Back to Normal

Ha!  I should have written "Normal" (in quotes) since it's all relative right?  The crazy awful pre-holiday and holiday weeks are over and we're getting back to our somewhat regular routine.  Whew!

We went to my sister's last weekend to finally celebrate Christmas with them.  Despite driving through a frickin' snowstorm in the Berkshires - of course, because it's always snowing there when it isn't snowing anywhere else - we had a nice time.  Knitted presents were loved!

Socks for my nephews and my sister

Here'e a not-as-blurry close-up:

My dad's slippers:

He didn't want to put them on again by the time
I got my camera out!

And I forgot to take a picture of my mom with her present, but here it is:

A cotton face cloth that I gave her with
some Burt's Bees face soap.

Ooh!  And check out my mom's creative packaging in the face of having no tape:

Duct tape!  I love it!

Our drive home that day was uneventful and even kind of pretty:

In Knitting News:
So, now I'm knitting like crazy - bet you thought I was done with that after the holidays - for upcoming classes to teach.

I made the Pretty Thing cowl by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot - click there for her blog):

And the Winter Leaves Scarf for a basic lace knitting class:

Now I'm working on, and hoping to finish at least one by today, the Gelsomina wrist warmers:

After the wristers I've got one more project, the Ravine hat, and then I'll move on to my next projects.  One of them is the Great American Afghan knit-a-long at The Spinning Room.  Here is a sneak peak at 2 of the 5 (or so) colors:

That lighter color is actually more of a blue/green
and is really pretty.  The darker color is
actually lighter.  Ugh, will try for a better pic...

Oh, and next week starts the Mystery Sock V:April Showers sock knit-a-long!  Remember that?:

And then, I'm going to get back on track with finishing my unfinished projects.  Seriously, I am.  No more procrastinating.  No getting distracted by other cool new patterns........  Like this mystery knit-a-long to go along with season 3 of Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey starting this Sunday!

In Book News:
Yay!  Lots of Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas!!! So excited since I have a long list of books that I want to get.

I finished Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Wow.  What a great book.  It starts in 1942 Paris with the "roundup" of Jewish residents to later be brought to Auschwitz.  When the police come to her house, a young girl named Sarah hides her brother in their secret cabinet, takes the key, and tells him she will come back for him.  She has no idea that she and her family are being taken away from their home for good.  The story then fluctuates back and forth from her story to a present day journalist who is researching the roundup, and how their stories end up intertwining.  Very engaging and the author does a great job of relaying the story while going back and forth in each chapter.  Highly, highly recommend!  Here is a link to Amazon:


I just started another GREAT book that I'll tell you about next time....

That's it for now.  Except for one last picture of Mandy that I took several weeks ago, since she was, again, creatively using her pillow:

What I Didn't Tell You

The last pair of socks is done!

But what I didn't tell you about this and all the other socks?....

I still have to weave in ALL the ends! Instead of the usual two ends to weave in, in a regular one-color sock, there are TEN.  For EACH SOCK!  I think I'm going to have to reserve a whole week to get this done.  Oh wait. There is only a week left.

And I still have to finish these:

One of a pair of felted slippers.  This one is partially done and still needs a second sole.  Then I have the second one to knit. Once I am done with the knitting, I will put them in the washing machine and shrink them down to regular size.  Here is a picture with an adult-size sock, lined up at the heels, to give you an idea of how big it is before felting...

So, now I really need to get crack-a-lackin' to get this all done.  The slippers need at least two days (in front of the wood stove) to dry.

In the meantime, I tested out a cookie recipe and will definitely be making these for Christmas:

These are Ottolenghi's Spice Cookies from The Wednesday Chef blog. (click there to get to the blog post/recipe).  Oh. My. Gosh.  So. Incredibly. Yummy.  They are quite strong tasting (lots of cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg) but I. Love. Them. LOVE.
And they go really well with my Double Bergamot Earl Grey tea:

Which I had before sitting down to knit by the fire, with the animals snuggled in, watching Elf (click there to get on Amazon) in our Christmas bedecked living room:

Speaking of Mandy, please send good vibes her way.  She is sick and in the animal hospital today...

She was not too thrilled when I came home
with these antlers for her....but she looks so cute!

All knitting all the time

I've done hardly anything else but knit for the past week and a half! But, I've got another pair of socks done:

And I'm making my way through the next (and last!):

And my mom reminded me that I didn't post the completed picture of my nightfall socks - the ones for which I wasn't thrilled how the gradual pattern was working out.  So here they are:

She got them for her birthday!

On my list for this weekend, since those socks will be done fairly soon, is to look for the still-not-found-already-started project.  Also, I have one last gift to buy and all my shopping shopping is done!

Ooh - and I've started the holiday decorating!

