Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Holiday Kickoff

We're on the brink of a long holiday weekend here in the States, so today I'm going to get the party started with the November giveaway. Leave a comment and enter to win.  If you celebrate Thanksgiving, how do you mark the occasion?  I know a lot of people travel for the holiday, and I'm envious of any passenger with a long car ride.  Do you have any knitting projects planned?  Dare I mention holiday knitting? Anyone with pattern suggestions as we get down to the wire?  What do you have on the needles?

Please include your Ravelry ID for easy contact.  The winner, chosen at random, will receive a skein of yarn from Dirty Water DyeWorks - winner's choice.  The contest closes on Wednesday, December 3, 2014.

And now I'm headed to the kitchen.  Today is pie baking day.

29 comments:

AtPlayWithFiber said...

We use to drive up to Phoenix (about 4 - 5 hour car ride) but now we stay home. It's nice because it feels like a longer holiday.

Ravelry ID AtPlayWithFiber

Judy11 said...

I usually host Thanksgiving at my home for the family. But this year elder dau is doing a Thanksgiving/B-day celebration for eldest grandson. It's not a long drive, and it will be nice not to do all the cooking, but it will be different that's for sure.

New hand issue has arisen still leaving me out of the knitting loop. Perhaps an other surgery on the horizon. Hope I can pick up some before that happens. Judy11 on Rav

lisa said...

Working on a Christmas stocking for my new grandson. No driving for me, home relaxing, cooking and knitting.
LadyBug03 on Ravelry

Anonymous said...

Family will be eating here for Thanksgiving, so I'm the cook and the kids are silver polishers! Have a great day!

MomOTwins on Rav

LD said...

Enjoying a lovely day with our grown daughters and their significant others. Traditional Thanksgiving feast with everyone pitching in... It's a great day for us and wishing you a great day too!
Ctduclin on Ravelry

Anonymous said...

Traditional! At our house this year with just my mom. Easy! Easy!
But no long car ride for knitting either...
iownapaint on Rav

pomaflah said...

Finished my Coralie! Yay! It's so pretty. Now my aunt wants an adult one... but I'm going to get around to knitting that scarf I keep wanting.

pomaflah

Miskate said...

Thanksgiving this year was at home, my mom cooked, my sister brought her husband and son, my partner invited his mom, and we invited a friend and her son over as well. Add in my dad and my son, and we had a very full, very happy household.

I'm not sure how much Christmas knitting will get done, but I'm trying. And trying to resist starting a bunch of new projects and buying way too much new yarn.

klynnknits on Ravelry said...

Wednesday's snowstorm delayed our family's travel plans, so we're having thanksgiving dinner on Sunday instead.

My current holiday project is a pair of socks, but with a two color charted design that I've modified. Knitting with two colors is not my greatest skill, so it's been taking a while. :)

Sheila said...

I usually avoid traveling at the holidays like the plague. Between winter weather and the crowds it's just not fun. Had a mellow Thanksgiving locally with a friend and her family, helped her with her first lace blocking experience after the turkey.

Margot said...

I hosted an 'orphan' Thanksgiving for friends with no family nearby. It was smaller than usual this year, only 9 people. But we hit the dessert to people ratio just about right - 4:9!

For Solstice knitting I'm working on a little kitty purse for a little friend of mine. And a sweater for the mister that probably won't be finished on time.

ID = mango

Lamcham said...

We travel to Tyngsboro MA which is only a forty minute ride from my home in Arlington. My sister in law prepares the turkey and makes delicious pies, the rest of the family brings all the fixings. Some of the family travels from Connecticut and New Hampshire. It's a great time to get together and be thankful for what we all have: a wonderful family and friends.

Anonymous said...

We traveled about an hour to Pepperell, and I got to knit socks for the nieces all the way and while there, except at the table. The inlaws insist on doing everything. DD wants new Christmas socks, Lacey pattern, so I have some research to do, something can do on the Redline. More knitting time on a ride to RI today. Swampyankee

Unknown said...

I travel for Thanksgiving but since I am the driver..no car knitting for me. My holiday knit list is longer than time will allow and I fear my daughter will get 1 mitten and my son 1 sock!
Johalley on RAV
Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Anonymous said...

Our thanksgiving in Canada is in October, but we often make the trip to Louisville to visit family for the US thanksgiving. On those long trips I've taught myself to knit simple projects in the dark, like vanilla socks or ribbed scarves that have no real pattern to follow.

I have attempted lace as well, while in daylight driving.

Rav Id: tmeelliott

Anonymous said...

Too much snowy slush for knitting in the car. In fact I haven't touched yarn for 3 days. Glad to be home. Lol. (dopeyams)

quiltbaker said...

