Those Little Reminders

Tis the season for little reminders of projects lain aside.... just such a reminder I had yesterday evening when I opened up a box of Christmas decorations and found my husband's stocking (knit the previous year).

This stocking reminded me that my own stocking was yet unfinished, and isn't that just the way of it! Knit for others... forget yourself. Well, no more! I am determined to finish up the toe of this 3/4 complete Christmas-Tree-Green stocking in time for Santa to fill it up with goodies. Sorry sweetie, your sweater is on the back-burner :)

Adventures in Bread Baking

While trying to use my day off to its best advantage, I decided to bake a couple of loaves of whole-wheat bread. This was my first experience with making actual loaves of yeast bread... the nearest was making pizza dough. Overall, the experience was wonderful. I enjoyed mixing, kneading, and rising my dough, and of course the payoff was delicious. Next time I hope to get the bread to rise even more (love those little bubbles).

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Half a loaf went to neighbor to loaned me a bread pan... I only had one... will put a second on my wish list if this is something I hope to continue in the future. The freedom to have a day to (really morning) to just bake (plus do laundry, wrap Christmas Gifts, get house ready for decorating, update blog, and knit) is really a luxury. Must do good things with these little luxuries....

Oh, the Cat

Never did I think we would be decorating with paintings of CATS! However, never say never I guess because we just found two beautiful prints of a cat that looks just like our dear Marble.

We happened upon them in Eureka Springs, Arkansas... purchased from the artist a a local show. Diana Harvy had a diverse collection of paintings and prints of her cute cat... who just happened to be a twin of ours.

Sweetie was taken with the image of Saint Gertrude (the patron saint of cats of course). The paper crane painting reminds me of an early obsession of my... making hundreds of paper cranes and scattering them about my room as a pre-teen.

Marble does not seem to be as taken with the artwork as we are, however she did welcome us home after our trip... I can't ask for much more than that.

Somebody's Getting a Sweater

I have begun the beautiful gray sweater for my sweetie. I am using Lion Brand Wool-Ease... a questionable yarn considering the high percentage of acrylic. However, seeing as I am a penny-pincher, and he picked out the color... I think it will work out just fine.

The pattern of choice is from an old issue of "Make It Yourself" http://www.amazon.com/Make-Yourself-step-step-needlework/dp/B00005WC40
... a seventies flashback for some. (I sadly was not yet alive to truly enjoy the seventies.) I liked the pattern because it looked like it would withstand the fashion changes for many more decades to come, it looked comfy, and the model in the picture looked cute in it.


The only drawback:

Seventies sizing is not friendly to the tall full-figured man of today. Sweetie is by no means obese.. just over 6 foot... so I will have to improvise the sizing.

The plus side of the only drawback:

Seeing as I like to do whatever I feel like when knitting anyways... the sizing issue is a good excuse to take extra liberties, and also a good scapegoat if the sweater is not as handsome as hoped.

Anyways, sweetie looks forward to seeing if he will be cuter than the model when wearing his one and only hand-knit sweater :)

Update on the Smartest Chicken

Here is evidence of success. The Chicken turned out to be a little slow and took almost twice as long to cook as was expected. So much for honest packaging. Needless to say, the chicken was delicious and the wine pan sauce to die for. That was thanks to my favorite $4.99 bottle of wine - Beringer Chenin Blanc straight from Napa to my local grocer.

Now I need to get back to that sampler... have set appointment for framing on Sunday... that gives me just enough time to freak out and finish it.

Glorious Roaster

Oh, Glorious Roaster
from glorious Brookshire's
in you I shall roast....
a smart chicken

know we not his
test scores, IQ, or PSAT
nontheless we shall still
roast and enjoy.

A big thank you to Brookshire's for making this installment of bad poetry possible. I am thrilled to have finally bought enough groceries from my local store to become the proud recipient of a beautiful stainless steel roasting pan... as my husband has said before... "thank you Brookshire's for giving the little pretend housewives goals to meet in life."

Anyways... I am going to cook a fantastic supper for my hardworking man tonight. On the menu is Mustard-Tarragon Roast Chicken with Egg Noodles compliments of the September 2007 issue of Real Simple magazine. http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1658188

I am also going to try out a pumpkin-apple muffin recipe from Epicurious.com. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/2851

The Infamous Sampler

So... making a sampler for the kitchen seemed like a very pleasant and domestic sort of thing to do. Let me just say, "I HATE KNOTS in my thread!" Still, it is fun to see it so close to being complete... and as always, I have already picked out the next sampler pattern to attempt... must... finish... current... project... before... starting... new... things.... MUST!!!




Anyways, somebody I know loves to take naps with her daddy while I slave away on this never ending piece of family history...

Many Projects in Progress

Just thought I would make a mental note about what I am attempting to complete in a timely manner (4-6 years would be nice)....

• Knit Dishcloth assortment for Aunt Deb (completion deadline Dec '07)
• Knit White Dishcloths for nice lady in Tyler (cd Oct 15 '07)
• Knit Christmas Stocking, Green (cd Dec '07)
• Crochet Baby Boy Suit (cd late Dec '07)
• Sweater for my Sweetie, the one and only I will ever make (cd Feb '08)
• Cross-Stitch Sampler, the kitchen wall needs it (cd the sooner the better)
• Blue Knit Snuggly Blankie (cd whenever)

It is not so bad after all, granted, I did not list the many works in progress that at this time I have no desire to complete.... maybe someday I will be unable to afford new yarn and will resort to completing unwanted projects in an effort to keep busy.

Now back to those Dishcloths for Aunt Deb.... almost done....

Variations on a Basic Knitted Wash Cloth

The two wash cloths above were made by getting a little creative with the pattern below. I like to try out new stiches with them. The main pattern has just a solid "stockinette" center.

Knitting Needles size 8US .5mm

I usually use the suger n' cream cotton (cheap and everywhere).

I cast on 35, do 7 rows of seed stich (knit purl knit purl etc)

Row 8 and all even: seed st for 5 -knit across to last five - seed st to end

Row 9 and all odd: seed st for 5 -purl across to last five - seed st to end

I finish with 7 more rows of seed st.

Happy Knitting!

Delicious Pear Pie

Being labor day, I decided a pie was in order. Since all the pears were mysteriously eaten off of my pear tree, I bought a few to make this recipe. It is a pear pie with cheddar cheese topping. Sounds weird, but I think it will be great. The neighbors will be here in a few to help us eat it!

Mexican yarn becomes.....

Using yarn bought at a flea market in the Rio Grande Valley, I began making these little doilies a year ago.... they never fit together properly, so I am thinking of a good way to connect them for a table cloth or something.

For those of you interested in making my little star doilies, it is just like a granny square.... except you begin with five groups of three double crochets instead of four.... not that inventive.