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Christmas Memory #2

Posted on December 2, 2008 by auburnchick

I hope you enjoyed the first memory I shared yesterday.  I’m enjoying reading about your own as well!

Today is the first day since being laid off from the law firm job that I don’t have a subbing assignment.  Secretly, I’m thrilled to have some time to myself…house all quiet.  It reminds me of being home full-time.  I really, really miss those days.

This morning I set up my Nativity in the living room.  I like visible reminders of what we’re celebrating…

Day 2 – Holiday Memory

As I was pulling out a gift to wrap this morning, I thought about when I was around seven or eight years old.  My mom had gotten remarried, and we were a lot better off financially than we had ever been.  She and my step-dad spent hours in the basement one night.  About every 30 minutes, they would take breaks to come upstairs with armfuls of wrapped presents.

I had never seen such a beautiful assortment of packages.  And when they wrapped, let me tell you that they REALLY wrapped!  We’re talking mall-quality wrapping here.  I don’t know how they learned to wrap boxes so professionally.  It involved a lot of bright paper and metallic ribbons, not to mention tape, which tortured us as we tried to open gifts on Christmas.

As sis and I got older, my mom taught us how to “properly” wrap…everything from folding the edges over for clean lines (before taping them down) to curling strips of ribbon.  To this day, I do not consider a package “finished” until it has ribbon.

It nearly drove me nuts when the Mr. and I moved to Miami and traveled each year to his parents’ house.  My bows wouldn’t stay on, so I finally quit using them and put even more ribbon on the packages!  You can tie ribbon down, and it doesn’t smush easily.

Nothing tacky, though.  Everything is tastefully done…colors complimenting each other perfectly.

On to the rest of the day!

P.S.  The dogs are very happy that I’m home today…

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Pom-Pom Baby Booties

Posted on December 2, 2008 by auburnchick

Nothing like the holidays to get your knitting ramped up, eh?

I made these to accompany the ruffled hats I finished last week.

The pair below is made from Bernat Baby Jacquards “Berries and Cream.”

And the colorway below is called “Boys and Girls” (same yarn brand):

The set…with the hats:

Ok…pattern comments…

First off, you can find the pattern here (it’s free).

WARNING – The pattern has a couple of mistakes that had me scratching my head.

Did I enjoy the pattern? Only up to the Sole portion, in which there are mistakes.

The pattern, overall, was a bit strange…kind of like working a sock with a twist. I selected the pattern because it didn’t require seaming. I knit them in the round using size 4 dpns.

I made four of these booties, and all four were knit a bit differently. For some reason, I just didn’t get something in the instructions.

My recommended pattern modifications:

Under the Sole section – Rounds 2 & 4 – Omit the K2 at the end of the rounds.

Only knit through Round 6 of the Sole. The bottom is plenty big enough. You might even want to try stopping at Round 5.

For the pom poms, I used the Clover Pom Pom Maker (size 3/4″). This is a fairly easy way to make pom poms, once you get the first one done.

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »