Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween my spooky knitters. I'm sure that tonight, many of you are planning to stay at home where it's nice and cozy while you knit on something fabulous. Or perhaps you will succumb to popular convention and go trick-or-treating. I do wish you all a happy day/night in whatever you choose to do. Stay warm and be safe. I'll post more on my projects later.

Slowly Oh So Slowly

Good morning my knitting friends! I've been away for a few days; not doing anything too special, just working on the Christmas knits and puttering about. I have finished one half of my younger brother's gift (I feel comfortable posting this because my brother, Andrew, is very un-interested in anything related to wool...)

I have a small handful of people left to knit for. There are a few non-Christmas gifts that need finishing too, but those will come in time. I'm the type of knitter that must have more than one, but no less than twelve projects going at once. It keeps things interesting that way.

I've been making homemade bread- really yummy!

We picked out our pumpkins (mine is the smaller of the two)

I think here, we may have had a disagreement over something, possibly the knitting. 

Then we started carving

Then we showed off our carved jack-o-lanterns :)

I also made these for my mother- White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies (her favorite)

This may be why I don't get as much knitting done as I want to; I'm always baking something...the option to clone myself would be a tremendous help, but there are a good number of people out there that share the opinion that the world just isn't ready for another me....

A Very Happy Birthday

Today, I finished the sweater. For the first one, I'm very proud of how it turned out. Alex is very happy :)

This is what the sweater looked like last night- one sleeve left and the collar

I'm pretty sure that he's looking around to make sure that there isn't anyone watching...

Doesn't he look so dreamy? 

I would like to note that I already have the next sweater pattern picked out: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/february-lady-sweater

And the yarn: http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Swish_DK_Yarn__D5420168.html (The color I'm going to use is "Rouge")

Interestingly, my birthday is in February. I promised Alex I wouldn't buy any more yarn until January. That means that at 12:01am January 1, 2013 I will hit the "send" button and place a small crater dent in the checking account. I'm lobbying for a new set of needles from Knit-Picks too, but I better not get my hopes to high...

Good Morning Thursday

Tomorrow is Alex's birthday and the sweater is still in progress. The second sleeve needs shaping and then the collar. I'm going to try really hard to finish it today. It may or may not get washed first, but we'll see. I'm feeling ambitious today...There is pumpkin bread in the oven, plain bread rising, fresh-picked dahlias from a local farmer's market brightening up our little abode, and the sun is shining through the front window.

I should be knitting right now, but it's been a while since I've posted anything and I was starting to miss it. Last Sunday, my brother's girlfriend and I spent some time bonding. We spent the afternoon as mall rats and stopped by her apartment for a tour. It's cute- decked out in all things hockey. Three was also this little sentiment left by my brother:

They are an adorable couple :)

Stews and Sweaters

I made stew today. Delicious, beef stew with chunky vegetables, herbs and spices. I put everything in the crockpot this afternoon and when I got home this evening, I was greeted with the wonderful aroma of a meal that did not take hours of work to prepare. I have included the recipe here just in case any of you out there would like to try it out. The lovely thing about the crockpot? There's more time to knit...

Beef Stew

*For my vegetarian buddies out there, this recipe can very easily be changed to leave out the beef and use vegetable broth instead.

-2lbs pre-cubed stew meat (really, any meat you want to use would work, although it may affect the cooking times slightly)

-2 med/large potatoes (I think I picked up Russet, but red or Yukon golds are also wonderful)

-1/2 pkg. baby carrots

-1 bunch celery

-1 med/large yellow onion

-1 can diced tomatoes (no added salt)

-5 large mushrooms (I used white mushrooms)

-2 or 3 pieces of garlic

-1 small can of tomato paste

-black pepper and sea salt to taste

-rosemary, thyme, paprika, parsley (I used about 1/2 tsp of all except the paprika, that was closer to about a tablespoon)

-4 cups of low-sodium beef broth

Prepare: chop the vegetables and garlic (I like chunky stews, so I left them sort of big). Layer all the ingredients in order they are listed into the crockpot, starting with the meat on the bottom. Mix the broth, tomato paste, spices, herbs, and garlic together and pour over the other ingredients.

Cook the stew for 8-9 hours on low. Enjoy!




I was grocery shopping yesterday and there was a big truck unloading big pallets of pumpkins. Oh I love October. It's officially pumpkin season!

They had these gigantic pumpkins too. The price by the way is per gourd, not per pound. A wee bit out of my price range. Also, I don't have a cart large enough to walk the beast home in...

I'm working on Alex's sweater now. Pictures will follow soon, but here's a preview there is one sleeve and the collar left to finish.... :)

These are old photos, the one sleeve is done now....

Beautiful

There are many a reason I love and adore my husband, but at the top of the list is how genuine and honest he is. He can tell me with a straight face that my new jeans do not at all make my butt look big and mean every word. He can swallow down my tuna casserole and give me suggestions on how to make it better without making me cry. And, he can tell me that I look beautiful when I haven't shaved my legs in two weeks, my hair is a mess and all I'm wearing is a bathrobe, and I know that I am the only woman in the world for him.

For the last several days I have had to wear a gauze pad under my nose to keep from bleeding all over the place. As I was getting dressed this morning, (my legs unshaven and hair a mess), Alex wrapped his arms around my waist, looked into my eyes and said, "I know you don't feel beautiful now, but you are." That made my day. I love you Sunshine!

Recovery

Today I had a very common operation performed; my adenoids were removed from my nose. They have been quite swollen for a long time and I had finally had enough. Now, I have two weeks off from work to recover and you know what that means- knit, knit, knit.

The sweater is looking great- the bottom ribbing is coming along well and I'm hoping to possibly start the sleeves tomorrow. We shall see- they have me on a delightful little pain pill that may yield some interesting results. Perhaps I should consider working on something where a bit of mangling could be fairly easily disguised, like my brother's birthday scarf (October 9)...

Because of where the surgery was done, everything from the chin up hurts; something akin to sticking my head in a vice and swallowing razor blades....Now, pardon me, it's time for another (ick) pill. I should note that there are a few things in this world that I truly dislike: shots and taking medicine are two of them.

Good night dear knitting buddies. I'll keep you all posted on the sweater :)

Sweater Pattern

A fellow knitter was kind enough to mention that I did not give the pattern for the sweater I'm making for Alex. Here you go :)

It's a free Ravelry.com download.

http://www.abc-knitting-patterns.com/1174.html

The First Day

I realize that according to the calendar, the first day of Fall has already arrived, but I just don't quite feel it entirely yet. The mornings and evenings are certainly cooler, and the pumpkins and seasonal squash are all over the farmers markets, and the leaves are starting to turn, but there is something that just seems to be missing. It's been lovely  having all this gorgeous sunshine into October, because I know that eventually, we will be spending the next 6 months (at least) with gray skies and rain boots. Not that I don't love the sunshine, but it's sort of difficult to hunker down with a bowl of homemade soup and some tea when it's still 72-degrees outside....

At any rate, welcome October. I love this month. Everything is starting to change and the colors of the trees are so inspiring that I could see myself wrapped in something cozy and knitted that reflect the shades of red, orange, gold and bronze that surround me. Maybe if I buy some wool in this sort of colorway and start knitting something, Fall will come a little sooner...Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go find the checkbook.