Think Ouside the Box

So using my handspun I shared in my last post I began knitting my darling husband another hat that is inspired by the simple ribbed watchman style cap Jacob wore in Twilight on the beach at La Push, and also because of the russett-y Jacob/Wolf color LoL!

Fiber was soft, yarn was soft, hat is itchy. Shoot! Very strange, some of the alpaca hairs have worked their way out of the twist of the yarn and out of the knit stitches so the hat has these little 2" long hairs all over it, LOL!!

I knitted my simple ribbed pattern forever and decreased down to 2 stiches, tried on the hat and I thought it was too short. Crap! Only had 5.5yds yarn left too.

What to do? What to do?
Do I frog the entire project? I talked it over with my friend Marion for a few minutes and settled on this little "fix up":.

I picked up stitches with size 4.0 needles along the inside of the cast on edge and knitted about 30 rows of stockinette stitch with black NaturallyCaron.Com’s “Country” yarn that I had leftover from another project. It’s merino/acrylic and machine washable. When that was about 3.5" long I bound it off and whip-stitched it up inside the hat all around as a lining so it won’t be itchy around his ears. Added bonus, it also makes the first half of the hat thicker and therefore, warmer. I used Jeremiah's head as a hatform because his big ol' head stretched the hat out nicely and made it so easy for me to sew the lining in. Shown here in the picture with the hat turned wrong side out so I could sewn it more easily.

Then I picked out down to the row before my original decreases, marked out 5 yards on the yarn with some waste yarn and began reknitting until I got to the waste yarn, then re-decreased and finished the hat. I ended up with about 2 feet of yarn leftover so I could have gone a little farther before my decreases but I didn’t want to cut it any closer.

He isn't home from work yet to try it on him or see if he likes it. If this doesn’t fit him, it can go in the Charity bin with this year’s homeless/hospital knits.

Sometimes projects don't go as planned. Sometimes the thing to do isn't always the most obvious (like my first idea to frog.) Think out side the box and be creative; creating is what you were doing to begin with anyway!

A Lovely New Yarn?

Remember I mentioned my dear husband Tony was complaining his hats let air through which makes his head cold? So I bought some superwash merino/alpaca fiber to spin for a new hat for him.

I weighed out 2 ounces of my trusty new gram scale and stuck it in a dyepot with a bunch of orange koolaid. I weighed out 2 more ounces and began to spin it without fooling with it, while the first bit cooked and dried.

I ended up with a gorgeous russetty orange "Jacob Black as a Wolf" color, LoL! I thought it would be very pretty plied with the natural gray/brown of fiber.

I finished plying it today though I am drawing a complete and total blank on the yardage I got. I'm thinking 120s? Plenty for a tightly knit hat regardless.

Now that I'm done plying it I'm not sure the two colors work as well as I'd thought. I guess I can always knit the hat and if it's ugly, just chuck the hat in a dyepot and no harm, no foul.

Hodge Podge

We had a busy weekend! We drove to South Caroline to do "Christmas" with Tony's Mom's side of the family. It was great to all get together again, it had been about a year and a half since we had. It's fun to see how everyone is changing, how everyone is the same and meet the new people (like our cousin's girlfriend and her daughter, both as nice as can be.)

We had a nice drive down there and back, figuring out it's really only about a 3 hour drive if you don't get lost....which we do. Neither Tony nor I are the type of people that get lost. We're good with directions, have a good sense of directions and generally find our way around without help. So to drive around in SC where everything is screwy just makes us MAD! LOL! We had to turn around over and over, added about an hour and a half to the trip down and back just for that. Argh. At least we get a good story out of it? Nah... but at least the scenery is pretty! I love North Carolina but they don't paint their roads with reflective paint and going over a mountain in the dark and rain is a little hairy without it, haha.

Nana loved her slippers and hat I'd knitted her. Jeremiah gave her the present as soon as he walked in the door, LoL! He couldn't wait! We all had a nice visit and Tony's aunt Charlene is already plotting the renting of a lake house somewhere in Georgia over the summer for a week of family water fun.

Yesterday we celebrated Artemas' 18th birthday at Mom and Dad's house, even though his birthday isn't until tomorrow. I went a little nuts in the exotic spice aisle and we gave our budding chef a world tour of spices and little glass jars to put them in. I hope he gets good use out of them and doesn't kill the family with the curry powder. ;-)

Mom's birthday is Saturday but I was impatient and we gave her her present early also. Just yesterday morning I finished the Eleanora socks I was working on (for about a month now). I took the 2nd one with me on the road and managed to do from the middle of the heel to about 6 rows from the kitchener stitch while sitting around Tony's Uncle's house chatting. I am sure they think I'm a boring house guest, though I left with 2 requests for a deadfish hat and a watchman style cap LoL!

