End of Year Wrap Up

 It's New Year's Eve.  Hard to believe 2024 is over.  This was a very fast year!!

Since my last post we had multiple holiday celebrations and I managed to knit a few projects.  This was all while healing from my thumb surgery.

Thanksgiving was celebrated twice.  First, on the weekend before Thanksgiving, my husband's family came for dinner.  Everyone except Kristin and her fiance, Michael, were there.  I was too busy cooking to take pictures.  

On the actual day of Thanksgiving, it was only me, Ed and Blake.  Blake did most of the cooking.  We had a non-traditional meal of Beef Wellington.  It was delicious!  We decorated the puff pastry with a squirrel to make it more festive.  And in honor of Peanut.

The following weekend we took Trisha, Craig and the kids on a Santa Train. Jameson loved it.  He was so thrilled with the lights and decorations.  This is his first year being aware of Santa Claus but he doesn't quite understand yet the entire concept. 

Since Thanksgiving was late this year, trying to get all of the Christmas preparations done was a bit of a rush this year.  My tree sat for a week with only lights and garland.  At night it was pretty.

The only Christmas knitting this year were stockings for Jameson and Olivia.  I used the Arne and Carlos patterns that they did in collaboration with Rowan.  I used Rowan Norwegian Wool.  I'm very happy with how they turned out.

I already have plans to make 2 more by next Christmas.  I made stockings for me and Ed last year.  My 3 children have the sewn stockings I made when they were little.  This year I'll make stockings for my sons-in-law.  That way everyone will have one.  Over time I'll replace the sewn stockings with knitted ones to coordinate with the rest.  You can see a couple of the sewn stockings in the below picture.  And the ones I made last year for me and Ed.

Christmas was a multi-day celebration.  On the 23rd we had our family Christmas dinner.  On Christmas Eve, we were without Trisha, Craig and the kids.  Christmas morning they came over for brunch before everyone except them headed to Cincinnati to celebrate with my siblings.

This was the first Christmas in a couple years that all 8 siblings were together.  Of course, we needed a picture to commemorate the event.

Now that Christmas is over, I'm getting some quiet time to work on various craft projects.

I found a crocheted blanket pattern that is going to help me use up my many skeins of sock yarn.

I finished my second Audrey sweater.  It is now drying in the other room.  I'm looking forward to wearing it this winter.  Some very cold weather is predicted mid-January.

I have started a Glenfiddich sweater using some very deep stash yarn.  This is not going to be a quick knit.  I may have to cast on something simpler for New Year's Eve.

For 2025, I'm going to work on decreasing my stash and finishing up some hibernating WIPs.  Ed is starting to build me a craft room downstairs.  Once it is done I'm going to take an inventory of my yarn.  I dread what that number will be.  If it's too embarrassing I probably won't share.