reading list

It's a good day to read or sew or knit or more likely a little of each..............

My final list of books for 2015

1. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik for book club, we each read a different book by the author
2. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
3. The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks
4. The Shepherdess of Siena by Linda Lafferty
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot  book club
6. bird in hand by Christina Baker Kline
7. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger book club
8. The Girl Who Came Home By Hazel Gaynor  a Titanic story
9. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon time travel in Scotland
10. The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall about Russian nobility at the beginning of the revolution
11. The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall continuation of previous story in China and rise of communism
12. The Girl From Junchow by Kate Furnivall 3rd book about Lydia returning to Russia to find her father 
13. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline for book club I read this book again for book club and enjoyed it as much the second time.
14. Glad Tidings by Debbie Macomber
15. Out of Sorts by Aurelie Valognes
16. Can This be Christmas by Debbie Macomber 
17. Vintage by Susan  Gloss about a women who sells vintage clothing

 ....and the year in numbers.  I read 40 some books, I know there were a couple short books that didn't get on the list,  I knit 9 pairs of socks,  3 sweaters,  18 pairs of reading mitts and gloves, 8 pairs of slippers 6 of them felted, I lost count of bottle socks but I used up a bunch of short balls of yarn, Yippee!!  I finished 8 quilts and I visited 5 countries: Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Canada.  I wrote 228 posts and received 120 great comments thank you readers!  It was a great year and looking foreword to lots of fun things in 2016.  Wishing everyone the best for the new year!
Happy New Year  --Ann-- 

Quilt top finish

New experience here I sewed in December since I had a couple deadlines, so my sewing room was not used at a catch all for boxes and wrapping paper and anything else I didn't want to really put away for the month because then I might not be able to find it. Second son was thrilled with his big quilt for his big bed. He saw it as I progressed but not for the last two or three months.  Yesterday I was a able to go into my sewing room and sew the borders on this quilt. I didn't have to clear the table or the floor.  I may sew again next December, its a lovely thought for the new year.  --Ann--

Super Secret Reveal

Super secret quilt reveal.  According to Gibbs the rule for keeping a secret a secret is not to tell anyone.  I managed one surprise for hubby this Christmas. A quilt with novelty fabrics of so many of his favorite things. He doesn't know everything that goes on in my sewing room.  I call it Pheasant Run.  --Ann--

BELIEVE

Believe  

For unto us a child is given..................

Merry Christmas

--Ann--

believe

believe...................................

Last stitch

another ta da done!!! Even the label.  I think I'll just tie a bow around it.
Merry Christmas --Ann-- 

Lovely Weekend

 

I generally don't sew much in December because I am decorating and baking and shopping.  Darling daughter helped with the decorating after Thanksgiving and kids keep sending me links to their favorite items so all I have to do is point and click then go to the door when the UPS man comes.   This year I had a couple quilts that I really wanted to get done for Christmas.  So this past weekend the guys went hunting again and DD came home to love up sons dog so she doesn't have to get one then she did my Christmas baking!!!  I had the doughs mixed up so all she had to do was slice and bake or roll dough into balls and bake.  She was having so much fun she even mixed up some more dough.  I let her be queen of the kitchen and I went to my sewing room.  Occasionally she would come in with a question or the scullery maid would come out to the kitchen and do a quick clean up and taste test then back to the sewing machine.  It was a great weekend!!! Thank you Darling Daughter.  All I have left to do is stitch the binding.  --Ann--

On the needles

I have finished a pile of bottle socks / coffee cuffs for stocking stuffers and so many little balls of leftover yarn are gone!!! Room for some new yarn.  New socks have been started.  The yarn was pulling from one skein so nice and the other was coming out in globs so it was wound into a ball.  I started the socks as the yarn came off the skein sometimes the striping matches right away and other times I wonder when the colors will start repeating so they look like they belong together.  Hope you are staying cozy warm in hand knits.  I keep reminding hubby to put on his wool sweater. --Ann--  linking to Judy's OTN

