It's Blogmas 2019!

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy start of Blogmas! I can't believe that this day is finally here I am so excited to start it off. I have planned out some of my future blog posts and to get started I'll share my plan of the kind of blog posts I have in store for Blogmas this year. I will also be holding link up parties daily so feel free to post your holiday related posts to the parties. You can post even if you are not doing Blogmas daily, but would like to share some Christmas or holiday related content with others. It would be fun and I will be sure to visit all of your blogs. Below is a schedule of what I will be posting this holiday season and I hope that you like the topics. I will also be sharing my knitting progress throughout these posts on my scarves and reading progress.

It is going to be a snowy  and wintry day today in Toronto, so I plan to stay in all day reading, knitting, and preparing for Blogmas. This morning is already so windy and dark and it is freezing rain right now with snow on the ground. I am glad I don't have to go out today. I am also starting to eat the chocolates from my advent calendar today. I got the Lindt advent calendar againm we always enjoy the Lindor chocolates, they are so good. I also got a calendar for my fiancé Liam so we can both have the chocolates together.

Time to start opening today

I went to the One of a Kind Christmas show in Toronto yesterday and I bought some gifts for people and I bought myself some sleep stones scented with lavender. They are porous stone infused with this lavender oil. I bought them from Finesse Home Fragrance. You put them in a bowl by your bed and shake them before bed and it is meant to relax you and the scent helps you sleep.  I bought the refresher oil so I can add the oil to the stones to refresh them every few months. I have been wanting to get more sleep lately and I was curious about these. I am looking forward to giving them a try and get more sleep this holiday season.

The One of a Kind show in Toronto was wonderful this year. It was so nice to walk through and see all the lovely items the artisans had created. My mom bought me a lovely sign with an inspirational quote on it and my sister also bought one. I bought a few treats as gifts in the food aisle and the stones. We had lunch at some food trucks that were indoors, it is a big space! They had the Toronto Raptors super fan there as well and he gave an uplifting speech. I can't wait to go back next year already, we always have the best time going each year.

Please share your Christmas and holiday related blog posts below I would love to read your posts and have others view your blog posts as well. Share here and we can all view your posts daily and see what you are working on! :)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today I am so excited that it is now Blogmas and hope that you enjoy the upcoming month of posts! I will post daily until December 25th, and then resume my regular posting schedule of 1-2 posts each week after Christmas.

Have a great day!

Scarf Knitting Progress and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have started getting into the Christmas spirit even more now. This year I thought about Christmas a lot more and I was getting excited way earlier (September too early?). I am so happy that it is now the Christmas season. I have already gone to a Christmas parade, decorated my parent's tree, and gone to our annual Christmas shopping at a mall to get ideas and start shopping together. Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree and I have decorated our tree. I have also bought decorations and ornaments. I will share all this with you next week for Blogmas I can't wait for Blogmas, it is only 2 days away now! It is on a Sunday which is the perfect day for the start of it because it is not a work day and I can get into the spirit and work on blogging and getting ready for a busy and fun month of posts. If you are also participating are you ready for Blogmas? Leave links to your blogs below and I be sure to visit your blogs this holiday season.

I have still been knitting the candy cane scarf. I found the pattern on Ravelry by Kristen Retigg. I used US 9 knitting needles and used Red Heart Supersaver yarn in white and red to knit up the scarf.

Modeling the scarf in progress

I haven't knitted more of the shawl because I have been busy knitting the candy cane scarf so I can finish it and enjoy wearing it during the Christmas season. I am really looking forward to getting back to it soon. I am using size US 6, 4mm circular needles and the yarn I am using is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in the color of dusty green.

Shawl in progress

I am still reading Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin. I am loving how she focuses on the main habits that we should work on and and that improve lots of aspects of our lives.  Some important ones are getting more sleep, moving more, healthy eating and drinking, and living more cluttered-free. I have been recently working on getting more sleep and going to bed earlier in order to get more sleep during the week.

Currently reading: Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I want to wish everyone in the United States a happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a great time spent with family and friends.

Family time, Knitting, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have been busy with work, I trained on a new task to take over for my coworker in a different role while they are away. I have been doing the task for a couple of weeks now and maybe next week for a third. It was good learning something new and challenging myself.
I went to the Santa Claus parade last weekend with my family and we had a wonderful time I love this tradition we share every year. My sister and I used to go just the two of us, then once I moved out and life got more busy, my parents also joined in and we all started going every November. We also have the tradition of decorating my parent's Christmas tree the same day and it was fun to look at all the decorations that we put up every year and they bring back fond memories. We drink eggnog and eat chocolate and cookies and listen to Christmas music. My sister and I made up funny dance moves to some Christmas songs and we laughed at ourselves. It is a wonderful time of year. I love the family time spent together most of all. As I get older, especially this year I am thinking how I don't really need gifts I just love the traditions and the time spent with my family and Liam's family and it makes it so special. As you can see our cats were also interested in the Christmas tree and Moo enjoyed going under the tree.

Moo investigating the new tree

Roo just likes to be with my dad

Santa! I know him!

I have been knitting more of the candy cane scarf the pattern is found on Ravelry. I really wanted it to be done in time to wear to the parade, but I didn't knit it up in time. I will have it ready for the rest of the year's festivities and next Christmas I can wear it to the parade. It is a fun pattern and I love how the stripes are looking and are on an angle.

I got the needles I was waiting for in the mail last week and shared it on my Instagram story as some of you might have seen. I was so excited to get them. I ordered them off of Etsy, they are ChiaoGoo brand needles and are apparently make of surgical-grade stainless steel, they sounds pretty durable and good quality to me. I started using them to knit some of the shawl again and really liked using them they are flexible and lightweight and I like the feel of them. I will really enjoy using these. I am looking forward to knitting more of the shawl now that I have the needles. I got them from the FibreArtStudio shop on Etsy. They shipped from Vancouver, British Columbia. I ordered the 40 inch, size US 6, 4mm circular needles as the pattern calls for this size, but a shorter length. I went for longer needles to accommodate bigger projects as well in the future.

ChiaoGoo needles

I am currently reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and really like it so far. I like how she describes the different types of people when it comes to habits: the upholder, questioner, obliger, and rebel and how people fit into these four categories. So far I think I am an obliger and I am looking forward to reading more.


Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday

Thanks for joining me this week and hope you have a good day!