Winter Crafts (Part 1 - Dec and Jan)

 

(11/26/25)

I started this hat for Cuzzies handmade gift exchange when we left on our trip to Hawaii and even though its some of the finest yarn I've knit with, and it used size 3 needles, it actually came together pretty quickly.  I like the construction of the pattern a lot - you knit the brim and then fold it in half and graft it together so the brim is doubled up making this a warm hat around the ears which has always been a complaint of mine for these handknit hats.  My favorite stocking caps have a piece of felt around the ears to keep the wind out and this pattern mimics that with the double brim.

(11/26/25)

I knit this one in size "large" figuring it needed to be sized to fit either a man or woman and Ryan thought it was a little too big so when I started the inverse color version of this hat, I made it one size down to see if we liked that better.  I'm trying to capture the details here because this may become a standard knit hat pattern I reuse for other projects.

(12/12/25)

It took me about 3 weeks of focused knitting to get the second version made and I finished it just in time to be able to take both versions to Murphy Christmas so whoever ended up with the hat in the end could pick which color and size they liked better.  Cousin Jess (Nick son of Michael's girlfriend) won my hat and I'm so happy she got it because she's a maker too so I know she'll appreciate it.  She picked the blue (smaller) version for herself.

(12/28/25)

(1/4/26)

Next up - my winter quilts.  I had fabric to make 3 more quilts all lined up and ready to start whipping them out as soon as the Christmas decorations came down and I reclaimed my quilting table from the Christmas train.  The pattern for this quilt is made with fat quarters but I couldn't order the fabric I wanted in fat quarters so I picked up half yards and had enough to make two of these at the same time.  Batch quilting takes marginally longer than a single quilt because you're already in the groove of whatever step you are on.  

(1/4/26)

I went back in the blog to find when I started this purple sampler blanket and it was June 14th meaning it took me about 6 months to get this one done.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and the yarn for this one came on a giant cone so there were only two ends to tie in along the way.  A sampler is fun too because you get to switch up the pattern every few inches so it keeps it interesting.  I finished and blocked this one in early January.  

Next up - the bird hat for Mom.  This was a real process, it should have been simple!  Mom picked up the kit to make this Nancy Bates hat (the same designer that does all of the National Park hats I've made over the last few years).  I knew they knitted up quick so when she gave me the kit over Ritterbusch Christmas, I thought it might be possible to get the hat done by the time they came for Christmas day.  I had about 5 days to knit it so I put down my purple blanket and set to finishing her hat in time to have it wrapped under the tree for her Christmas day.  I had it totally finished (except adding a pom on top) and ready to go Christmas eve but I decided to block it quick.  

The pattern called out that the red yarn could bleed so you should use a color catcher in the water when blocking.  I followed all the directions and it was coming out great until I gave the hat a little squeeeeezzzeee to get the water out and that was what the red needed to release and I ended up with red splotches all over the white background.  I was so bummed but I wrapped it up anyways and gave it to Mom.  The next day I decided to weigh the yarn I had left to see if I'd have enough to try and get a second hat out of it.  I knew I'd be short on the white but I had some leftover from another project and that it would be close with the other colors, but I decided to do a second run at it.  I was so sad that it bled and I just wanted it to be nice for Mom.

Knowing what I knew about the first time I did it, I handled this blocking process with extreme care.  I didn't jostle or squeeze the had at all - I simply let it sit in the water (with the color catcher) and then pulled it out, let it drip dry as much as it could and they laid it down flat on a few rag towels.  Sure enough, it bled through onto the towels, but the hat itself (and most importantly the white parts of the hat) were undisturbed.

(1/12/26)

My next knit project is a pinwheel blanket.  It took me a solid three evenings of casting on and trying to understand the pattern before I finally figured it out.  I realized that I've been knitting for nearly 14 years at this point and it's been a long time since I didn't understand the pattern or had to learn a new stitch.  I had to learn two new things for this blanket!!  A provisional cast on - which leaves you with live stitches that you can pick up later (the green thread in the photo above) and "Twisted wrap and knit" stitch.  It acts sort of as a decrease - but without actually getting rid of a stitch.  It's what forms the triangle shape of the block which you'll see in the photos below.  The pattern promised to be "easy and fun to knit" and now that I'm passed learning new things, it is in fact fun and easy to knit!

