I’ve knit several of these ornaments, four to be exact. I haven’t really had any major issues, so I began to grow complacent.
First, I bought aqua beads that came in a package with several different shades of tealish. When Meghan said, I’m not sure different colors of beads is a good idea, I said, I’ll be careful and plan. So, during the cluster that was the Aggie game last weekend, I carefully strung 110 beads in order so no big sections were one shade of teal. Then, I began to knit. I wasn’t paying much attention and soon, I was over halfway done and looking down at an ugly Christmas ornament. I love the Teal Mist colorway, so I wasn’t about to infect it with ugly beading. I ripped it out.
Then, I carefully sorted the bag of beads into five different colors and asked TH which one he thought was prettiest. He liked the opalish ones. So, I started stringing those on…..only to realize that some of them had chips in their shiny coating and looked cheap. So, I unstrung them.
I then selected TH’s second choice and strung 120 beads just in case. Ah, things seemed to be on a good path now. Until I took this on the road. I was knitting in the car (not while I was driving) and I somehow placed a bead and then knitted two stitches and placed a bead and knitted two more and placed a bead then the went back to the pattern with FOUR stitches between each bead. The sad part is that I noticed about 12-14 rows later. Sigh. I unknitted a row or two and then thought, there has to be another way to skin this silly irritating aqua ball of a cat. So, I got out the pruning shears to crack the bead off. Super plan! I’m a genius. Except that the shears were more sharp than I expected AND the bead was more sturdy than expected, so I cut the yarn and the bead was intact. No, I’m not kidding. So, I carefully pulled the extra yarn together and tied a square knot. I dropped the stitch and picked up the new formed loop with the knot to the inside. Crisis avoided. I finished up the ornament and surprisingly, it looks alright, especially considering the journey. Don’t you think?


Ps. Happy Birthday, Buck!

My BF from college had twin baby boys in August. I made them each their own blanket in the same pattern and colors, but slightly different so there never has to be an argument over whose blankie is whose. I was thrilled to get to deliver them in person and meet them a week after they were born. At some point, I hope to have pictures of them with their blankets, but as Momma was still a little tired and is now juggling twins, I’m going to be patient.


Overall, I was very happy with how these turned out, but they aren’t 100% square. I think over time, after being dragged around by a corner, they will evenutally lay wonderfully flat. The inability to block them made me think twice about using acrylic for a pattern like this in the future. On the upside, the acrylic should hold up and Vanna’s Choice has one of the best chocolate browns in my humble opinion. I just love the Espresso color!


Here is a picture of me and one of the super cute babies. I seem to be considering taking off with him and indeed for one hot minute, I believe I was. They are that cute!

Meghan came over to wind yarn one night while TH was playing WoW.

I seemed to be having issues with my yarn winder and had convinced myself it was the yarn winder, not user error. Meghan brought her yarn winder and some yarn. It turns out that you have to move the little silver yarn guide at certain points during the winding to keep the yarn winding into a nice cake. I had errroneously assumed that you could just hold the silver guide in one place and make no adjustments and everything would just work. nope. I should have figured this out for myself, but I don’t regret feeling a little silly for a few minutes when I spent a whole night laughing, looking at patterns, and watching Meghan wind yarn. At 11pm, TH wandered in and tried to wrap his mind around the fact that we had been winding yarn and giggling like children for hours. We didn’t realize how late it was and we had work the next day. oops. So, off she went to her casa and I was left with good memories, some lovely cakes, and the key to winding my own in future. Thanks, M!