Merry Christmas everyone! I thought I'd post some pictures of my Chrismas tree ornaments. I could have posted pics of the entire tree, but that would involve picking up the general area surrounding the tree, and after last night's shift at the hospital, that just wasn't going to happen. A lot of my ornaments were purchased on my trips overseas so it is always fun to get them out of storage and decorate. I'll also have you know that I waited until AFTER Thanksgiving before I put it up! I'm usually excited for Christmas as early as June, and I've been known to put the tree up on or before Halloween! And of course Christmas came far too early this year, as it does every year for me. I will have Christmas day off and I look forward to spending a quiet day at home with a big plate of breakfast, some Christmas specials, a pair of knitting needles and some yarn, and then a long and glorious slumber! Travel safely everyone as you make your way to family and friends to celebrate.

Merry Christmas To You and Yours!

High Quality Item

My family finds great humor in tackiness. Here is one small example of such joy! Years ago I actually PAID MONEY for this ornament at a Big Lots store because I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen, and wouldn't it be a great gift item for my then new-to-the-family sister in law? I wrapped it up and it ended up on her pile of gifts as they were dispersed from under the tree. I will never forget the look on her face when she opened it! You could tell she was trying to be polite but she just couldn't quite hide the confusion in her facial expression! When I told her it was meant to be a joke, she laughed with relief and since then it has become the traveling lucky present! My brother in law got it the following year and it was prominently displayed in my sister's glittering china cabinet. My brother was the recipient the year after that...and he lost it or forgot about it, but my sister in law unearthed it this fall and has since returned it to circulation. My sister received it this year and no doubt it will resume its place of high esteem.

PastryPro!

My sister in law drew my name for the gift exchange this year and she got me EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED! I leaf through and drool all over the King Arthur Flour baking catalog every month, and this particular item had caught my fancy. It is a PastryPro pastry blender and was supposed to be super tough! I have gone through quite a few pastry blenders in my time because I bend the tines all out of shape and using a wire one is right out. You can imagine how thrilled I was to open my gift and find this inside, and when they say it is tough, they weren't kidding! I bet I could do a handstand off this thing and it wouldn't harm it at all! Thank you Amy!

Additional: Please note the tacky Christmas Tree Diorama Display in my bed room! ;) I'll post pics of my proper tree on Christmas!

Get OFF my needles!

Happy Birthday Melissa! And since I probably won't see her til next week, I think it is safe to post a pic of her present here! This is knit from some stash yarn that my mother gave to me YEARS ago. It's a mohair/wool/acrylic blend that I've never known what to do with, that is until Melissa pointed out that she used to have a beige scarf like the one patterned in Handknit Holidays. Scarves are usually knit with short rows back and forth until they are the desired length. THIS scarf was knit lengthwise increasing in each stitch every fourth row to create the ruffles until it eventully became wide enough. You start out with 100 stitches and end up with over 3,000! And I don't know why, but it just seemed like it took so much longer to knit than a conventional scarf. Maybe it was just because the rows were SO long...what we would call a knitting black hole! I used my NeedleMaster needles and at the end had about 4 feet of nylon cord rigged up between my two needles!

Were you ever in any doubt?

I stayed up all last night to finish these in time for Christmas lunch today! I had the RECIPIENT of one of the bags pick me up two zippers at 2300 or so, and then I went back to the store myself to obtain the final needed one! They are filled with little goodies like popcorn, a candle, a smelly soap, chapstick, cocoa mix, etc. I really hope the girls like them! I really didn't spend much on the goodies, and all the fabric and trims I already had so I was good about "use what you have" for this undertaking! You'd think it was April. It's sad to think that I STILL have 3 more to make, but that Christmas lunch insn't until next week!

Deadlines!

Earlier in the week I spent some time dinking around when instead I should've been cleaning, but I found something to occupy my hands while I was busy wasting time and delaying the inevitable. I wrapped all of my co-worker bath bomb gifts with glittered tissue paper, bagged them individually in plastic, and tied them with jute twine, you know, for that rustic look. ;)

We had knitting night here on Sunday with Brenda the Hooker and Melissa, and even DeeDee managed to make an appearance. Melissa tried her hand at needle felting and we later had our first crafts related injury! And of course we took a picture of it--she bled and EVERYTHING!

