Happy Thanksgiving

Hey, another holiday, another post. Yes, it's Thanksgiving. Can you believe it? Where did this year go?!!!

Thanksgiving for us has been scaled down over the years. We have a good traditional meal and delicious dessert(s) and try not to overindulge in either. We've taken care of the eating part already. Time to move on to the next thing. My Christmas Cacti (two plants) which I have had for over 25 years as near as I can calculate based on pictures in which they appear in the background, have already bloomed themselves almost to death. Over the years their biological clocks reset and they bloom for Thanksgiving every year. They think it's Christmas. Here's this year's display.

Last Week

Today, Thanksgiving, November 28, 2013

So, moving right along . . . 

Time to think Christmas. I mentioned in the last post "the Christmas Eve Box." I saw the idea on Facebook. I liked it so much I decided to make one for myself. The idea is to make a box to be opened on Christmas Eve after dinner, in the evening. Open the box, get ready for bed, don the new PJs and settle in to enjoy the other contents of the box. Ideas for the contents include new PJs, (The PJs or other sleep attire are a must!) new socks, favorite treats like popcorn, chocolate, pretzels, fixings for hot cocoa including marshmallows, a book, a game, Christmas movie or other DVD. Let your imagination be your guide.

So far in my box I have new PJs, popcorn, pretzels, K-cups of chai tea and hot chocolate, the remote control for the Roku (I haven't decided on a movie yet.) and a new knitting pattern with yarn and needles. I have two patterns in contention.

I'm going to make a box for my spouse as well. So far in his box I have a new sleep shirt, chewing gum (Wrigley's Doublemint, Spearment and Juicy Fruit), Cheez-It crackers and diet ginger ale. I'm stuck on providing entertainment for him. A book? A game? Not sure yet. Part of the fun is picking the right items for the person. I'm sure both boxes will go through a few additions and subtractions before December 24.

My contending knitting patterns are berets. Shall I start one for myself or one for an American Girl doll. I'm leaning toward the doll beret. I could get a lot done while watching the movie and I could finish on Christmas Day. Patterns for both can be found on Ravelry.

I'm so gung ho on this Christmas Eve Box idea I've convinced my cousin to make one for herself. How about you? Make one for yourself and family members you spend the night with Christmas Eve.  I think it's a great tradition to start.  Singles, young marrieds, families with children, empty nesters--Christmas Eve Boxes for everybody!

Time for another piece of pie.

BonaFide Knitter

Another Holiday

Well, of sorts . . .

Today is the anniversary of the day I was born. I won't say which anniversary. Suffice it to say it is a MONUMENTAL one. And that's enough about that.

What I want to go on and on about is what the younger generation(s) have missed out on. The electronic age has robbed them of so many things! I sometimes wish I was younger, but I never wish I had not lived in the years I experienced.

I learned to read and write. I learned to use my imagination, visualize, improvise, add, subtract, multiply and divide. Technicolor musicals at the movie around the corner from home made me appreciate Broadway musicals before I ever went to New York and saw one.

Don't get me wrong. I also love modern technology. I am amazed at it. I think my computer, laptop, netbook, MP3 players, e-readers, iPhone, iPod, iPad, iPad Mini (a birthday gift today) MacBook Pro (an anniversary gift back in June) are wonderful. I can't get enough of them. What a far cry from my Texas Instrument calculator of the 1970's! It was all unimaginable back when Dick Tracy had a two-way wrist radio. "Dick Tracy?" Two-way wrist radio?" Let me try another reference . . . The Jetsons! We are living beyond even what the Jetsons had.

I am as sorry for my relatives and friends closer to my age who know nothing about modern technology. Especially those who write it off as something they want to know nothing about. Well, other than having a cell phone. They don't know what they're missing. They are being left in the previous millennium! And that is as sad as not knowing how to hold a pen or pencil correctly, write in cursive and know the multiplication table.

And on that note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Selfie taken this morning

November 19, 2013

Okay, the rant is over. I love my iPad Mini. It's an iPad, Kindle and Nook all in one little sleek, handy body. I had my usual celebratory meal: Chinese take-out and champagne. This celebration called for a cake and that was good too.

Bona Fide Knitter . . . older

Veterans Day

I hate to miss a holiday post. I'm sorry to be so late in the day with this one. All year I thank, donate to and say prayers for all the men and women who have served and those currently serving the United States of America in the armed forces.

In their honor I was determined to start and finish the little knitting project that should have only taken about an hour. It took me about an hour of actual knitting and about an hour of frogging and knitting again over a period of a few days, grabbing knitting time when I could.  I'd start, get halfway through and forget what I was doing. I'd start again and begin talking and or get interrupted and could not remember what I was doing. I could not look at it and tell what to do next or what I had done wrong on the row below or how to fix it. Holey moley I'd lost my knitting know how! And believe me,"holey" was the operative word when I went wrong. The perfectionist in me made me ripit, ripit, ripit. I thought I'd turn into a frog!

On Veterans Day I started and made it to the end. Yaaaaay!!! I'm pleased with it and it goes with the coat I had in mind when I picked the yarn colorway. And I would make another if I wanted to invest in another hank of the yarn. It's a little pricey. Maybe when it goes on clearance . . .

Yarn: Link by Berroco, 1 hank (200 grams)

Colorway:  #3241 Earthen

Pattern:  Wink (included on the band of the hank)

Needles:  Size 35 (19.00 mm)

Heeeeere's Wink:

A good representation of the colors in daylight

With the coat

With the coat reversed

What happened to the flash? This is what can happen when phone pictures 

are taken after dark.

Anyway, it was fun to do once I got my knitting bona fides back. Now I need to gather some photography bona fides. Maybe I'll stop with the iPad and iPhone go back to using a CAMERA. I think I'll go off now and see what other colorways are still available and possibly at a reduced price. I could add it to my Christmas Eve Box. Does "Christmas Eve Box" pique your interest? More about that in another post.

I am happy to say I am still a

Bona Fide Knitter