Monthly Archives: December 2012

Good News!

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The husband has a new job!!!!!!

Sorry for the delay in the rest of my Scandinavian Christmas posts, but my hubby got the best Christmas present ever! I still vow to get them out 🙂

We found out the day after Christmas and have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off since, rounding up paperwork, negotiating benefits, changing class schedules, etc. This new job is in IT AND will let him continue to work on his Computer Information Systems degree.

After 8 1/2 months of looking in this terrible economy we both are very excited. I will be sad to lose my housekeeper, crock pot stirrer, and doggy day care that would do wonderful things while I was at work. But the paycheck will be worth catching up on bills!

May your New Year be wonderful! (I’ll be working a 12+ hour day at my big kid accounting job to close out the year…..)

Christmas Morning

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Before we got to peek at what Santa brought we had tea and monkey bread!

Then SANTA!!!

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Santa brought me me lined yarn bags with grommet holes! Lined with knitting sheep fabric and nice wide zipper openings. The photos above are the small cake/skein bag. The photos below are the large skein bag!

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How did Santa know!? Lol, looks like I have some knitting to do!

Merry Christmas to all! Stay tuned for more Swedish Christmas traditions 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Christmas Eve Shinglebread

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Growing up Swedish/Norwegian means shinglebread at christmas! It’s a lovely Scandinavian potato tortilla of sorts. For as long as I remember this has been a sugary Christmas treat.

Start with a flat piece and drizzle with Caro syrup….

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Then you roll it up and eat up!

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This dish means family and Christmas and memories of childhood! I am a happy Swede tonight. Now for a little cuddle time in front of the fire before 11pm services out the local Lutheran church!

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Merry Christmas to all!!

Handmade Beauty

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Hello from the land of my in laws! It’s finally snowed in Kansas and we have started our Christmas travels. Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Feels good to have a couple days off of work and I packed a LARGE bag of knitting!

I have scarves:

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Toasty fire:

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What else do you need? Oh ya….my own handmade yarn swift!!!!!

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My father in law is a gifted wood worker (see this amazing motorcycle rocking horse)!

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Well he and my husband put their heads together and devised a version of a yarn swift any knitter would drool over! It spins easily and sanded to soft perfection so no nasty yarn snags.

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The pegs are adjustable to conform to any hank size. The “legs” have holes so I could mount to a stand or clamp to a table. I’m in love! It’s beautiful, thoughtful, and most assuredly to get a lot of use in my house. I’m a lucky lucky girl to have such talented and loving people in my life!!

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T-minus 4 days to Christmas!

Happy Knitting!

The Most Perfect Secret Santa Ever

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I received the most bestest unbeatable secret santa gift ever!!!! Drum roll please………………………….

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That’s right ladies and gentleman, it a drum auger/pipe snake. The moment I opened it I knew exactly who my Santa was!

I live a rental house with poor plumbing and I’m always borrowing tools from the maintenance guy at work. He is always helpful, full if great tips, and never makes me feel like a “girl” trying to fix my own problems. And our shower drain problems of late make this auger a perfect Christmas present.

I was touched by the thoughtfulness if his gift and the hilarity of it made laugh until I almost cried. I know very well he went over the money limit too! This gift my dear blog friends has single handedly catapulted me into the holiday spirit. I put a bug in Santa’s ear to put something extra special in his stocking (and it may or may not be some jam from my secret pantry stash)!!

I wish each and every one of you a very Merry and Special Christmas!

T-minus 6 days to Christmas

Christmas Preparations

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My unbelievably wonderful husband decorated our entire house all by himself. I’ll admit to being a little grinchy, but his wonderful surprise helped me beat the grinch! So I did the last of our shopping today, wrapped all our gifts, and cleaned the house.

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As a reward, I treated myself to a homemade mocha, some scarf knitting, and my newest book! So here I sit relaxing under the stockings waiting for Christmas to get here…..

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Are you ready for Christmas?

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Soup

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After a long tough work week, I am in no mood to cook. By alas, we must eat. So bleary eyed I started pulling leftovers from the fridge and staples from my pantry yesterday. I ended up with a (medium hot) spiced beef and veggie soup.

Roughly here is what I put together:
– leftover mashed sweet potatoes
– stew beef cubes
– canned green beans
– jar of homemade salsa
– leftover home grown frozen sweet corn
– canned hot chili beans
– beef bouillon cube
– fresh ground black pepper
– crushed red pepper flake from leftover pizza delivery packet
– garlic powder
– water
(I didn’t measure I just dumped and stirred)

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Turned out pretty yummy and filling! The husband was neutral about it. I think he could taste the sweet potato (even though I didn’t tell him) and he doesn’t like them.

I’m calling this a win. It was hearty, delicious, and it cleaned out my fridge! It was even good for my packed lunch today…

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A Headband For Every Head

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One of my favorite projects for winter is the Trinity Stitch Headband/Neckwarmer by Anglea Juergens.

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(Ravelry link to my project here)

It’s so beautiful, yet a simple knit! I made like 10 of these things while watching the Olympics this summer. I had to even laminate the pattern page because it was getting so much use!

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I knit all mine using Serenity Chunky Weight by Premier Yarns. Yes yes….it’s acrylic. But it washes well (important when you sweat like I do scooping snow) and its oh so soft and squishy. Plus with my great coupons from Joanns it can be affordable.

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I can whip several if these out on a lazy Sunday for my “gift” stash. All though truth be told I have several in my own hand knit pile so I can where whatever color suits my fancy that day! The author is a super duper knitter and was so lovely to deal with on the purchase. I highly recommend this pattern!

Happy Knitting!