And tonight I spent some time fooling around making a beaded tassel out of perle cotton with an elephant charm. It will go in one of the gifts that I hope to start AND finish today (including the remaining FOUR of the same I have to get done TODAY). I will post pics of those when (and IF!!!) I get them done before Urban Family Christmas Lunch tomorrow. This added gift is for the as yet unnamed friend ;) who collects elephants and I remembered I had this tiny charm. He must be carved out of stone of some sort, and was brought to me by my college roommate after a trip to India. He has been sitting inside the brass box she also brought me and I've never really known what to do with him. I think he will like his new home though :)

Baptism

We baptized my new niece Annika this last weekend. My Grandpa Maynerd came and we had a very nice lunch together as a family. My brother and his family had been home with my parents for much of the week and had Thanksgiving together and I got to have a bit of Thanksgiving that weekend since I worked over the holiday. My mother embroidered and sewed a hardanger baptismal dress for Annika and the hardanger baptismal towel (she makes all the baptismal towels for our church). You can always tell if it is a big deal at our house if Mom has the farmers rose norwegian dishes set out! She also put out all of her norwegian Hennig figurines as a centerpiece! The fiddler is hers, but the rommegrot girl is mine and will be given to me if I ever move into a home that would house a china cabinet! Annika was such a good girl during church and didn't cry during the service.


And since I wasn't home on the actual day, I made the traditional holiday frosted sugar cookies when I got home. These are known around our house as "Rest Home Sugar Cookies" because years ago my mother (a degree holding Home Economist) gave a demonstration/activity at the local nursing home on how to bake these cookies. This is the only recipe I've ever known for frosted sugar cookies, but apparently all other recipes call for chilling the dough and it's a big production. These are mixed up and baked (you still have to cut in the butter but oh well) and then frosted. They are funny though because the cookies are always quite crisp when baked and I like a soft cookie. I use the Wilton frosting recipe and once frosted, the cookies have to sit out for a few hours so the frosting will "dry" on the surface and soften the cookie (these can only be made in the fall/winter/spring. They will not dry as they need to during the summer). Then they are packed between waxed paper. I didn't have much brown food coloring paste as you can see, so I decided to go for a fun "Technicolor" look! Just think of all the carcinogens in those artificial colors! I would also have you note the SHAPE of these cookies! I am very fussy about how they look when frosted and will not accept offers of help to frost. Those Tom Turkeys are an awkward shape and are very time consuming to frost, but then Thanksgiving only comes once a year. I really love Valentines day (hearts) and Easter (eggs are way easy, but the bunnies are a bit of a problem), Halloween is ok (pumpkins-yes, ghosts and black cats-no), etc. Either way it is an all day activity, but I always make at LEAST a double batch so we have some in the freezer and some to send home with people, etc. Cookie anyone?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am shamefully overdue in posting, so I am going to do one big mish mash post of everything. My grandmother from Fargo came and stayed with us towards the first of the month. She toured between my parents' and siblings' houses and saw all of us and the new baby. I brought home a jar of double cream for her and my mother to enjoy. I have tried a number of times to recreate this culinary delight in my kitchen and I have come up with an adequate substitute, but nothing beats the imported $7/jar real deal! Here it is pictured with Christmas Scones that Grandma, Mother, and I enjoyed in the afternoon with coffee (of course!).








Melissa is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the domestic department! I went to her house two weeks ago for knitting party and to fool around with lemon meringue pie. Now I can make rhubarb pie and pastry crust like nobody's business, but I can honestly say I'd never made NOR eaten lemon meringue pie before. Her dad and brother just love this kind of pie and she wanted to make a 'from scratch' version for Thanksgiving (and did I mention that she has 25 people staying the night in her apartment?!) We found a decent sounding recipe on epicurious, Melissa went grocery shopping, and we managed to produce a tasty and delicious dessert! The lemon filling is really nothing more than a cooked cornstarch/eggyolk/lemon juice pudding. The pie itself is a baked shell filled with the cooled lemon mixture, topped with the meringue, and baked until set although we torched it a bit afterwards with my kitchen torch. I have made dry meringue cookies before, but this meringue was very moist so I can see why you would not want to serve it to young kids or elderly guests (unless of course you use pasteurised eggs). I was very impressed with the way it turned out, and this was only a practice run! I think Melissa is baking the real ones AS I TYPE THIS! Cheer her on! Those little quiches were the practice runs of handling and crimping pastry dough, and they were a mighty tasty teaching tool!

