Whine!

We went wine tasting with Annie and Tim yesterday. We had a blast but really only went to one winery. Ok, I didn't need more wine and it was only one winery because the guy kept pouring and we kept drinking. At least it was my favorite winery "Meekers". We did stagger nextdoor to "Locals" to buy a case of Viognier and to pick up our club picks. Ok, yeah, I did need more wine.

Today I am sick and feel like my throat is sloughing off. I think I am going to go back to bed.

Blog babble

I thought that once in a while I should show the cats. Evan took this picture of Nico on Thanksgiving. It is actually very cute. I figure that since I had nothing to show a picture of the cat was as a good filler. Nico is a brat.

Knitting stuff : I finished Annie's green poncho. I finshed one clog and I am about done with the second, and I have the back of Peters sweater done and almost half of the front. Not bad.

BBM3

I was in a foodie secret pal group. This is what my secret pal sent me. Thanks, Andrea!! I got all kinds of Philly junk food. Tastycakes galore, and lots of other incredible stuff. Andrea made me macaroons (my favorite) and sent me a recipe for lamb stew.

My favorite part is



they are little fish shape bottles. I am not sure what you put in them but I love stuff like this.

Come over for dinner Andrea!!

Hold the presses...
I just got this email from Andrea and it explains the contents better than I could

"Janis,

I'm so glad you liked the treats! Each of those snacks is a regional speciality. The chips are from Herr's, which is an old school Pennsylvania company to the extreme. They use twice as much flavoring in their chips as I've ever seen anywhere else. They even make an "Old Fashioned" potato chip fried in lard. I sent two packages of the barbeque because they're my absolute favorite. The Thin Mints are a Haviland product; I'm not sure they're available out west, but they're like the ultimate after dinner mint. Like Andes, but thicker and more chocolatey. The Tasty Cake is a Philadelphia obsession. They come in about a billion flavors; I tried to pick the ones without weird pink coconut for you. And, of course, Isgros cakes. Of all the bakeries I've been to (I split my time between New York and Philadelphia), Isgros is the best hands down. It's a tiny little shop right outside the Italian Market in south Philly. They make everything by hand, as they have for the past 100 years. And their cakes are amazing! I included plain and chocolate yogurt pound cake in your package.

The biggest holidays at my house were always birthdays, so all your goodies are junk food snacks. And my boyfriend's favorite cookies of all time are the almond macaroons -- he always gets a big batch on his birthday. The little plastic squeeze bottles are just kind of cute -- and if you ever take bento boxes to work for lunch, they're miraculous for their soy sauce toting abilities!

Enjoy!

Andrea"

Kick it up

I am making these felted clogs (Fiber Trends) for my sister for her birthday. She saw mine and said that is what she wants. Now I see why everyone was knitting these. They are a blast to knit. Other than that I feel like I am knitting in my sleep. I just haven't had enough down time. Now the busy season is here and I also have gifts to do.

More knitting

This is the poncho that I am making Annie. It is a kit from Fleece Artist. I finished it once and had to rip out the entire thing because it was way too wide and short. I cast on less stitches and I think it will work this time. I love the color.

Hey, I forgot to tell you this but I pawned off the sweaters that I didn't want on my sister and mom. They loved them all so much that I knew that they were going to a good home. I even pawned one off that wasn't sewn up yet on my mother and she will finish it. I feel cleansed. I can start a bunch more projects that I will never wear. I found two enablers!!!

Wiped out

This is how I feel. Mom is still here and goes home today. I am pooped. Haven't been doing much of anything other than working at the shop and cooking for groups of people. The house looks like someone dropped a wrecking ball on it. I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Funny how having the whole family around makes the dynamics go back to when you are about six years old. Ok, on to Xmas.

Lights

The lights in our backyard are almost all in. See the tiny thing to the right of the picture? Those are the new copper lights. The others are up in trees and you can't see them. We will have light for Thanksgiving. The weather is so good that we could probably eat out there but we won't. I want to pretend that it is cold and November like. Hell, if I had a fireplace I might even put it on just to make myself feel better.

So, tomorrow is the day that people start arriving from my family. Mom comes tomorrow and Wen is my sis and her family and Evan. I won't be blogging for the next few days. So, Happy Thanksgiving and have a wonderful time.

No news is good news?

So I don't have any news of any kind. This is why you get to look at Lily. I have the day off today and I really don't feel like thinking of anything clever. Like I ever do...

Back to knitting

So the sweater IS growing. It feels like it just inches along (because it does just inch along) but I am getting into it. I have other stuff going at work and I will take pictures and show tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to Circque D' Soleil. I am not one to knit in public so the knitting will inch even slower.

