Yarn Along

Nakniswemo is complete. The sweater needs to be blocked strategically at another location so hubby doesn't see it. It will get a photo shoot later in the week. In the meantime it's back to some selfish knitting for me.

Christmas Socks. It's from Desert Vista Dyeworks. The label got tossed so I can't remember the name. 

Are you seeing the difference in the skeins?  One sock will have thick green and red stripes. The other has thicker white stripes. 

I'm trying out some new needles. So far so good. It's my first time using size 0 and it's not as awful as I thought it would be. 

Reading nothing but recipes this week. 

What's in your needles?  Join Ginny and share!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Ten On Tuesday - The Thankful Edition

I guess because it's Thanksgiving week that I must have been real in sync with Carole.  I started thinking about what I am grateful this year.

1.  My family.  That's what most everybody says, I  know.  This year it has even more meaning.  My husband lost an uncle and his mother. I lost an uncle this past weekend.  It makes me grateful that I have both my parents and that they are in good health.  Heck, I even have a grandfather - not many people pushing 50 years old can say that.
2. My health.  There are small issues, but nothing that I can't live with.  I pray I will be as healthy as my grandfather.  Can you imagine being almost 101 years old and not even having to take medication for any aillents?
3.  My daughter's college transition.  I was pretty sure she would make the adjustment, but a mom always has her concerns.  So far she has handled working, college and social life with fun and responsibility.  I have heard some horror stories from others so I was a little worried!
4.  Work.  There was a time a few years ago that my husband was unemployed and I had a job that was on a week by week basis because the economy was so bad.  We are still economically recovering from that time period and it will take a while longer to get back to where we were but we are heading in the right direction.  Phew...
5.  My iPad.  I procrastinated about getting one for the longest time.  When the mini came out I knew I would use it.  A day does not go by that I don't get on it.  I don't even use my laptop anymore.
6.  Vacation!  We hadn't been on a real one in a while and I was grateful that we got to go this past year. We are planning some stuff for next year as well.  Just a few days here and there for some quiet time is all I need.
7.  My puppy dog.  This time last year we were still missing Magnum so much.  I didn't even have it in my heart to start looking at another dog.  That Mowgli though - he just melts my heart.  I can't believe he will be a year old in January!
8. Knitting. Seriously. I always wonder what my life would be like without knitting. Pretty darn boring I'm sure! 

9.  My husband. We have been together almost 28 years. Married almost 25 of those years. He's always supports me especially this crazy fiber existence. Never has he said "you're buying MORE yarn???"  He's a big enabler. 

10. This blog and all of you who read it. I love reading all your blogs and you inspire me. Some of you I know personally. Some I only talk to online. Who would have thought that a blog could bring so many people together?

What's on your thankful list this year? 

Onion Shortcake

A few people asked for my recipe for Onion Shortcake. I made it over the weekend so I thought I'd share it. 

Onion Shortcake

2 Large Onions sliced

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 can creamed corn

A few dashes of Tabasco sauce

Sauté onions in butter on stove till browned. Remove from heat. Add sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Mix till cheese is melted. Set aside. 

In seperate bowl mix egg, milk, and corn.  Mix till blended. Add a few dashes of Tabasco. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish (I use my old 8x8 Corningware dish). Pour onion mixture on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. 

If you're making this for Thanksgiving you can make it advance and bake it the next day, which is what I usually do. 

Enjoy!

So Much Random

I had so many thoughts running through my head this morning and wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about. So you get it all - in random order.

I can't wait to try this.  It's Graze.  They send you a box of healthy trial size snacks. They send a new box every two weeks.    I have heard great things about it.  And it's crazy cheap.  You need a code to join.  I have a couple left.  If you want one let me know in the comments.

It's Thanksgiving - in one week.  I'm not going to be as prepared as I thought I would be.  Oh well.  the food will still be good.  It will just take a little more last minute work than I was planning on.

The yard needs to be raked.  Go ahead and laugh.  That's the only tree we have that loses leaves.  And the wind usually blows them away before we get a chance to rake them anyway.

How's this for a hair style?  Guess it's a good way to use up that stash fiber.

I am loving the sunsets recently.  Last week I left the office and the sunset was red.  I mean really red.  I tried taking several pictures but none of them captured the real color.  I even took out the real camera to try but to no avail.

Saw this on Instagram and had to steal it.

Smile!

Yarn Along

The sweater is moving right along.  Second sleeve almost done!

Tonight I'm with the spinning gals so I should make some decent progress.