Speaking of my mom, she is coming to visit this weekend so watch out - the next post will be crazy! Hee hee.

Optimistic

There are some perks to not being able to sleep and getting up early and having a cup of tea....

.... on the day that Paul got up very early (after going to be very late) to work on painting his friend's car:

Now, what is wrong with this picture?....

Fire burning.  Door and window open wide.  We're heating the whole neighborhood.  Just like our parents told us we shouldn't do.  Our garage is attached to our house, which is where the painting is going on, and the fumes are horrendous.  Even my very strong smelling pine candle wouldn't mask it.  Thank goodness he's done now, and will be on to the next phase -- sanding and buffing.  See what an education you get on this blog????  Now you know some of what's involved in painting a car!

And what's wrong with this picture?:

(What the heck with the sideways business again???  Takes up a lot of blog space...)  Ok, so it's not the whole picture, since I don't want to ruin a surprise.  I sent away for a picture on Shutterfly and had this caption put on it.  Needless to say, I re-ordered, and got my grammar correct.  Good thing I was planning ahead.

Meanwhile, I've got Christmas-baking-on-the-brain.  I found this recipe for Campfire Bars on the Cookies and Cups blog and was dying to make it so I went out and got the ingredients that day.

So, so, so easy!  Just dump the graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate chips, granola and brown sugar in a bowl...

Add a stick of melted butter, mix, put in a pan and put in the oven for 15 minutes....

Cool completely before cutting.....

 They look like a mess, in the pan and when you cut them, but they are very yummy! (and, be warned, very sweet)

The recipe is from this book which I'm dying to get because it's just a cool idea:
Not only can you make desserts in jars, there are recipes for giving dessert mixes in jars.  Like these Camfire  Bars - you put all the ingredients in a mason jar with a pretty cloth topper and instructions for baking, and wa-la a cool little gift!  How cool is that?  (click up there if you want to get one - a really good price for a nice gift!)  Ok, commercial over.

On to knitting!  Finished these for someone unnamed:

Only took me two days!

Also finished this, which you aren't getting to see until it's given, but I thought you'd want to know it was done:

I'm feeling much better about the status of my Christmas knitting mostly because it looks like I'll have more time to find and finish the as-yet-un-found-already-started project.  Or start and finish a new one.

I was helping a knitting student at the yarn shop this past weekend and telling her about the lost project.  She said the St. Anthony prayer for me to help me find it.  Then she said, "Actually, we are supposed to say it together, so it will really work."  So I, being not very religious, had to be taught the words, and then we said it together.  Then she said, "Ok, if you find it you have to give me a dollar.  I'm match it and then give it to my mother, who will match mine, and then donate it to her church."   Sounded good to me.   I'm optimistic.

The status of knitting, books and food.

The status of my Christmas knitting...  I can't seem to find the thing I started that I wanted to finish for someone.  I've looked everywhere.  Now I have to look everywhere that's not the obvious everywhere.

But, I've got this started for someone:

And this started for someone else:

I'm working on more than one thing so things will stay interesting.

And I finished these:

Yay!  Love. Them.  I hope the person I give them to does too.  In case you forgot, these are the Simple SKYP Socks which is a FREE pattern on Ravelry.

I got these in the mail today:

sideways - so aggravating...

I ordered these after storm Sandy.  The Books on the Nightstand podcast posted something on Facebook suggesting that a nice way to help an independent bookstore in Connecticut, who had flooding storm damage, would be to buy a book from them.  So I did, and I felt like I helped.  Don't have to ask me twice to buy books (and you only have to ask me once to buy two books apparently), especially if it helps.  The bookstore is Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT.

I think I heard about one of these books on the BOTN podcast and one on the 2 Knit Lit Chicks podcast.  I think Sarah's Key (click there to get on Amazon) will be my next one to read.  It starts in July 1942 in Paris when a 10 year old girl and her parents are taken by the police as they are arresting Jewish families.  Sarah helps hide her brother so he won't be taken.  Then sixty years later, her story intertwines with a journalist investigating the events in 1942.  Have to finish my other book first, though --- if I can get some time to read it other than in bed when I'm already exhausted and can only read two pages.

What have we been having for dinner you ask?  I knew you were wondering.  Yesterday I made wonderful chicken in the crockpot:

ha!  Sorry, forgot to take a picture of the actual dish, so you got the crockpot instead.  It was Italian Herb Chicken.  Oh. My. Gosh.  LOVED. IT.  Put 2 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces (skin removed) in the crockpot.  Then pour in a mixture of 2 cans  (14 oz) stewed tomatoes (I chopped them up because we don't like the big chunks), 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste, and a packet of McCormick Italian Herb Chicken seasoning  for the crock pot (in the gravy/sauces aisle).  Cook on low for 8 hours.  The chicken gets fall-off-the-bone-tender and the sauce is yummy.  We ate it with rice.  so. So. SO. Good.  It was being cooked in the crock pot while I was babysitting the doodlebugs the other day.  It smelled so good in the house all day long - I couldn't not ask for the recipe.

