A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

As it turns out, my mother was not the only one who taught me the love of needle work.

One of my most cherished Christmas decorations is this latch hook piece that my father made in his retirement.

Brings back blessed memories. Oh, how Daddy loved Christmas! He even played Santa at least one year in the town square. He also put a longed for doll on a less fortunate neighbor girl's porch one Christmas morning.

One of my favorite stories of my mother's Christmas spirit is that one year my sister saw scraps of fabric by the sewing machine. She thought sure she was going to get a new dress for Christmas. Quite a surprise when there was no new dress on Christmas morning. Later that winter, she saw young girls at school (from a poorer family) wearing dresses made of the fabric.

Thanks, Daddy and Mother for quietly living--and teaching us--the spirit of the Santa part of Christmas, but most of all for allowing us to grow in knowledge of the true meaning of Christmas.

I miss you!

STASH BUSTING FOR CHRISTMAS

Finally, I'm getting back to some more stash busting. I just can't justify buying for fabric until I do, and I wanna take advantage of the next sale, so . . .

a couple receiving blankets (two flannels sewn back to back), and a charm baby blanket backed with gingham,

some Dick and Jane fabric I've had for a while and some left over "fish" blocks paired with some plaids

made for a few good projects this holiday season.

Oh, in case you're wondering about that off center stitching on the fishy one, it was stitched from the pieced backing. I thought the front was a little boring, and I think the bright stitching helped a bit.

And as for the rest of the jammies, oops, I forgot to take photos of them before I got them all wrapped.

Now just to get a couple pair of socks knitted.

WARM FUZZIES

Ah, nothing much cozier on a cold winter night that some nice, fuzzy, flannel jammies. And this "Nani" has been making just that for the grandchildren for several years now. As the number of grandchildren began to grow pretty quickly (Those are just 1/2 of the stockings!), one of my daughters suggested just making pants and getting knit shirts to go with them. So that's mostly what I do for the older children. One of the girls prefers gowns, so that's hers on the right. These jammies are all packed in a box and ready to head to the post office and on to New York in a couple days.

As for the stockings, I almost forgot that I needed to add one this year. Yep, Baby Roman makes 12.

And speaking of stockings, a favorite Christmas tradition at my house is getting out these stockings that my sister made for my children about 35 years ago.

Oh, and not nearly as colorful, but certainly another warm fuzzy: these socks that I finished for myself this week. Just in time for the cold weather--ah so cozy.

It was so much fun knitting the socks, I just might have to start on some more. Stay tuned!

THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER . . .

The last rose of summer . . .

. . . to the first snow of winter.

Unbelievable that I still had those roses on Friday, before our first snow of the season yesterday. I cut them purposely, knowing what our weather prediction was.

And the tiny little evergreen in the urn at the edge of my porch -- I just planted Friday also, surrounded by pansies I was still able to find at this late point in the season. And yes, for those of you in the North, here in TN pansies do great in the winter (but too hot for them in the summer).

And inside the house, the Christmas tree awaits its assembly. (I'm allergic to trees--especially pine--and mold, so I had to give up on the live trees several years ago.) As today is the day that the Christian world commemorates the memory of the REAL St. Nicolas, the tree will go up after church today.

And in the meantime on the needles--

A book bag for one of my granddaughters:

And a pair of socks for ME.

There are also 6 pairs of jammies for grandchildren completed--more on that later.

NEEDLEWORK AROUND THE WORLD

Well, even though I was working with wool while knitting and cuddling under a quilt with a wool blend batting, none of the wool was for these sheep. (I do have some wonderful hand loomed blankets that my mother-in-law made decades ago from their own wool.) I would have to admit that one of my favorite things about Greece is hearing the bells on the sheep as the shepherd takes his flock by our house. I'm certainly not a professional photographer, but I do like the framing of this scene off our side patio.

On evenings when it was cool and I wasn't beside the fireplace,

it was wonderful to have the warmth of the wool batting in my quilt. That's it--folded like a pillow--awaiting my evening stretch out on the couch. Oh, and yes, that's my knitting in the bowl on the coffee table.

I was able to get this knitting done while I was there. So 3 Christmas gifts were completed when I returned home.

Now, just to finish the socs that I started on my plane trip home. (By the way, the arm rests on a plane seat are perfect for stabilizing a hank of yarn while winding it in to a ball.)