And Another Hat

I seem to be on repeat these days. I keep knitting the same things over and over and over again.  It's mostly because I'm trying to get inventory built up for Winterfest, but this time...

An Etsy customer asked me too.    This time around I'm knitting the same hat in the same colors but with a much longer, foldable brim and a faux fur pom.

And yes!  I am able to knit once again.  Yay!!  I'm still not walking too well or for too long but my back is getting better.  It's a slow process but I am getting better.  I no longer need the pain pills and I'm down to only one muscle relaxer before bed.  Doesn't sound like much but it is progress.  And I'm very, very happy to be knitting again.  

For those of you who were in Ida's path, I pray you made it through the storm safely.  We had a nice stiff breeze, two claps of thunder, and a mess of rain but nothing like the rain they got in some places.  The storm added three or four inches of water to the pool and that was it.  One nice thing about Ida - she sucked up all the moisture in the air and left us with absolutely GORGEOUS fall-like weather for the weekend.

Hmm.  I just realized this weekend is Labor Day weekend for those of us in the states so....

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Easter Knitting

Nothing like celebrating the upcoming holiday with a giant martini glass full of Easter eggs.  I took a break from Swoncho knitting to knit up a couple of Easter eggs.  Every year I knit a few more for the collection.  This year, I realized that oddly, I had the eggs here at my MIL's house, but no baskets or any other Eastery type of decor.  So, a giant martini glass full of eggs it is.

If you'd like to knit a few of your own, the pattern I use is here.  It's free, simple, quick to knit, and a great way to use up little bits of scrap yarn.

Hope you are all staying sane, safe and healthy.

Making Mama Proud

It's not pretty, or big, or knitting related... but my mama would be so proud!

First tomato, 7/3/19

It was always a huge thing, a major source of pride, something to be worshiped and more importantly, something to brag about to the ladies at the pool when you got a ripe tomato before the fourth of July.  

Granted, it may be only slightly larger than a golf ball, but mine plucked itself from the vine on July 3.

Independence Day

Wishing all my American friends a safe and happy Independence Day!

Memorial Day

photo courtesy of freelanceknight.com

Wishing my American friends a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Sunday Supper - Strawberry Soup

First,

Happy Mother's Day!

Today's Sunday Soup recipe is for chilled strawberry soup.  I won't actually be eating it though.  I have to work this afternoon and the soup has wine in it and my luck, I'd eat a big bowl full, go to work and get randomly drug tested.

Strawberry Soup, photo courtesy of myrecipes.com

I'm not normally a fan of cold soups but this one....  It's basically strawberries, yogurt and wine all blended together then chilled.  There's wine, but no cooking involved.  What's not to like about that??

Happy Easter

photo courtesy of history.com

Wishing you a very happy Easter weekend!

Happy Labor Day

courtesy of bustle.com

Wishing all my US friends a happy Labor Day!

Independence Day

I seem to be failing miserably at this whole work vs. life balance thing this season.  Since I'm struggling to have new knitting projects to show you and my recent posts have obviously been hastily written and published without much thought and I don't see things improving around here any time soon, I've decided to take a short break from the blog.  

A little mini vacation if you will.  Just for a week or two while I try to get my head together and some yarn balled so that I could knit if I should find the time.

I imagine my need to talk about knitting and my family's and coworker's desire Not to talk about knitting will lead me back to the blog quicker than expected.  Meanwhile,

photo courtesy of officeholidays.com

I'm wishing all my American friends a safe and happy Independence Day!

Happy Memorial Day

It always seems wrong to wish people a "happy" Memorial Day but...

photo courtesy of onlinelearningtips.com

Happy Memorial Day!

 I pray for peace for all our fallen troops and their families.


And since today is a Monday, and thus a #MakersMonday....

I have an armpit!

I have an armpit!

So Faded Sweater

That may be a strange blog post lead-in for non-knitters but the knitters of the world will understand my joy.  The body of my So Faded sweater is finished.  It fits!  And I have an armpit! 