Design Wall

I felt like I worked over the weekend because I finished these blocks and all the blocks for a super secret project then sewed them together and basted that quilt top and another.  I even started machine quilting it. Much accomplished! But its a secret.  These blocks have been sewn into strips they need to be pressed before I sew the strips together then add borders.  We have snow again its a good day to hunker down and sew some more.  --Ann--

On and Off the Needles

My sweater is finished!!!! ta da done!!!  I knit Malabrigo super wash fingerling yarn on size 7 needles so I can throw it in the washing machine with my socks.  The pattern is Breakwater.  I love the way the yarn feels and the fit.

I have been knitting bottle socks for stocking stuffers with leftover sock yarn.  I can fold them in half and also use them for a coffee cuff or on a can.  I cast on 48 stitches on 3.25 dpns and knit 2 x 2 ribbing for an inch or two then plain knit then ribbing again.   I decreased 8 stitches for the longnecks before the ribbing, on some I did not decrease and they work the same.  On some I knit all ribbing that works good for a coffee or can cuff and I just knit until it was 5 or 6 inches long or until I ran out of yarn and for some I combined a couple yarns.  The leftover balls have disappeared more space for new yarn! Happy knitting and linking to Judy's OTN. --Ann--

Snow and Snowmen

Our snow from last week has completely disappeared.  I was walking son's dog a couple days ago and saw a dandelion fluff top and I wondered how it survived the wind and snow from a week ago then yesterday I saw a yellow dandelion blossom on December 9th! Ah ha there were several brave dandelions blooming in December so they were all fresh fluff tops.   The only snowmen I'm seeing are on top of my kitchen cabinets. They are a jolly bunch.  The two big brother snowmen are telling little sister she is going to melt.
Looks like another unseasonably warm sunny day here on the prairie. --Ann--

Design Wall and 500 posts

I looked at the information on my sidebar and it said 499 posts so this makes 500!! If I were a super organized person I would do something monumental for this post but I'm not super organized so it will go down as more of a footnote.  I seldom  sew much in December but I need to get a couple wedding gifts done so I am sewing.  I'm about half done with these blocks.  I'm just alternating tri rec stars with courthouse steps and the tri rec stars should also alternate with the light and dark sides of the courthouse step blocks making a star burst of light and dark.  Our snow has melted and the forecast is for more warm days so I make get the garland on the front steps today.  Happy stitching.--Ann--

On the Needles

I have just been knitting in circles.  The sweater has knit so fast but then I never come to the end of the row, I just go round and round and round some more and my coffee gets cold or I'm watching the telly with hubby in the evening and he has the remote so we are watching a little of this and a little of that with some hunting or fishing shows in between football and basketball and maybe some golf and the announcer or host starts whispering because they are sneaking up on some critter that they don't want to scare or ruin a putt and pretty soon hubby is asleep but his finger continues to twitch and change channels so I just knit and knit some more kinda like this run on sentence. Sometimes if I really want to watch something I go downstairs and after a half hour on the elliptical I sit down with the remote and watch what I want to watch, commercials and all because I can't knit if I am changing the channel.  Can anyone relate?   --Ann-- Linking to Judy's OTN

Quilts around the house

The quilts have been changed to the Christmas quilts so the decorating is almost done.  Darling daughter helped trim the tree and several other things after Thanksgiving.  We played a rousing couple rounds of Scrabble.  Then daughter said "enough with all these four letter words!" even though they were all nice four letter words.  Building new words from existing four letter words becomes quite challenging and my letters seldom landed on a double or triple point square.  All my well thought out single letter additions were foiled by someone adding another single letter to the board.  I could have had a triple word score by adding an "s" to the end of "cable" but someone else added an "o" to the "t" above  when it could have made "go" in another spot for three times the points or to a different "t" for double the points.  I was told I was being a sore loser.  It was still fun.
It is snowing again its coming down like sifted sugar. --Ann--