Holiday Season Crochet Marathon: Part 1

Hello! It's been exactly two weeks since my last post. It's Christmas season and everybody is just too busy with gifts and gift-giving! While holiday shopping seems to be the only thing that matters for many this season, I ventured into a holiday crochet marathon which started more than a week ago. I began the marathon by browsing over the patterns from my crochet files and the Internet. Since both Christmas and New Year's Day fall on weekends this year, we don't have extra days for vacation. No extended days off from work. That means less time for my crochet projects. :(

Oh, how I miss my crochet hook after several months! For this year I thought of choosing easy-to-finish projects to be given as gifts for my friends. Last year, I gave away some USB / MP3 holders made by Ana Cristina, my younger daughter. (I have featured her works in my previous post.)

But before I embark on my intended crochet give a ways, I already started running the marathon and finished three lapses last week using these patterns--- the Loving Hugs Newborn Booties by Darcy Richardson, The Lacy Fingerless Gloves by Christie Pruitt and Coffee Time by Debra Arch. For this post, I'd like to talk about the Lacy Fingerless Gloves I made.

The idea of crocheting a pair of gloves came about when my nursing colleagues decided to go "Rockin' and Rollin' 50s" as the theme of our Christmas party this year. Most of us had in mind the Audrey Hepburn or retro fashion, hairstyle and make-up. I bought a blue straight dress but at the last minute decided to wear my old brown plain pencil-cut dress. I was thinking of wearing a pair of gloves that would have enhanced my attire. However, since I didn't have the luxury of time to scout for one, I thought that the easiest alternative for me was to make my own. I have seen patterns of crocheted gloves from my electronic files but I also had to search the Net for more patterns to choose from. These were the designs I liked…

Harlequin Mitts by Shirley MacDonald

Color of Christmas and nice design, don't you think so? But here's another pretty option.... and my favorite color too!

Daisy Daisy by Sue B. Balcom

Here's another one I like because it looks so elegant. I didn't choose this though because I had no time searching for buttons.

Lacy Wristers by Kaity Harding.

And another one which I thought would match the blue dress I mentioned earlier, remember? But then, I changed my mind.

Crochet Openwork Handwarmers by creative yarn

It took me quite some time to decide which among the patterns to choose. If you were in my shoes, which one would you have chosen? But wait, here's another one... the Lacy Fingerless Gloves. This became my best choice because it was simply a perfect match to my plain brown pencil-cut dress which I accessorized using a beige belt and headband and a white pearl necklace.

The Lacy Fingerless Gloves by Christie Pruitt

See the making of my own version of the Lacy Fingerless Gloves in a picture collage

and how I looked with it on during our Christmas Party.

Coming up next...the Loving Hugs Newborn Booties. Have a craftsy holiday season to all!

Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta: A Remake

There's a saying that goes, "One is enough, two is too much..." Uh uhhh, not for this!!! I'm referring to the Spanish Sardines Pasta which was my welcome post this year. My daughter, Ayana Grace, bought a bottle of pesto from the grocery store last month (she usually does...we seldom run out of pesto sauce in our cupboard) and I just wasn't able to resist making another try of the Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta so here it is... Ingredients: 2 tbsps reserved oil from bottled sardines 2 tbsps olive oil 1 tbsp minced garlic 1/4 cup diced tomato 1 cup flaked Spanish sardines 1/3 cup Pesto sauce 1/4 cup pitted black olives 1/4 cup button mushrooms 1/2 kilo pasta noodles, cooked according to package instructions salt and pepper to taste Whole pieces of Spanish sardines (1 piece as topping per serving) Parsley for garnish Steps: In a large saute pan, heat oil from sardines. Add olive oil as needed. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add diced

Ensaladang Mustasa

It's back to work today, after five days of rest, something I've been looking forward to. As if the long Christmas holiday vacation was not enough :) Well, days just seem to fly so fast! Thanks to the additional non-working holidays brought about by the Pope's visit to my country, the Philippines. I had time to relax, stay at home, bond with family and yes, sort picture files in my computer. In between social networking, of course, I cooked for my family. With my husband home, there has to be fish and vegetables on the dining table. There was a bunch of mustasa (mustard) leaves left in the vegetable bin. What could be a better and perfect partner to fried fish than Ensaladang Mustasa (Mustard Salad)? Very simple and easy, here's how I did it. Ingredients: 1 bunch of mustasa leaves Rock salt 2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced 1 small onion, sliced thinly 3 tbsps vinegar Iodized salt, ground pepper and sugar to taste Steps: 1. Cut mus

Ensaladang Alugbati (Malabar Spinach Salad)

This post appeared in my Facebook memories today. I'm glad it did! I featured this salad in my FB page a year ago. Alugbati (Malabar Spinach) Salad (Ensaladang Alugbati). This came up when I received for the first time this bouquet of alugbati from Erik, my officemate. He shares with us fruits and veggies fresh from his garden.

Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

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