The Scrabblequeen Knits, Too

A Few of My Favorite Things…

scrabblequeen — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:20:44 +0000

Christmas Music
Can you see the light from the flickering candle, or the wood stove, or the hearth? Can you hear the strains of soft but beautiful music? I hear this song three ways in the recording in my head: just music, sung in English or in German. I love it!
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Still, Still, Still :

Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.
For all is hushed,
The world is sleeping,
Holy Star its vigil keeping.
Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.

Sleep, sleep, sleep,
‘Tis the eve of our Saviour’s birth.
The night is peaceful all around you,
Close your eyes,
Let sleep surround you.
Sleep, sleep, sleep,
‘Tis the eve of our Saviour’s birth.

Dream, dream, dream,
Of the joyous day to come.
While guardian angels without number,
Watch you as you sweetly slumber.
Dream, dream, dream,
Of the joyous day to come.

Woot!!

scrabblequeen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:24:08 +0000

Kings win, again. Such fun to go to the games this year with a talented, young team playing for all they’re worth. Nice to spend the time with Hubby Dearest too. And no, I don’t knit at the games. It seems too dangerous, in light of how excited we all get.

What others are saying:

About rookie point guard Tyreke Evans…Evans is on pace to join LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only NBA players to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in their rookie seasons. …

About Omri Casspi…..Paul Westphal, the coach Casspi speaks so glowingly about, explained why his confidence in his rookie is so high. “His work ethic and his intelligence are off the charts,” he said. “When he identifies something he needs to work on, he does and he improves fast. He’s a great competitor, very skilled, and quick learner, and those are all things that bode well for a nice NBA career

Last Saturday

scrabblequeen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:30:46 +0000

Last Saturday I batted my eyes at the Hubby Dearest so I wouldn’t have to make the drive up The Hill to Mount Hope all by myself. It was time for the annual Cookie Exchange and Craft Day.

I had a great timing visiting with friends, crafting, and test-tasting cookies while the Hubby took a hike and played around with his new ‘toy’ in the staff lounge. Of course, I did make sure he got a mocha and some cookies!

Just take a look at the number of hot chocolate or chai mixes they had set up for our use!!
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They had a fire in the wood stove (it was pretty chilly that day) and plenty of Christmas decor inside….
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And out!
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This is what is left of the plate of cookies we ‘tested’ at my table. We also each got a very full plate to take home with us.
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These are the cute folk art angels that Gina and the gals got ready as examples for us. We each ~~had to~~ got to make our own little angels.
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Wanna see my little angel? I made mine a boy, like everyone else around here, and guess what? He’s wearing Chucks!! Do not think I have any real painting skills, please. You would be very wrong. Gina painted the face and shoe laces for me. I love having good friends.
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And, to finish up, of course I need a picture of some of my lovely friends from “up The Hill”.
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Judy, Alicia, and Gina

A Christmas Meme

scrabblequeen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:17:35 +0000

A Christmas Meme
Have you started your Christmas shopping?em>
Yes! I try to do most of it on the internet as I pretty much HATE crowds.

Tell me about one of your special traditions.em>
After Christmas Eve service (a tradition of it’s own) we always go on a drive around town to look at Christmas lights. This occurs either just before or just after the lasagna dinner.

Are you a Black Friday Shopper?em>
NO WAY! (unless you count going on the internet at 12:30 am on that day, which I DID do)

When do you put up your Tree?em>
Whenever we get to it. This year, it was the first weekend of December…pretty early for us.

Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home?em>
We stay home. Hubby Dearest usually has to work all or part of the holiday.

What is your funniest Christmas memory?em>

Funniest? I have no idea. Favorite, possibly. We used to go to a friend’s house ( “Aunt Jan’s”) every year for Christmas Day. They always bought a bunch of toys on Christmas eve, when they went on clearance. Everyone got a brown paper grocery bag with “their” toy in it, and the rule was that you HAD to play with it. I loved watching the stodgy adults “play” with their gifts!

What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time?em>
Muppets Christmas Carol

Do you do your own Christmas Baking, what’s your favorite treat?em>
Yes. I usually make some cookies, some Pumpkin bread, some spiced nuts, and possibly some pies. My favorite? I have no idea….I love it all.

Fake or Real Tree?em>
Either. I prefer a real tree, but sometimes we use our fake one. It takes less care, but doesn’t smell or look as good!

What day (as a mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Christmas Eve?

Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Absolutley! Always. Midnight even.

What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?em>
Singing Christmas songs around the fire.

