Selfie Sunday – Final Christmas Card Display

Hi everyone! It’s Walter here. We wanted to show you our final Christmas card display before it was taken town.

We love all the cards we received.

We received some of the cards after the holidays were over but the latest commers were from the furthest away. The long-distance record for us this year is from New Zealand!

Let me lay down so you can see them better.

Since our ribbons were getting full, we put the last couple of cards on the stones that stick out with the stuffed toys. Here is a view without me in the way.

Click on the image to make it bigger so you can find your card.

I hear Millie coming so we will try to do an ussie for you too.

Before we get to that last picture let’s see how our final tally came out. When it comes to our annual contest between us and our parents, we of course, beat them by a lot!

Millie & Walter

26 Snail Mail cards

25 e-cards

Total Card Count – 51

Mom & Dad

12 cards*

Thanks for letting me join you for our final card display.

We love getting all our cards during the holiday season whether by email or snail mail and want to thank everyone that participated in the Cat blogging list that we joined this year.

*One card from our Mail carrier and one from our dentist! BOL!

We’re joining The Cat on My Head for their Selfie Sunday blog hop. You should check out the hop to see some of the other selfies. Thanks for stopping by.

Advertisement

Hooking on Hump Day – Craftvent Days 13-24

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here to tell you about the second half of my Jimmy Beans Wool Craftvent Calendar advent calendar creations. Let’s see what was in the rest of the boxes.

Madelinetosh Impression Yarn

Striped Scarf

Striped Scarf
Madelinetosh Impression Yarn
Colors: Colors: Antler (white) & Malmo (dark green)

I would have to say that working with the Impression yarn wasn’t my favorite, especially with the darker colors. The pattern didn’t call for the border of dark yarn on the sides of the scarf but since the yarn was carried up the side, I didn’t like the look, so I covered it up with a single crochet around the entire scarf. It was finished off with fringe of alternating both colors of yarn.

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light Yarn

Star Hat

Star Hat
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light Yarn
Colors: Carousel Horse (pink multi) & Tart (red)

The written pattern for the star hat called for another star applique like the ones for the sweater and mittens I posted about previously. I wasn’t happy with how those looked so I used the chart for the knitted pattern and did my hat in the waistcoat stitch to mimic a knitted stitch. I also used a ribbed brim instead of what the pattern called for. In other words, I winged it!

Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn

Striped Socks

Striped Socks
Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn
Colors: Malmo (dark green) & Sorry, Not Sorry (light green)

These socks were crocheted the same as the previous ones except you changed color every two rows. They were very easy to make.

Day 16

100% Aromatic Red Cedar

Day sixteen contained 100% Aromatic Red Cedar that is harvested from renewable forests. It grows quickly and is a reliable and sustainable resource. I will be storing my Craftvent creations with these to deter moths and other pests.

Madelinetosh Impression Yarn

Colorblock Raglan Sweater

Colorblock Raglan Sweater
Madelinetosh Impression Yarn
Colors: Colors: Carousel Horse (pink multi) & Patriarch (bright red)

The design of this sweater was fairly simple to make except that it was done with my least favorite yarn in the box.

Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn

Colorblock Hat with Pom Pom

Colorblock Hat
Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn
Colors: Tern (dark grey) & Tart (red)

This was the simplest hat to make. I switched to the ribbed brim I did on the previous hats and added one of the pom poms that came in the day four box.

Day 19

Craftvent 2022 Tape Measure

Day nineteen contained this cute tape measure. The gnomes are featured on the front of the box too.

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (TML) + Tweed Yarn

Yoke Sweater

Yoke Sweater
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (TML) + Tweed Yarn
Colors: Malmo (dark green) & Antler (white)

This was another color work sweater. It was easy to follow the chart and I love the look of the yoke.

Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn

Striped Hat with Pom Pom

Striped Hat
Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn
Colors: Tern (dark grey) & Tart (red)

Another easy hat to make. I switched to the ribbed brim I did on the previous hats and added one of the pom poms that came in the day four box.

20 Coordinating clips, Jute Twine, 10′ length of string lights

Lights on for fun!

The day twenty-two box was another break from crocheting with some accessories to help hang all the creations up and light them up.

