I just spent the last hour and a half turning this:
into this:
I’m not really sure why I went through the painstaking process to untangle something that had been knit holding two strands at a time, especially because it was only about $5 worth of yarn, but I just couldn’t throw it away.
In all the years I’ve been knitting I’ve never made anything for Matt to wear. In fact, the only thing I’ve made for him is this chess board.
This year Matt and I decided to just do stocking gifts for each other, and I knew making him a hat would be just perfect. I was in DC the other week, and I saw a guy walking on the street with a toboggan that I knew would be perfect for Matt. I finally found some yarn that I wanted to use at a The Yarn Shop by Rainy Day Creations in Pineville, NC and quickly improvised a pattern that would work.
I was so pleased with the way the hat turned out that I couldn’t wait until Christmas to give it to him! I knit it with Katia Fabula which knit up very quickly on size 13 needles. Fabula is a super bulky washable merino. At $11 a skein, with two skeins required, this hat was a bit expensive to make, but the colors were perfect for Matt, and I knew he wouldn’t wear it unless it was really soft.
I love the way the natural colors of the yarn and the way that it created the stripes. The design was improvised, but you can check out my notes on my ravelry page. Be warned, they are really rough notes. I’ll try to tighten them up in the next few days, but I can’t make any promises.
Today was our first official day of snow. I’m guessing we had about 1/2 inch on the ground which surprised me because it has been pretty warm up here, and I would have thought the ground was still too warm for anything to stick. Regardless, it was a beautiful first snow that dusted everything outside. I’m bummed though because I couldn’t get any pictures since it was practically dark when I got home from work.
I did a whole lot of knitting over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately I feel like I don’t really have anything to show for it. I did finish these baby booties for my sister to give to one of her expecting friends. I’m glad that I don’t sell these booties, because I have to confess that I really don’t like knitting them. There just seems to be way too much finishing work involved for something so small and cute. I think I’m going to find a pattern for baby socks to make for people instead.
I also made this custom baby Christmas pixie hat for a client. I got pretty frustrated making it because I was trying to use yarn I already had, which unfortunately happened to be acrylic, and the green yarn was actually a different weight. I ended up making almost three versions before I got the hat part right, but at least it was good practice creating something myself totally from scratch. I am usually a pattern-following girl, but one day I would like to get into writing and publishing my own knitting patterns, so this was good practice.
On another note, tonight we had what some might call a small accident but I would refer to as a crisis of epic proportions. It involved a very full glass of orange juice accidentally making its way into my knitting bag which contained approximately 8 new skeins of yarn, 1 finished project, and 3 works in progress.
That’s right. Sticky colored liquid in my yarn basket.
But don’t worry. My husband came to the rescue, and I think we got everything cleaned up. A few of the skeins and two of the works in progress were drenched in oj, so I ran then under cool water and am letting them dry. I’m not sure if that will work or not, but I thought I would give it a shot.
So, the moral of the story – its just yarn, and it can be replaced if necessary. Also, orange juice is very sticky.
In our Thanksgiving tradition, yeast rolls are one of the most important staples. In fact, I might venture to say that they are even more important than the turkey. My grandmother Elese was a caterer, and to this day we use her recipe for yeast rolls.
I think we went through 20 cups of flour making these yeast rolls and cinnamon rolls!
I know Thanksgiving was yesterday, but I needed to sleep off the effects of the turkey before I posted again. All that food was so delicious and it was such a delight to be with all of my family, except for my sister who lives in Thailand. {We missed you Liz!}
We really have so much to be thankful for, and here are the things at the top of my list.
1. My husband. Even though we’ve only been married 2 1/2 years, I cannot imagine life without him. I am so thankful for how patient, loving, and kind he is toward me. He has a great way of helping me mellow out when I get too high strung. He really is my better half.
2. My family. I am so grateful that my family gets along so well and truly loves each other. I’m thankful that we got to spend almost a month with my sister in October since she couldn’t get back to Thailand because of the flooding. I’m thankful that my brother is home from New Hampshire and we get to spend time with him. I’m thankful that my other sister has found someone to spend the rest of her life with. I’m thankful I have such a good relationship with my husband’s family that they have become my family.
