another FO or two

Another pair of Fuzzy feet, freshly felted. Shelli is modeling them. They are WOTA mulled wine and Outback Mohair on the cuffs and toes.

The sweater is on the blog back in August or September. I credit Target with getting it finally off the needles. There was a camisole on sale for $4.98. It's hard to find one in my size and this fits over the bra so I could finish this sweater and wear it. As you can see I not only finished it, but washed and blocked it and wore it all in about 24 hours. It's Leaf pattern from Tahki Stacey knit in BS Cotton Fleece in gold dust. (thanks Denise for shopping!)

The postman rang twice...

but that's because I was busy recovering from grooming the dog (no, I'm not really hurting him, he just HATES to be groomed), encouraging the boys to focus on their respective work and doing laundry. When I finally answered the door he was holding the box that contained my KnittingParents gift exchange. thanks Eliz! (sorry, Sara pointed out I had not mentioned the contents! 2 skeins of rowan Big Wool and 2 skeins of Skye Alpaca Organic Cotton! A book I have never seen, written by a lesbian knitter and LYS owner :))

Fudge, super Yorki

Fudge, the super Yorki lounging on his buckwheat travel pillow (outgrown by the boys) on his way back from Tulsa after a long holiday weekend with his buddy Gunner. We're heading back in a few more days so he'll "assume the position" again. He's the BEST dog! Rarely barks except when necessary, hikes, bikes, camps, sails and gets along with all dogs and cats. He's getting older and is the only dog now. He did pull a quick stunt a few weeks ago and stealthily stole the meat from the middle of a sandwich (leaving the bread unmoved). He was chastised and dropped the meat. For years we have said we could leave the thanksgiving turkey on the table over night and he would not touch it. It also turns out we have blamed him for occasionally getting in the trashcan, when in fact, it was the cats! We returned from our holiday trip to find the living room trash can spread on the floor. We would routinely have blamed Fudge, but he was with us the whole time. That, of course, leaves the darling cats as the culprits. We owe him an apology. I don't think a trip to the groomers is considered an apology in doggyland but that will have to do as he's quite a mop and I would prefer him to be more dashing for our upcoming trip.

another FO, but sewing not knitting

This top was a dismal failure
I altered and measured and basted and it was ultimately chucked in the trash.
This top
was not a failure, but despite massive measuring, even sewing a dummy, it still pulls across the bust in real life. so the next one will be altered yet again. Perhaps this is why I prefer knitting? While it takes much longer, the resulting fabric is more forgiving of larger areas.

Pizza!

Homeschool science. While studying about chemical reactions, the subject of cake batter as an example of an endothermic reaction was mentioned. Energy in the form of heat. That lead to pizza dough, which lead to pizza. It was excellent by the way. Look at his cute little shirt too!

some new FO's for 2007

Picasa is not cooperating with the "blog this button" and I have tried 3 times. Here are 3 Fo's. I am not certain when they were done. I think they were all completed since Jan 1, 2007. (remember, I have a dementia problem) the aqua socks are technically a re-knit of my mother's birthday socks. They were too short so I ripped them back to the heel turn and added an inch before turning the heel and changed the cuff to a mini-cable since a K2P2 was simply too boring to do again. The pair flecked with color is KnitPicks Bare with donegal. I LOVE it. They are my father's birthday present. The wine colored pair is actually yet another pair of fuzzy feet for a friend. I have yet to knit the pair for her companion, but I will, I promise.

Boys will be boys

The boys, little big and in between playing today.

Happy gift recipients!

Here are my SIL, neice and nephew sporting their fabulously hand-knit custom-made fingerless mitts. I am not making this up! My SIL opened hers first, my neice instantly said she wanted to borrow them and I was thrilled. All handknits should be so warmly recieved (take note all you less-than-enthusiastic recipients)

And, the next day, completely unprompted they ALL had their mitts on when we visited. Nephew slept in his I think!

shoot me

Gift from grandparents
the darling boys received airsoft guns. Their initial gun gift was defective and these were the backups. It is a great source of annoyance to my father that we allow them to shoot each other. I was raised with strict "no pointing a gun at a human, don't aim at it unless you're going to shoot and don't kill it unless you'll eat it" these guns break all those rules. My SIL hates guns. She married into the wrong family, but she's very gracious about it. For the record we didn't let the boys officially have any weapons until they were 12. They still made guns out of Legos and sticks. Back then at least they didn't shoot projectiles. Now sweet William has built untold numbers of Lego guns that shoot tiny Legos and other projectiles. He's the little builder that could.

The lights are on and nobody's home

Greetings! We're enjoying my family in Oklahoma immensley. My parents, however, do not have high speed, let alone WiFi. So we're driving around the neighborhood looking for Wifi hotspots and people who don't encrypt. There are a lot of you out there! THanks! It is because of you that we can get email, update blogs and generally communicate with the outside world! :)

Some holiday knits...

here are some holiday knits for my niece and nephew. I will now post the photo of the gift for their mother (because she reads my blog sometimes I didn't post it until after the holidays). I have a few other things, but I foolishly either already wrapped them or already gifted them. Brilliant, I know. These are out of KnitPicks Swish on size 6 needles. Washable, soft wool. Yum!