This Memorial Day weekend marks the start of 'The Season' and more and longer hours at work so my posting schedule is about to become thin and sporadic.

photo courtesy of brookline.com

But I'm wishing all my US friends a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Makers' Monday

I hope everyone had a

Today's #MakersMonday post is not a normal one because I've been too busy working,

(We even have Stapler wars at work!)

eating Mother's Day cheesecake, birthday cake (today's my birthday) and

a "You wanted lemon/blueberry cake for your birthday but I wanted peanut butter pie" pie.  Sarah went on a baking binge while I was at work and now I've gained about 300 pounds over the course of two days.  Yikes!

Assuming I survive the diabetic coma I'm putting myself into, I'll be back in a day or two to show you my So Faded progress.  I've started color #3 and am so happy with it!  Until then, feel free to join me in celebrating #MakersMonday, even though I didn't make anything  (except about 400 gazillion trillion fat cells.)

Happy Easter!

photo courtesy of eastlinks.co.uk

Happy Easter!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm going to keep today's post super short - hopefully.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

After finishing Seven Steps to Closure, I started reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.  Seven Steps was a fun, hilarious read all the way to the end and while I'm only 31% into The Ocean, it's proving to be just as good, although for completely different reasons.  These days, I only seem to be able to find time to read right before bed.  I've trained myself to read a page or two then fall asleep.  If it wasn't for that, I think I'd have finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane in one sitting.  It's that good!

2018 Weather Cowl

As for my knitting, I'm still busily knitting mitered squares for my blanket, doing some shop knitting and keeping up with my weather scarf. cowl.  I keep calling it a scarf, but it will definitely end up being a cowl, no question about it.  Each month will only be about two inches long.  Definitely not a scarf!  Although I seem to be incapable of calling it a cowl, I'm happy for it to be a cowl.  Specially since I can easily knit a liner for it and not have to deal with weaving in 365 loose ends.  I do wish I'd chosen a different green for the 67 - 77 degree range but.... I was/am working with what I have.  Gotta stick to that yarn diet!  I also find it amazing that it can be 70+ degrees one day and snowing the next.   Welcome to winter in Virginia!

Join me for today's #Unraveled  link-up.

Makers' Monday and a Happy New Year

First, I wanted to wish you a happy New Year!

Happy New Year, courtesy of lovequotepics.com

I'm hoping all your dreams for 2018 come true.

But today, it's Makers' Monday, so...

Pecan Pie

When Harry Met Sally

I'm showing my age here, but I can not say "pecan pie" without saying it When Harry Met Sally style.

Anyway....

Earlier this month I shared a list of our family's traditional Thanksgiving deserts and I promised to share the recipes.  Last Saturday I shared a link to my chocolate pie recipe.  Today, it's Pecan Pie's turn.

pecan pie recipe

PECAN PIE

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup corn syrup (light syrup works but dark is Much better)
1 cup sugar
2TBSP butter, softened
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile in a large bowl, stir together the first 5 ingredients until well blended.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into the pie shell and bake in at 350 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool.

Enjoy!

Owen Chocolate Pie Recipe

This past Thursday's post was a list of the desserts I traditionally make for Thanksgiving.  Lots of people have since commented that pumpkin pie was missing from the list.  Although pumpkin pie is an American classic, it's not our family's favorite.  Actually, there's only one of us who really likes it and only a few of us who tolerate it, assuming it's mounded with whipped cream.

photo courtesy of tastykitchen.com

So, we don't have pumpkin pie.  We have chocolate pie instead.

This pie is so yummy and so simple to make, I thought I'd share the recipe.  And then I realized, I already have!  Here's a link to a 2014 Thanksgiving post where you'll find the recipe.  I'm proud to say that over the last few years, I've cut back on the number of desserts we take to Thanksgiving and for the last two years, not a single tear has been shed!

Hope I didn't just jinx myself.  Yikes!

Stay tuned for the other recipes mentioned in last Thursday's post.

