twenty-five

I'm home... again.

I'm back from my second work trip since the beginning of this month, but I'm not complaining at all. I love visiting our other offices and having the opportunity to work face-to-face with colleagues that are usually just on the phone.

I was in North Carolina for work this week, and I got home on Friday afternoon. As it turns out, I didn't really get much knitting time, since the flight is less than an hour. It was a wonderful trip, though. For your benefit, I won't get into any boring details, but let me just say, it was a great week to be at work. Great job, great people, great time. Okay, that's enough shop talk.

Now for the knitting...

I'm working on an infinity scarf for my youngest sister, Jennifer. I was wearing this one over the holidays, and she really loved it. Well, you know me... any excuse to get some madelinetosh and I'm on board. I started the Summer Wind Scarf just before I went to North Carolina, and I've almost reached the halfway point. I chose this pattern because my sister lives in Mississippi, and it's HOT down there. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, and is a little bit lacy. She'll be wearing it more for color than warmth. I totally LOVE the color, and it's something I'd never use for myself. This colorway is a mix of coral and pink called "espadrilles," and it's fabulous. The details are on my ravelry project page, and here's a picture showing my progress so far.

Is anyone else planning on going to the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival? It's the weekend of May 18-19, and it seems like a good time. Waynesburg is a little over an hour away, but I've taken much longer trips for yarn. I've never been to this festival before, but I think I might go, and even bring James! I was planning on going last year, but it just didn't happen. There is one major difference between the last two festivals and this one that will really help me sell this to my husband... beer. Also, there's going to be livestock! It's looking like we'll go, but I haven't confirmed it for sure. 

thirteen

Okay... Back to reality... For now.

The holidays were wonderful, and still not completely over for us. I know that the calendar says Christmas has passed, but we are going to see some relatives in a couple weeks so we're prolonging the magic. Well... except we'll be taking the Christmas decorations down. If the decorations stay up too long after New Year's I get a bit twitchy. And cranky.

In all honesty, I haven't knit a single stitch in 3 days. James' sister and her husband, along with our niece and nephew were at our house for an extended weekend. They just left this morning and are now back in Florida. Boo. We had a great time with lots of shopping, cooking, laughing and a couple movies. We always have the best time together. Speaking of the cooking, James and Kristy (his sister) made a few recipes from the new Ina Garten cookbook, Foolproof - Recipes You Can Trust. They surprised us with Amelia's Jambalaya and Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola. Mmm... Gorgonzola. Sadly, I don't have any pictures (gobble gobble), but they both looked amazing and tasted even better! If you're a Barefoot Contessa fan, and you haven't yet, grab this book. It's wonderful. Before our guests arrived, I baked the Chocolate Chunk Blondies from the same recipe collection. I did make a small adjustment, though. My nephew has a nut allergy, so instead of walnuts I used (drum roll, please) more chocolate. Sue me.

 

Today I thought to myself, "It's a new year... I should start a new project." My lovely mother gifted me a few patterns on ravelry for Christmas and it just so happens that my friends Aimee and Darren of the Knitting in Circles Podcast are hosting a Gifted Pattern KAL (Knit-A-Long) in their ravelry group. I've started the Windward Scarf by Heidi Kirrmaier and I'm enjoying the pattern so far. It's an asymmetrical scarf that uses a combination of simple stitch patterns and unique construction, that I think I'll enjoy. And let me just say, this pattern is very well-written. I love it when patterns are easy to read. I'm using two different colors of Knit Picks Gloss since I happened to have them on hand. As you may have heard, I'm still trying to stash down before I head to Stitches West next month. Here's my public project page, and a quick pick of the small amount of progress I've made so far...

Oh yes, and as of today, my yarn stash on ravelry is down to 26!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

two

Today is certainly a top-drawer day.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, but I'm really not sure I can say anything that hasn't already been said by one person or another. I love the turkey. I love the cranberry sauce (before -  the jiggly can-shaped mass; now - the orange zesty homemade kind). I love the Olive-Cheese Balls. Wait, what? You've never had olive-cheese balls? Well, for my family, they're definitely a signature appetizer for any gathering where we all look nice and drink some sort of sparkling wine. I can't remember a party without them. Try them at once! They are wonderful. Trust me.

My sister Sara and our cousin Kheli took the train in from Boston and arrived around six o'clock this morning. I didn't mind picking them up that early, as I've become a chronic early riser. The other day, I woke up completely naturally at 4:30 AM. Nothing makes me feel older than waking up before 5 AM. Well, maybe back pain...

Thanksgiving with my family is always full of traditions. The turkey, for instance, is always cooked by my father on his Weber Grill that he's had for years. It's always delicious, and always a little bit different year after year. An adventure, really. We always get a pumpkin pie, even though no one really eats it. However, I always try one new recipe every Thanksgiving, and it usually includes pumpkin. This year was no exception. I made Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumble Squares from the October 2006 (*gulp* a little late to the party here) Bon Appetit Magazine.

Today I started a new knitting project as well. Since it's Thanksgiving, I wanted a project that would be (a) easy to pick up and put down, (b) something I could work on without a printed pattern and highlighter, and (c) a single skein project. I decided on the Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure of bohoknits. Knit in the round with a lot of ribbing, followed by a lot of stockinette, this pattern definitely fit the bill. Since I have a few <cough> random skeins of sock yarn that I haven't really queued in my head yet, I thought this would be a great option. I'm using Malabrigo Sock in the 871 Playa colorway. This project is great for parade watching, telling stories, and everything else we like to sprinkle in between snack breaks on Thanksgiving.

I hope that your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well!