Here is the latest in my seasonal line of scrubs! Actually it is just my new Thanksgiving Tom Turkey scrub that I finished the day before yesterday! Hot off the sewing machine and worn to work in the same day! I bought this fabric back in July on one of my final trips to Waterloo before Melissa's wedding. I made her a scrub out of the same fabric and she wore hers last night. I liked this scrub so well that it is in the washer as we speak and I will wear it again tonight for my shift! Maybe it will brighten things up for the people unlucky enough to be in the hospital over the holidays!
And I did some baking last night...oh wait, wrong picture! Actually I made two more batches of bath bombs last night. I had purchased all of the citric acid IN TOWN to make those! Pictured on the right are scented glycerin soaps that I molded for my girlfriend gifts this year. And once again the month is winding to a close and I have too many things to do and not enough time to complete them. It really is a pity that I have to sleep! Speaking of which, I had better get my nap in before I start getting ready for work tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Yours!

Party at Melissa's!

We had TWO (count them TWO!!) knitting parties this week. The first involved dinner at Cancun and knitting at my place and the second of which was held the next day at Melissa's house AND she cooked for us! I just love going to her house because it is always clean and smells much nicer than my place! I MUST invest in more candles! I also love her cat Timmy! He will come and sit ON your knitting bag and bat at your yarn! I finished the back panel of the sweater I'm knitting for my niece. That is the yarn that the woman at the Charles City yarnshop basically GAVE to me that day (don't worry, I sent her a check the next day) and it isn't what is called for in the pattern but I figured it was close. I used a size smaller needles than were called for after trying out "the dreaded gauge swatch" and by gosh, when I blocked it and measured it, the measurements were spot on! Way to go Katie! Now I just have to summon up my courage to begin the front panels and pray they match up! We also included Brenda who we always thought was a non yarn person, but she quickly asked at the first party if I had any "spare yarn" and a crochet hook since she used to be a bit of a hooker when she was younger (hooker as in crocheter--get your minds out of the gutter!). I laughed at the "spare yarn" quip and promptly set her up with some yarn and a hook and it all came flooding back. I spoke with her last night and she had almost 2 scarves done and a number of dishcloths! Yay! We need more yarn people around!

RIP Dr. Jekyll

A moment of silence please for Dr. Jekyll, Summer's pet rat, who died earlier in the week. He really was a nice little rat although it did take a little time getting over his little ratty tail. I never would have thought it possible for a rat to show affection, but he really did. Summer was fond of wearing hooded sweatshirts and she'd either put him in the front pocket or inside the hood! He liked to crawl around on the back of the couch and get into your hair too! Summer seemed to think he was about 2ish years old when he died. As a healing gesture (ok, maybe it was just in poor taste, let's be honest) I bought her some Gummi Ratz candy at the dollar store just because they looked cool. We opened them up and looked at them but I just couldn't bring myself to eat them. Summer is doing well with her grief and has since gone out and bought two new rats of the Siamese breed and I'm told they have markings akin to the cat breed of the same name. I have yet to meet them.

Ta-Da!!!