Madelinetosh Impression Yarn

Santa Hat

Santa Hat
Madelinetosh Impression Yarn
Colors: Colors: Carousel Horse (pink multi) & Tart (red)

This was the final project of the box and was a bit of a challenge to start. The pattern started at the smallest part and with the fuzzy lace weight yarn it was difficult to see to start. I had to restart because I was having a difficult time seeing the stitches. Since that yarn is so fuzzy you can’t rip it back like most normal yarns, I scrapped it and was able to make it work. I added a self-made pom pom with the pink yarn.

Eucalan Lanolin Enriched Laundry Concentrate and Tapestry Needle

Close up!

The final box contained a sample of Eucalan Lanolin Enriched Laundry Concentrate and a tapestry needle.

Mini Millie and Walter had some fun trying on a few of the creations.

Millie in Colorblock Raglan Sweater & Walter in Yoke Sweater

Millie wears the Striped Scarf while Walter wears the Striped Socks

Millie wears the Star Hat & Walter wears the Colorblock Hat

Millie looks cute in the Santa Hat & Walter wears the Striped Hat

Here is a look at them all hung up on the twine with the fairy lights. I’m not sure how I will display them for next Christmas. They are a bit too big to fit on my tree but there might be another crocheted creation or some other sort of crafty creation to display them.

Jimmy Beans Craftvent 2022

I know that this has been a long post so thank you if you made it this far. It’s been fun working on all these little projects and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them.

I’m joining the The Loop Scoop Yarny Link Party (formerly known as Hookin’ on Hump Day). You should stop by to see some of the other projects people have posted.

Nature Friday – A Walk in the Park

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. Yesterday Charlie and I took a walk at the Webster Arboretum. I put my binoculars in my pocket but didn’t expect to find much bird action this time of year there. Now that the leaves are off all the trees we like to see if we can find birds’ nests that were previously hidden from view. It’s always amazing to see how close the nests are to the walking paths, and we never know they are there.

We were nearly back to the car when Charlie spotted a large light-colored object in a tree about thirty or so feet from the path. At first, we thought it was an old hornet’s nest but when I fished out my binoculars this is what I saw.

A Coopers Hawk staring back at me.

It certainly wasn’t a hornet’s nest but a beautiful Coopers Hawk. Based on its size we believe it was a female. Luckily, we had packed our camera equipment just in case we found something to photograph. I was sure that by the time I got my camera out and back to where the hawk was, she would be gone, but to my surprise she was there and stayed put for quite a while.

Here is a little video clip I took of her.

If you can’t see the video, you can go here to view it.

Ms. Cooper’s Hawk spent most of her time looking around for her next meal and preening a bit but wasn’t bothered by me at all. Since I had my long zoom lens on, I didn’t have to get too close to her, so I didn’t disturb her at all. Our observing the hawk pointed her out to some of the other people enjoying the park that likely never would have seen her otherwise.

The hawk kept an eye on some squirrels that were moving around behind her.

I’m glad I went back to the car and got my camera and that Ms. Cooper’s Hawk was so cooperative with me. Normally we would be joining the Nature Friday blog hop but they are on vacation until next year.

I hope all my readers have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone! It’s Millie and Walter here. We want to wish all our friends who celebrate a Merry Christmas.

Here is the card we sent to those on our holiday card list.

Front of card.

Back of card.

We hope everyone is staying safe with all the cold and wintry weather across the country. More cards have come in since our previous report so we will be sure to do an update soon.

Merry Christmas!

Wordy Wednesday – Our Christmas Cards

Hi everyone! It’s Millie and Walter here. We’ve gotten lots of Christmas cards from all over the world. Some by email and some by snail mail. It doesn’t matter how they arrive. We love all of them!

You’re supposed to look at the camera, Millie.

Our mom prints out all the e-cards we get so we can display them all on our ribbons. We wanted to lay down so you could see your cards.

I think there are some crumbs on the floor.

Here is a nice view of all the decorations on our fireplace.

Now we’ll give you a closer up view of all the cards. You can click on the image to make it bigger if you want to look for your card. There is one card missing that came in the mail today after we took these pictures.

When it comes to our annual contest between us and our parents, we are, of course, beating them by a lot!

Millie & Walter

22 Snail Mail cards

16 e-cards

Total Card Count – 38

Mom & Dad

11 cards*

Here’s the money shot mom was hoping for.

This morning was the first day in over a week that we had sunshine, so mom took the opportunity to take these pictures. It can be very dark where the cards are hung so every bit of light helps. There may still be a few more cards arriving so we will be sure to let you know a final count after Christmas.

