Rounding Out 2024

 What a way to end 2024!  It is windy, rainy and dreary!  BUT, I've got my knitting, my coffee and podcasts to catch up on.  So, I'm going to take a shower and put some clean jammies on and 

Have a safe New Years Eve Everyone!  I'll catch you in 2025!!

Mail Calls Last Week❤️❤️❤️

 The week before Christmas brought a few mail calls I wanted to share with you.

Last Summer. Chris from Briar Rose Fibers crocheted this fantastic hanging for her porch.  Well, I immediately decided I needed/wanted to crochet one for my porch.

So, I reached out to Chris to see if I could get a kit to duplicate one for myself. 

And Chris being the sweetheart that she is, despite still battling health problems, dyed and sent it to me.  The yarns are even better in person!  Adding this to my project list for 2025, for sure!

 

Susan, my Knitting Camp table mate sent me this bag after attending an event where they received them.  She mentioned to someone that I would love this print and voila, she gave hers to Susan to send to me!

Unexpected gifts in the mail are so much fun and just make me smile, especially when they say don't open until the 25th, so I will have a little something under my tree to open.  (I'm a kid at heart for sure when it comes to Christmas)

And then to my surprise, I received a wonderful box in the mail, with a request to not open until the 25th, and I waited.  When I opened these hand knit sweaters, I just squealed and kept petting them.  What a labor of friendship!!  And the workmanship, well, just OY!  

It was a great mail week and made a special Christmas for sure!!

Back To Normal Knitting???

 It's episode 131 of the PJKnits Knitting Podcast and you can watch it by clicking here

I'm ready to get back to everything normal, knitting, eating, sleeping!  How about you??

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

 

Merry Christmas Eve

 Started very early this morning, with my normal coffee and yarn opening.

Today was the last day of Advent openings, so, I am back to my regular coffee starting tomorrow, along with the end of the Swap of 4.   It is a nice collection and I am thinking about casting on a Christmas Eve cast on of the Trifle Shawl by Helen Stewart. 

I've never done a Christmas Eve cast on, but I may before watching A Christmas Carol which would bring me all kinds of 

Oh My, Already

I said I would be back tomorrow, what seemed like yesterday and here we are three days later.  So, just to play catch up, here is how the past three days started.

 

Coffee every morning, some new minis and some knitting.  Right now the days are filled with prepping for our family Christmas on the 28th here at Chez PJKnits!  

Tonight, after catching up on some emails and the blog, I'm going to grab my knitting and watch the Muppets Christmas Carol.  I remember when my Mon and I took the boys to the theater to watch it, back in 1992 and how I enjoyed it.  Tomorrow, after a day of baking, I will settle in for my fave A Christmas Carol from the 50's.  I like it the best and purchased it via Amazon a couple of years ago, when I could never find it on "real" t.v.  It has been a tradition for me for many years to watch it, late in the evening with just the Christmas tree on.  

I really will be back tomorrow, for a Christmas Eve post, catch you then!!

And Now

 I don't have to go or do anything until Christmas morning!!  (You'd think that I had a job and had just been given the time off from work, but no, it's just that now I can stay in and knit whatever I want to). Went to knitting today, and although Winter doesn't officially start until tomorrow, it sure seemed like weather wise it started today.

But then, I got to wear some knits, my Downton Hat, Sampler Cowl and one of my new pairs of Christmas socks newly completed and wearing in my boots.

Today's coffee was a fairly simple one, but good with some cream and in one of my Snoopy mugs.

It was a wonderful start to the day, for sure.  Hope the start to your weekend is filled with just what you want!  See you tomorrow.

It Just Feels Good

 Ever since I made the decision to not stress about my Advent knitting, it just feels so much better, brings the Joy back, and when I want to knit on my advents, I will. 

 Which I did, yesterday, just a bit.  This is the 18th Day in a nutshell.

And then today, the 19th, I've been wrapping presents, doing laundry, an eye appointment, pick up of a couple of orders, and cutting up of peanut butter fudge I made yesterday.

Rounding out the day with the set up of a new ipad and a bit of knitting, finally.

Oh, and I received some super surprise mail calls the last couple of days, I'll share those after Christmas, but I can tell you the senders hold a special place in my heart, for thinking of me and surprising me!  Bringing the Joy, they certainly are.

Pulling Out The Holiday Socks

 It's Day 17 and a Tuesday, which means knitting with my group and wearing a pair of my holiday socks!  These are from 2016, the year I had foot surgery and only needed one sock, so I finished the second the following year.  The yarn was from Knit Circus.

Today's coffee flavor was Peanut Butter Crunch, YUM and 5 stars for it!  Definitely will buy a whole bag of this one.

See you tomorrow!!

Day 16

 Episode 130 of the PJKnits Podcast is up on You Tube and you can watch it by just clicking here

Today is also Day 16 of Advent, and in the podcast I talk about why I'm only going to work on my two main advents when I want to.  Once that decision was made I feel so much better about my knitting.