Since it's getting too big to travel I have been working on some Christmas gift socks while I'm out and about.

It's Knit Picks Felici I believe.  The stripes are very random and I like that.

I'm anxious to get all the above finished so I can work on what's in this bag.

All will be revealed with any luck after the weekend after I have had the chance to cast on.

I finished Catching Fire and am ready for the movie tomorrow night.  I was so tempted to download the third book, Mockingjay, but I am making myself finish the third Fifty Shades book first.

Why can't I just do everything I want all at one time???

Joining Ginny for the fun!

10 on Tuesday

It's funny that Carole picked this TOT this week because I went through my yarn stash this past weekend and found enough yarn/fiber for several sweaters!  Now let me preface this with the fact that I have only knit 4 sweaters for myself so I don't have a lot of experience knitting them.  I do, however, have quite a large selection in my Rav Favorites.  It was hard to narrow it down to 5, but here ya go!

The sweaters

Sophisticate. I've made it 3 times and ill definitely make it again. Such an easy cozy sweater. And available in ALL sizes!

Low Tide Cardigan. I love the versatility of this one

Boxy. What a simple yet elegant design.  I would make the sleeves longer.  It looks like something to put on while sitting in front of the fire watching football (and knitting, of course).

Hiro. I'm definitely making a color work sweater this winter. I'm thinking this might be the one. 

Delancey Cardigan. It's such a cool design. 

And here are 5 favorite yarns that would be great to use:

Handspun. Hands down.  And I have quite the inventory apparently.

Mad tosh - any of them.  They are just beautiful and so very soft!

Noro.  While this isn't always the softest yarn in the world, you can't beat the colors

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed.  I have knit 2 sweaters with this and it is really soft.  And pretty economical.

Ball and Skein Sophia.  I love this yarn.  It drapes so nicely and is so soft.  And Judy is pretty awesome too!

I am anxious to see what everyone else put on their list.  Er, maybe I'm not.  My Rav list is already too long. Oh who am I kidding?  It can never be too long!    

The Weekend

For the first half of the weekend the weather was lovely.  It was in the 60s with the sun out - the only indication of the true season is the lack of leaves.  It really looks like autumn is coming to a close and winter is on it's heels.

This little guy doesn't want to know anything about it getting colder and this winter thing that we all speak of. He wants to be outside with his bone.  And he wants the humans out there with him too.  Get a coat if necessary.  Mittens, gloves and hat if you really need it.  Silly puppy.  It's a good thing it was nice on Saturday.

Sweater knitting went on.  I had grand illusions of finishing it this past weekend.  At least the knitting portion.

Clearly that didn't happen.  It will be finished this week one way or another.  It's at the point where it's really too bulky to travel far with.

I really have some Christmas socks to get working on.  For me!  So this needs to be done soon.

I found a couple of new recipes for Thanksgiving and started to plan the shopping list.  There was some cleaning and organizing of the yarn and fiber to get a feeling of what I have.  That will get a post all it's own, trust me.

So how was your weekend?

Work With What Ya Got

A couple of weeks ago I finished knitting Sugared Violet's for my knitting besties B-Day.  I took a couple of pictures of it blocking but didn't want to reveal anything on the blog until after I gave it to Lisa.

It's real hard to capture the color indoors.  At night.

I love love love this pattern and will probably make one for myself eventually.

I decided to try and do an outdoor photo shoot right before I gifted it but it was one of the windiest days of the year.

That didn't work so well.  But at least you can see the true color.

I realized yesterday that I never did get any good pictures of the shawl.  Lisa was coming over last night so I told her to bring it with her so I can get some final photos.

I forgot about that time change thing.  It was pitch black by the time she got there.  More indoor photos.

At night.

Maybe we will catch a nice day with the shawl and you can see it's real beauty.

For now, you just have to trust me.  

Yarn Along

It's been mostly sweater knitting over here. My goal the end of this week is to be done with the body and start working on the sleeves.

I still need to find buttons. I'm not sure why I'm so picky about that but I am. It's also lots of reading of Catching Fire. I've got about 80 pages left and seats for the IMAX to see it next week so I need to finish quickly! 

What are you reading and knitting lately?

Joining Ginny!  

Ten on Tuesday

I'm in denial but Thanksgiving is about 2 weeks away.  We host it every year so this is my holiday.  Hubby does most of the cooking, but I'm all about the side dishes.  And here are my 10 Favorite Side Dishes for Thanksgiving.