(1/17/26)

After blocking and drying I saved the final step (adding black beaks and the pompom) for when I was back home in Freeport.  In the end, it turned out pretty good!  Mom's happy so I'm happy!  

Block one complete!  This blanket is similar to a granny square in that you knit up a bunch of blocks and then seam them together.  It'll be a fun project because I can knit a block over a few days and each new block is a new color.

(1/19/26)

Quilt #3 is up - my goal is to finish this and ship 4 quilts to for quilting by the end of March.  This one is more complicated than the triangle quilts I showed from December.  Its much more traditional looking and more complicated piecing.  I'm excited for this one - it'll be a great quilt for a wedding gift.

(1/22/26)

Block #2 is nearly complete!  It's -40 windchills this weekend so I expect lots of sitting and knitting.  Good thing I packed enough yarn to whip out 4 blocks this weekend!

Since I craft so much in the winter months I'm going to end this roundup post from December and January and start a new one for Jan/Feb/March.

New Years Eve

 

We've tried tons of different options for NYE, trying to find the mix of fun for adults and kids...close enough to home to make it to the Southside for NYD.  We've tried Lake weekends, hosting at our house, leaving town to ski and about everything in between.  This year Chris and Julie had the girls for the evening so we invited them out the celebrate with us.  The holiday fell on a weekday this year and Ryan decided to work that day, so it didn't quite have the same "holiday feel" that we usually get.  It kinda felt like a random weeknight where we had friends out and decided to stay up too late.  LOL!

We smoked ribs and Chris and Julie brough king crab legs and spaghetti for the kiddos.  We opened some nice bottles of wine, ate a delish meal and hung out with the kiddos.  The girls had a great time with Ro and Savannah.  It might have been the best they've all played together.  We let them stay up to "real midnight" but truthfully the ball drop in NY is way better than whatever we could find for Chicago time zone.  I think we watched a celebration in Nashville when real midnight hit.

During COVID I bought paper lanterns and we all decorated them with our wishes for the year ahead.  It's become a tradition for the kids now and I'm going to love having the pictures of their lanterns to look back on - they are adorable when you read them.

(Hazel)

(Abby)

The girls opted for a big sleepover in the basement for the night.  I was surprised that was the choice between the bunk beds in Abby's room and the entire hang out space in Hazels - but they were excited to do it and Chris and Julie didn't mind sharing the basement level with them.  I think the biggest hit of the night for the kids was the bounce house.  Even Abby and Hazel forgot how much fun that thing could be.  That truly is the gift that keeps on giving!  I think we bought that nearly 10 years ago now and it's still going strong!

Last year we missed New Years Day because we spent New Years at Apple with Jamie so this year was our first time at the new location.  The drive is as long as it always was, but the location is a MUCH better space for hosting our big group.  This year we had assigned tables by birth year (which meant I got to sit by Erin....lol!) and name tags which help tremendously when we only see this group of people a few times per year.

2026 here we come!!  We're ready - I hope you are ready for us!

Christmas

I've got one post to take us from early December all the way through Christmas Day, so be prepared for the time warp that's headed.  We'll go from Christmas even (above) all the way back to early December when we started our annual Christmas cookie making!

This year's cookies were mostly the same that we always make with two changes:

1. More GF cookies wherever possible - its easier to just make the cookies GF if there is no difference and this year I think we made a total of 3 kinds GF - sugar, pepperkockers with edits that weren't the GF's fault and PB blossoms.
2. Linzer cookies!  These will come back next year - this year was a test year and its for sure a new favorite and worth the effort.  We made a double batch this year (non-GF) and they were exactly the hit I needed them to be.  I'm considering making them again for Valentines Day, but we'll see.  I "need" zero cookies but I "want" 1000000 cookies!

(2025 cocktail of the year - Pistachio Sour - more work than you'd like, but totally worth it in all respects! This is the new cocktail of 2026 - the one I'll be making for my favorite guests when they come over.  It's a labor of love but sometimes that's exactly what the doctor ordered.)

Family "Christmas Eve" party in Freeport featuring one of my favs - Rhonda!!

Ritterbusch Christmas - one of the best weekends of the year if you ask the kiddos!  They love spending time with their cousins and add in presents and it's a hard to top weekend!