Oat Stuffing

I know I do not usually post recipes, but this one has had me stumped for months. I know I have had a great Scottish oat stuffing, but none of the recipies I saw were "it". Here is what I came up with:

3 C steel cut oats toasted with
2 T butter and
1 diced onion
until onion is tender and oats are nut brown to golden brown

mix 3 stalks diced celery, diced carrots and sliced mushrooms of your choice with oat mixture. Pour in 4-5 cups of rich savory stock (I used turkey stock this time) and 1/2 C milk (because it was left-over from breakfast)
Bake at 400 F in a 9x13 baking pan for about 30 then drop to 350. you can bake the whole thing at 350, i just like a crust and crispy edges.

Thanksgiving here and there

We shared a casual thanksgiving meal with the Lanhams. Connie is a great cook and Michael made the most tender and moist turkey I ever recall eating (until I made mine this year. Maybe it is a good year for turkeys ;))

Then a few days later I cooked the turkey I had purchased for our family. One thing lead to another and I somehow ended up cooking an entire meal. Renee' came and worked with Ginger on the MG. We sat down and enjoyed another great meal. We are very thankful for friends and family to share wonderful meals withl.

Kendo Tournament Chapel HIll, NC

William passed his test and is now 4 Kyu. A special thanks to Rogers Gossett who anchored the group through this trip. (and paid for some of his brilliant choices with a pitcher of frozen margaritas) Everyone did well and represented the Dojo with great sportmanship. Next year Rogers doesn't get a vote in the hotel choice though!

Thanks Margo and Peggy!!!

Dear all,
We were incredibly blessed to spend last night with warm, wonderful and gracious Peggy and Margo. Thank you women, wow. A warm, welcoming home. Bouncy dog and cats. The first (micro) snow of the season and hours and hours of easy, casual brain storming, story sharing and (of course) knitting. We are on our way to a Kendo tournament/testing in Chapel Hill, NC. Peggy and Margo shared their experience regarding publishing their Guide to the OTA book. Priceless stuff. And I left a freshly felted pair of knitted slippers for Margo to come home to. Peggy's are on the needles right now.

Welding optional

Glen Fodale, gracious man that he is, not only gifted William with the space to build a forge, but the materials as well. Here are William, Ginger and Glen creating the forge. It weights a ton. It is going to be used to first make tools for future forging.

Midsouth Eclectic Homeschoolers field trip

Thanks to Ron Brister, Director of Collections (I hope I got that right). Ron has been with the Pink Palace family of museums for a few decades and is a fount of information. The MEHS were privileged to get a behind the scenes tour of the Pink with Ron as their guide. When he retires he's interested in resuming some of the programs that the museum hasn't had the staff for, including the Junior Curator program! The Pink also owns Coon Creek which has a full camp facility and I have high hopes it will re-open for summer or seasonal camps before our own children are too old to join in.

Veterans Day Thunder

Aunt Kimmie came to town! A dear friend (she's know us since college, eek!) came to town and while we didn't exactly wine and dine her, we did enjoy having her around and including her in our daily crazy lives. We haven't seen each other for almost 14 years and she laughed and said we hadn't changed at all (while she was listening to us bicker :)) We took her out to Veteran's Day Thunder, a local bike ride fundraiser. Aunt Bev was there and though freshly unemployed, she was in good spirits (it's called shock).
top photo l-r, Ginger, Max, Kimmi, Diane, William
bottom photo Aunt Bev and Max

Thanks again Denise! Another Brown Sheep Sweater FINISHED!

You might recall that I had other plans for this yarn, but I had not consulted the yarns when I made my plans. After sitting and making friends, the yarn conspired against my gauge swatch for Tubey. No amount of fiddling with needles would yield gauge. I pondered and pondered. Drew and scribbled and the yarn spoke. Here is the very simple, knit just-to-fit-my-40-year-old-body sweater. Knit from Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in the most luscious cocoa imaginable and some super deeply discounted Bingo (Lana Grossa). I used the Handy book of sweater patterns and unvinted this baseball inspired slouchy sweater (or as slouchy as I care go to). I made the sleeves a tad too short and decided to pick the CO out and pick up and knit the opposite direction. Nothing I'm eager to do again, but it solved the problem. I'm hoping that blocking fixes the rolling of the bottom edge, but if it doesn't I'll pick up and knit a few more rows of ribbing. This is the perfect Memphis winter wear-with-jeans-around-the-house-while-homeschooling-the-urchins sweater.

Fuzzy Feet Slippers from Knitty.com

When the eldest "stole" my pair and the youngest "stole" his, I had to CO for another pair! These were intented for me, but had minds of their own. After the initial felting they were a bit too long, but way too big, after the 2nd felting they were actually too small. I wore them all day trying to coax them into submission, but finally gave up that evening. I tossed them in the washer for another quick spin and presented them to my darling bride. They fit her perfectly. I enjoy these quick knit slippers. The problem this time was my memory. I forgot if I knit the others on size 10 or 11 (pattern calls for 10.5, but I do not own that). These were knit with size 11, obviously NOT what I used previously! I have since made a pair on size 10 that felted perfectly and are on my feet. There are more of these on my "To Knit List" Peggy and Margo are getting the next pair when I see them in a few weeks. Renee' and Shelly are getting the next pairs as house-warming gifts. Their new house has hardwood floors, wool slippers are a must. And it appears youngest son will also get another pair as the ones he "stole" from his brother were accidentally washed and now fit his best friend. Perhaps these should be called Fuzzy Traveling Feet?