Fourth Time

Well, it looks like the fourth time is the charm.

Yarn Along Wednesday

Miraculously, Christmas Eve dawned with only a personal fair isle project on the needles. (Assuming we're ignoring the giant UFO pile, which we are.)  I knew I needed a simple Keep Calm & Knit On project to get me through our Christmas Eve gift exchange adventure.  See, ever since Sarah was taking Drivers Ed & had the homework assignment over Christmas break to 'drive for a minimum of three hours straight,' our tradition has been to spend the better part of Christmas Eve driving all over the state delivering gifts.  And Sarah drives.  Over the years, we've perfected our route.  It actually takes some planning because as we drop gifts off, we also pick up others to drop off further down the line.  Each year, the trip has gone a little smoother except..... Did I mention, Sarah drives?  And how we travel over mostly twisty-turny, back country roads? And how with each year she's grown more confident in her driving skills and how she doesn't believe in slowing down for the sharp curves? And how it has some how mysteriously been pouring POURING down rain every Christmas Eve since we started this tradition?  Well, believe me when I say - I NEED a Keep Calm and Knit On project for the Christmas Eve Adventure.

Anyway.... Christmas Eve rolled around, my fair isle scarf was the only thing on my needles & it wasn't an appropriate Keep Calm in the car project.  The giant ball of knit & ripped & knit & ripped and knit & ripped Pittura yarn was still laying on my desk so I grabbed it, a pair of needles & off we went on our adventure.  In the blinding rain.  It's tradition.

I'm not sure if it was the magic of Christmas or if the Knitting Gods took pity on me but what ever.  The fourth time seems to be the charm.  It's working out just how I'd envisioned it and, knock on wood, there doesn't seem to be any dropped stitches or random purled rows or sets of three pink rows when it's supposed to be only two rows of pink per stripe.  It's all working out just fine.

And while I've been knitting, I finished reading the last of the season's holiday romance books.  The Great Christmas Knit-Off by Alexandra Brown was a fun post-holiday read.  While I enjoyed it, I'm really glad I didn't start it right before Christmas because I probably would have suddenly felt the need to knit myself a Christmas sweater.

So, what are you knitting and/or reading?  Join me over at Ginny's Yarn Along to see what others are knitting while the read & to wish Ginny a happy belated birthday.

Sunday - Easter Hats

Instead of sharing a knitted hat pattern today, I'm celebrating Easter by sharing a Richmond, Virginia tradition with you.

www.skippix.us

The Monument Ave. Easter Parade.  It's a huge tradition in Richmond.   The streets surrounding Robert E. Lee's statue are blocked off and there's a huge, giant block party complete with beer, bands, a parade, and a hat contest.

rvanews.com

Everyone participates.  Young and old,

richmond.com

People and pets.

Everyone dresses for the occasion.

examiner.com

images.frompo.com

examiner.com

Even the plastic pink flamingos take part.

www.vitaminseava.blogspot.com

And everyone enters the Easter hat contest.

venturerichmond.com


Happy Easter!

TBT - Easter hats

It's TBT and we're throwing back to my mom's youth & probably the one time in her entire life when she wore a hat.

Okay, so it looks more like a bee keeper hat than an Easter hat.  Honestly, I have no idea what the season was when this picture was taken.  I just decided that something important must have been going on to get my mom in a hat.  Also in the picture are my mom's younger brothers, Hank & Dusty.  The dog may or may not be Blue.  I'm not exactly up to date on the family's dog genealogy.

On a different note.... My summer job has started.  Last weekend the park was open for training purposes & the hours were short and it didn't affect my knitting & blogging too terribly much.  But as of tomorrow, the theme park will be open for real.  I'll be working every day for the next ten days.  And I'm a little freaked out.  After spending the winter sitting on my butt knitting & binge watching Netflix, going to work every day is going to be a shock to the system.  And probably a shock to the blog as well.  Blog posts may become rather sporadic.

Meanwhile, if you don't hear from me, Happy Easter!