Are We So Different?

As the leaves turn and the days cool and become shorter , not unlike the bears and all other  hibernating animals, we too as humans go into hibernation mode.



We start slowing down, spending more time indoors, finding ourselves with more time for the knitting needles, and oh yes, eating.  Well, just like the animals we too have to layer up for the winter.  Don't we?

I must think so, because the other day I had the uncontrolable urge to make orange cranberry scones with almond glaze.  After which, my husband and I began the layering process. Hmmm....perhaps winter isn't so bad after all.

Talk,,,,Talk,,,Talk

It just must be something in the genes. One of my two year old granddaughters favorite things to do, is talk to PaPa on the phone on his way home from work.  As you can see by the photo, she feels quite relaxed with the task.

I wish I could still cross my legs like that.  Come to think of it, not sure I ever could.

These photos were not taken but just a couple of weeks ago.  Hard to believe that we had snow showers on Saturday as my husband was mowing the lawn.   There's just something really wrong with that whole scene. 

Peter Would Be Proud

We finished picking the garden last weekend. It was a nice day and we knew cold and rain would be coming our way. About all we had left were peppers and more peppers.

As you can see our peppers did quite well this year.  That's my husband hiding behind that one.  He was a good sport and held it while I snapped a few pics.

What in the world am I going to do with all these peppers?  I decided to freeze the sweet green ones to use later in cooking. That's an easy fix for them. Now on to the sweet red ones and ALL those semi hot ones.  hmmmm... 

How about some pepper jam?  This is the jam I came up with.  I roasted some sweet red and some hot on the grill.  I then peeled and chopped them, added some garlic, onion, fresh basil, vinegar, and sugar and viola' we had pepper jam.

Since everthing sits better on a "ritz" we decided to try some with cream cheese. yum..yum   That ended up being our dinner that night.   What do you think Tracey?  Looks yummy doesn't it?

Lace Project Finished and Dye Job Gone Bad

Whoo...hoooo!  The lace project is finished.  Now I can be in love with it again.  As far as lace projects go it was a fairly easy one and an interesting one to complete. I purchased the yarn at Stitches Midwest in 2008, from Brooks Farm Yarn http://brooksfarmyarn.com/    The yarn is called Acero, it is 60% wool, 20% silk and 20% viscose.  It was fantastic yarn to work with, no fuzz, slight sheen, and an almost heathered color.  The drape is wonderful for this project.  I was looking for a lace project that wasn't too "frilly".  I wanted something that would be a heavier weight.  I came up with "Ene's Scarf" by Nancy Bush.  Wonderful, Wonderful pattern. It is worked by casting on along the lower two sides and then decreased as it is worked up towards the center of the top edge.  The best thing is it keeps getting smaller and smaller, instead of the traditional shawl that just grows and grows.  The shawl pin is a great item  I purchased from http://nicholasandfelice.etsy.com/  It is light weight and still has enough gusto to hold any shawl in its place.  Check out their shop on Etsy.  They have wonderful items.

I finished another project the other day.   I recently purchased some hand carders. I had some roving from a day that the dye session had gone terribly wrong.  I thought, "hey, I might as well try them on something that really doesn't matter a whole lot".  Well, all you fiber freaks out there know that every piece of fiber can be saved one way or another.  After I had all my little rolags I spun it and went back to the dye pot.

As you can see, not a good mixture.  I got the idea to over dye it with blue, thinking that the green would turn maybe an aqua of some sort, the pink a purple of some sort and the white or cream would be blue.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Here it is now.  Much better I think.

WI Sheep and Wool Festival

We went to the WI Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend located at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds.  Kudos to the festival team for yet another great show. It is just a flurry of activies for groups of all ages.  Herding competitions, sheep judging, sheep shearing, fleece sales, classes, food, displays. and of course all the wonderful goodies for a fiber freak like myself to purchase.
Although I have a very hard time justifing buying anymore yarn or roving, I could not pass up at least one skein of sock yarn.
I purchased this skein from Happy Hands Hand Dyed Yarns, http://happyhandsyarn.com/  it was just irrestiable. Her colors are just fantastic, so vibrant and alive. She also has samples knitted for you see what the yarn will look like when knitted. When you walk into her booth you are greeted with friendliness and enthusiasm.

How could anyone restist that face?  Not sure that she is real happy being here. She's probably thinking, "haven't you ever seen a sheep before." 

 I turned my attention to the many, many sheep that were to be sheared that day.
When I looked over at the herd all I saw was skein after skein of yarn.  I found myself wondering how many skeins were there.

hmmmm.....I wonder if thearpy would help.  There has to be a twelve step program, don't you think?

Okay, tell me you don't see them too. 

Signs

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blockin' out the scenery breakin' my mind....

The lyrics to that song came to mind the other day when I was sitting on a bench waiting for my husband to retrive me from the local grocery store.  I had already done the horrible job of buying groceries and had settled on the bench by the door, took out my knitting and was enjoying the time I had to add a few more rows to my sock. As you may, or may not know, I ALWAYS have a project bag with a sock in progress with me.  Anyway, back on track.  I happened to look up to take stock of  my surroundings. As I did, I noticed all the signs the store had posted all around, some printed, some handwritten. As the song goes, "do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign".....I was amazed at how we as a society depend on all those signs.

The one that I found most astounding was the sign that had been carefully handwritten and placed directly on the top of the ATM machine reading, "Please don't forget to take your money".  hmmmm......the sole purpose for going to the ATM machine is to obtain money.  Have we become so hurried that we need all these signs to remind us?  Perhaps it's time to step back, slow down and learn to enjoy the simple things. 

How about a wonderful sunrise with the sun turning the top of trees golden, or the simple task of collecting eggs in the late afternoon sun.

New Hat

I needed a smaller project to temporarily take me away from the lace project I am currently working on. You know how those can be. One tends to develop a love, hate relationship with lace projects. The love comes when you choose the wonderful yarn and the gorgeous pattern, that you are certain will look magnificent. The hate comes when you are about half finished and if you do one more yarn over, and SSK you are going to stab the knitting needle in your eye. That brings us to the smaller project.

I made this hat from yarn dyed by http://stonebarnfibers.com/. It was the first time I had used yarn from them and it was very nice. Very soft and great color saturation. I didn't use a pattern just sort of made it up as I went. Came out good. She thinks it did. The hat is certainly off season for the sundress, but she didn't seem to care.

Oh to be young and not care.