December 2016 Report

Tuesday, January 3, 2017


It's time for one last monthly report for 2016, December! See past reports here.


Most of December was spent getting ready for our annual trek to Ohio and Maryland for the holidays. There was lots of gift sewing and knitting, which I will share next week finally! I also tend to make lots of sweet treats. This year I wanted to try making royal icing. I purchased an e-course from The Alison Show called Alison's Cookie Party. It was really helpful, and while we definitely need some practice, our first try was a success!


I packed my tiniest drawstring bag full of quarters to play claw games at the turnpike rest area's but was sadly unsuccessful this year. There aren't games in most of the stops this year, so I only had one chance to play. Oh well, maybe next time!


We were super excited to get to see the Cavs play on Christmas Day in Cleveland! It was a first, and an amazing game. They won by one point!!


Before we left for Ohio, I stitched up four laundry sized drawstring bags to wrap some large gifts in. They are so handy for that, and they eat up a lot of stash, which is good.


I've knit a lot in the past few months, but have been unable to talk about it because it was mostly gift knitting. I did squeeze in time to knit up a new pair of mittens for Michael. His other pair are convertible and worsted weight. For our cold winters he really needed another pair that was heavier, so I knit up this simple pattern in bulky weight yarn. More info on my Ravelry.


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I'm tracking my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track my here. Here is how I did in December:

December Fabric
Used up: 19 yards
Brought in: 15 yards
Net: -4 yards
Year to date: -250.375 yards

December Yarn
Used up: 848 yards
Brought in: 1440 yards
Net: +592 yards
Year to date: +2494 yards

Another month in the negative on fabric! I did buy more than I intended, but I let myself buy a quilt backing and a few other goodies. All those drawstring bags I made this month helped keep me in the negative, along with a lawn Emery Dress. I did a lot of gift sewing this month, I'm excited to share all those projects now that they have been received! I totally binged on yarn this month. We visited one of my favorite yarn shops, The Knot House while we were in Maryland, and Michael's parents gave me a gift certificate for Christmas. What was I supposed to do? :)


Other than working towards my fabric stash goal, I didn't make much progress towards my goals this month. I'm looking forward to getting back to all of that in January. I will be sharing my 2017 goals later this week!


Two George photos this month. Here is George's Christmas photo. He looks pretty miffed about being in that basket!


And one more of fuzzy bunny George. Getting all the pets, of course.

Have a great month!

15 comments :

  1. Oh, man, total yarn score! I am impressed by your yearly fabric reduction! I must admit that I am tempted to keep track (but probably won't). Yay! Also, those cookies look awesome! Hi, George!

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    1. It was so hard to resist all the pretty yarns!! :)

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  2. OK, this Australian has to ask - what on earth are claw games at turnstile rest areas? Do you pull up along the highway and gamble with other travellers?
    I also have to say that your gift voucher really shouldn't count towards your yardage figures - it should totally be a guilt-free splurge!
    Happy New Year!

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    1. Hehe, it is an arcade game! You get control of the crane and try to pick up stuffed animals!

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  3. Hi Jeni....love the blog. What is the fabric in the quilt under the new mittens?
    Thanks, Marcia
    marciamurf@aol.com

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    1. It's Nani Iro Double Gauze. You can see more of the quilt in this post: http://www.incolororder.com/2016/08/nani-iro-dream-quilt-quilting-with.html

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  4. Jeni,
    Wishing you, George and Michael a Happy 2017! Love your tracking and seeing your finishes. ronnie

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    1. Thanks Ronnie, Happy 2017! Miss seeing you every month, hope all is well!

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  5. Happy New Year Jeni
    I am so glad to hear about your December adventure to see your family for Christmas.
    Do you take George in the car with you? or does he stay home and guard the premises from intruders?
    He is a very handsome bunnyboy

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    1. He does come in the car with us, and he does so well! When we go on to Maryland, he stays in Ohio with my Mom and he loves it there. He is a very good car bunny :)

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  6. One little jewel after another! You've had a year of terrific makes :) Sending a pet or two to George!

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  7. Ooh, The Knot House is my LYS! They really do have a fabulous selection.

    I have a question about how you track your yardage for both fabric and yarn - what about scraps? So if you use most of a FQ, does that count as 1/4 yard or do you try to figure out how much is left? And same with yarn, do you count the yardage of the original skein or do you weigh it and try to calculate how much you actually used?

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    1. For fabric, if I've used 75% or more of a fat quarter I'll just round it up. Other times I use the size of the pieces to calculate how much fabric I used, but I always round up to the nearest 1/8 yard. For yarn I always weigh my skeins before and after, so it's easier!

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