Our Christmas 2012

 This year I said no to the drama of the season. For the first time in decades I did not host the family parties....it was so nice to not have all the stress of the whole event...we stayed at home made tacos watched movies, listened to some holiday music......and dog sat my mothers dog  Prancer....he's a sweet guy however he doesn't like Nostradamus very much.....and Phoebe doesn't like him ( she wouldn't even sit for a photo lol ) so we played musical doggies for a few hours.... one came in this door, another goes out to that yard and so on......

Nostradamus giving me the "I'm not happy with you look"

Another reason I didn't want to do the whole party thing was, we had 18 chicks in the house brooder....that were very close to moving out to the coops, so a handful to say the least.....we moved them out on Christmas eve......just in time for the new chicks....

A few weeks ago I told Brent that I'd like to try hatching some eggs....as our girls are not showing any signs that they want to be mom's, and one of our "girls" was in fact a rooster....I thought it might be a better way to get more chicks still this season that trying to order more....

 I looked up incubators on line and came across some shots of home made ones......

That's all it took........ Brent was off and running 

less than one month after I said that would be cool to raise them from the start without putting them through that horrible ride to get here...and about $10.00 later.....

       

The first little one is a full buff Orpington on the left.
It hatched on Yule right on time. The second chickie is of the same rooster but not hen...it's half Rhode Island red....and showing it already...less than a day old ( we have a Yule chick and Christmas chick :D ) and it is almost the same size as it's older sibling....they are so tiny and cute....glad we got two...the first was getting lonely after we mover out the other guys....couldn't hear them anymore...we were just planning on taking a recording of them to play for it ( no clue if they are boys or girls yet )


Jorden got a nice shot of the moon and it's circle.....I just might sit out next year too lol

Easy Head Wrap with button

 Last night I was gifted some really nice yarn...Lion Brand's Hometown USA in Portland Wine it's super bulky weight....I love it so soft....I have been so happy with the head wrap I kept for myself that I decided to make another for me :D




it is so comfy and can be used as a scarf




The first head wrap pattern I posted easy head wrap was for a tie in back, very quick no weaving in of ends or buttons to sew on....great for a quick gift.
This pattern I use a button at the back of the neck instead of a tie, not as quick as the one with a tie but still can be knit up in short order.

I had made a few to sell at a recent craft show....I should have asked for a few of the people to model them for me....oh well next time....until then here are a few of the other yarns I used...

okay now that you've seen enough photos of me trying to get a good shot of the pattern ( not easy to show the sides and top and still see the lap top screen lol ) here's the pattern for this one

oh wait one more thing I wanted to point out.....these wraps can very easily be made to fit any size....by adding to the increases ( just made sure to do the same number of deceases on the other end ) you can make it wider like the red fuzzy one on top....I used size 15 US with a 16 stitch count at the widest point...
want it narrow don't add as many increases ( again keeping to the same amount for your decreases, don't forget to put a knit row in between each increase or decrease row ).....change the length by changing row count .....changing needle size and yarn also work....as this is more a pattern idea really you can have a lot of fun with it :D

I didn't keep track of how much yarn I used with this one, all of the others made bulky yarn was way under 50 yards....

purple one

cast on 3 using size 11 US
knit 4 rows  (or so to place your button on later )

start increases
I used a yarn over for this one ( knitting through the back loop on the next row to close up the stitch ), knitting in the front and back of the first stitch works good as well....use any increase you like
1 ) knit 1, yarn over, knit until last stitch, yo, knit 1
2 ) knit 1, knit 1 through the back loop, knit to last 2 stitches, knit 1 through the back loop, knit 1

repeat 1 and 2 until you have the width you want...11 stitches is where I stopped

knit until you have the size you want, keeping in mind that you will have the same length for decreases as you have for your increases added to the end....I did 12 inches with mine

start decreasing
1 ) knit 2 together until last 2 stitches, knit 2 together through the back loop
2 ) knit
repeat until you have your original cast on number, in this case 3

button hole
1 ) knit one, bind off one
2 ) knit one, yarn over, knit one
3 ) knit 1, knit 1 through the back loop, knit 1
bind off, weave in ends ( I use the tail of mine to add strength to the button hole )
sew on button

Easy Head Wrap

Easy Head Wrap

35 yards of bulky weight yard 
size 11 US needles
size K/10 1/2 crochet hook
Gauge 3 sts. by 4 rows per one inch
Adult size 

kf/b = knit into the front and back of the next stitch

knit = knit to end of row

k2tog = knit 2 stitches together

Chain stitch 30 using 

Side last chain loop onto knitting needle

1 ) kf/b 

2 ) kf/b x 2 ( 4 sts. )

3 ) knit

4 ) kf/b, knit to last stitch, kf/b

5 ) knit

Repeat rows 4 and 5 until you get 14 sts.

Knit every row for 14 more inches

Decreases 

1 ) k2tog, knit to last 2 sts., k2tog

2 ) knit

Repeat last 2 rows until you have 4 stitches left, ending with the decrease row

Next row K2tog x 2

Last row K2tog

Use the last stitch on the needle to chain 30 stitches with your crochet hook. Trim tails to match.