And tonight?.....

Mmmmmm. Soft tacos.  Haven't had them in a long time (except at Moe's... "Welcome to Moe's!").

And today was apparently impulse day at the grocery store.  Went in for a few things (apples, bananas, roast beef, bread, and sandwich bags to be precise).  Ended up with two boxes of Cheerios since it was buy one, get one free.  How could I not?  And then, I saw these:

Fudge Covered Ritz.  Again, how could I not try this wonderful new product that they placed right on the end of an aisle so it would stare me in the face?  And how could i not pay $3.29 for this little tiny box of what I assumed would be wonderful chocolate-y salty crunchy goodness?  (AND I WAS RIGHT!  They are so. So. SO. Good.)  Plus, it says right on the box, "Limited Edition", so I didn't want to miss out.

How about a quote of the day?
Just think of all those women on the Titanic who said, "No, thank you," to dessert that night.  And for what! 
~Erma Bombeck

Up to my ears

Wow, time flies quickly at the holidays doesn't it?  Thanksgiving was a week ago already.  We had a nice time in Newton, Mass at my aunt's house, catching up with family, taking the traditional post-meal walk to a local park to see the tree planted for my grandfather many years ago, and of course, eating:

Ooh!  I forgot to take a picture of the dessert I made but this is what you do:  Melt 2 cups of white chocolate chips, fold in 1 1/2 cups roasted, salted almonds and 1 1/2 cups craisins.  Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and put in fridge for 20 minutes.  YUM!  They were a big hit.

This year Paul and I decided to stay overnight in a hotel instead of making the 3-hour trip each way all in one day.  We stayed at the same hotel as my sister and 3 nephews so it was nice to watch them playing in the pool and then having breakfast with them the next day.  My youngest nephew, age 9, kept saying, "I love this place!" since they had a free candy/snack bar from 5-7pm as well as all you can eat breakfast with every kind of breakfast food imaginable.  His plate:  3 pastries, frosted flakes and a soda.  He wanted to go back for more but my sister had to draw the line somewhere - so he picked wheat toast with cream cheese.   That's kudos to my sister -  he knows what's healthy!

Here is what adults think is great about the hotel:

Silly!

Crabtree & Evelyn products!
(I totally took them all home.)

Ok, so now it's after Thanksgiving and I'm in full on what-has-to-get-done-for-Christmas mode.  My knitting gift list seems to be growing.  I've got that oh-i-could-totally-knit-fifty-things-by-Christmas frame of mind because "It's still November."  Ha!  Until tomorrow.

The good news is I made a pair of thumbless mitts for Benjamin and Michaela's new cousin:

And I only have the toes to do on the socks for I'm-not-telling-you-who:

I know.  They look totally weird - like the leg is too narrow or something.  But, that's because the leg of the sock has  a ribbed pattern.  When they are on a foot, I'll take a picture and they will look normal.

Then I have to finish something else already started for someone else.  Start and finish something for another someone. And make something out of these for three other someones:

Don't you just love that?  You're totally getting no information.
Needless to say, I'll soon be up to my ears with knitting.

Then there is tree shopping and shopping shopping. For tree shopping, we help Paul's mom get her tree and so we get ours at the same time.  She likes to go to a local fire house in order to support them, but we have to go early in December before they run out (last year we got there too late) so it looks like we may be doing that this weekend.  And we'll likely make it a group trip and bring Paul's brother and his family (including my two doodlebugs, M & B) with us!  For shopping shopping,  Paul and I try to pick a strategic Sunday morning as early as possible since it seems to be less crowded.  Preferably the Sunday after a Saturday night snowstorm.  That year was the best for getting all our shopping done with no crowds.  Took the 4 wheel drive truck to the mall and saw about 4 other people there.  I hope that happens this year.

In Book News:
I read The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and really enjoyed it!  A thought provoking story about a man who reflects on his high school/college years with friends and when some of those friends come back into his life much later, how his perception of what happened is re-framed.  That's it in one sentence.  A fairly quick read - the book is only 176 pages, but it's packed with so much story and things to think about.  It's not my usual mystery/suspense/detective book packed with action, which seem to be my favorite, but it was great.  I think it would make a nice holiday gift if you know someone who loves to read. Click up there or here to get it on Amazon:

And now I'm on to another mystery/suspense book, but I'll tell you about that another time.

That's it.  I'm off to knit.