I found this recipe a long time ago over on Not Martha and have scrounged and hoarded up ingredients for a while...only to have them sit in a bowl under my bathroom sink for almost a year. I have recently discovered the utter delight that are bath bombs, or Bath Ballistics as they are known over at Lush. I have ordered and enjoyed some lovely Ballistics from the good people at Lush, but they are an indulgence that can be enjoyed only occasionally due to the price (they TRULY are worth every penny though!) So I got to thinking about the bath bomb ingredients I had stashed away after reading the ingredients label on a Lush Ballistic and decided to fool around with it early this morning when I could no longer sleep. It really is a simple recipe and the trick is to not moisten the citric acid/baking powder mixture or it will begin to fizz in the bowl (even the two drops of food coloring that I deliberately placed ON TOP of the puddle of oil, so as not to apply it directly to the dry mixture, sunk below the oil and fizzed a little!). It is a lot like making pastry dough because the only binding agent is the fragrance and almond oil. You fluff it around in the bowl until it gets crumbly and then mold them together with a christmas ornament mold. I got 4 1/2 bombs out of the recipe and let them dry while I went to lunch with a girlfriend. The recipe said they needed to dry for at least a day before they'd be ready. I carefully put one in a plastic bowl for my girlfriend, and by the time we came back out to the car, it seemed dry and firm. Well I couldn't wait to try it out so I took a bath with the 1/2 bomb runt and I couldn't believe how much it fizzed! I used some Orange Lily scented fragrance oil that I got at Target's Dollarspot and it was quite nice. I had also bought some cherry scented at the same time, but once opened it smelled like cherry NyQuil so I threw that one out. I bought some soap scents at Hobby Lobby for fooling around with different batches, OR I thought I could just bypass adding almond oil AND scented oil and just use scented bath oil. Then there are all the add in possibilities: rose petals, glitter, lavender buds...do I hear frilly stocking stuffers and gifts?

The Invasion

These mallard ducks cross my yard from the creek across the street, cross the adjacent street, and then go who knows where, but they stop traffic in the process. They're also pretty regular because they will go in the morning about the time I'm standing in my kitchen window drinking my pre-slumber glass of milk, and they come back around suppertime. This was a particularly big group of them on this day. You can always tell when they are there because their little webbed feet make surprisingly a lot of noise on the ground and especially in the fallen leaves. When my dog was still alive (may God rest his little doggie soul), he'd go nuts whining as he watched them traverse the yard. These truly awful pictures were taken through the screen of my kitchen window because I tried once to take it out while they were heading through and it scared them and they FLEW away!

Self Striping Socks

These are my sister's Christmas socks this year. I figured I could post a picture of them because she's already seen them on the needles and she DID pick out the yarn after all. I have a lot of yarn left over too. I threw the label away already (that is a bad habit of mine) so I can't tell you what brand it is or the yardage. I do remember it is 75% superwash wool and 25% polymide. I used a Stahl sock pattern with 60 stitches to fit a size 38/40 foot and knit these on size 3 double pointed needles. I am very pleased with the results and even started on my sister in law's Christmas socks tonight. I hope to get one more pair of socks finished before Socktober is finished! You might also note my hideously albino legs! Some people wear reflectors at night, but I find I do just fine wearing shorts!

Crafty Fun Party

Melissa came over for decorating eggs for Halloween. I know that sounds absolutely crazy, but there was a really cute project idea in Martha Stewart Living for decorated Halloween eggs. We made 2 jack'o'lantern ones, but the rest were mostly black ones with fall/Halloween things on them. I made a candy corn covered one that I was very pleased with, but it cracked while I was blowing it out. Summer stopped over towards the end of the evening and made a couple as well. Here is a bowl of our combined efforts. We turned the TV music channel on oldies and sat around the table working on these and had a great time.

This is a knit dishcloth from a pattern I found over at Bagatell in her archive. Here it is being blocked and I must admit i've never blocked a dishcloth before! But I suppose it doesn't have to be used as such. Hmmm. Anyways, it was pretty frumpy looking when I first cast off so I pinned it into shape and sprayed it a little. I have two other solid colors of cotton yarn for a few more of these. The compulsory knitted cotton dishcloth stocking stuffers are going to be much more exciting this year!

Winter Weather Free Sample

We got a dusting of snow on the 12th. I don't even know how much we got, but it was enough to cover the grass. It's hard to believe I was hanging scarves on this tree just two days before this was taken! And of course the snow is all gone now, but I was pretty excited I can tell you! I did of course almost bite it walking that day and I skidded in a parking lot with my car...so I guess I'm not 100% thrilled with all the little things that go along with snow and cold weather. Oh yeah, and my nostril hairs kept freezing together when I'd breathe in. That sucks too. But nevermind all that now, isn't it pretty?!?

Must. Keep. Knitting.

I recently did some more Niece Knitting. I finished this little sweater from a pattern found in the book Simple Knits For Cherished Babies. I used some DK-ish weight yarn that I've had for some time. It isn't exactly illegal to knit baby things in colors that are not pastels, but I still felt a bit funny doing it. It is finished in abalone shell buttons. I quite like this pattern and have made 3 or 4 of these.



