New Year's Eve

Remember this bag?

No? That's OK. Here's a reminder. Well it's time to vote over at The Sewing Summit's website. There are some great bags that people created from a simple blank canvas bag. So head on over and check them out. The polls are open until Friday, January 6th. And, of course, I'd love it if you voted for mine, but if you don't that's all right. In my mind I'm already a winner, because I love this bag!!! :D

Did you notice in the above picture that it's full?? That's not a staged photo. This bag is my FAVORITE that I've made and has become my knitting bag. It's been going everywhere with me. Never know when I'll have a few minutes to knit up a few more rows!

Currently the inside of the bag is a mess, but as you can see below, I'm working on a solution to that problem. Just a few more rows of stitching and my needles will be much more organized and have a happy new home.

Shawl Collared Cowl, in progress

Here is one of my WiPs that is in my bag. I cast on 2 night ago and am halfway finished. When I started I had no clue what short rows were, but the pattern is very well written and explains each step nicely. I even knit my first button holes with this pattern!

This was also the first time I'd had to check the gauge on a project before starting.

I'm using 2 skeins of Ella Rae Classic Superwash Chunky, which I received in a swap I recently participated in on SwapBot. The yarn in the picture is a little more yellow than the actual color. It's more of a rust color in real life.

Here's another cowl that I just finished:

It's only a teaser picture due to bad lighting.

I bought this Wyoming wool in Dubois & knitted up a chunky lace cowl on the way home. It just needs a couple buttons and it'll be ready to wear. I found this pattern on Ravelry too, but I can't seem to find it right now. I'll figure it out and post a link when I share the final product.

Well, it's New Year's Eve and Jake is playing his new Cabela's Big Game Hunter game on the Wii. I'm headed off to my sewing room for some end of the year sewing. My knitting needles need a new home, remember? I know it sounds like a boring way to ring in 2012, but after the blizzard, high winds, and power outage earlier today I'm glad that we decided to stay home tonight.

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Dubois: Cabin on the River

This year we were lucky enough to get a few days off and go up to Dubois for Christmas. Jake's aunt & uncle have a beautiful ranch along the Wind River with a couple guest cabins near the outbuildings. They generously invited us to stay in the Cottonwood cabin, which has a full kitchen, wood stove, and plenty of room for us and the 3 dogs.

It was nice to be able to come back to our own little private place to take a nap or relax for a bit without intruding on anyone. Here's a peak at where we spent our week.

Our home last week

A mosaic of some of my pictures of the cabin. For more details about the photos, click the mosaic and it will (should) take you to my Flicker photostream.

An easterly view from the porch

Buck and rail fence

Wind River, partially frozen over, surrounded by snowy mountains

It's always nice to go back to Dubois. Although I didn't grow up there, that's where I call home. It never changes and everywhere we go there is a familiar face waiting to give us a big hug and ask how we've been and when we're coming home. ;)

Christmas in Dubois: Christmas Dinner

Every year that they're home Jake's aunt & uncle host Christmas dinner for their friends who don't have other family in the area. There was going to be more, but it ended up being 12 of us gathered for a delicious Christmas dinner.

I didn't get many pictures once the festivities started, but I did get a few while we were hanging out beforehand.

Their house

Leigh, our hostess

Cheese and crackers appetizer

And some local wild game summer sausage. The jalapeno-cheddar was my favorite!

Ready for wine with some charms that we'd made Bert & Leigh a couple years ago.

The wine

A happy husband

What I didn't get a picture of was everyone sitting around the table cracking jokes and wearing paper crowns, while enjoying a delicious potluck dinner with a grilled ribeye roast as the main event. We were just too busy having fun!

Giveaway Day! - Winner Mary from piece garden

Thanks to everyone who entered. Mary from piece garden is the winner!

It's that time again! Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day. I'm sure everyone is frantically visiting as many blogs as they can this week so I'll try to make this short and sweet.

Up for grabs:

This drawstring bag is currently on it's way to Australia for a swap I was in, but I have one just like it that one lucky winner will receive filled with some other goodies. I'm not sure what I'll be stuffing in there yet, but as you can see below I have lots of fun things leftover from the Christmas bazaar I recently participated in. You won't be disappointed!

The rules:

Leave one comment telling me what you love most about this time of year. For me, it's the snow and everything that comes with it. Sweaters & scarves; cold days spent curled up under a blanket, sipping spiked hot cider, and watching Christmas movies; hiking around the mountains looking for the perfect Christmas tree while the dogs run around & play in the snow.

You do not need to follow my blog to win, but if you like what you see I won't say no to new followers. ;) Leave a second comment if you become (or already are) a follower.

Please be sure that you include your email address if it's not already linked up with your Blogger profile.

The giveaway will be open until Friday afternoon, December 16th. A winner will be drawn & notified on Saturday and the prize will be shipped shortly after that.

I'm sorry, but this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.

For the Love of...Crafting

I've been crafty/creative all my life. As a kid I lived in my own little world. I drew, cut, glued, sparkled, whatever needed to be done. And I made up gymnastics and dance routines constantly. In my teens & early 20s crafting wasn't "cool" at least not in the circles that I ran with, so I became idle. But in the past few years I've embraced my uncool & started creating again. Here are some of the hobbies I have been doing lately.

Bead & wire jewelry

I even made the necklace I wore at our wedding. The brooch was my "something old," my grandmother's old butterfly pin.

I also like to braid. These are some reins I built a few years ago.

I braided this chain to create a thicker chain necklace.

And now that I sew I've started adding braided fabrics to my creations as well. Here's another example of my fabric braiding.

I also occasionally tie mohair cinches.

Often I'll create my own designs...

...but other times I'll leave the designing to the experts.

I also do counted cross stitch, which I learned as a young child, and I just recently learned how to crochet and knit (Thanks again, Amy & Jacey!!) I also realized that I have zero pictures of my cross stitches. I will have to remedy that one of these days. Especially because the one I'm working on for my dad is the coolest. A cross stitch for a man?! Yes, you'll understand when you see it. ;)

My first completed knitting project: Honey cowl

I know this was supposed to be last week's For the Love of..., but the weekend completely slipped away from me and I didn't even realize it until Sunday! Whoops! So here is the linky (below) for this week's installment of For the Love of...Crafting.

Grab a button from the right sidebar, create a post about your craftiness, and come back to link up. The link will be open until Sunday, December 11 at midnight (Mountain Time).

Next week's theme: Traditions