Random Christmas Images

Some random images that I wanted to share with you, even though Christmas was last week. There is some knitting in there too.

Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. I went out on a Saturday night with some girlfriends. We hit the shopping downtown and saw all the lights. It was a great time!


A Gap store with their yarn balls, cables and scarves.


The view when we finally went to get our Christmas tree.








Modified Fetching for Kim's voice teacher. She likes purple like me. :)



Christmas Day it snowed!! But, it didn't stick.




An interesting nativity scene. It came from my grandmother, and I am sure that most of it is from overseas, though I don't know where it's from. There are a ton of camels, and wisemen.








Dashing for John, done after Christmas. He LOVES them and hardly takes them off. Nearly everyday he has said "Thank You, Mom for making these for me." Makes my heart warm.



Robert's heavily modified Dashing.


Dashing is a mitt, not with the little fingers you see above. Both my guys wanted the fingers, so I adapted it. I also had to make a bigger size for Robert and I didn't like the lone cable, so added a cable on another section, just half way up the 10 rows between the original cables. I like it a lot better. I also had to refigure where the thumb should go on the right one. They weren't fitting correctly. Now they are definitely left and right.

I've been working on Lisa, the purple cabled sweater. I am over half done. Probably not quite 3/4 yet. I've started swatching for Kim's sweater. It will be Kilcar by Debbie Bliss. I need to wash my swatch and see what happens. Kim chose the blue tweed for this and it is very pretty!!

It's been a while

A good 9 days it's been since I visited my blog. It's been an incredibly busy time. I don't know how parent's or anyone for that matter, work full-time and still have time to come home and get ready for Christmas? I've worked two days each of the last two weeks and I feel like I can't get anything done. We've done a couple of family things this season, like finally getting our tree, but taking almost all week until we actually got it in the house and decorated. Good grief. We usually get it the first weekend of December. I uploaded over 90 pictures today, just from the last 9 days! Full of fun Christmas stuff, but it's been just go-go-go, usually not that way for us this time of year.

We went as a family to downtown Portland to the waterfront to watch the Christmas Ships Parade. It was much smaller than when we first saw them. The first year we went, the kids might have been 3 and 8, there were at least 30 ships that year. This year, there were a total of 9. I was bummed by it, and it was cold, but the lights of downtown were pretty. I didn't use the flash for these and had to stay absolutely still. Obviously from the blur, I can't do that. :)

Weather pictures and blah, blah, blah

I just posted about a beautiful scarf package I got from my ISE5 pal over on that blog if you want to read it.

We've had a busy few weeks, though not a lot of knitting has gotten done. I've been working lots of hours(for me anyways). I've spent some time out in Vernonia doing flood clean out. That really wears on a person! We are so blessed to having not experienced anything like that. I hope they can get some of those homes done quickly. We are starting into our Christmas activities, visiting with friends, attending holiday parties, etc. I think between now and Christmas, I have 7 nights where I will be out attending different events, or hosting events at my home. Robert says I can't add anymore or I will be exhausted by the time Christmas gets here. True enough. Hmmph, and I thought I would have two weeks of nothing! No classes to get kids to, or work. It just got replaced with other stuff that's all. Oh and we don't have our tree yet, so we need to get out to find a Douglas Fir.

In knitting news, I did actually get another pair of Fetching done. And about 4 inches done on Lisa. I am finally to the decreases of the armhole. That's it. I still have about 1/4 of the test knit to do. I really want to get that done by Monday! Can I do it?

Snow from a couple of weeks ago.



Sunrise on Tuesday this week.

We are never satisfied are we?!?

I have found this week that we just aren't satisfied with what we have, or don't have. It's either too much wind, too much rain(or not enough), or it's too quiet(after the storm). Even if it's not as bad as what some areas of Oregon and Washington have experienced this past week, it's just not good enough for us. Robert and I were commenting to each other that it has just been too quiet yesterday and today. It has been, but should we complain or whine about it? No! We should be thankful that the worst is over, and now we just need to clean up. Well, we don't need to personally. We had just a few tree limbs, small things in our yard. Nothing major, like our home being flooded. I really can't imagine going through that myself, and I need to be thankful.

Be thankful for what you have, your home, your health, your family members. Take care this week and remember those around you, if possible through random acts of kindness.

Packages from Far, Far Away

I made this little box. Started it Saturday afternoon and finished it today. Isn't it cute? It even has working drawers. Did I do it from scratch? Nope! It was a kit that came as part of a package on Saturday. From Canada.




The package came from my birthday swap partner on Ravelry. Lisa, turned 30+ this year and celebrated by traveling around Europe. So, our packages to each other didn't arrive on our actual birthdays.

The pretty Opal in the lavender, yellow and black, is from Austria. The purple and blue yarn at the bottom of the package is from the TheSweetSheep.com. It is called Memories. I've already started using the handbag, you can see my checkbook sticking out. It is perfect for those short trips to the grocery store when you don't need your knitting bag. There was a journal, pens, a little flower garden, Eucalan, tea buds, hot cocoa and swiss chocolate that is creamy and yummy, hand lotion and a little book to put photos in. Thank you so much Lisa, this was a great swap!



More mitts, these are Cleckheaton Country Silk in a pretty olive green color. I finished them on Saturday night and cast on for the ones below. It's some leftover Rocky Horror from when I did a hat for Robert. I hope I can get a whole pair out of the leftovers! They will go to my nephew who's dad went to OSU, so Walt, the nephew is an avid Beaver's fan, just like his aunt and uncle!



My Lisa. I started it one day last week. I wanted to do it in the round, but at the time, I couldn't get my mind around converting the pattern. I am doing both the front and the back on the same needle, since you work to the arm holes using the same pattern. It is from Debbie Bliss book 7. The yarn is DB, cashmerino aran, and it is this deep of a purple.

Pay it Forward

I was just reading through a couple of blogs that I like and came across this idea on Angela's blog. She found it elsewhere, but I think it's a great idea.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So, if you are interested in receiving a handmade something from LavendarKnits, leave a comment. The first three will receive something...........knitted, sewn, papercrafted, food? Who knows.


Btw, no migraines since November 2!! The neurologist said they were migraines and has given me some new meds to try in case they happen again, even if it isn't until next fall. He seemed to be very interested that it is just a seasonal event. Oh he also put me on Vit. B2 and Magnesium to try to prevent them.

The Stash Sale

Before pictures.





You can see the yarn on the racks, and those bins are at least 3/4 full.

60 people in line at 9:45?

Looking through their armloads of yarn.

Bags of yarn!
Do I really need all of this yarn?

At one point, the check out line was at least 10 deep with three or four lines.
Empty racks.


Pictures Kim took while she explored the Inn.




Metal chickens.





We sat and knit the rest of the afternoon.
Came home and crashed!