I also chose this hat from the "Bouncing Baby Set" pattern found in the book Homespun, Handknit. It did use up all the yarn (I just this morning used up the remaining lengths to make the tassel and cords!). I fooled around with the gauge as much as I could, but it is still far too big for any baby to wear together with that sweater, unless that baby's body is wildly misproportionate! I will try it out on my older niece and if it is too small for her, I have a lovely baby cousin who might fit into it! I was sure to wave at everyone who drove by and saw a crazy woman putting a hat on a tree!


And yes, ok, I did some selfish knitting. I am all for being seasonal and my workscrubs AND my scarves shall reflect the time of year. The black scarf with the orange/yellow/red specks is Lion Brand "Fancy Fur" that is normally $6.00/ball for 89 or so yards, but I got it at Big Lots for $2.00/ball while I was up visiting my sister. SCORE! The blue (I'm thinking wintery/January) and the Fall (obviously) colorways were knit from the yarn I bought at the Mohair Goat Farm while I was up visiting my brother. I enjoy knitting scarves every now and again because they are pretty mindless and is a socially acceptable way to literally wrap yourself in yarn (rolling around in it tends to draw some funny looks). I also finished a sock but I won't take pictures of it until I finish its mate. I want to try to finish another full pair since it IS Socktober this month!

Garage Sale Enthusiasts Rioted Today...

This past weekend saw the "World's Largest Garage Sale" sponsored by the Cancer Society in the Twin Cities. I rode up with my parents and we met up with my sister and her husband for the festivities. We stayed overnight in a hotel with a pool (Yay!) and were up bright and early to wait in the line. We got to stand indoors while the line stretched clear around the building, and did I mention the sale was held in an empty, two story Macy's-ish department store in a mall? It is HUGE! The crowd was getting a little antsy as 10:00 approached and my Dad predicted the morning's headline in the newspaper! We all carried our own cell phones and SCATTERED once inside the door! I headed straight for the fabric section and found some nice trims, an Amish knitting board, some knitting needles, and this fabulous, colorful and obnoxious polyester fabric! It is just begging to be made into some tacky bags! I also came away with a really pretty tin with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. I was washing it this morning and it was in fact a collectable biscuit tin from her coronation! So I think that is pretty neat! I'm sure I'll find something important to store in it!

Stupid Human Trick

Have you ever hypnotized a rabbit? My brother and sister and I used to raise 4-H rabbits and I don't know how we ever figured this out. It must involve nerve endings or something, but if you hold a rabbit with his feet against your chest and pet him at the base of his ears on the top of his head, he will lean back and just stiffen in your arms. You can then lay him onto his back on the ground and tuck his ears underneath his head and he will lie there like that until you nudge him over! It is the funniest thing! OR you can gently squeeze his mouth where his jaw joins and he will do that Cadbury Bunny chewing thing and you have a ventriloquist dummy! That was always fun too! We could always amuse ourselves as kids and loved playing with the rabbits in the house. Our poor mother, however, was allergic to rabbits and always knew if there was one in the house by the way her eyes would begin to itch and her uncontrollable sneezing. It wouldn't be long before Mother would appear in the doorway, rubbing her weeping eyes and shrieking, "Get that RABBIT out of here!" For the longest time we thought she was omnipotent, or at the very least psychic! This is my friend Summer's bunny and if memory serves me, it is a Dutch breed. My amateur eyes seem to think it has very good markings since Dutch rabbits can be a fussy breed to raise for shows. It is a very good tempered rabbit though and it was fun to be around one again.

