Reading list

1. Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
3. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
4. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafasi book club
5. Miss Perigrines Home for Peculiar Children  by Ransom Riggs
6. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
7. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
8. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum  I read this after reading Cold Front by Kathleen Taylor, a South Dakota writer, the con artists in the book took their names from characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as their con was unraveling reference was made to how little Americans read their own literature. I did catch on to the characters.
9. True Sisters by Sandra Dallas about the Mormons pushing carts from Iowa to Salt Lake City in late 1800's.
10. Mrs. Lincoln's Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini
11. The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell for book club
12. The Way Things Should Be by Christina Baker Kline 
13. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
14. Two Old Women by Velma Wallis for book club a very short book about 2 native Alaskan women surviving and Alaska winter and friendship.
15. Who Was Santa Claus by William Walsh
16. The Knitting Diaries by Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, Christina Skye 3 short stories

Peace on Earth

Merry Christmas--Ann--

Santas and Christmas Tree

 --Ann--

holly

• 
  Falalalala lalala
  --Ann--

On and off the needles

  I thought the wavy stitch pattern looked like eyebrows.

At 8 pm the other night all my needles were bare!  my Christmas knitting was finished!!!! It was probably the first time since I started knitting socks 2 1/2 years ago that all needles were empty. so what could I do....first I cleaned up the cookie mess in the kitchen then I read for a while, then flipped through the channels about news time...........there was segment on addiction to technology and how some people check their phones hundreds of times during the day.  I am not one of them.  A few more runs through the channels and I was casting on another pair of socks. Knitting is my latest addiction, coffee and chocolate are right up there too, it keeps my hands agile and is a good work out for the brain too and I eventually have something to show for my addiction.I'll probably start another project over the weekend.

Tic tac toe socks from Wendy D. Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up I adjusted the pattern to fit  31 stitches. I started another pair of gloves for a "to go" project, they will be mindless knitting until I get to the little finger, the stitch pattern on the socks takes concentration and the pattern right in front of me every stitch of the way. Happily addicted to knitting; I may never learn to text.--Ann-- linking to OTN at Judy's

Six Decades of Christmas Trees

Six decades of Christmas trees......

This was made by my Maternal Grandmother in the 1960's every year I glue something back in place.

Triangle tree was made my my great aunt, sister of my maternal grandmother a note on the back to my parents says thank you for hosting 50th anniversary party in 1976.

I did the cross stitch in 1980's and I see that I didn't date or initial it.

a weaving my mother did in the 1990's

 A Christmas quilt I made in the 2000's I believe it is a Sandy Gervais pattern.

 Machine quilting on the back of a quilt 2010's, custom quilting for a friend and the only picture I have because of the great computer crash of 2011 at my house.  Six decades of Christmas trees and some will never go out of style.--Ann--

                                                                                                                                        

Angels on my tree

 I gave my daughter an angel for the Christmas tree each year, the boys received drummer boys. I also made an angel out of fabric from her Christmas dress every year until she was seven or eight.  Savoring Christmas memories.--Ann--

Three wise moose

 Three wise moose........

then they noticed the girls...........

Last week I was having trouble uploading pictures because son brought over a flash drive with pics of a trip to Wyoming and with the independent wisdom of a computer it wouldn't let me just open and look at the pictures it had to upload them into my dropbox so now the dropbox is full and I had to figure out the old way of uploading pictures. I thought his photos were blog worthy.

They were mountain lion hunting, the biggest whisker is a porcupine quill. --Ann--

A Chrsitmas Tree

I found a story about how the fir tree moved from a pagan to a Christian  symbol. 
      The ancient Scandinavians worshiped trees as if they were living gods. Legend has is that Saint Winfred chopped down mighty oak to prove that it was a tree and only a tree. As the tree fell it spared a young fir tree and Saint Winfred spoke "This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace, for your houses are built of the fir. It is a sign of endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wildwood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness."
      from the book "Who is Santa Clause?: a History or St.Nicholas, the Christmas Tree, and the Three Wise Men" by William Walsh.

The ladies of my church made straw ornaments again (click tree in the sanctuary last year) for the tree at the courthouse.
It's snowing here--Ann--

On and off the needles

I  had a week of finishes. The house is decorated, cookies are mixed and chilling, a church project is complete and these socks. I was experiencing technical difficulties (ETD) last week and couldn't get pics uploaded so the top pic was meant to be in last weeks OTN, the white on the heel looks like a nose so I had to add eyes.
The stitch pattern is a 6 stitch repeat Row 1&2: k1,p1 3x   Row 3&4: k1,p2,k1,p2

 

Looks like I'm still ETD. I took the pic of unfinished gloves horizontal but the computer changed it as it moved from point A to point B. I knit two at a time on cable needles until I got to the fingers then I had to switch to DPNs. Knitting the fingers was not difficult just awkward,  the next pair of gloves I am going to write down how many stitches I used in each finger because you add a couple then pick up stitches between fingers, some fingers are a little snugger than others but they fit.........well like a glove. I love the way the fingers striped. I'm definitely going to make more out of sock yarn.  And another pair of reading mitts.  linking to Judy's OTN.  I'm almost done with Christmas knitting. --Ann--

Design Wall

I did lots of trimming over the weekend and sewed all the blocks together Celtic Christmas comes to mine when I look at the colors and the rings, I like to name my quilts. I seldom do much sewing in December my sewing room becomes a catchall for things that are moved to make room for Christmas decorations so next Christmas this quilt will be ready for use either on a bed or on a wall. linking to DWM at Judy's.-- Ann--