I got my haircut yesterday. Annie said it was cute. Mr Yarn said I look like Pat Benatar. I say I look like I got electroshock treatment.

So I was so wrong

I apologize for speaking too soon. I have to say the Stones were amazing. Yes, Mick is old, but I have never seen so much energy in all my life. Not only that but since he started out so damn ugly he really hasn't aged. He looks the same. Not only that but any guy that can move like that at his age is ok in my book. I never had that much energy in my life. It also didn't hurt that we were sitting on the floor in section 14 and we were in 400.00 seats. The stage and the whole show was probably one of the best concerts I have ever seen (and I have seen LOTS of concerts).

Best part was when they sang "Sympathy for the Devil" I felt like I was back in time.



Ok, and I do dance like a white girl...

It's only rock n' roll

Guess what? I am going to the Stones concert tonight. Shut up, I AM. I don't even want to go but I will be damned if I miss history. I will then be able to say that I saw the Stones and Paul McCartney before I died.

Ok, I will try to not embarass Annie and I won't try to dance.

Homey

I decided to can some chutney. I haven't canned anything since I moved from San Jose and all the fruit trees. I think I miss doing it. It is a lot of fun. This is a cranberry chutney that is spicy and GREAT! Here is the recipe:

From NPR article
Susan Stamberg calls this recipe "my truly favorite cranberry side dish." It's from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook East/West Menus for Family and Friends (Harper & Row, 1987).

Garlicky Cranberry Chutney

Susan Stamberg calls this recipe "my truly favorite cranberry side dish." It's from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook East/West Menus for Family and Friends (Harper & Row, 1987).

1-inch piece fresh ginger

3 cloves finely chopped garlic

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons sugar

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

l-pound can cranberry sauce with berries

1/2 teaspoon salt (or less)

ground black pepper

Cut ginger into paperthin slices, stack them together and cut into really thin slivers.

Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar and cayenne in a small pot. Bring to a simmer, simmer on medium flame about 15 minutes or until there are about four tablespoons of liquid left.

Add can of cranberry sauce, salt and pepper. Mix and bring to a simmer. Lumps are ok. Simmer on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes.

Cool, store and refrigerate. ("It will keep for several days, if you don't finish it all after first taste!")

No name sweater

This is the sweater that I am working on at the shop. Comes from the Holiday knits book. It is going fast and is fun to knit. I LOVE the Donegal Tweed by Tahki that I am knitting it out of.

It is Friday. One more day and I finally will have two days in a row off. Guess what I am going to do? Yup. I am going to knit and sit around. Of course I always say that and it never actually happens.

You waited for this?

So I got the camera to download (battery crisis is over) and I ended up with this substandard picture of a really beautiful sweater. Double click on it for more detail, but as it evolves you will see better photos.

So, nothing is really happening other than life is just too hectic these days. Seems that I never get to go home and just be a vegetable anymore. I miss my house. Lily is starting to not know who I am. Mr Yarn gives me a look like he might have forgotten too. The cats? they always acted that way.

Pffft

I did recharge the batteries to the camera last night but I simply forgot to plug in the charger. Ok, I will be the first to admit that I am losing it. So, you will have to wait to see the sweaters that I started (one at work the other here at home). The Jade Starmore sweater Zauberflöte is fun to do and is already beautiful. Alright, I only did about 10 rows but I can see it already. I will show you tomorrow. I swear.

I am a bore

The batteries died. I forgot to recharge the other ones. No pictures today and really not much to say. I am grumpy. I only had one day off this week and I am tired. So, I have nothing to amuse you with. Oh, wait...maybe this will do.



Yarn!

Lots of knitting

Well the sale was yesterday and I am pooped. The "Mohair Madness" sale went ok. I found out that I am more wild for mohair than most others. So, it was only an ok sale.



I did finish the Karabella shawl. I didn't use Karabella Gossamer as called for. I used none other than Kid Silk Haze. I like how it turned out and it was a fun knit. I am now moving on to the cable sweater in Holiday Knits. Here it is (bad picture)



I am making this out of Donegal Tweed by Tahki.

Happy Anniversary

After all the times I probably embarassed you I doubt you read here but just in case you do:

Happy Anniversary, sweetheart!

It is Mr Yarn's and my fifth anniversary. I am the luckiest person in the world to have found him. I can't believe that there is another human on the planet that can put up with my crap.

Thanks Rich. I love you.

