands got to the point where she could no longer cross stitch.  She was still able to do needlepoint though and had a partially finished Christmas stocking when she passed.  It was given to someone who could complete it and use it for themselves.

We got the privilege to do a little home improvement project on Friday.  The light fixture in our main bathroom decided it was time to quit working.  Off to Home Depot we went to get a new fixture for that bathroom.

This is the fixture we put up.  Normally it takes about 30 minutes to replace a fixture.  Well, not in our house.  The ground wire was only about an inch long, so we had to elongate that.  Then the junction box was really loose, so we had to tighten that.  This is all done in a room that has NO natural light so we were working by flashlight and at the top of an 8 foot wall.  Neither hubby or I are tall so this required ladders and step stools.  After 2 hours, we had a new light fixture and it looks quite nice.  This is what happens when you live in a 48 year old house.  Things start to quit working.

Today will be a day of rest.  There is NFL football to be watched, a book I would like to finish listening to and a sweater begging to be worked on.

What is on your agenda today?

Until Next Time.............................Happy Crafting & Stay Well!!!!!!!