Felting Party DISASTER

We had the felting party Saturday night...the food was delicious (stuffed shells, salad and homemade rolls) but the felting went terribly wrong! I must say I have learned from my mistakes. The first thing that I did wrong was to put all four pairs of clogs in one zippered pillow case. The second thing that was very bad was adding my son's comforter to the mix. Usually I felt with sheets in the washer and everything so far has turned out well, except this time...when it counted the most :( I now know the items to be felted need lots of room to move around in the washer. Sorry no photos of the felting process as I was very disgusted!! After the first ten minutes I checked on the clogs. Some were felted. Some were not at all! One of J's was felted and the top of the slipper was felted to the bottom. I had to pull them apart. Same thing happened with one of N's slippers. I then tried 10 more minutes. Still not right. Finally, I removed the comforter and things went better. Only two pairs to the bag though. In the end they are ok, but I'm not at all happy with the finished results, not perfect...but they should be wearable. Lesson learned: Only felt one pair at a time and make sure the item has lots of room to move around. Now I'm waiting for them to dry so I can sew on the non-skid soles.

Here's another DW dishcloth...I love this pattern; I don't think I'll ever tire knitting these!
Then, I finished another corner to corner cloth using leftovers of two color ways that I had previously made DW cloths with.
Now this in my latest project:
A DW dishtowel!....which is actually six DW cloths knitted together. I really think I'm going to love this towel. The yarn is 100% cotton millend (one pound) from AC Moore. It looks like the striped yarn (Sugar 'n Cream stripes) that I've been dying to try.

Next on my list...I need to wind my beautiful sock yarn from Jeanne into a ball...then I going start knitting my socks. Can't wait!

I certainly hope everyone will have a very happy New Year!
Lots of happy knitting in 2008 :)

Merry Christmas!

Was Santa good to you? Santa was very good to me this year :) I'm very happy...I am now posting from my very own notebook computer...a Dell Vostros notebook with XP. It is amazing!! An unbelievable difference from our old dinosaur computer, it's so easy to use. I still have to move over my old files...but that can wait. Plug in my photo card reader and I'm good to go!

In addition to my computer I got a mouse, pen drive, chocolate and a Joann's gift card from my boys - I really made out like a bandit :) Guess giving my husband all the money I saved up for the laptop I didn't end up getting (remember by failed shopping trip to Best Buy this past fall?) worked to my advantage!

Here are a few cloths that I recently finished...since finishing the infamous slippers:
The first one is another DW cloth and the next two are "Corner to Corner" cloths. The pattern is found in this booklet Lily Sugar 'n Cream Kitchen Kolors!. (#570821). Basically it's grandmother's favorite with out the yarn overs! I had a little bit of Christmas colored yarn left, but not enough for a whole cloth so I striped it with the solid red. I like the result. The same thing with the DW cloth...not enough left for a whole cloth so I striped it with yellow ombre. I bet you can't even tell the it's striped?

Last, but not least...I think this is what really made our Christmas morning special:

Christmas Eve Shortcut Buns

I thought I would try this recipe this year. Who wants regular breakfast food for Christmas morning? The night before you prepare the recipe and let it rise overnight. Then when the presents are being opened you bake the rolls. The aroma was incredible! Just a little warning...it is so tempting to put more rolls in the bundt pan than what the recipe calls for...don't. It really looks sparse, but by morning the pan is filled to the brim with the risen dough.More rolls would have made it over flow and you can imagine the mess. This is definitely a keeper and new tradition in my home :)

Merry Christmas everyone!! Happy Knitting :)

Happy X 4

I'm so happy ....I finally finished all four pairs of felted clogs with time to spare. Don't think I'll be knitting any more of these slipper for a long, long time. They still need to be felted, but that will take place after Christmas. Once felted (felting party) and dried then I'll add some non-skid soles.
Then at T's ( my youngest son) basketball game today I finished a Christmas Nubbins. I've always wanted to try this super easy pattern.

Now, I can focus on some last minute knitting, mostly dishcloths I think because they work up so fast. Then I can finally knit what ever I want :)

I wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas, along with peace, joy and love :)