Knitting Pilgrimage

My first stop was at Kristen's Knits in Rochester. I picked up 5 balls of worsted weight superwash wool for a pair of holiday legwarmers I'm dying to make. Yes, I said legwarmers. I also purchased two balls of olive drab/tan worsted superwash wool for helmet liners to send to our troops overseas via Operation Helmetliner. The final two balls of yarn are superwash self striping/patterning sock yarns. I started knitting a pair from one of the balls when I ran out of yarn at Melissa's knitting night the other day. I am really liking the way it's knitting up!
These three fabulous skeins came from Austin's Angora Goats and Mohair Farm. This is just the neatest little shop! They have locally produced handspun yarns, roving for spinning, mohair locks for crafting, goat hides, mohair socks and blankets and sweaters, fur lined slippers, Christmas ornaments, goat cheeses, goat milk soaps, goat sausages, etc. There is literally something for everyone in there. Some of the items are a bit spendy, but they are well worth it. You can also pet and feed some of the goats in the visitor pens. Whenever I visit my brother, we plan a trip to the goat farm. There are also plenty of Amish shopping opportunities and activities in the area.
We stopped at a Scandinavian gift shop along the way and I purchased these two books I have been coveting for some time. The Viking pattern book is almost a Nordic take on Aran patterns. There are charts and explanations of the different "cable" designs and what they represent. The Scandinavian knitting book is more of a chart sourcebook for colorwork. Also pictured are 4 bars of hand milled scented soaps that I bought from an Amish woman. I am a sucker for bars of soap and always try to pick up exotic ones in my travels. Soap Day is always a big day at my house when I pick out what new bar of soap will grace my shower. These were lavender and rosemary scented and made all my yarn smell lovely!
And last but not least, I successfully navigated myself to Charles City on my way home and stopped at The Knitting Korner on Highway 18. I hadn't been there in years and wasn't really expecting to find much of anything I needed other than maybe some Lopi. I found 10 balls of this Cascade Merino/Alpaca blend for a cabled sweater I've been eyeing for my older niece. This will be the most ambitious project I've yet undertaken, but the sweater size is still small enough where it isn't daunting. They also had light up knitting needles!!! I have seen these in my magazines but never thought I'd come across them here in the local area! Did I need them? No. Could I live without them? No. You can even knit with them in the dark although I've not yet tried to. And best of all, the very nice lady who ran the store rang up my items and the total came to over $70. I handed her my credit card and she told me that she didn't accept credit or debit cards. I told her I did not have my checkbook with me. This woman actually handed me the bag of merchandise and told me to "send her a check when I got home"!!!! Good faith is alive and well in northern Iowa! I sent the check off yesterday with a thank you card and a promise to bring my knitting friends along for a yarn field trip sometime soon! Plus, I know there is an ostrich farm nearby! Do I hear mutant Ukrainian eggs anyone?

Who You Gonna Call?!?

My niece and I made these "suckers" from white chocolate baking chips. The sucker sticks can be purchased at any craft aisle or store. We traced the outline of a large ghost cookie cutter onto heavy paper, laid a piece of wax paper over it and spread melted white chips into the shape of the ghost. Press in and cover your stick with more chocolate, add some mini chocolate chip eyes and a mouth, allow to harden, peel off the waxed paper, and Viola! The best part? You get to EAT any mistakes you make! Num num!

Lace Baby Cap

Soft little baby heads need something to cover them and keep out the cold! This cap was knit from yarn I spun and plied from the remainder of a Tussah silk roving I used for Mom's Elizabethan hose. I suppose it is a fingering weight yarn and I have plenty left to knit a pair of thumbless baby "mittens" to match. This pattern comes from the book "Homespun Handknit". The hat has a star knit into the lace which is begun at the top and center of the hat with the lace increases branching outwards. The sides are then knit in a straight lace and ended with a few rows of ribbing. And you can never see too much baby neck, now can you?

Field Trip!

This last weekend was my turn to stay with my brother and his family to help with the new baby. I started out north and west to do some shopping with my sister which included stops at two yarn shops and the international grocery store. We also stopped at the athletic center to visit my brother in law on the job as it was his birthday the following day. My route then turned eastward and it is such a pretty drive to get to my brother's neck of the woods! The fall colors were just starting to turn and it was lovely and cool weather. My niece and I took a little day trip to Austin's Angora Goats and Mohair Farm where I bought some fabulous yarn (more on that later) and just down the lane is an Amish farm where baskets, quilts, preserves, honey, soaps, cereals, etc. are sold via the honor system from a shed alongside the road. We also saw several Amish buggies just parked along the road with women selling items as well as roadside honor system stands selling gourds and squash. My niece and I did some baking together and of course the baby is the best entertainment of all! And did I mention that I drove up there all by myself with the aid of my trusty map AND didn't get lost NOR did I kill anyone? Way to go Katie! I even found my way home via an alternate route so I could stop at another yarn shop!