*One card from our Mail carrier and one from our dentist! BOL!

We’re joining Comedy Plus for their Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Hooking on Hump Day – Craftvent Days 2-12

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here to tell you about the first few days of my Craftvent advent calendar. As I showed you in my previous post the first box contained the tools needed to complete the projects. Let’s see what was in some of the next boxes.

Stranded Hat
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (TML) + Tweed Yarn
Colors: Tart (red) & Tern (grey)

The projects started off with one of the more challenging patterns, a colorwork hat. Since I had done colorwork on some previous projects I wasn’t too intimidated by this one. It was worked from the top down and the pattern suggested using the waistcoat stitch that simulates a knit look. I changed the brim of the hat to a ribbed one instead of what the pattern called for.

Color Block Mittens

Color Block Mittens
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light Yarn
Colors: Tart (red) & Antler (white)

The next pattern was a simple pair of mittens. I had never made mittens and didn’t know how the thumb was formed, but it was easy to understand the instructions.

Pom Poms and Tiny Buttons

Close up view

The day four box contained a couple of cute pom poms and some tiny gold buttons. The instructions in the box said that there are four hat patterns in this box so we get to decide which ones we might want to put the pom poms on. The buttons are supposed to be a decoration for an upcoming sweater.

Color Block Scarf
Madelinetosh Impression Yarn
Colors: Tart (red) & Carousel Horse (pink multi)

The yarn for day five is a lace-weight yarn that is 70% mohair and 30% silk. It was a bit difficult to work with, but the pattern was a simple scarf and worked up quickly.

Leather Stitch Markers

Close up view

Day six contained a set of stitch markers with leather adornments. I like having ones that have right side (RS) and wrong side (WS) designations. They will come in handy.

Color Block Socks
Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn
Colors: Malmo (dark green) & Sorry, Not Sorry (light green)

The day seven socks were easy to make and worked up quickly.

Striped Raglan Sweater
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light Yarn
Colors: Malmo (dark green) & Antler (white)

The striped raglan sweater was very easy to make. I’m glad I made some raglan style sweaters for myself in the past couple of years.

Birnn Chocolates of Vermont

Day nine was a nice break from hooking with a little chocolate break from Birnn Chocolates of Vermont.

Star Sweater
Madelinetosh Twist Light Yarn
Colors: Carousel Horse (pink multi) & Patriarch (bright red)

There were some missing parts to the instructions for this sweater but after referring to the knit version of the pattern I was able to figure out how to complete it. The star on the front is an applique. I’m just a bit disappointed that the star wasn’t crocheted in like it is in the knit version.

Star Mittens
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (TML) + Tweed Yarn
Colors: Antler (white) & Tart (red)

These mittens were similar to the previous mittens with the added star applique. I also wish this pattern was for the star to be crocheted in and not as an applique. 

della Q Accessories – Scissor Pocket w/ scissors

The day twelve box was another break from crocheting with the della Q Scissor Pocket and a pair of scissors.

Mini Millie and Walter had some fun trying on a few of the creations.

Mini Walter tries on the Stranded Hat while Mini Millie tries on the Color Block Scarf

The mittens and socks are a bit big on the minis.

The sweater colors work well with our furs.

I know that this has been a long post so thank you if you made it this far. It’s been fun working on all these little projects and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them.

I’m joining the The Loop Scoop Yarny Link Party (formerly known as Hookin’ on Hump Day). You should stop by to see some of the other projects people have posted.

Christmas Crafting – Jimmy Beans Wool Craftvent 2022

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here. Today I want to show you what has been keeping my crochet hook busy the past few days.

You’ve probably heard of advent calendars where you open a little door or box each day in the month of December to count down the days until Christmas. Usually, the calendars contain candy or if you get one for your pet it might have toys or treats. This calendar from Jimmy Beans Wool is for knitters or crocheters and contains all you need to create cute holiday decorations. The kits were available in three colorways. I chose the “Home for the Holidays” colorway which is mostly greens and reds with some white and grey mixed in. At the time of writing this post there were only a handful of kits available in the “A December to Remember” colorway. 

Let’s take a peek inside.
I see lots of yarn that mom will love.

You aren’t supposed to peek until the proper day of the month, but Mini Millie & Walter couldn’t help themselves.

Look at all this soft yarn.
Mom’s going to like these colors.

The mini pups invited their friends, the boys from South Park to sneak some peaks in the boxes too.

