the new year::

Whenever the New Year comes along, I'm always at a loss of what I should write. I'm not huge into making lists, because I never seem to DO any of them (or at least very few get accomplished). But it is sometimes fun to write a few things I am looking forward to or things I'd like to try and accomplish in the New Year. I'm going to start a list of some of these things. Perhaps one of these days when I have time, I'll make a list of things I did last year.

• Start growing heirloom seeds inside early.
• Plant an herb garden (mostly, if not all planted in pots).
• Draft a few patterns and make some clothes to sell from them (wish me luck!)
• Go back to Shape Note sings.
• Turn twenty-six.
• Go to the lake A LOT more this summer.
• Start running again when the weather gets warmer.
• Smile often.
• Keep a one sentence journal each day (or often) of the good things in my life.
• Take better pictures.
• Knit.
• Celebrate my brother and my best friend's weddings.
  
• Travel.
• Try real hard to actually get a banjo and learn it!
• Wear red lipstick in public (I swear I'm going to do this...)
• Celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday!
  
• Continue reading for the book club I attend. (Btw, our next book is called "Love Medicine" by Louise Erdrich.)
• Do something for someone without anything in return -- often.
• Clean my room. :)

Okay, that's all I can think about right now. I bet I'm leaving a lot out, but that's okay. Hope you all have a lovely New Year's!

merry christmas!

merry christmas!, originally uploaded by gracefullady.

Hope you all are enjoying a lovely day. It's snowing here!

holidays.

Lots to do these days. I've been getting my tired body up at 5:30am the last few days so I can get a few more things crossed off my lists. I'm not only taking off for Christmas, but my younger brother is getting married January 2nd (and um... still haven't made my dress for that yet...) and then after that I am going to house-sit for some friends. That will actually be fun, as I plan to bring drafting supplies to make some patterns. Been wanting to try my hand at this for years. We'll see if anything actually gets accomplished. I am imagining lots of laziness accompanied with loads of tea and coffee and hands filled with knitting needles. The house is a lovely Edwardian structure and they have a kitty! Also I won't have a car, so basically will be stranded there for a week, which is fine with me. It will be a nice "break," even if I will sort of be working while I'm there.

bed socks :: pattern notes

Super easy bed socks inspired by Mieke Willems socks. I made these for my brother, hopefully he doesn't see this! I just wrote down my notes on Ravelry, but in case you aren't on there, I'm copying them here. Hopefully they aren't too hard to understand!

Here's what I did:

*Cast on 44sts on size 6 needles.

*Knit 40 rows.

*Transfer sts to sz 6 double point needles (10sts on first needle, 24sts on second needle, 10sts on 3rd needle) and knit in the round (stockinette) until you've reached your finished length MINUS 2 inches (just like knitting the end of a sock). For this pair I knitted until the length was 8 1/4 inches from beginning.

*Now you will begin to decrease like a sock:
Slip 1 stitch from each end of needle so the stitches are placed like so: 11-22-11.
*Work the following 2 decreasing rounds until 20sts remain:

-->Round 1: Needle #1- k to last 4sts, k2tog, k2; Needle #2- k2, ssk, k to last 4sts, k2tog, k2; Needle #3- k2, ssk, k to end.
-->Round 2: k all sts.

*When 20sts remain: On needle #3, k the sts from needle #1 so you have your stitches placed on two needles like so: 10-10.

*Graft toe.

*Sew the back seams together to form sock.

*Weave in ends. Repeat to make one more sock. :)

Note: I tried these on and they were pretty large on my feet (I wear size 8.5 shoe). They should (hopefully) fit my brother's feet. They're very stretchy. You could always knit them this size and felt them to your size. Or just wear them with a couple pairs of socks underneath.

knitting gifts::

Today I am spending the whole entire day knitting and making gifts. I have some old Christmas and wintery movies picked out, doughnuts rising in the kitchen and a load of yarn to knit up. I'm pretty excited about today! The snow melted, but it still feels pretty cozy in here.

Since I'm in a Christmasy mood today, here's some wintery linkage to share. Happy weekend!

• gingerbread moomin house {via fine little day}
• holiday home tour with fine little day.
  
• the blank advent calendar {still haven't made this yet...i know i'm super late!}
• hot water bottle cozy {super freaking adorable. i just need to go buy a hot water bottle now.}
• handmade mittens {i've never made mittens before, but they are on my to-do list! maybe i'll get some made today.}
• baktus scarf {ravelry}
• snowflakes.
• Sunday on TCM: Christmas in Connecticut and Remember the Night. So good!