Sunday, November 30, 2014

Loose Ends

 The Mister wanted dishcloths for his family for Christmas and that pile is almost done-minus the finishing.



I told myself I was going to have all the gift knitting done my December 1st and I just might make it. This year I'm going to participate in the Knitmore Girl's Grinch-A-Long which means that you only make things for yourself during the holidays. It officially starts December 1st but I cheated and already have my project on the needles. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Leftover Turkey


Much to my surprise, Mr. Gobble himself did get done in time for Thanksgiving after all.


In the process he developed quite a personality. He's rather handsome, isn't he?


His accompaniments are still a bit underdone however. I know I am going to lose interest in this project once the snow begins to fly so I better make haste while the sun shines. I've already got plans to hook some snowmen. Today though, I'm not doing anything. Nada. Zilch. I'm putting on the feedbag again over at Daddio's and then taking a long overdue nap. Oh, yeah.


Friday, November 28, 2014

The Real Deal

 Daughter's turkey dinner was a wonderful affair.


 She has an itty bitty kitchen but it's so nicely outfitted that it is easier to cook in than my big cluttered one.


 Her hubby cooked the turkey on the grill. It smelled so good that for the first time in forever I was sorry to be an herbivore.

 Pup had a great time romping in the fenced yard. She never sees traffic and was fascinated by the cars driving by.


 The Mister and Son in Law did what most men do on Thanksgiving-complain about football. We missed Middle Son who opted to stay in Michigan. He was actually at the Detroit game. I think they won.


 Without Middle Son, Daughter and I had to do the cooking for a change.



 I am going to admit that I had a bit too much wine during the cooking process. I really enjoyed myself but I've been told I was a little too giggly. Ahem.


 Dinner was delicious. Her stuffing turned out better than mine. I'm using her recipe next year.



 Of course there was pie.


We had lots of pie.


 Grandson ate pie and olives. He knows what he likes.


Then he kept us all thoroughly entertained by trying to figure out how to work the whipped cream can. He's at a wonderful age where every ordinary thing is an adventure. It's hard to believe he will only be two in a few weeks. I can't remember what holidays were like without him.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Just the Two of Us

 Today The Mister and I are heading over to Daughter's for dinner but last night we had plans of our own. At noon the dining table looked like this but that was about to change.


 Since the kids all have places of their own now, they invite us over for dinner on the holidays. That's all well and good but what we miss more than a house full of kids for the holidays is a fridge full of leftovers.


 Early Wednesday morning we took a trip to the store for our own dinner that would insure we had plenty to nibble and sip for days to come.


 I must have my jello salad topped with mayo. It's  been a tradition since I was a kid.


 My china turkey joined us for dinner as did a begging pup. The Mister is no fan of turkey so he baked a ham and pup loves ham-mainly because we won't give her anything but the tiniest taste.


I did bake a tray of chicken thighs for the cats and dogs to share. The outside kitties were surprised to find such a feast on a cold night. I'm sure they snuggled in their warming huts with very full bellies which made me very thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Donsies

 The man socks are done. Hurrah. Thanks to all of Daddio's recent medical misadventures, they were pretty painless but I'm still glad to have them behind me.


 I haven't actually closed the official book on them though. Being man socks, I need to make sure they fit. Men are fussy that way. I am prepared to rip and re-do if need be.


I have a nice bit left over and I've got this wild idea to make some monster socks-as in Frankenstein, when I get a place open in the project queue. My leftover sock bin is overflowing and so is my imagination.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Piece of My Heart

 Look what The Mister brought home from the post office today.


 These new forever stamps are too fabulous to use.


If you are as old as I am, you know who this is. If you aren't, you probably don't and that's too bad. You'll never see anyone like her on American Idol or even in the top ten today-that says a lot about us, now doesn't it?


Monday, November 24, 2014

I Spy

 I was trying to take a photo of a pretty leaf.


 I didn't notice someone was watching.


 Snack time!


 I'm getting close.


 Open wide.



Got it!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Gobble

Mr Turkey is coming along but I am pretty sure I won't have him finished by Thanksgiving. I doubt he will even be done by next Thanksgiving if I want to be honest.



Those leaves that I agonized over are coming out fine, color wise but I'm having trouble getting those loops to do what I want in tight spaces. I can't really cheat them the same way I do the big spaces.



Saturday, November 22, 2014

Still Tangling

My Zentangle supplies have dramatically multiplied which means I am still hooked.


 I still spend a ridiculous time copying other people's tangles from You Tube or Pinterest. I'm pretty bad at it but I like having doodles in my head that I can use when I want. It's like being able to play a song on the guitar without sheet music in front of you. I know only one song on the guitar but I have quite a few tangles in my head.


 I was feeling confidant enough that I envisioned making my own tangle Christmas cards. I've done and re-done the same design over and over hoping to get one right. I even got The Mister in on it.


I even made templates so that if I decide to do this I can crank them out with some speed but I doubt it's happening in spite of the fact that I already bought the blank note cards and envelopes. What I am tempted to do is to draw the outline or "string" as it's called in the Zentangle world and let my family and friends come up with their own tangles as fillers. Why should I have all the fun?

Friday, November 21, 2014

It Takes Two

 Now that I've got loads of tips on how to keep my work on the needles, it's time to get down to business. Thanks for all the helpful advice. I'll be putting them into practice asap. As slow as things are going, I can't afford to lose a stitch. Speaking of stitches, I'm on the sleeves of the White Pine but that twisted ribbing is taking forever. The pattern calls for a lot of it but I'm cutting my losses and moving on. I'm really not a fan of excessive ribbing anyway and 7 inches is excessive in my book.


 The Galliano vest is moving along but still has a loooong way to go.


 I need thirteen inches before something happens. I'm not sure exactly what but something that I hope includes decreasing. Those are some long stockinette rows to plow through now that the lace work is done.



 Finally, brick by brick Tracery is heading north.


That's the steek in the middle in case you are wondering. One day, one happy day, I am going to cut it up the middle and be done with it. The slow progress is still due to The Gilmore Girls. When I run out of episodes this thing will fly off the needles. Ha. I still have all the new episodes of Orange is the New Black to get through.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Four Row Race

I finally have a finish in my group of projects I have been trying to put four rows on a day.



My latest handspun mitts are a thing of the past and I'm glad. One less thing to tick off every night.


 Among the other four row projects, I have some progress on the thrummed mittens to show. Watching the crazy color changes has been fun. These are going to be some strange looking mittens.


 That thumb should have been done ages ago but working in such a tiny space is fiddly. As cold as it is, I could really use these so now that the mitts are history these may be bumped up into the eight row club.



 The four row man socks are heading down the stretch, thank goodness. That's a lot of brown going on. Yawn.


 The biggest problem here other than the boredom issue is the needles. They are my favorites for when I want to knit fast because they are so slippery but I keep pulling them out whenever I take the project out of its bag.


 I bought one of these doo hickeys but it hasn't helped much.


Getting it on and off is risky business. The sock will come out but the needles will still be inside. Know of any good tricks to keep your work on your needles? I'm listening.