Cozy Cables

What would Winter be without some beautiful

Cozy Cables?

My sister loves cabled knits.

She also loves coffee.

So for her recent birthday

I knit up several cabled coffee cozies.

Just a simple cable in dusty teal.

A darling blue in the hugs and kisses pattern.

{Who doesn't love some hugs & kisses, especially for a birthday?}

Since this one closes with buttons instead of a seam,

it can be put around a mug with a handle.

A big, fat, chunky one in dark teal.

I love this one!

And last but not least...

A cute little owl with button eyes.

Isn't he a hoot?!!

She loved them all!

Her real request from me was a grey cable knit hat.

So, of course, I did that too.

She was tickled pink all the way around!

And while I was in cable mode

I whipped up a couple pairs of sweet 

Cabled Booties

Pink for Penelope~

my friend Erin's newest addition

and 

Blue for Parker ~

my future grandson  :)))

I just love cables!

I also just love all of my friends here!!!

Welcome

to my 2 newest followers~

Zhobeyda

&

Terri

Xo

    Xo,

Danette

Be My Valentine

There is happiness in my

heart

today!

I am just 

tickled pink

with the way the

Valentine Bunting

I made Gabby has turned out :)))

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

In this picture I draped it over

a window I salvaged from an old shed

Scott tore down in our backyard in July.

On Monday I had it hanging over the french doors

leading to my dining room where I spend every

Monday evening

 having the time of my life

with my 

Knit Night Girls :)))

They loved all the happy little hearts!

I attached a pewter stitch marker 

{with hearts on it}

to each end for ease in hanging.

Not only does it slip over a nail

but it gives a bit of weight to each end

in case my daughter wants to simply drape 

it over Gabby's bedroom window

and not use any nails.

The pattern is actually written to be used as individual coasters.

I kept a few out for that purpose as well,

They were addictive to make.

As soon as I finished one 

my crochet hook was digging into another one!

Before long I had quite a collection of hearts :)))

Here

is where you can find the pattern.

Trust me~ 

You'll be 

hooked!

Guess that's all for today Friends!

{I was planning to wait for Valentine's Day to show you this bunting

but found I couldn't wait another moment :) }

Hope you are all 

Happy

& 

Healthy

and

Creating 

all sorts of lovely items today.

Xo

      Xo,

Danette

A Cold Winter's Day

Once again

it is a 

Cold Winter's Day.

There's about a foot of snow on the ground

and the temperature is only 5 degrees.

So I have spent part of the day

sitting in my kitchen,

by a sunny window,

knitting a stack of 

heart shaped cloths

and

enjoying a supply of new books,

along with a nice pot of tea.

Since my last post

I have made a couple more cupcakes as well.

I gifted them to my 

Monday night

Knit Night Girls

and they loved them!

I am so thankful I have plenty of yarn on hand

and a good supply of patterns.

It sure helps me get through a long Winter.

Phoebe,

 on the other hand,

prefers a 

Long Winter's 

NAP!

Sweet Confections

Okay!

I'm BACK!!! :))))

Mr. Awesome Son~In~Law

knows how important my blog is to me,

therefore he trotted himself

across the street last evening

after I sent an SOS his way.

As I mentioned already,

I have various things to show and tell about

and instead of starting at the beginning

I am starting with my most recent project.

{Then I will back track ~ just have to do things willy~nilly, as usual!}

Really it's just that I am dying

{well....at least hyperventilating ~ I AM prone to exaggeration}

to show you these 

Cupcakes!

So here goes....

A CUPCAKE PARADE

This is the first one I made.

It is a gift for my sister who just turned 40 this week.

She was in the middle of a move so we are celebrating next week.

Bridget is the crowned Cupcake Queen of our family,

running a home based baking business that specializes in cupcakes.

She will flip over this one!

I gave her this part of her gift on Tuesday, her actual birthday.

It's a Cupcake Cozy

{click on the live link to go to the pattern}

I found on Ravelry.

I decided to stretch it around a vase as I had already made her several cabled cozies

for her coffee cup, which I will show in one of my next posts :)))

She LOVED it!

But back to the little confections,

because as we all know,

just one cupcake is never enough!

After making one for Bridget

I decided they would make lovely Valentine gifts 

for my Monday night Knit Night Girls.

{Shhhh.......don't tell them. I hope none of them are peeking!}

Mmmmm.....chocolate!

There's a heart shaped glass bead nestled in the center 

of the rose on this one.

Here's one with a pretty blue wrapper and a pearl on top.

They are meant to be pincushions and the wonderful thing about them is

a darning needle will fit in them as well as regular pins and needles.

The pattern can be found 

here

on Ravelry.

Inserted in the base of each one is a plastic Dole fruit cup.

I used mostly Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino yarn.

Just Yummy!

