Counting down to Christmas

Tomorrow starts the countdown to Christmas....this is a repost of a meme I did a couple of years ago and I love reading other peoples answers.  So I am reposting my own responses and hope that some of you join in on your own blogs.  25 Days till Christmas.

1. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags? Both, depends on how close it is to Xmas morning :)

2. Real tree or artificial? Real. The day after Thanksgiving we load up with friends and head to the mountains to cut one down.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take down the tree? New Years Day I'm over it so everything comes down.

5. Do you like Egg Nog? Not to drink but I made some cookies last year with an egg nog drizzle that were fabulous.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My first Walkman when I was 11 or my first cabbage patch doll (total toss up)
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No. We have a huge Christmas village that has been added too over 13 years and it is slowly taking over the house :)

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mother-in-law

9. Easiest person to buy for? My kids

10.  Mail or email Christmas Cards? Mail

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Every Christmas Eve we watch It's a Wonderful Life

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge

13. White lights or coloured? Clear

14. Favorite Christmas Song? Do you Hear What I Hear by Bing Crosby. It was the one Xmas CD we listened too religiously at Christmas time when I was growing up.

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? Stay home. We traveled for every holiday when I was growing up and so now I stay home.

16.Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer? Yep, but I have to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in my head to do it.

17.   Angel or Star on the top of the tree? Neither, it's a glass tree topper from a local store

18. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning? The kids can open one on Christmas Eve but everything else happens in the morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Seeing Xmas stuff in October

20. Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees? Homey trees, handmade ornaments, stuff from my childhood, definitely homey

21. Gingerbread or Sugar Cookies? I like sugar cookies better and we make a gingerbread house.

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Little acorn hat

My girlfriend just had her second baby.  For her little girl I made this little upside down flower hat and she wore it for almost two years.  So now that she has her little boy and since he was born in November I needed to come up with something for him.  So here is a little acorn hat (hopefully it looks like a little acorn)

I used Bernat bamboo for the light brown portion and some organic cotton I had lying around for the top of the acorn.  I made some quick little mitts for him as well using the bamboo.  They are so soft and cozy and I hope they get a lot of use.

I also made up these little "cookies" the other day.  There isn't that much sugar but my kids LOVED them.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies
Mix:  1 1/2 cups wheat flour::3/4 cup rolled oats::1/2 teaspoon baking powder::1/2 teaspoon baking soda::1/2 teaspoon salt::1/2 teaspoon nutmeg:: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon::1/2 cup raw sugar
In a separate bowl mix:  1 teaspoon canola oil::1/3 cup soy milk::1/2 cup pumpkin puree:: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract::
Mix wet and dry and add 1/3 chocolate chips.  Mound onto baking sheet with small ice cream scoop and bake for 12 minutes, turning once halfway.  Delicious!!  Have a lovely Wednesday.  We are going to go outside and enjoy one last day of decent weather before a snowstorm blows in this weekend.

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Finally more knits

So clearly I have been stuck in a time warp :).  Finishing up costumes for Halloween, making treats for a Halloween party, a nasty computer virus (all cleaned up), a cold passed around the entire family, and then trying to keep a grip on the house in general and all that family admin. that goes on.  Knitting and crafting and photographing and posting and blog reading have taken a backseat.  So sorry!!  After attempting to get my son into his sweater (with a little candy bribery) his answer was still a resounding I DON'T WANT TO, explained as only a three year old can explain.  So my pictures are without a model.

I used the recommended yarn and loved it.  No modifications. 

The pattern is arshile by berroco.  I love the pattern book.  There is something, or a couple of somethings, that I want for myself, a sweater for my husband, and I think I want to knit up all the kiddo patterns.  Just a great pattern book.  All the patterns are modeled by the lovely family of spiderwomanknits.  I really recommend it.  Okay now I know I said before that I would be back soon with more posts and my word may be a little suspect but I do have lots more planned to share and I'm working on some fun things for Christmas so please don't tune out!  Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

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