3. A new job. I’m incredibly thankful to be in a new position at work. After 6 years working in a position that wasn’t a great fit, I’m now thankful to have a job that I enjoy. A job that I am good at that makes me feel fulfilled at work.
4. Health. I’m thankful that we have a healthy family. 2 years ago my mom was going through chemo and radiation, and I am thankful that is behind us. We aren’t guaranteed life, and we aren’t guaranteed that our family members will always be healthy, so this year I am trying not to take that for granted.
5. Knitting. I am so thankful to have found a hobby that I enjoy so much. I’m also thankful that knitting is a little more popular now than it used to be, so that I don’t always look like a grandma. I still can’t believe that people want to buy things that I knit. It is such an honor.
If there is one thing about the cold weather that I don’t mind, it’s the increased focus on knitting. Something about cold weather makes me just want to sit on the sofa, watch a movie, and knit. Now that daylight savings time has ended, it seems like there is even more time than usual.
I have been selling quite a few of the Mike Nesmith Inspired Knit Wool Hats in my Etsy shop so I have been busy fulfilling those orders.
I still can’t believe that people want to purchase things that I make. I cannot even begin to tell you what that does for my moral.
I just finished knitting a custom scarf for a client, and I am so pleased with how it turned out.
This was knit with Malabrigio worsted in the Rattan color way. So far I have made two of these scarves for other people, and I have decided that I have to make one for myself! Ravelry notes on the scarf here.
{this moment} – “A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.” – SouleMama
I finally cleaned two bushels of apples off my kitchen counter and finished making our applesauce!
I usually make applesauce in pint sized jars, but somehow I was running low on those, so I used quarts. 14 quarts and 8 pints – I’m not sure if that is enough to last us through the year or not, so I might pick up some more apples.
I discovered that my apron pocket made moving apples much more efficient than just using my hands!
Making and canning applesauce doesn’t necessarily take a lot of work, but it does take a significant amount of time. It took me about 4 hours one night, start to finish. I would rather do all the sauce at once instead of doing lots of small batches since so much equipment and prep work is required.
1. Peel, quarter, and core apples. One of those apple peeling, coring and slicing gadgets makes this process so much easier!
2. Cook apples with a little bit of water until they break down.
3. Put sauce through food mill.
4. Sanitize jars and lids.
5. Fill jars and hand tighten lids.
6. Process in water bath for 35 minutes (longer time because I am at a high altitude).
So for 4 hours, I had each of these steps going continuously because I had so many apples. While I was peeling, a batch was cooking, a batch had been milled and was ready to go into jars, and a batch was in the canner.
I know I’m going to be so thankful for all this applesauce when January rolls around and my sources for local fruits and veggies are hibernating for the winter.
Weekends don’t get any better than this one.
It started out with a fall party hosted by the best party throwers I know. There was lots of food, warm drinks, and plenty of catching up with friends. Saturday I slept in and spent a leisurely morning at the house by myself, sipping on coffee, catching up on knitting projects for clients, and watching Mansfield Park on Netflix. Those kind of mornings are recharging for me.
Matt rode in a 36 mile mountain bike race Saturday afternoon, so after my leisurely morning, I headed down the mountain to see him finish. Of course, I stopped to capture the last of the fall color on my way down.
I got to the race in time to see Matt and his dad finish together. They rode 36 miles in 4 hours and 20 minutes. I am so proud of them for riding and finishing!
After the race we decided to venture a little farther down the mountain and visit my family to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday mom! My sister is visiting from Thailand, so we have been spending as much family time together as possible. We probably won’t see her again until April.
Oh, and I forgot the best part of my weekend: I was supposed to be leaving yesterday for Thailand for two weeks. I was going to be at a conference in a resort hotel, and as much as I was looking forward to the trip, it is much better timing wise for me to stay home. I was actually a little relieved when I got the email that the conference was cancelled due to all of the flooding. Now I feel like I have two glorious weeks of “extra time” to get ready for Thanksgiving and get caught up on some things!
{this moment} – “A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.” – SouleMama