The coffee advent from Door County Coffee is still a winner as well as the one from swap of 4 because, well, there is no pressure to knit it each day, even though I am dying to cast on Trifle, but it may have to wait a bit, baking here has commenced, with a plan of a little bit being done every couple of days, along with grocery shopping etc.

At this moment, I am enjoying the lovely smell of warm date bars, which just makes the house smell so yummy!  Thats a wrap for Day 16, I'm going to sit down and do some knitting now!

Day 15 Decisions Are Made

Oh my gosh, 10 days til Christmas!!!  And I am thankful, that I don't really have to do any Christmas knitting!! How about you?  I love Nancy Wheeler's thoughts about no Christmas knitting after November 30th, and I am adding that for next year for Advents as well.  

Don't get me wrong, I love opening the advents, but for me, it has run it course this year, and I just want to knit.  I am going to do a podcast all about it tomorrow, so you can hear all about it, but for the purposes of this blog going forward, I'm only going to post about the advents when I have something "real" to show. 

So, even though, today is the 15th, here is the 14th stripe.  Heel, flap and gussets are next in the solid black, but with my new take it easy, knit only what I want to be knitting on, that may or may not happen right away.  

Once I made that decision on both the Sock Advent and the Gnana's visit (gnome) advent, there was a great sigh of relief here at Chez PJKnits, and I could enjoy today's pot of coffee from the Door County Coffee Advent.

I hope your knitting is bringing you Joy and remember it is always Knitters Choice.

Day 14 Not Much To Show

 It's been a wet Saturday, and when the precipitation kicks in, so does my arthritis in my thumbs.  Maybe, I should move to warmer weather where it doesn't rain or snow?  LOL, I don't think a place exists unless, perhaps the desert and I am not a fan of the kinds of insects and animals there, so I'll stick with good ole Illinois, and kick up the heat in my little knitting room and make it warm.

Anyway, here is my post of the Advents for today.  The Gnome advent was another chapter to the story, and I'm still a day behind, but perhaps tomorrow there will be an update for you all.  As far as the sock, there should have been a new stripe, but because of the above, I just didn't feel like pushing the yarn around on double points today, and I am getting close to the heel, so that may be the update for the next couple of days.

The swap of 4 advents yarn is one of mine, which is so springy.  Today's coffee was not a flavor, but a good pot for sure.  The cup, another from the Arby's collection my Mom curated for me.  

Only 10 more days of Advents!!

True Confessions of An Advent Knitter

 I'm over it.  I just want to knit what I want to knit.

And that is why there is no Gnome knitting today, despite there being a hefty clue.  I did knit on my sock and drank my coffee, but as far as the Gnome goes, I'm behind.  

Remind me next year, no knitting advents, only coffee!  Have a good weekend!

It Was Supposed To Be Snow Showers

 And this is what we got.

But, I had some knitting to do, some coffee to drink 

on this 12th day of Advent.

Good Intentions

I totally had good intentions to come up and post for the 10th, but then went to bed and didn't realize today that I hadn't filled you in dear blog, for Tuesday, the 10th day of Advent.

My typical morning starts off around 6 a.m or earlier depending on when I wake up and can't go back to sleep, and that may be at 3:30.   During the days of Advents, I start by making coffee with the Door County Advent (a different flavor/pot every day). 

 Lucky coffee drinker that I am, I have a different coffee cup for the first 25 days of December.  Yesterday's was this cute little crystal cup with a holiday cottage on it.  It was a gift from one of my staff from my working days, and as I recall, it came with holiday candies it.

Yesterday's coffee was also Cherry Creme.  It smelled just like you would think it would, I just wasn't a fan, so this would not be one that I would have to have a whole bag of.

While I'm having that first pot of coffee, I turn on You Tube and find a nice holiday scene, with more times than not, a fire going on the screen and some nice early morning music.  At the same time, I usually work on the stripe of the day from the Woolens and Nosh Advent, open the swap of four and

wait for the clue of the day or other fun update for Gnana's Visit, a mystery KAL that is supposed to keep us guessing, which has!

This morning, the routine was pretty much the same, except

I decided to make it a Me Morning, and knit on something besides an Advent, so I knit a bit on my Riptide Slipover, watching it do a bit of flurrying outside, 

I still made my coffee, checked out to see what yarn awaited me for the Swap of 4 Advent, and saw that there wasn't any knitting on the gnome, which I pretty well expected.  The cup of the day was a mug that my Mom collected for me, back in the day at Arby's.  Not only do I have a mug, also, some wine goblets, champagne glasses and stay tuned later in Advent for the pedestal cup, all with the same design, poinsettias and gold rimmed.

In the end, it has been just a good day of kicking back and enjoying my Me Day!

DAY 9

 I'm curious, are you doing any advents this year???

How quickly today went by.  And thankful that today was an off day for Gnana's Visit, so I could catch up on some errands.  But first, there was coffee in another mug from my Mom.

While enjoying today's flavor, I knit another stripe on the Woolens and Nosh Advent socks, and pondered what I should do when it comes to the heel?  I am leaning towards an afterthought heel.

I, also, think I have narrowed down what my Advent Swap of 4 may be.  Stay tuned.