Thanksgiving is over... it was okay. But I finished a pair of socks, so that was good! I am using my knitting to keep me sane during the holidays.

Alice said...

I almost finished a layette for a baby who was due on Thanksgiving day.

Christina said...

1434When our children were little, we didn't have a big meal...lots of work for uninterested toddlers. As they got older we slowly increased the amount of preparation. Now that they are teens and a tween, we have a lovely celebration. Having waited years to do it right makes it that much more special...and now, I also have time to knit. Yay! rav=penelopesweb

Anonymous said...

Dinner @ son/daughter-in-laws house... very relaxing, but no leftovers!!!

Knitting mittens for our relatives in VT.

Joanne said...

No travel for me. Caught a cold/flu/ germ, and didn't want to spread it to the family, so it was a tiny Thanksgiving with just us three. Filled the day with knitting a Marion Cowl on giant size 19 needles. Turned out nice enough that I need to make another.

Lisa B said...

Thankfully no traveling but still plenty of knitting time to be found. I don't generally knit presents as I don't have any family members that want any knitted items! Shocking I know. However, it has the happy byproduct of lots of holiday knitting for me. I am currently knitting the Ruckle hat by Jennifer Dassau, my second pair of Sideswipe socks by Kate Gilbert, Bayard by Bristol Ivy and my annual Yuletide Gnome by Alan Dart. It is terrifically exciting to have so much fun variety to choose from.

Thank you for your awesome giveaway!

rav id lisabarrett

Kristi said...

We travel 3 hours to the in-laws for Thanksgiving holiday. Sadly due to car sickness, I am the driver and can't knit on the road! But I take lots of projects to work on whilst there, since I am in the way of the preparations!

Rav ID AinsleysMommy

Marianne said...

Holiday knitting? YES!!! Many family members have made hat requests and have several going...some just blocked. Have 2 skeins of your OMA Organic in my stash and thinking about their use. Rav ID 58hollett

LilyD said...

This year we drove to Ithaca, NY to spend the weekend with my family. Next year will be western Mass with my husbands family. It's always a weekend of a lot more talking than knitting than I plan. Right now I'm working on some mitts and hats for the holidays.

Jill L said...

I always host as I own the Spode Thanksgiving china. We eat and watch football allnday and any/everyone is invited. Sometimes we have 6 sometimes 20!
Jillglove

Unknown said...

Our Thanksgiving celebration was especially wonderful this year: there was no family drama! All day Wednesday, I dreaded going. All I really wanted to do was knit. Instead, I was baking 4 pies (with help from my lovely husband).

By Thursday, I had my bad feelings under control, and with pies and knitting packed carefully in the back of the car, we drove to my sister's house. She lives one town over, so there was a little bit of driving: enough to get recharged by all the beauty. Trees are displaying brilliant reds and yellows this year.

We were 22 at Thanksgiving dinner, and it was such a nice gathering. There was family, but there were also newcomers. We invited my mother's caregiver, Jose, to bring his family. I loved seeing them get embraced and drawn in to the circle. Soon, rousing games of table tennis were going, which gave me a chance to be an observer -- a knitting observer!

Right now I'm knitting a scarf by Ivy Bigelow called "Midwest Moonlight". The pattern is in the original Scarf Style book. I also have another scarf on the needles. It's a free pattern based on a fern stitch in the Barbara Walker's "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns" (p. 211). I was shocked at how beautiful the stitch was-- pictures don't do it justice.

If you sense a theme, it's real. This is going to be a scarf Christmas. I'll need all the time I can get between now and the 25th to deliver, and I'd love to be working with a skein of Dirty Water DyeWorks yarn.

We'll be driving up to San Francisco in a few days, and I'll be knitting all the way. Maybe I'll ask for some DyeWorks yarn for my Christmas gift....

Sincerely, from Ravelry person bbailey

Unknown said...

I must say every year for many years I have always gone to the dog shows to show my Boston Terriers and then dinner at my daughters in the evening. This year the shows were the weekend before so it was a relaxing day getting lots of knitting done and then we had Thanksgiving Friday evening rather than Thursday. Currently working on the Blissful Shawl as well as a wrap from Blue Sky Alpacas. I do however have a few kits that I purchased from Dirty Water Dye Works that I will be winding and starting soon. So all in all my hubby, seven dogs (two babies) and myself had a relaxing uneventful Thanksgiving day getting lots of knitting and spinning done, can't ask for more than that.

jensimoneau said...

I've got a pair of socks to finish so I can cast on a shawl for daughter. I'm dying to cast on from new book by Hunter Hammerson. I need more knitting time! Jensknits