The Stockings Were Hung....

Christmas is almost here, the house is as decorated as it's going to be, the presents have all been purchased, and the knitting is finished for gifting. All I have to do is make 3 more batches of caramel corn and wrap gifts, and we are completely ready for Christmas. This year the basement isn't finished (did I call that or what?) but I'm okay with it. We can ramp up again after the holidays. In the meantime, I decided to hang our stockings from a curtain rod in the middle of our living room. (Next year we will have a real mantel!) It's almost surreal to me to look at these stockings, to know that all 6 of them are up and there won't be any more for a long, long time. Our family is complete. We are now forever out of the pregnancy and newborn stage, and moving on to a different stage of our lives. I know I know, Charlie isn't 6 months old yet, but there is something to be said for when you walk down the aisles in the store and see all the adorable tiny clothes and think to yourself, "I'm never going to buy that stuff for our house again." Some people I know get a pang of sadness when they know they are done having children, but we both feel a strong sense of peace. 

Sorry, just had a moment of reflective thoughts :)

I wish you all the happiness and joy during this holiday season. May you and your family be blessed beyond measure! 

Emily

Caramel Corn Recipe

Ho ho ho! This recipe is sure to please any Christmas party-goers or neighbors :) (Photo courtesy of my neighbor Katie, I didn't get a chance to snap a good one before we delivered all of our caramel corn!)

• 2 bags of unbuttered popped popcorn (12 cups)
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 stick of margarine (not butter!)
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Chocolate melts or almond bark (I use white and dark chocolate)

Bring brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup, and salt to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and baking soda and mix up. Pour over popcorn and stir thoroughly. Put popcorn on a cookie sheet on parchment paper and bake at 250 for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Melt chocolates and drizzle over the top. Enjoy!

Episode 4 - Of Handspun and Scissors

Thank you for listening to my podcast! I love doing this, it's something just for me late at night when everyone else is sleeping and I have so much fun with my listeners! There is another giveaway this week, so be sure to listen for it and leave your entry!



Thank Yous and Administrative:
My blog - http://neverendingbutterflies.blogspot.com
Ravelry - Emily Straw
Ravelry Group - Knitting Butterflies
Instagram - butterflyem4

Thank you to Sarah Stevens - sarahstevens on Ravelry for gifting me the Corvinus Family Mitts pattern. Check out her pattern shop and Etsy shop for beautiful hand-dyed yarns!

Thank you to Mimers66, Terab707, and Trinawinna for reviews on iTunes!

Clicking Away:

• Continuing to work on the Brown Stripe Ragg socks from Patons Kroy. Finished first sock, starting knitting baby tube socks a la Knitmore Girls, one inside the other, with leftover yarn from first skein.

Sprig Sweater by Alana Dakos from Never Not Knitting. Yoke and raglans are finished, as is stockinette for the bust. All of the ease is currently in the back because of my current larger bust size, debating on how to start the decreases so it will look correct, even wondering if I should frog it and start over on a different size.

• Peerie Floores Hat by Kate Davies, first saw on Susan B. Anderson's blog. I LOVE this project, it feels like cross stitching and I am SO HAPPY while knitting this hat! Knitting in KnitPicks Palette.

Spinning Stories:

Finished my first 100g, have begun spinning my second 100g of Woolen Mill St. Yarns Corriedale roving.

Used my first 100g to knit a hat, had an incident with the 2 year old and scissors.

Finished hat has 2x2 rib and stockinette body. I love it so much that I entered it in to the Legend-Prairie contest from the Prairie Girls Knit and Spin Podcast.

Reviews:

Winners from the Green Gables Knits giveaway:

• Orange-Maid from Ravelry (Scotland) - digital copy
• Outofthisworld (Marybeth) from Ravelry (AZ) - paper copy
• 
  
• Sleepy Eyes Knits Wonderlace by Gina House, she also sent me Dreamscape. Check out her Etsy shop if you are interested in these books, as well as her website!

 

Photos Courtesy of GinaHouse.net

• To Enter the Giveaway - Leave your first name, your state and/or country, your email or Ravelry name, and your favorite Christmas or holiday tradition from when you were a kid that you keep alive today on this post.

