Now he’s done!

And she’s happy!

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Elephante – finito!

I’m a bit sad he’s done, since he was so much fun to make.

If you want the pattern, visit Susan B. Anderson’s blog . It’s a free pattern on the left.

You’ll notice one change from the original to mine – the ears.

It wasn’t until I reached this point in the pattern, after the legs, body and head were knit, that I realized the ears are crochet. I can’t crochet and gave up trying to learn long ago. If I work hard at it I can manage a single chain but the tension is awful and I need to have tons of time on my hands, for repeated ripping.

But I think the sewn ears are just as adorable.

Mira thinks he needs a tail, “Since all elephants have tails, mom!”

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Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and didn’t have too much trouble with the snow and nasty weather.

I will admit, I’m very jealous of the white christmas in the midwest this year, especially since here in Switzerland we have nothing at our house except dense fog. Gray days and no sun start to wear me down, but we have been out and about and getting sun when we can

This picture was taken earlier this week at Flumserberg ski hill. Once we hit 5000 ft (it’s 1200 ft above sea level where we live, roughly) we were above the clouds and in clear blue skies and temps around 30 degrees.

So – so – so

BEAUTIFUL!

There was about 4 ft of snow on the ground this day and it was perfect conditions for skiing – or so I am told 🙂 The day this was taken I was still swooshing the bunny hill with the little kids! It’s my first time skiing and quite honestly it scares the yarn scraps out of me, but when in Switzerland…

I am now proud to say that I have since had 1 day on the BIG hill. Took me forever to get down but I did it! quite a few times! and even rode the T-bar by myself! without falling off!

Yeah, my show-off kids can ride it in their sleep and they’ve been skiing as many times as I have, but I digress….

BTW: If you want to see more of my girls skiing and other family stuff you can go to my family blog yodeLaiho and follow the video links to my full YouTube account.

Christmas day we thought a 10 minute road trip up to the village of Horgenberg (Flums is 45 minutes away) would get us above the clouds, but instead it put us right in them.

None of the white is fallen snow, it’s all low clouds and freezing temps. Even better than snow since the roads stay cleaner.

Switzerland is covered in hundreds of miles of walking trails called Wanderwegs and it’s common to pass by country homes such as this

This was about the only bit of color we saw along our walk around the frozen lake.

Except for this, of course!

Kids and snow are a perfect match!

Speaking of kids, I just learned that my cousins 2 yr old has a thing for elephants so of course I had to make this

Elephante from Susan B. Anderson with a bit of a modification since anyone who knows of my crochet abilities knows that they are non-existant.

Here’s a start, it’s nearly done.

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Miles of Scarf

There has to be a mile or 2 of knitting in this scarf, but it turned out great if I do say:)

It’s for Andy. He wanted a scarf like the ones he saw on his trip to the UK a few weeks ago. He said he was going to buy one but then decided to have me make one instead – so sweet!

It’s knit from a combo of Ultra Alpaca by Berroco and Cascade 220 (and if I were a better blogger I’d link the 2 yarns – maybe tomorrow!) )

Ends to deal with then a proper blocking.

My pattern:

* 4 worsted weight yarns; about 350 yds of charcoal black used, and approximately 150 yds of the other 3 colors used. This will vary depending on how you stripe.
* Size 4 and 8 circular needles, long. Mine were 80 cm (about 32 inches – yay metric)

* CO 400 sts on size 8 needle
* With size 4 needle, K 3 rows
* Next row: Purl
* Work next 8 inches in st st, ending with a purl row, alternating colors as you please!
* Next 3 rows: Knit
* BO using size 8 needle

Easy as could be and a great on the go knitting project. Finished pics soon.

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