Another Project, and a Festive Outing

Last night Hubby, Little Man and I jumped into the car and headed to McAdenville, dubbed Christmastown USA. When I originally started thinking about this outing, I envisioned us cuddled up in comfy sweaters sipping hot chocolate with the car windows down listening to the Christmas music that plays through the air every year for the last 52 years in McAdenville. With the temperature here in the 80s the last three days it would have almost made more sense to have taken pink lemonade, but I couldn't give up on the vision, so I made hot chocolate for the adults, and warm chocolate in a lidded cup for Little Man. The air was cool enough that we were able to enjoy the treat without sweating, so, it all worked out. The drive through McAdenville takes about thirty minutes, and during that time every one turns their headlights out, and enjoys the music and lights.

My favorite part? The lake (because I am a sucker for a water feature). The fountain lights actually change red, white and green...beautiful, truly beautiful. And, you'd never think it, but peaceful, even while sitting in your car.

Later in the evening, I finished the second of the Carolina Panthers-Inspired Mittens I am making for Little Man to match his new winter coat (again, feeling a little foolish right now since people here have been wearing shorts, but it will be cold eventually, and he'll be ready).

The mitten before it was seamed.

The finished pair (with a prop).

Now, I didn't knit the turquoise into the mittens as stripes of any kind because I will be knitting the Football Hat from Itty Bitty Hats and it is made with one main color and a single crochet trim in the contrast color. In order to make the mittens and hat look more like a set I decided to use the colors in the same way for the mittens. These knit up very fast, I used the Bold-Banded Mittens pattern from Zoe Mellor's book Adorable Knits, sized for 3-4 year olds. As Little Man just turned 3 these are a little big on him, but I will be crocheting a string to thread through his coat sleeves that will help. You may be wondering why I haven't done this step already. Well, this part is really cool. Remember when I talked about the free yarn I scooped up at my second Charlotte Purls meeting? Well, I got Connie's leftover stash of the exact same turquoise yarn I bought for this project. And it looks like her leftovers will be enough for the trim for the mittens, the hat, and one crochet cord (in turquoise). But I need to make sure I have enough for the hat before I use any for a cord, so if I make the hat and still have enough left I will make one black and one turquoise cord to attach the mittens to, if I don't I will use 2 black cords (I'm planning on using two single crochet cords to increase the strength of the mitten cord).

We have some more festive activities coming up this weekend which we're really looking forward to, and I have some Christmas crafting to finish up. I also have to finish my Christmas cards now that I've printed up some photos of Little Man to send to some lucky card recipients. So, look for more festive photos in the coming days, and I hope all of your Christmas prep work is going smoothly (especially since there are only 12 days until Christmas!)