Indian Night is almost upon us. The kids have donned their False Face Masks. Rose got into the festivities, too. Notice her nice tutu?

Ravelry - 2009 Christmas Swap

Last year I joined an online knitting/crocheting community called Ravelry. It's been such an inspiration. Some of the groups I joined involve swapping. The first group I joined was 2009 Christmas Swap and I was partnered with a woman in England who's online Ravelry ID is Jayneybella. We did a Christmas in July swap, and October/Halloween swap, and then the big on in December.

This is the package I made for her for Christmas. The argyle stocking was my first attempt at knitting argyle. I hated to part with it, but I sent it off anyway. The other items I'd made for her for the previous smaller swaps didn't seem to measure up in time spent, etc., so I wanted to make sure she got something I worked very hard on. And this is what I chose for my handmade item.

I also included some chocolates for her three children, some locally made candy (Aplets & Cotlets) for both her and her husband, some treats for their rabbit, and homemade biscuits for their dog. I also made her a pair of footies to wear with thong sandals, or just walking around the house in the summer. She likes pens, so I sent her some CM pens, as well as a fun bird pen. The Tinkerbell keychain came from Disneyland when Daryn took me for our anniversary. The zipper pull I found at a local gift store. I also sent yarn, and patterns, and lastly, homemade stitch markers in her favorite colors. I also sent (but not in the picture here) an emergency knitting kit ... a glass ball with toothpick needles, homemade needles toppers that looked like balls of yarn, and a mini skein of sock yarn. The instructions that went with it: in case of knitting emergency, break glass. it was a cute ornament for her tree.

Christmas Swap sent to England

Amber's 9th Birthday

Today we celebrated Amber's 9th birthday. I can't believe she is nine! Yesterday she was learning to walk and using sign language because she couldn't talk yet. Now she's a non-stop chatter box.

Grandma Val and Grandpa John always give the kids a subscription to a magazine. Amber is now getting a new magazine, American Girl. The first issue arrived a couple days ago, just in time for her birthday! Inside there's a great article about dogs.

Grandma Val and Grandpa John also sent a cute little teapot. Amber likes to have tea with mommy, so now she has something in which to brew her favorite tea ... candy cane!

All the boys wanted to get her a Webkinz, but we limited it to two, a baby penguin and the Daisy Tortoise. I also indulged her by getting her the Schnauzer (below). It's the Webkinz for the month of January.

This is the sweater I am making her. But I ran into a few problems with the pattern, which put me behind and now the sweater is not completed. So, I gave her the book (signed by the author) and the sweater as it is right now, and now I can complete it without having to work late at night when she can't see it. The book was written by local author Debbie Macomber and the yarn purchased at her yarn shop, A Good Yarn Shop. The book is called "The Terribly Horribly Wonderful Sweater my Grandmother Made."

I also made her this little sweater/bolero for her Bitty Twin doll.

This is the doll cake she requested, vanilla with chocolate frosting. The rest was up to me. Daryn made a chocolate ganache and it was quite bitter/cloying. All the kids liked it. Perhaps I'm losing my desire for chocolate (one could only hope). Daryn reduced some raspberries and sugar yesterday so we could tint icing white. So, I made a plain vanilla icing today and then colored it pink by putting in the raspberry reduction (which was very much like jam, minus the seeds). It had a wonderful delicate taste and was the perfect shade of pink. It's not my best efforts, but it was a yummy cake nonetheless. Amber and her two friends, as well as the rest of us, enjoyed and finished half of it. Doesn't go far with 8 people!