Quiet Crafting by the Fire

Hi my friends.. are you enjoying that week between Christmas and New Years?  I've always loved this week as we leave the decorations up for the color and sparkle and take them down on New Years day.  I try to never make appointments during this week and like to rest and recuperate from the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  What do you do with this week?  I got my self designed crochet beret done.. and although I had to do a fair bit of ripping out and redoing.. I called it good and cut the yarn and tied it off and have worn it out in public.  :-)  I'm not fully happy with it.. as it probably should of been more lacy to match the shawl.  But to be honest, this works, is warm and it is what it is.  The color in this photo is way off.. it's deep ruby red.

This is a photo of the shawl which I had on a previous post.. this is the true color.  

So.. yesterday my husband and I went out for lunch at Red Lobster and then went to Craft Warehouse to see if I could find some yarn for the baby guinea pigs that my granddaughters have asked me to make for them.  They want them to look similar to their GPs which are black and white and have long hair.  I found this perfect yarn which is a one ply that is 61% baby alpaca, 24% nylon and 15% merino wool.  The pattern for the baby GPs is there.

The black didn't photograph well, and this shows it as dark grey, but it's coal black.

These are the "models" of which I will be making babies to match.  :-)

At the grocery store yesterday I found this glass hurricane with 4 Hyacinth bulbs started.. the the bargain price of $5!  Home it came with us.  It's a pink one.  It will help me transition into 2015!

4 bulbs in this!

When I was making my cotton crochet ornaments I was sadly lacking in colorful cotton, so I found this at a very good price.. $2.19 a skein!  I found them at Herrschners.

I read recently on another blog that a fellow blogger named Vanessa Cabban was hit by a train and killed.  She produced the popular blog - "Do You Mind if I Knit?".  She and I corresponded regarding a design she came up with - a stripy scarf using the diagonal stitch.  I am very sad at the world's loss of her - she was beautiful and a prolific knitter and crocheter - she also was a paper mache artist of some note and sold her sculptures in galleries and in her Etsy shop.  Sadly, she and her husband divorced and she no longer posted on her blog. Goodbye Vanessa!  I think I started this project in her honor.. 

The Amaryllis that my son and DIL gave me is blooming on it's second stem.. what an amazing plant!

We had a 2nd Christmas on Friday when my son and his family returned home from their beach trip.  The boys were beside themselves with happiness when they received these kid cameras from us.  We also got them a radio-controlled truck, some Legos, etc.  They've been playing with their toys happily for days now. 

Well, I guess I need to get started on some baby guinea pigs.  :-)

What are you up to?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)