Mom also got "Les Chaussettes Folles" or the Crazy socks I made; named so because a woman I work with told me she thought it was crazy to knit socks while I was making them. The toes and heels are the same Bamboo and Ewe Sensations sockyarn I used for the Eleanora socks but the main body parts are from Mini Mochi yarn, which is wonderful! I love it.

Today my best friend is coming over and I'm going to help her make a Tennessee Titans pillow case to send to her hubby at war. I'm going to teach her to quilt too so we're going to start going over the basics of that, verbally. The sewing will come later. : )

Look What I Got!

I am soooo terribly late in posting this, my extreme apologies Jenn!

Last week, midweek I think, I got a lovely squishy package in the mail from Jenn of Sunshine of Autumn Quilts on etsy! Inside were two gorgeous, bright red towels that she had taken and machine appliqued (with a pretty leaf design) some black cherry fabric on!

Both ends of the towels have the fabric appliqued on them. They are thick, fluffy and wonderful! I just love how RED they are too! These were the perfect little surprise for me! My kitchen is done slightly retro in red, white (and a little black) and cherries. They look wonderful hanging from my stove!

I don't know what happened when I took this pic, everything was straight...or so I thought. Maybe my kitchen has vertigo? LoL!

Check out her Etsy shop...she has lots of other totally cute towels, quilts and burp rags!

Depression Bars

I've had the pictures of these on my desktop since before Christmas because I meant to make a post with the recipe. I know many of you are on your New Year's Diets, I am (and not doing well with it I might add) but I figure Valentine's Day is coming up and these are great little bars to take to a potluck or party (so you don't have to eat them all yourself) LOL!

Depression Bars:

You'll need to make one standard graham cracker crust (sugar, crushed graham crackers, butter)--if you don't have a recipe you use already, just do a google search or try foodnetwork.com's recipes.

One small can of sweetened, condensed milk

1/2 cup of slivered almonds

1/2 a bag of chocolate chips

1/2 a bag of butterscotch chips

1 - 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Press the crust onto a cookie baking sheet with at least a 1/2" lip all the way around.

Using your hands, scatter chocolate and butterscotch chips all over the surface. Then do the same with the almonds and shredded coconut. Drizzle the entire can of sweetend, condensed milk evenly over top of all the other ingredients and the crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Keep on eye on it, if the coconut stars to burn take it out sooner. You want it everything to brown (chips will not look melted though!)

Remove and allow to cool for about 20 minutes so the crust firms up enough to cut. You can speed this up by putting the pan in the fridge, these are just as good cold as they are warm!

Cut into 2" square "bars" and enjoy!

Variations: Swap peanutbutter chips for the butterscotch ones, or chopped pecans for the almonds or add extra chopped nuts or dates to a little extra "healthy" ingredients.

A Small Frolic in the Snow

It snowed like the dickens 3 days ago. We got a whole whopping 1/4-1/2" of snow. That's right, a HALF INCH of snow!

It was just enough to make the roads slick and treacherous with ice. Driving was a little scary, people were obnoxious. At the threat of snow here the locals go crazy, buying gas, milk, bread. I hate to think what they'd all do if they lived somewhere it actually snowed. Like Fargo.

Anyway 2 days ago the snow was still on the ground so when we got home from running a couple errands I let the kids play a little. They both really enjoyed dancing around in it, hearing it crunch. I tried to make a snowball to start a little tiny snowman on the steps butthe snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick together.

Both Jeremiah and Hannah seemed unsure if they liked it or not when they stuck their hands in it. Hannah yelled "Cold!" Jeremiah used his fingertip to draw a heart in the snow on our front walk because he loves me. :-)

It's almost all gone by today, though it hasn't gotten any warmer outside. We've walked most of it off the front yard by now LoL!

Progress, progress, progress

Well we've made some progress on our bedroom and upstairs this week.

Tony got the rest of the drywall up on the new wall and got it taped and mudded, then I sanded and painted it. Together (me cleaning and him hauling buckets of water) we cleaned the mess upstairs. Drywall dust gets EVERYWHERE!

Everything upstairs and downstairs is going to have to be wiped off/down with a soapy cloth. I did my stash bins, the walls, floors, railings and end table upstairs--still have to do my bookshelves and all the books--yesterday before I painted.


Today I did that to the kitchen. Every surface had to be wiped and cleaned and mopped. I am tired!


We are trying to keep the bedroom door shut to keep the rest of the mess contained the best we can. Tony finished knocking out the old wall and doorframe and is working on hauling away the debris. He needs to patch the floor and ceiling where the old wall was, put drywall on the inside of the new wall and then we can sand it, clean and paint.


