A Long Holiday

Knitting And Gift Bag | Whims And Fancies

Various reasons called for a long holiday this year and I obliged.  For me that typically means going into hibernation, at home or sometimes elsewhere on a trip.  These getaway trips would be completely impossible for us without our fabulous pet sitter, Nanci.  She not only takes care of the basic necessities of our kitties, she also spends time with them and reads aloud to them.  She even warmed her way into the hearts of my shy kitties enough that they are completely relaxed around her.

During our Sweden vacation, we got this mug for her as a thank you.  That was in September, but with one thing and another we didn’t get to see each other again until after the holidays.
 
Knitting And Sewing Gift Bag | Whims And Fancies

Pattern at One Lucky Day

As soon as I finished the first bag using the pattern on One Lucky Duck, I had to make another one for Nanci.  It made a great gift bag, the mug fits in it perfectly.  Nanci is a quilter herself.  She also runs a craft workshop for her occupational therapy patients.  She was very excited about the bag and I shared the pattern link with her for her workshop.

 

Yellow Knitted Mittens | Whims And Fancies

Harvest Date Mitts

She spends a lot of time outside, so I made these yellow mitts for her to keep her hands warm while she is out and about.  As soon as she pulled them out of the mug, she put them on right away.  She was very happy with her handmade gifts and that in turn made me smile big.

The pattern links for both the bag and the mitts are under each photo if you want to make them.  They are very quick to make and they make great gifts!

 

Pattern Writing Blog Series

 
Speaking of patterns, Cheryl from Meadow Mist Design is starting a series on Quilt Pattern Writing.  If you are interested in writing patterns or ever wondered what goes into writing them, you won’t want to miss this.  She is also doing round table discussions and I am one of the designers participating.  It will be great to see both the similarities and the differences the various designers will bring to the table.  I had a great fun writing my answers before I started my holiday.
 
Lego Harry Potter | Whims And Fancies

This year’s holidays were all about indulging my inner child.  My husband and I love the Lego Harry Potter video games.  We spent large chunks of time playing and laughing at the silliness in the game.  The settings and the music in the game are very comforting for us and we love to get lost in that world.
 

Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe | Whims And Fancies

This is sticky toffee pudding, the most delectable dessert I have ever had.  I only make it for the holidays using Nigella Lawson’s easy recipe with reduced sugar for the sauce.  I had it for breakfast one morning with vanilla ice cream!  I really don’t care about the calorie consumption, having it for breakfast once a year won’t kill me!

 

Mary's Bread | Whims And Fancies

My friend Mary shared her bread recipe which I made during the holidays.  The bread came out perfect the very first time and was incredibly delicious!

 

Yosemite Tunnel View | Whims And Fancies

The holidays ended with a trip to Yosemite National Park.  There was an unexpected road closure due to a major rockfall.  That resulted in three separate three-hours-a-piece detours in and out of the park on icy and snowy roads instead of our usual 15-minute jaunt from the hotel.  On the second evening, on our way back, we were very happy to learn that they were about to reopen the quick route back to the hotel.

While we were waiting for the road to reopen that evening, we drove to the Tunnel View vista point.  The drifting cloud from the cold and overcast day was starting to settle into an even colder Yosemite Valley night.

Happy Creating, everyone!
-Soma
 

 

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Knitting Snapshots

Knitting WIPs | Whims And Fancies

 

Last week did not afford me any opportunity to sit at the sewing table for any length of time required to work on any project.  We live in a much cooler place now and I need to make a few more quilts.  I am working on them, just not at the moment.  I need to keep my hands busy, and knitting needles are perfect for filling in those small waiting moments.  With cooler weather approaching, I have been seeing a lot of knitting projects around, which has been motivating me to knit.  So I decided to indulge my craving by working on three knitting projects simultaneously.

 

Whisky Barrel Pullover | Whims And Fancies

Gamekeeper Pullover

This is a pullover I am making for my husband.  The pattern is written for worsted weight yarn but I am making it with dk.  I had to do A LOT of swatching.  After some trial and error, I got the sizing right.  I am almost at the point where I separate out the sleeves.

 

Live Long And Prosper Mitts | Whims And Fancies

Slipstream Mitts

Knitting round and round is kind of boring, specially on a large size pullover.  Enter mitts.  This is the Live Long And Prosper yarn from Lorna’s Laces.  This yarn is quite busy and it took me a long time to find a pattern that would actually show it well.  Unlike the pullover, this one needs all my attention.  So watching TV while knitting this pair is not an option for me.

 

Harvest Mitts | Whims And Fancies

Harvest Date Mitts

Since I have one mind-numbingly boring project and the other one is an attention-seeker, I needed a third one that would be somewhere in between.  I made this pair of mitts before in an orange yarn.  It’s a really fun and quick pattern and I love this yellow yarn.

 

Yarns | Whims And Fancies

 

My husband went out to get a hair cut last Saturday and stopped by the yarn store.  This is what he brought back home!  Lucky me!  More handmade knits!

 

Charlie Cat | Whims And Fancies

 

In midst of all the crazyness, I got a new camera.  I am very fond of Canon cameras.  This is another Canon, so I found all the settings very quickly.  Now it’s time to play and test out different settings.  Charlie, of course, gets to be my model!  Here he is waiting for us to finish breakfast so he can have a few drops of milk.  Staring down does work by the way!

 

Online Trunk Quilt Show | Whims And Fancies

Trunk Full Of Quilts – An Online Quilt Trunk Show

Read The Introductory Post

I am also all set for the online trunk show next week.  Since posting about it last week, I have heard back from Fat Quarter Shop and they are also sponsoring the event, so that means more prizes to give away!  If you haven’t heard about the Trunk Full Of Quilts event, it’s an online quilt trunk show hosted here at Whims And Fancies starting next week.  Hope you will join me!

Until then,
-Soma

 

 

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