Cartman: I think I smell some candy in here somewhere!
Kyle: So far, I’ve only seen yarn.

Those boys are known for being naughty!

Stan: Look at the yarn we found!
Kyle: You’re not supposed to take out the yarn before the proper day!

Mini Millie & Walter pitched in to help Cartman get to the top with the rest of the boys.

Cartman: Hold that line tight so I can get to the top.

My crocheted characters had fun exploring the Craftvent box. So far, I’ve been able to keep up with the projects since there are a few boxes mixed in that don’t have any yarn that gives you a day off (or a day to catch up).

Day 1: 3.25mm crochet hook and 2.75mm Double Pointed Needles

The first day contained the hook and needles that you need to work on all the projects. There was also a slip of paper with instructions on how to download the patterns.

Later this week, I’ll show you some of the projects I’ve created so far. They are all so cute!

Hooking on Hump Day – All Aboard!

The Christmas Gingerbread Train!

Hi everyone! It’s Cindy here to tell you about the adorable, crocheted gingerbread train I created to add to our holiday decorations. 

Christmas Gingerbread Train

The pattern for this detailed amigurumi was created by the designer from Toyfox Store on Etsy. The fifty-eight-page pattern is incredibly detailed with many pictures and even includes a few links to videos you can watch to help you complete this project. The yarn used is Scheepjes Catona (50g) which is great for this type of work. I used two skeins each of Snow White (106) and Caramel (506) and less than a skein each of Scarlet (192), Kiwi (205), and Chocolate (507). Since you can’t tell by the picture how big the train is I will give you some dimensions as we look at each piece. All coupled together the train is about 14 ½ inches (37 cm) long.

Lead Car with Christmas Sweets

I’ve had this project on my hook for almost 9 months with a few breaks for other projects in between. I started with what I determined would be the simplest part, the Lead Car and the Christmas Sweets. This car measures 3 ¾ inches (9.5 cm) long by 2 ¾ inches (7 cm) high by 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm) inches wide. Each of the candies required a slightly different technique for the colorwork. Charlie did his usual handyman job of supplying me with the sticks for the lollipops. The trick to getting those lollipops to stand up in the car is a small piece of florist foam in the bottom of the car.

Cupcake Caboose

The Cupcake Caboose used some more new techniques and stitches to me such as the “split single crochet” (also known as the waistcoat stitch) that was used on the striped lower part of the cupcake. A crocheter can see that this stitch gives you the look of knitting. The spirals of frosting were done by working a single crochet in the front loops of the previous round and then working another single crochet into the back loops of the same base stitches. The first time I made the top of the cupcake I did it wrong and when I realized my mistake, I ripped it out and redid the frosting. This car is 3 ¾ inches (9.5 cm) long by 5 inches (12.7 cm) high (to the top of the cherry) by 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm) inches wide. I just love all the minute details that went into this car.

Gingerbread Train Engine

The pattern is written with each step for each car separately, but I did some of the parts in an assembly line fashion. For instance, all the wheels are identical so instead of doing the first four and then finishing one car I did all of them together, so I didn’t have to remember how to make them each time.

Front view of Engine

To create the various shapes and make them rigid, cardboard was used either in a sandwich of crocheted pieces (the wheels) or in the case of the engine the cardboard is glued to the inside of the walls and roof before it is sewn closed. Other parts of the train were stuffed with polyfil and with the lead car and the cow catcher on the front of the engine, I used stiffener to make them rigid.

Back of the Engine

There are a lot of little parts that went into making the engine, so I left that car for the end. I just love all the little details of the snow-covered roof with icicles hanging off, the candy decorations and the way the stitching makes it look like frosting on the roof, and the cute little door and windows on the sides and back. Not to mention the boiler and all its adornments on the front.

A 360 view of the Engine

This engine is 5 ½ inches (14 cm) long by 5 inches (12.7 cm) high by 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm) inches wide. Overall, I’m very happy with how this train turned out. For displaying it I created a machine embroidered set of train tracks on white polka dot fabric so it looks like it’s flying through the snow.

Christmas Gingerbread Train

If you are a medium to experienced crocheter I would recommend this pattern. The instructions are very detailed with lots of pictures to help you and is extremely easy to follow.

I’m joining the The Loop Scoop Yarny Link Party (formerly known as Hookin’ on Hump Day). You should stop by to see some of the other projects people have posted.