The end is in sight...I keep saying that, right?


Until we get our taxes back and knock out the long wall on the back of house, change the pitch of the rood and extend our room the 8 feet back into the eaves. When all is said and done we will have a huge master bedroom that will greatly increase the value of our home. We are hiring someone to help us knock that wall out next spring. LoL!

Christmas Presents Revealed

It's taken me a couple weeks to get around to it but now I can finally show some pics of some projects I worked on for Christmas gifts!

The first I am really excited about. I bought 7 ounces of luscious fiber back in July, 2 batts that were a mix of blue bamboo and purple colonial/corrie wool and one that was a red, black, purple and gold mix of bamboo, merino & angelina. I also bought 50 grape colored small jump rings (from UnkamenSupplies on etsy). I only spun 48 in the yarn for some reason. I got 366 yards of thick and thin, average worsted weight yarn from the 7oz.

That was Mom's Christmas gift. I actually bought the jump rings and held onto them until I found just the right colors of fiber to spin them into for her. I hope she didn't think that was a dumb present and I hope she can knit herself something fabulous from it.

Second we have some Bella/Twilight style horseshoe cabled mittens for Diantha. I used the pattern I bought last spring from LilyKnitting on etsy, only I used smaller needles than her pattern called for and I added one extra repeat of the horeshoe pattern between the cuff and thumb to make them almost elbow length. I used NaturallyCaron.com brand "Country" yarn which is a machine washable blend of microfiber-acrylic and merino-wool. It is soo sooo sooooooo soft and loveable.

I had planned something else for Diantha and already had it in the works when she asked for some Bella mittens. I decided to make the original item for her birthday and make her the mittens for Christmas. I had the cuff/arm of the first done and had already begun increasing for the thumb when she mentioned that she really thinks horseshoe cables are stupid. ARGH! She got mittens with them anyway and she says she loves them.

The Christmas-turned-birthday project was given to Diantha at Christmas anyway, wrapped in birthday paper with a note that she's old enough to understand her birthday present came 3 months early. Because what we were giving her was this awesome black baby-cord suit-style jacket which I used batik fabrics to applique an old-school tattoo style motiff of sparrows and heart on the back.

Diantha also got my Tanya Denali/Twilight inspired fingerless gloves, given to her by Jeremiah and Hannah. She has that modeling convention to go to next week and she's sure to be in great style now!

Jeremiah got some Christmas surprise mittens just like the ones I made for Rush. I knit them while he was alseep since he was sad when he saw me knitting them since they were supposed to be a surprise! Apparently I hadn't gotten that particular memo. I stuck them down in his stocking with some store bought Iron man socks and he was thrilled!

Then last but certainly not least we have Riley's kiddie cadet hat. This pattern is so quick, it only takes a couple hours of uninterupted knitting (which means it took me at least 1 day to knit). The same pattern as the one I knit Rush, only in solid navy instead of a varigated yarn.

I think that's everything. I already shared pics of Rush's hat, Dad's socks.

OH! I did knit a pair of slipper socks for Tony's Nana Juanita this week, to give to her in 2 weeks when we go to SC to do Christmas with them. I am also working on a "Sparkling like Diamonds" hat. The slippers are knit from that "Country" yarn I love and the hat is from the same brand's "Spa" yarn which is microfiber-acrylic and bamboo blend--very sparkly and nicely machine washable.

How we do New Year's

Our first New Year's Eve together, Tony and I had been married already 3 months which meant I was 2.5 months pregnant and suffering some hellacious morning sickness so our NYE festivities involved him sitting on the couch watching football and me laying in bed trying not to die of nausea. (He did come turn the bedroom TV on in time for me to watch the ball drop and to give me a New Year's kiss.)

Since then we have had small children, and no friends, so we don't go out for NYE or have a party, etc. We stay home, do stuff around the house, watch TV. It's good fun and we don't have to worry about driving home.

This year we treated the kids to a bottle of sparkling apple cider and some kazoos. They stayed up to watch the ball drop on TV. I cleaned house--all the floors were swept, mopped and the living room and kitchen were straightened. Dishes were all washed too! What a great day to start the new year, with a pleasant home. It's been 36 hours however and you can't tell I cleaned anything but that is the way of it.

So this is how we do New Year's at our house. We hope yours was as safe and happy as ours, that you were near some loved one and that the Lord will bless you in the coming days!

Goodbye Grandmom

Monday morning at 7:30 am my Mom called to tell me she'd just gotten a call from my Uncle John saying Grandmom had passed away in her sleep. My Dad was actually undergoing hernia surgery so we found out before he did that his mother had died. Does this technically make him an orphan, since his dad died years ago? Can a person be orphaned at 67 years old?