What Christmas craft do you like the best?em>
Christmas craft? I like to make Christmas cards…is that a craft? (I craft continually)

Christmas music. Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song?em>
Yes! And I love them all. My favorite song is too hard to figure out. I have some favorite albums…

When do you plan to finish all your shopping?
Plan? People plan for this? It’s done when it’s done.

Let me know if you do this Meme so I can come read your responses!

Brrrr!!

scrabblequeen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:01:34 +0000

I know lots of you will think I’m a weather wimp, but I’m okay with that!
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Just before 10 am today

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Yesterday, we were supposed to have a light dusting of snow early in the morning. No biggie, right? Wrong! On the average, we get a touch of snow about once every ten years around here. So, it got really cold, and if in fact the rain had fallen here, it would have been snow, but it skipped over us and fell elsewhere. Freezing temps, though, did stop here for several hours.

Last night we were warned to take precautions for plants and pipes due to expected freezing temps again. According tho this morning’s Bee, the overnight low was 27 degrees, which was a new record low for the date. But, that was Sacramento…..here is was more like 24 degrees. More of same tonight. Daytime highs in the mid 40’s.

This is California, for Pete’s sake! To us, this IS cold. My tree thought so, too….
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Mostly empty tree, was mostly full yesterday!

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Want to see the sea of leaves my “poor” son is currently ~~vacuuming~~ I mean mowing up?
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href=”http://scrabblequeen.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/leafy-yard.jpg”>[/caption]
The Sea of Leaves
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Notice that most of the leaves on the ground are still green? That shows how suddenly that silly tree realised what was up, with regards to the season. No slow chilling to cause leaves to turn pretty colors here!
Where are my fingerless mitts, the ones that Lisa made for me?(mine are the green n brown ones) I need them NOW!

Ready To Fly

scrabblequeen — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:51:30 +0000

Although barely.
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This photo represents where almost, but not quite all, of my knitting time has gone for the past couple of weeks. I showed you all a picture of the first scarf, early in it’s progress. The two color Brioche scarf lovingly known as Army scarf 1 for Ravelry purposes was begun on November 16th. The final scarf, Army scarf 3, was finished on December 1, fifteen days after the first one was cast on. For me, three scarves in two weeks was a lot of knitting. Smokin’! (OH yeah, I pulled off a pair of fingerless mittens in there, too.)

The scarves were all knit primarily or totally with Patons Classic Wool Merino, with a few dashes of color courtesy of Cascade 220 thrown in on the ends. Needles for both Brioche scarves,(1 & 3) were Knitpicks Harmony’s in size 9. The grey Scrunchable scarf used Harmonys too, but in size 8.

I thought that was an interesting tidbit, considering both patterns were knit with the same yarn. You can’t see it in the picture, but the Scrunchable (scarf 2) has a lovely couple of stripes at each end in a heathered green…kind of a loden color.

Verdict: I’m impressed with Patons Merino! It was soft, easy to knit with, has as much yardage as 220 does, and costs less. I didn’t have any issues with consistency of thickness with the Patons either. Oh yes, I did/do have with the Cascade….For example, the hat which I am currently knitting in two colors of 220 superwash has huge issues with thickness. In a nutshell, the yellow is knitting nicely on the size 6 needles, the black is noticably thinner, and would do better on 5’s….or perhaps even 4’s!

Tomorrow I’m off to Mt Hope for a Cookie Exchange and Craft Day! This is to be followed by an incredibly busy Sunday. And Monday. And a usually busy Tuesday. Thank goodness I have Wednesday mostly clear to allow a bit of recovery time. Unless something else comes up….and you know it will!

Wooohooo!

scrabblequeen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:14:21 +0000

It’s snowing, Plus December Header is finally up!
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Lake Tahoe, California April 2008

Dogs! Gone Wild?

scrabblequeen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:27:08 +0000

So, for once I’m a little early for DOT, but this was irresistable!
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Advent Calendar

scrabblequeen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:53:15 +0000

It’s that time again….Time to enjoy the free patterns and pretty pictures from GarnStudios. Follow this link, you’ll probably want to bookmark it, for a new free pattern each day from now until Christmas. Enjoy!

Oh, yes, I know I’m late with December header. Sorry. Picture is chosen, cropped, and ready to go….on MY computer, which is once again….temporarily unavailable. Sigh.

Happy Birthday Private!

scrabblequeen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:31:00 +0000

I had to post this a day late, because my computer didn’t come home until today, and the photo I needed was on this computer…..sigh.
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PFC Josh was 19 on the 19th! I hope you had a good day and got to talk to those you love. I can hardly wait for you to come home at Christmas. Oh, Daniel feels that way, too.