Remember and Reminisce

• This week I remember and reminisce about the Santa Claus stockings I have knitted. I started with Katie's stocking, and so far have knit a total of 14 including two this year for Sammy and Baby Charlie. 
• Pattern was adapted by Ruth Homrighaus from a Bernat pattern

Basement Tales

• Hubby took the week off to work on basement. Sanding and mudding, craft room is done and playroom is almost done.
• Built some built in shelving for under the television, and popup bench for storing blankets.

 

Countdown to 30 - My family tradition is to see the latest Disney or kids movie at the theater on Christmas Eve. We started with the Little Mermaid 26 years ago and have only missed one year since. This year we will go see Frozen. As I become more of a grownup, I am wondering if I need to give up my chance to go see the movie each year and stay home to get stuff done.

Photographing Your Knits

• This week I talk about White Balance and how finding the settings for it on your camera or phone can make a big difference in the color quality and consistency of your photos
• If you have some natural light but not enough, use a reflector to double the amount of light on your project

The Christmas Spirit

Christmas is coming, that's for sure! Our tree is up and we have a few decorations up, but I haven't really had the energy to get the rest of them up yet. Considering I didn't get our tree up until the 21st last year, I'm actually doing pretty good.

My mom works at a greenhouse and she let me bring my kiddos in their beautiful Christmas clothes to take some pictures. You know how they say the roofer's roof always leaks? Well, the photographer's kids apparently never look at the camera. This was an interesting session but we got a few keepers, so I'm happy.

The next day we came back in regular clothes to meet Santa and see my sister perform her harp. Big Man E asked for about $1,000 worth of Legos, so we have been trying to explain that even Santa has a budget. Sorry, buddy. They had a blast though, I love that they all still believe in Santa so much and Christmas is so magical for them.

Knitting Butterflies Podcast - Episode 3 - Parking Meters

**NOTE - THE GIVEAWAY FOR GREEN GABLES KNITS IS NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED.**

Welcome to Episode 3 of the Knitting Butterflies Podcast! Show notes for this episode:

Administrative:

• Knitting Butterflies can be found on iTunes! Please subscribe and leave a review :)
• Find me on my blog any time, Instagram, Ravelry and Ravelry Group

Clicking Away

• Finished first Lifestyle Toe Up Sock in Patons Kroy 4-ply and Deborah Norahville
• Started another pair of Lifestyle Toe Up Socks in Patons Kroy Brown Striped Ragg during Catching Fire, knitting in the dark like The Knitmore Girls
• Started and finished Falling Water Scarf in Cascade 220 Heathers
• Chubby Guinea Pig couple by Kati Galusz in Red Heart, need to make the baby

Spinning Stories

• I finished my very first 4oz. skein of handspun! Woolen Mills St. Yarn spinning fiber in Juliette Jules, ~102 yards worsted-aran 2-ply.
• I also picked up lots of new rovings (and yarn of course!) from the Longmont Yarn Shoppe and Knitpicks.com

Remember and Reminisce

• Hitchhiker Scarf for the #behmalong from The Knitmore Girls by Martina Behm
• Bought Madeline Tosh Prairie yarn in Garden Grey from Knit Purl in Portland
• I loved the nerdiness of the scarf going along with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Review

• My first review is for Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson. Thank you to Slate Falls Press for gifting this book to me, and two more copies (one paper for US listeners, one digital for international listeners) to give away to my listeners!

     

• To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this blog post with your first name, state and/or country, email address or Ravelry name, and answer the following question:
• What literary character has inspired you to knit or be creative?
• The giveaway runs from December 2nd - December 17th

Countdown to 30

• The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts
• My love language is quality time, I hope my birthday will involve spending lots of time with lots of people!

Photographing Your Knits

• I discuss natural vs. manufactured lighting when photographing your knits, as well as soft light vs. hard light. I'm really excited about this segment, if there are questions you have about photographing your knits please let me know and I will do my best to answer them!

Shout Outs

• Orange_maid shared another great tip, the Magic Knot (featured to make the Magic Cake on Knitting Pipeline), which I used in my Falling Water scarf

• grrlgeek42 has really fun geeky names for her socks and I love them :)
• In a Sknit - one of my new favorite podcasts! Sarah and Kristi are adorable, keep up the good work, ladies!

Thanks for listening, have a wonderful week! Blessings!

I've Been Knitting, But....

A lot of the projects I have been working on have been presents so I can't post pictures yet. I am going to talk about all of them in my next podcast though, so stay tuned!