Stay Calm and Jingle On

December 21, 2015





























Hi friends!  Hope you are holding up well during this busy season.  It's supposed to be busy this time of year, right?  And on that it never fails!  For us there's been visitors to visit and guests to squire, parties to attend and parties to host.   And the cooking--goodness, that never stops even though I've really tried to keep the cooking simple.  Delicious always, but simple-ish.  Except for the Beef Wellington I made last week--that was a bit over the top.  In these pictures I know it looks like quite a lot of decorations, but this year I've kept all that to a minimum--for me--relying on greenery and candles and twinkly lights and yes, two trees.  We did put up the big tree in the living room and another tiny tree in my knitting lounge that is adjacent to my sewing room.  It's my little respite from all the busy and a very welcome and soothing place to cuddle down into, especially at this time of year.  I flick on the tree lights, turn on a Christmas movie (there's loads of them lined up in my dvr) and settle in with my knitting.  That activity unwinds me like none other.  Thank God for knitting.

I'd like to take this time to wish you a happy holiday season.  For those who celebrate Christmas I wish you the merriest of Christmases and to everyone, a happy new year.  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop and visit my little knitting blog.  I always appreciate your readership and cherish each comment here and on my Facebook page.  You guys are the best.  I love that we have my three hobbies--knitting, entertaining or gardening, or perhaps all three, in common.

For the new year I have some blog wishes and dreams.  There will always be knitting of course--I've got some great projects in the queue and some scrumptious new yarns and pattern books from Rowan to sneaky peek before they officially appear in the shops.  I'm also hoping I can bring back more gardening posts this spring and summer.  They've been missing from Knitionary this past year as most of you know California is in a serious drought and our water has been rationed.  However, this season is promising to be a wet one and with any luck our reservoirs will fill up again and we can plant our flowers and vegetable garden this year.  And on the entertaining front, did I tell you I wrote a cookbook?  I compiled our church congregation's recipes together in a book to celebrate my church's 100th year anniversary and found the most fantastic publisher.  This was not easy as most publishers of this type of cookbook are very restrictive. I didn't want it to look like an old fuddy church cookbook and I searched high and low to find a publisher who would allow total freedom as far as layout, style, fonts, etc. yet still be inexpensive.  The cookbook is pretty fantastic and was so well received, we are on our third printing.  AND I'm planning on compiling another one with my party-group girlfriends.  We are 8 long time friends, all great cooks and party-givers, including several great writers and one good organizer--me!  We plan on taking a year to do it--taking our time to make it fun and make something we can be proud of.  I'll take you on our cookbook writing journey as we go along month by month, and definitely share my terrific little publisher so you can also make your own cookbook!

thank you again for a great year at knitionary
merry merry
Kristen 




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9 Comments

  1. Looking forward to your new cookbook adventures, Kristen and would love to see your knitting lounge, or is that off-limits? Chloe

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    Replies
    1. Chloe, my knitting lounge is not off limits, although not many people care to stay very long in there. It's very tiny and not too fancy but nice and cozy and a perfect spot for a knitter. I'll just see if I can't get some snaps of it and share.

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  2. Beautiful, beautiful! Merry Christmas and all the best for 2016!

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  3. I look so forward to all your wonderful blog posts! Thank you for all that you share. Merry Christmas.

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  5. Hi Kristen--I always enjoy looking at your beautifully decorated home at Christmas-time. The trees, the ornaments, the wonderful Yuletide displays. Everything always looks so warm and inviting! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  6. Merry Christmas, Kristen, and thank you for taking the time and effort to write a lovely, always well thought-out blog (to say nothing of your scrumptious photographs!). I am looking forward to your musings in 2016.

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