Baa Humbug

Molly brought me a toy last night! It is a pooping sheep that poops Jelly Bellys. It only poops the cola and the butterscotch ones (for the sake of looking realistic you know). I love this toy. It amuses me to no end.

I started a new sweater that I will have to bring home to take a picture of. It is out of the Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick and Susan Pittard. This book is great! I am also knitting a shawl from a Karabella pattern. I am not doing it out of Gossamer, I am doing it out of kidsilk haze. I will take a picture later and show you that too.

The trash man is LOUD

I have never lived anywhere in my life that I was woken up by the trash man. I don't mean the dog barking at the trash man, I mean the trash man himself. He makes my life miserable. He yells to the other trash men, he plays his music so loud (are they allowed to do that?) that it is loud for ME and I am nowhere near it. If it were just the banging of trashcans I would say that he couldn't help it, but the stuff that is loud he can help. He wakes me up every wednesday and then I feel grumpy.

So if you come into the shop today and I grunt, you know why.

Its over

Another halloween gone. Damn, you would think that every child on the planet came to our door last night. They were all really cute and it was fun giving out candy.

On another note...



Here is the second Birch. This one is going WAY faster than the first one. I must have caught on (about time).

Knitting Day

This is the Mo Jacket by Fleece Artist that I am making for the shop. It is wonderfully soft mohair and really easy to knit up. I am really liking knitting on this.

Today is Halloween. It is my day off so I am going to sit around and (what else?) knit. I also want to cook up a spooky stew for Mr Yarn. He worked at the shop yesterday and it was really busy. I think it freaked him out. He did a great job though.

Hey!

Yesterday Brigid brought the donna hay magazine by the shop. We decided we wanted dinner from it. So, Brigid went to get the groceries while I closed up. We met at home and made a dinner. I love donna hay cookbooks and magazines.

Oh yeah, I finished the striped sweater. It is too big on me. I didn't get a picture of it but I will try to remember and bring it home. Not sure what I will start next at the shop. Probably another Fiber Fleece kit so that everyone can see what it looks like.

Rollin rollin rollin

Life goes on. Sometimes there just isn't all that much to say. Surprising that *I* would run out of banter, eh?



I started Birch II. The color is Majestic and it is beautiful. I mailed the other one off to Julie. Julie says that I never mention her in my blog. See Julie? I am talking about you and I bet that you don't even read this. If you do then you can see that I talk about you. You are my oldest friend and just as weird as *I* am. There I talked about you.

The real color of the Majestic doesn't show up. This is what it will look like when it is done but *I* won't look like that woman who is wearing it. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.



Hey, why is she standing in front of a trailer?

Know what time it is?

Time for the dog photo. Yep. Didn't have anything to show so Lily got "used" again. Don't feel sorry for her. While we were away Annie and Tim spoiled her rotten. She begs for bones all the time now and has threatened to run away to go live with them. Scary thing is she can walk to their house. Well for now she knows which side her bone is buttered. Give a dog an inch and they take a mile.

Home

We drove down to Southern California to see me friends Jean and Chloe. The drive was a bit much and as and we passed downtown L.A. the smog was evident. Yeah, I get homesick but I am glad I don't live there anymore.

During the trip I worked on this cool needle case from Fleece Artist. I just took on this line at the shop and love it



I actually finished the body of the bag on the the drive. Now I have to finish it and felt it.

While we were visiting friends Jean and I decided to drag Mr Yarn to Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought this cool coffee maker there.



It is called a Tassimo. It takes cartridges.



It is VERY cool. I am glad to be home.

Argh

Still dark outside, too early. Write more in a few days.

Bringin home the bacon

I didn't tell you about the bacon problem did I? Well here it goes. Last Xmas I bought Mr Yarn this Bacon of the Month Club (www.gratefulpalate.com). I thought it was cool. Ya know he is from Texas and has this thing for pork products. Bacon of the Month club promised a boutique kind of bacon from small places each month. So, one comes every month and it is pretty cool and we were eating them at a normal pace. Then all of a sudden in June 5 of them come at once. 5lbs of bacon. Each pound was different from the next but still it wasn't possible to keep up with it. They went into the freezer and the bacon of the month club stopped during summer months (they didn't want the bacon sitting on your porch when it was hot even if it was on ice). So I come home last night and it has started up again. We haven't even eaten the 5 others in the freezer. This is worse than the wine problem.

I have a hard life.

