Wonderful Winter Wonderland

I am so enjoying this rainy stormy weekend. I finished my Austermann Step socks last night, and I finished and wrapped my Sister's scarf. There won't be any finished photos of that project, it's just a longer version of the photo below. I am back onto the Forest Canopy shawl because it is the next project on the sidebar that is almost complete.

I finished something else this weekend, my Commemorative Collector's Book of State Quarters. I got both Alaska and Hawaii quarters yesterday so my book is now complete. 1959 was a very good year !!! I am actually collecting $10 rolls of every state quarter, I finished 4 more states: Delaware, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. My Mother plays a game called Pokeno with her girlfriends once a month and they bet quarters for different combinations on their playing cards. She got coverall last night and I ended up with $15.25 in state quarters for my collection.

The baby boy dog child has a grooming appointment tomorrow and it is time for his annual shot. I have four 8 row repeats left to finish this FC Shawl, then I will finish his little sweater. I have 3 inches of the body to knit then there is a chest plate which enables you to custom fit your pooch. I am not sure how many rows or inches that will be. But every time the baby comes back in the doggy door he is soaking wet, so I must get his little sweater finished before he gets doggymonia or something. I am making him the Posh Pooches Basic Sweater.

I watched my favorite version of A Christmas Carol last night, the original 1951 black and white version staring Alastair Sim hosted by Patrick MacNee. Tonight I am going to watch the Albert Finney version. Tomorrow night the George C. Scott version, then the night after the Patrick Stewart version. Aw Christmas, I just love it.

I am wrapping green this year, I did not purchase any wrapping paper or gift bags. I am a shopaholic and I have boxes and bags galore, so I recycled and put gifts in what I already had on hand. Hope the recipients aren't too disappointed when they find no Louis Vuitton or Coach items in the bags and boxes. Teehee, I warned my Sister up front because I often give her Coach bags and accessories for Christmas. Did not want to disappoint her, she is getting . . .oops, I almost slipped. My BIL reads my blog and he is a tattler.

I bought myself a sewing machine for Christmas, but for knitting purposes. Let me explain. I bought three of the Knit Picks colorwork kits, the Agouna Laptop Bag Kit in blue which requires steeking; and the Cool and Warm Palette Fingering Yarn Sampler kits with the Sipalu Bag patterns. I also have the Jade Starmore Glenesk sweater kit, more steeking. Steeking is scary enough without trying to do the sewing part by hand. So I bought a little sewing machine to help me over the hurdle. It is a Singer 7470 and it sews alphabetical characters too. I am determined to stitch my username on my Ravelry tote. I wrote my name on another unofficial Ravelry tote from Zazzle, using fabric markers, but it faded very quickly. I also like to put zippers in my tote bags and linings in my knit and crocheted bags, which I have been doing by hand. Now I can do a much better job of finishing.

Last but not least ( I want to get back to my knitting!!), I bought the Knit and Crochet Today DVD set. We no longer get the DIY channel and I wanted to get this set because it comes with a 28 pattern CD-ROM. Pretty cool!!