For more in depth notes on how I made them you can go to my

Ravelry projects page at

Front Porch Knits

They have pretty little bottoms, don't they?!

I am still working on whipping up more of these delightful cuppies....

just 4 isn't enough....

Gabby will need one...

I will need one....

:)))

So ....

you know what I am doing on these

  Cold Winter Days

Knitting up a Storm!

{This picture was taken in the parlor of

 the Victorian Mansion in Galena, Illinois

where Scott & I spent our anniversary.}

What are YOU doing on these cold Winter days?

XO

    XO,

Danette

p.s. It's good to be back!

Upcoming Attractions

Hello My Dear Friends!

I really must apologize for being away from you all for so long.

Time seems to have marched right past me since the onset of the Christmas holidays.

Scott and I took a lovely little trip just after my last post

to celebrate our 30th Anniversary.

Ahhh.......we truly had the best time together :)))

The Illinois Winter weather has been absolutely brutal,

reeking havoc on my bones.

The Enbrel injections are helping me

so much more than any other RA medicine ever has.
{I saw Mrs. Good Doctor yesterday and she is most pleased :)
Of course she did order 5 tubes of blood to be sucked out of me
just to be sure all is well.}
 This severe cold is giving the miracle medicine a real fight!

So....

I stay in, hunkered down in my house

with my furry babies,

my granddaughter coming and going,

my audio books

and my yarnworks.

I have so many things to show you

but just as I decided it is time for me to

make a comeback here,

I can't get a single picture to load.

DARN IT ANYWAY!

If it doesn't correct itself soon

I will snatch

Mr. Awesome Son~In~Law

from across the street

to take a look at things.

The Upcoming Attractions include:

*many baby items

*several cabled pieces

*a stack of darling hearts destined for a Valentine garland

{for my even more darling granddaughter}

and

*some oh~so~sweet cupcakes

So please don't give up on me!

I will be back in full force

ASAP

In the meantime I will weave my way in and out

of all your lovely blogs to see what I have been missing.

One thing's for certain...

I have missed all of you!

*And Welcome  to my newest follower

Vickie
{you can find her at Tea Cups and Toadstools by clicking on her name}

:)))

XO

  XO,

Danette

Christmas Tea & Knitting

As always, it's a mad dash to the finish!

My days seem to be filled with constant
knitting,

crocheting,

&

endless

Cups of Tea.

The house is finally decorated

and the tree is trimmed.

I have put the finishing touches on one project,

have another half done

and one more to start.

Phew!!!

I am trying hard to stay a step ahead of St. Nick.

Next Tuesday Scott & I will celebrate our

 30th  Wedding Anniversary.

:)))

We are leaving early Monday morning for a get away to a

Victorian Bed & Breakfast.

We will not be home until Thursday afternoon.

I am SO EXCITED!!!

My last little project will travel along with me.

It will take us about 3 hours to get where we are going.

Between the trip there and back I should come home

with all my

Christmas Knitting

finally done.

In the meantime,

may you all make it to your own finish line

{as I know we are all making the same mad dash!},

may you all stay warm and cozy

and most of all

stay full of good cheer

as you enjoy this magical season.

Be Blessed,

Danette



A New Little Monkey

Towards the end of May

we will have a new little monkey

in the family.

My sweet daughter Chelsea

is expecting her second baby.

She went shopping yesterday for this adorable outfit.

As it turns out we are going to have a

Grandson!!!

:)))

We are

SO VERY EXCITED!

Big Sister Gabby

{who, as you can see, is Grammy's biggest kitchen helper}

can hardly wait for her

Baby Brother

to enter the world.

She will be 7 just a few weeks before he is born.

They grow up fast, don't they?!

Ahhh...Grandchildren....what a BLESSING.

Crochet Craziness

Hello Friends!

I hope you are all feeling

fat

&

sassy

{from the recent day of feasting}

and full of

Holiday Cheer.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving here.

In the midst of it all I have entered into some kind of

Crochet Craziness!

Just last week I told a friend

"I have decided to give myself a break this Christmas.

I am not making many gifts this year."

Well....

somehow just after that I went nuts again!

I have crocheted 11

{that's right ~ I said eleven}

scarves in 9 days time.

My hook is already digging into another one

and there are at least 3 more I purchased new yarn for.

Many of them are infinity scarves.
They are done in
different yarns,
different weights,
different colors...
Fa~la~la~la~la~la~la~la~la!!!

Two of them, so far, are straight scarves.

Most are for Christmas gifts,

but this one,

plus a couple of the infinity scarves,

are for sale on my

Etsy Shop

I sure hope there are a lot of lovely ladies

on my Christmas list

who are in need of a new scarf!

Because I seem to have a few on hand :)))

Happy Day to You All!

XO

   XO

Danette