The Unfinished Christmas Present

If you remember I was working on a knitted Christmas present that I couldn't write about. Well, I didn't finish it in time for Christmas. In fact, it isn't finished at this moment, either. So, what was the gift? A sweater for Jonathan. It's a top down raglan and I like it very much. So, does Jonathan (I had to tell him about it or he'd think I'd made him nothing and he'd be overwhelmingly sad and cry in his vegetable soup).

I'm about 4 inches from finishing the body. Then it will be on to the collar and the sleeves, which I am hoping will go faster!

Here are a couple photos of it in its various stages. I will have a full photo of it as soon as it is done. Cheerio!

The yarn's Plymouth Encore.

If You Don't Like Glitter, Read No Further.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of my time creating mixed-media artwork and my dining table is a mess. I just finished one painting and will soon start working on another. For me painting, drawing, playing with glitter, etc. are great catalysts for sparking the imagination and actually helping me write. I think they're most helpful because I stop worrying about perfection and simply enjoy the process. Basically, the act of painting knocks out that nasty, foul-smelling internal editor. So, three cheers for glitter and hot pink paint!


I haven't done a whole lot of knitting in the last few weeks. I did make a hat out of some Berroco Comfort but I don't have a picture. Speaking of pictures, my camera needs new batteries. Ahem...that was my random thought of the day.

Now my brain has moved on and I'm currently wondering if I should go try another bread recipe. Beer bread, anyone?

I Love The Smell of Fresh Baked Bread In The Afternoon (and morning and evening)!

I decided to use one of my Christmas presents this afternoon: a bread baker that I first saw at the Black Swamp Art Festival back in September. Apparently, my father-in-law went back and purchased it and then gave it to me for Christmas!! He has more patience than I when it comes to gift giving because I could never hide a gift that long. I can hardly wait a day!


The bread baker came with a handful of recipes. I leafed through them today and decided to try the pumpkin bread since I had one can of pumpkin puree left from the holidays.

I haven't tasted the bread yet (I'm trying to wait until Jonathan comes home...), but it smells amazing--like pumpkin pie.

Mmmm! I can't wait!!

Happy New Year!!!!

I hope that everyone brought in the New Year with lots of love and happiness all around them.

In knitting news:

I've been knitting lots of hats. I think I like hats because they don't take too long and you feel like you've accomplished something while working on larger projects! Hats keep your head all warm and toasty too which ain't bad when the frigid air tries to steal all your heat.

I knit this hat for Jonathan. It's actually finished although I don't have a finished picture of it. It's made with Cascade Pastaza and the purple stripe is leftover Malabrigo Chunky from my foliage hat.


The rest of the hats are made with Noro Kureyon. I really love this yarn because of the colors. When I'm working with it I enjoy not knowing exactly what color is coming up next. I only wish they came up with actual names for the colorways. When a colorway has a name it makes everything a bit more fun and creative, at least for me.

(for mom, the super-cool lady)

(for Brady, the toymaker)

(for Vicki, the horticulturalist)

My Fantastic Friend...Focaccia

Jonathan and I made Christmas dinner this year. We didn't go the traditional route with turkey or ham or any of the regular fixin's. We went a bit Italian.

I made a spaghetti recipe that had yummy garlic and parsley mixed with an olive oil sauce. I got the recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (side note: this cookbook is amazing whether or not you're a vegetarian, just as long as you like vegetables--it's full of seriously delicious recipes). I also had a tomato-based sauce that I cooked humongous meatballs in for the meat-eaters.

We also whipped up some homemade hot, cheesy spinach dip and everyone knows you can't have dip without bread. Which leads me to my favorite food of the evening...the Focaccia Bread (recipe also from Vegetarian Cooking...)!

I kneaded in fresh rosemary from the rosemary tree and covered the top with caramelized onions and more rosemary. I. Am. In. Love. With. This. Bread.

I hope everyone enjoyed and continues to enjoy this holiday season! And that everyone gets to eat yummy food and hang out with their favorite people!

Enjoy Yourself!

Wishing everybody Happy Holidays
and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Chocolate Dips & Toffee Bits

Sarah and I made yummy treats for about 7 hours yesterday. We dipped pretzels and homemade butter cookies into all types of melted chocolate.

It was chocolate-dipping madness!!

The toppings "kicked it up a notch! Bam!" as Emeril would say.

Hooray for toppings!

We used:

• Coarsely Ground Coffee Beans
• Toffee bits
• Peppermint Cane dust (peppermint canes ground in a coffee grinder)
• Chocolate Mint bits
• Christmas sprinkles
  

Mmmmmm!