Just don't say anything

I did it again. I made these two sweaters and I don't like either one of them. What am I going to do? I have hid them from Mr. Yarn for a long time but I have to deal with them sooner or later. I suppose that I could just shove them in the basement, but one of these days I will have to clean that basement out. They are perfectly fine sweaters but just not right on me. The "I will never wear it" pile is getting bigger.

On the gossipy side of things...
Check this out. We shamed our neighbors (with the brand new yard) to clean up their act. They are getting a new fence put in. Would have been REAL special if they could have paid for half of the one that we put up between our two yards.


No such luck.

Almost done

I am almost done with Birch. When this one is finished I am doing another one in another color. Yes, I am crazy. I have so much stuff to knit on that I can't decide what I want to do first anymore. I think that after I finish the second Birch that I am going to be starting this



I have a bit of a phobia starting it though.

I love surprises!

I was minding my own business at the shop the other day when all of a sudden the mail lady brought me a package. I love surprises (good kind that is). I opened it up and lo and behold Crazy Aunt Purl had sent me goodies. Not only did she send me the "Go away BAD people" candle, but she sent me other cool stuff too.



I love it. Thanks CAP!!!

Then I forgot to show you all this stuffed animal that Brigid bought me when I was sick. It is THE softest thing in the world and you all know how I feel about sheep (well, maybe you didn't know, but I love sheep stuff).



Thanks Brig (even though you don't read my blog).

Knitting good and bad

Here is the top down sweater that I am knitting. Nancy dyed the yarn for me and I am doing a top down sweater out of it. It is coming out A-OK.

Now for the bad news...
I pulled "Fern" out last night and was thinking of working on it. I don't know what I was thinking when I put it away for a while. It is HUGE. I mean I know I wear everything oversized and have this really distorted body image, but this was HUGE. So, I am ripping it out and will do something else with the yarn.



The saddest part is that I had the back done and was almost done with the front. Good thing that I am a process knitter and knit for the love of knitting and not the finished good. Yeah, that is right. I don't need no stinkin finished item.

I forgot to bring it home

Ok, so I forgot to bring home the sweater I am knitting so that I can show it to you. I am sorry. I have lots on my mind. Too much on my mind. I am not even sure what that "lots" is but it is those little things that you know that you have to do and none of them apart are so big but all together they drive you crazy. I am crazy.

So you won't hate me I will show you another Halloween toy that Mr Yarn bought me. I love Halloween. I know I told you that already. Tomorrow? I swear I will bring home the sweater to take a picture of so that I can show you.

Oh well

Batteries are dead on the camera and I am afraid there isn't anything new to show anyhow. I am working on "Birch" and I am halfway done. I started another sweater at the shop. Nancy dyed the yarn for me and the sweater is going to be beautiful. I will post pictures tomorrow.

I had an idea

When Mr Yarn and I were in Washington we had a drink at the hotel we were staying at. It was pineapple infused vodka. The bartender made up batches of it in a jar just like the one above. So, I saw the jar at Sur la Table and got the idea that *I* wanted to make some of this. We ended up not buying the jar but buying the vodka and pineapple. Then I needed the jar. So, what did I do? I dragged Mr. Yarn to Pagano's (the best hardware store ever) and scouted out the exact jar. There was only ONE of them and it was on a high up shelf, but I got it! Sorta weird that it was there in the first place.

Finished SOMETHING!

See? I do finish some things. Here is the sweater that I did for a friends friend. I love it and wish I could keep it. Oh well.

Voila

Knitting! Can you believe it? I still knit. Yes indeedy this is Rowan's "Birch" in Kidsilk Haze color Grace. I swear this is one of the prettiest colors that I think they have come up with. Anyhow, I think I rip as much as I knit when I work on this. I also really have to get back to "Fern" and start working on that so I can wear it this winter.

Being sick and pathetic pays!

So as I sat at home sick and pathetic Annie and Tim brought me chicken soup. Annie knows her mom well and also bought me this to cheer me up



I love Halloween (can you tell?)

and Mr Yarn brought back lots of goodies from India

Here is some tea and silk he brought me



He brought me a bangle



and then he really floored me and brought me THIS



Believe me the picture does this pearl no justice. It is the most beautiful necklace I have ever had. I love pearls.

So, being sick paid off. I swear it will be back to knitting stuff tomorrow.

Someone hates me

This flu hangs on and on and...

I still feel like crap but I am crawling around the shop. No knit night tonight. Molly? Sarah? I hope you are reading this!

Be back later

Shoot me now

Sick as a dog. I have been sick for 3 days with the flu. Mr Yarn is in India and comes home tomorrow. I know I am feeling a little better because I can actually get out of bed to write this. More later.