My Grandmom was a small, firey, fiesty, mouthy German lady with a big name; Dorothy Charlotta Schaediger Ross Zadlo. Her peers called her Dot. She was 93 years old.

I found out 3 weeks ago that her favorite color was purple. I'd always thought it was blue.

Grandmom had 6 children, my Dad is the next to youngest of them. She had, as far as I know, 18 living grandchildren and upwards of 25 great-grandchildren. Maybe even some great-great grandchildren, since most of the grandkids are in their 40s & 50s and the great grandkids are mostly around my age in their 20s. My Dad was a late bloomer.

Until recently Grandmom drove a little red Cheverolet, with lead feet and lots of brakes. Everyone else on the road was a "jackass" or a "dummy."

When I was a teenager my Dad would take me to her house for the afternoon and I would help her with chores. I ran her acient, heavy (and when the self-propel kicked in, posessed) vacuum and scrubbed her plastic covered patio furniture which never any looked better when I was done. Sometimes I would sweep her driveway. She always forced me to take a $5 when I left.

For lunch we would eat real deli-sciled ham on crusty bakery rolls with Helman's mayonaise and watch Matlock while drinking gingerale from the can. They were the best sandwhiches I have ever eaten. I don't like mayonaise.

When I was born she told my parents that Desiree Nicole was too big a name for such a small baby, and from then on only called me Dolly. Even my birthday cards were addressed to "Dolly Ross." The card I got for my 21st birthday was addressed to "Desiree Bowman." When I turned 21, she'd given me my grown-up name.

She drove from NJ (where she moved about 2002 to live with my Uncle John) to be at my wedding. They also came for my son Jeremiah's second birthday party, the first time she ever met him. They visited again last fall when Hannah was a baby. (See the above pictures).

I was not sad when I learned of her death. As I write this, I am getting sadder by the minute. When I told Jeremiah on Monday that Grandmom, Grumpy's Mom, had gone to live with Jesus he said "Okay." I told him I just wanted him to know because now he only had 6 Nana's instead of 7. He said "Mama, even if a person goes to live with Jesus, they are still a Nana." He's precious.

Living in another state 12 hours away, Grandmom hadn't been a big part of my life for several years. She called occasionally, or I called, or talked to her at Mom's but not nearly enough. When was the last time I told her I loved her? Did I tell her that the last time I talked to her?

93 years is a long time to have a full life but I suddenly can't help thinking that my brothers, sisters and kids will never get to hug her tiny little, frail frame. To kiss her papery soft cheek. I won't ever get another birthday card with 3 crisp dollar bills stapled inside; neither will they. Funny how that was so weird but now it seems like it was so special.

The one joy, other than the memories we have, is that she did love Jesus. My Mom said Grandmom was in her 70s when she told her, she'd been a member of the Lutheran church all her life. Every Sunday she'd attend, but never before had a preacher made her understand that Jesus loved her.

I don't really know how to close this blog post, except to say Goodbye for now to my Grandmom and to pray that everyone enroute to her funeral (my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins) have a safe journy and the Lord will bless them with comfort.

Chocolate Snowcap Cookies...again

I shared the recipe for these last year but since it's burried in my archives and they are delicious (allbeit NOT on a low sugar diet!!) I thought I'd share again.

Tonight I made a batch of these and my family went through a whole dozen before the 2nd set of trays came out of the oven!

Chocolate Snowcap Cookies:
Makes about 11 dozen (I never end up with this many, but I make big cookies)

Ingredients:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly (2/3 bag choc. chips)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°.
Chop chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water (or microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until melted). Be sure not to get even a DROP of water in the chocolate because if you do it will ruin it! Set aside to cool.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, powdered sugar and salt.
Beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add the melted chocolate.

With mixer on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk until just combined. The last addition of flour you will want to switch to a stiff spoon.

Dust hands with powdered sugar. Using a t-spoon dipped in powdered sugar, dip up balls of dough and roll them in more powdered sugar.

**Alternately or if your kitchen is warm, on a clean countertop sprinkled generously with powdered sugar, roll each portion of dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using more confectioners' sugar to prevent sticking. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss in confectioners' sugar, a few at a time. **

Using your hands, roll the pieces into a ball shape. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners' sugar again to coat completely.

Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a foil, parchment, or waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, 12 to 15 minutes.

Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely.

Note: I always end up having to chill the dough in the refrigerator for a few minutes before I roll them into balls. Otherwise the dough will stick to your hands like no tomorrow! But these are totally worth every bit of "trouble".