1.  Onion Shortcake.  Its actually cornbread with corn, onions, and cheese and it is delicious.  I make this every year.
2.  Stuffing.  My mom makes this with sausage.
3.  Mashed potatoes.  The kind with tons of butter and cream.
4.  Sauteed baby portabella mushrooms.  My hubby does this one: saute the whole mushrooms in butter then add breadcrumbs, garlic and a  little balsamic.
5.  Yorkshire pudding.  I usually make this when we have prime rib, but I have made it the last couple of years for Thanksgiving.  I love those little pop overs!
6.  Caesar salad.  We get the box mix, but it tastes great.  In the summer we actually make dinner out of that alone.
7.  A veggie tray.  In the shape of a turkey.  Nicole does this every year.
8.  Gnocci with pesto sauce.  We're Italian. Pasta has to be served.
9.  Sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.  Not my favorite, but everyone else seems to like it.
10.  Fresh cranberries.  I love making this simple dish.

Share your ideas over at Carole's!

Weekending

Wow - that weekend went by fast
So much done yet so much left to do
I did get a fair amount of knitting done
We had a nice dinner out
And some great dinners in
Nicole and I did our Thanksgiving craft
And thought about what we are doing for our Christmas one
It took a week but the internal time clock seems to have made the time change adjustment
We are ready for the week ahead

How was your weekend?

The Damages

I have to say that I had a great time at the New England Fiber Fair. I don't know if it was because of the small crowd that made it more accessible to see everything or the fact that it was the last Fiber Fair for 5 months for me but I did some buying.  Like sheep are going extinct tomorrow buying.

This is a new yarn to me but its called Funky Monkey and I liked the colors. And the price. 

I loved the colors in this batt. It will become a spindle project. 

There was a booth at the very end that had lots Cherry Tree Hill yarn. Cheap. Like $13 a skein cheap. I got these cool colors. 

And this awesome self striping one as well. 

Speaking of self striping look at these cool gradients cakes of yarn for socks. Those say "Spring" all over to me. I can see me casting those on in March when I'm desperate for some color. 

I can't wait to cast this on. I love this shawlette and the yarn matches my favorite jacket that I wear everyday. 

And my favorite

It's sad that you can't see how beautiful this is through the packaging but its real tough to remove and put back. 

Look at that gradient!! 

I plan to spin this on my retreat in January. 

I'm still pondering how to spin it and what it will become. I'm so tempted to order another one online in a different color. 

I think that should keep the needles and wheels going for a while. 

Nakniswemo

So I had this great idea after seeing this hashtag on Instagram that I would knit a sweater this month.  I cast on for my hubbys Christmas sweater and my intention was to finish it before the end of November  anyway.

I have knit this sweater before.  Once in baby size and once in my size.

Both times I completed the sweater in under a month.  How difficult could this be?  It should be a lay down. I should be at the sleeves already according to my plan.  But I'm not.

There's one thing I forgot about.  The time change.  By the time I sit down to knit at night I am falling asleep with the needles in my hands.  Work has been crazy with deadlines so I haven't been able to take lunch lately.

I'm still getting it done.

10 on Tuesday

10 Thoughts on Changing the Clock

1.  I like that it's light out when I get up in the morning. Makes getting to work early a bit easier 

2. On the flip side - I hate that it's dark by the time I get home from work. 

3. Getting that extra hour of sleep was awesome.

4. Unfortunately I now want to fall asleep by 8 pm every night since. 

5. It coincidentally got real cold when the clocks were changed and this is making me want to knit up a storm. 

6. The holidays are fast approaching and these shorter days remind me of that for some reason. 

7. I finally gave in and took the beach chairs out of the car. I'm fairly confident that it will be a while till I'm at the ocean after work with my knitting. Unless I want to knit in the dark with a parka. 

8. I remember the clocks changing vividly when Nicole was younger. It totally messed with our routine and took weeks to get adjusted. 

9. I am finding myself on Pinterest a lot lately looking for Thanksgiving ideas since that's our holiday to host.
10.  Can somebody tell me why we change the clocks at all?

What's your thoughts?

Joining Carole for the fun!

Weekending

The weather on Saturday was beautiful
It was a busy day so I didn't get to spend much time outside
I did get to capture a couple of shots while my socks were drying
The colors are at their peak near us now
Most of the day was spent at the New England Fiber Festival
What a fun festival that is
Lots of stuff was bought
But I have to get a good day to take pics of  it all
And there's a lot of pics to take
Family dinner and football were on the schedule for yesterday
And can you believe I didn't even knit a stitch?
Me neither

How was your weekend?