Santa visited Kishwaukee Brewing the weekend before Christmas and we "happened" to be there too (to pick up a keg for the holiday weekend).  We said hello, logged our present requests, grabbed a photo and let him move on his way!  It's was about to be the busiest day of the year - he needed his sleep!

X-mas even "girls" hike with just me and the kiddos and the dogs - so, I suppose it's girls + one boy (Copper).  I needed some sunshine and outdoor enrichment and the girls suggested a walk at Marengo Ridge with the dogs.  It was a little muddier than we were prepared for, but I'm glad we did it.  Making memories, one hike at a time!

(The bag Hazel made for our Christmas present this year - adorable!).

Christmas this year was exactly what I wanted - low key and full of family and friends.  I love this time of year and while the year is winding down I'm already looking forward to this time of year next year.  Bring it on 2026!

1 Family x 12 (December)

 

Very few days qualify as "my favorite day of the year" but this is one of them and this year was no different!  Christmas this year was really really great.  I love Christmas Day and I am already excited for next year.  Though, the years with Mom and Dad are always better than not...so I've got 23 months until we repeat it and I am counting down the days.

Hawaii - Volcanos National Park (Part 3)

 

During our time on the Big Island we were able to visit Volcano's National Park twice.  If I'm honest, when we decided we were in for the trip to Hawaii I started lobbying hard for our destination to be either the Big Island or Oahu.  I wanted to check another park off our list and more than that, I wanted to see a volcano!  

There are 4 total volcanos that make up the Big Island but Kilauea is the only active volcano on the island.  It was projected to erupt while we were on island and you can bet that I was checking the live feed cams and daily updates on the regular.  It ended up erupting the day before we were scheduled to visit the park.  On one had I was disappointed to not see it in all it's glory, on the other hand it sounds like the part is a total madhouse because everyone wants to see the volcano.

You can see it smoking way in the distance in these photos.  

During our first visit to the park we were making the trek from the west side of the island over to Hilo and we had about a 3 hour drive as part of that journey.  The park is right on the way, so we stopped in and explored, but only spent a few hours there because we still had a drive ahead of us, plus a trip to the grocery story in our plan for the day.  We got the lay of the land, visited the visitors center, got our stamps (and of course a few things from the gift shop) and we had enough information to be able to make plans from there!

We did a short half mile hike from one of the overlooks (pictured above) over to some lava tubes but maybe the best part was that I spied the hike I wanted to do.  A 4 mile loop that took you directly through the caldera of a no longer active volcano.  If you look closely, you can see the path in the photo above.  It's the white line that cuts a path directly through the lava field.  How many times in your life do you have the opportunity to hike INSIDE a volcano!?!  I knew I could convince others to do it with me.  At a minimum I'd get Ryan to do it...maybe the girls. 

Two days later the 5 of us (including Erin) made our way back from our home near Hilo to the park to do this exact hike.  It was a four mile loop, but totally doable for the kiddos at this age.  Mostly flat, expect for the switchbacks to get down into the caldera and then back out again.  We started by hiking the rim of the volcano for about 3/4 of a mile, and the dropped down into the center.  From there is was roughly 2 miles inside the lava field.  In the photo above, we're standing on lava from the early 1980s, the most recent lava in this area.  

I'm so thankful I was able to convince everyone to come along on this adventure.  It might have been one of my favorite memories from the trip.  The caldera is so interesting.  First of all, we expected it to be warm down there, the sun is just blazing on the black lava rock.  It was in the mid-60s that day and you can tell by our outfits that we expected it to be a combo of warm and cool (potentially rainy).  We warmed up on our hike down but when we reached the bottom we found it to be super windy!  I'm talking (what felt like) 40-50 mile an hour winds!  It was so strong that you had to push your way into the wind, leaning forward and forcing your way through.  Even more interesting, about half way through the wind direction totally flipped and it was coming from behind us.  Ryan suggested it was similar to a football stadium and the strange gusts that happen there because of the high sides...maybe!!

The wind was one thing, but the perspective, scale and overall size are hard to capture.  While we were walking I asked Ryan "how far is a football field from here" and he gave me what he thought was 100 yards.  I said no way, it must be 3 times that distance.  In the end, he was right (of course)!  How did we know?  He stepped it out with the kids counting.  Twice.  And he measured the distance he walked with his AppleWatch.  

It was truly one of the coolest hikes we've ever done.  One that I'll remember for a long time.