Bye Bye Kitty Pi.......

It is finished. After an enormous amount of knitting; for a cat that is not my own; I have finished my first Kitty Pi bed!! There is a part of me that feels just a little silly having put so much time and yarn into a cat bed! My daughter reassures me that my niece will LOVE it and her cat Cougar will think it's 'fun'. Ok. I feel SOOO much better now!

Here it is prefelted. It was HUGE. (Sumo has figured out when I'm taking pictures for my blog and comes running...He has a huge need to be famous, I guess!!) He tried to 'model' it. Not quite big enough for that, but it did help me decide I would never make a Puppy Pi bed!!






Here it is again prefelted. You can see what beautiful colors are in it. My niece loves purple, and since Cougar is a Siamese (which were considerd Royal in ancient Siam), I thought purple (the color of royalty) was very appropriate!














Oops! There's Sumo again. Yes, you can have ANOTHER picture on the blog. (Needy, needy dog!!)


















After an eternity in the wash machine, here is the finished product. The purple eyelash yarn at the top is so fun!! I can't wait to give it to Cougar this Saturday and see what he thinks. Hopefully I can get a picture of him enjoying it!!



Will I do another Kitty Pi Bed? Yes I will. Again, for a cat I do not own. But I know I will be 'reassured' of how much the cat loves it and assage any silly feelings I have spending so much time on the project. :-) But I think I'll wait a few weeks to start. For now I think I will cast on another bag.....

Until next time.....

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas...

Well, snow or no snow, it is time to start decorating for Christmas. It just doesn't seem right to not have snow on the ground. Cranking the Christmas music helped as I spent the day unpacking decorations and Christmas dishes etc... There are a few items that I always look forward to having out each year. Thought I would share them with you.

The first is a Nativity set I purchased in Seoul Korea when we were living in Japan. (I used to take 'hops' over to Korea to go shopping!!)
I fell in love with this Nativity set and wanted it to be the focal point of our Christmas decorating. When the kids were younger, I would wrap baby Jesus in a beautiful box and that would be the first gift we opened Christmas morning. Hmmm... I should still be doing that!!



The second is another Nativity set that belonged to Steve's mom. She loved Lladro and this Nativity reminds me of her. It is so delicate and beautiful.








The last two decorations that I will share today are cross stich pieces done by my dad. He is an amazing cross-stitcher!! Here is my round frame Santa. Isn't he incredible??












And here is the second... Santa in the forest.








The most beautiful Christmas cross stitch he has done hangs in the home of my little brother. Sigh. I threaten to steal it every year.... but they do a pretty thorough search of our car before we leave and always find it!!


We will get our tree on Saturday and I will post a picture after it is decorated. I will be showcasing the beautiful wheat weaving done by my mom....

Not much knitting time, but am making progress on the Kitty Pi bed. Found some wonderful purple eyelash yarn to put at the top of it. Am looking for 'bird-colored' yarn to make a second one for a loopy cat I know.....



Here is a sneak peek at another project on my needles. It is a gift for a friend who may or may not be a regular blog reader, so I don't want to give too much away... But it is a fun knit!




Kirstin is loving her new purse. I need to make a thinner loop for the button (or find a WAY bigger button...)

I am ready to cast on my second one with a few modifications. After that, if anyone wants the pattern I would be very happy to share. (But only if you promise to send pictures of purses you've made with it! :-))









And now, as promised, here is my recipe for Mexican Lasagna. A delicious, easy meal. Goes great with the corn bread rolls from my earlier post!




Mexican Lasagna

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 tsp. Lawry’s salt
1 1.25 oz pkg. Taco seasoning mix (we like hot & spicey)
1 cup diced tomatoes (Or 1 can petite diced tomatoes)
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
1 4oz. can diced green chilies
8 oz. Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
9 corn tortillas
10 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded.

1. Brown ground beef. Drain fat.
2. Add Lawry’s, taco mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce and green chilies. Blend well and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
4. In bowl, combine Ricotta and eggs.
5. In bottom of 9 X 13 pan, spread half of the meat mixture, top with half of the tortillas. Spread with half of the Ricotta/egg mixture and sprinkle with half of the shredded Monterey Jack.
6. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
7. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
8. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
9. (Can be made early & refrigerated or frozen)

We top ours with shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream and crunchy tortilla strips

Dinner: Serve with pineapple,rice and cornbread rolls.

Until next time.......

The Gift Of LIfe...

I don't know if I mentioned that Kirstin has been working very hard organizing a blood drive for the past several months. Well, Saturday was the BIG DAY. Starting at 9:00 am, friends from school and church came to give blood and show their support for her and all the work she put in organizing the drive. She had over 60 people show up.. which I think is tremendous!!

Over half of the people who gave were high school students and I bet 85 % of everyone who came was giving blood for the first time. (She did a great job recruiting!!!)


Here she is with her friend Amy who dressed up as a 'Super-Hero Blood-drop' and welcomed people as they arrived.


Her brothers were very supportive of all of her efforts. Aaron drove the 90 miles home from college to show his support and to help set up give!

Here he is giving his gift of life.



Ryan showed up early with one of his college buddies to help set up and to give blood. He also recruited several of his friends to come and give as well!

Such a great encouragement to his sister!!







Aliya came and gave blood for the very first time. She was so nervous!! I'm not sure if she will do it again, but I am very proud that she came and donated. Again, such a huge support for Kirstin




Steve and I were there the whole time and ran the canteen where we gave everyone juice and homemade cookies and made sure they didn't pass out! We were very busy!!

We both took breaks from the canteen and gave blood as well. Here's Steve giving blood.

No picture of me on the bed, but trust me, they got my blood!! I donate quite often, usually apherisis. I started donating shortly after one of my best friends daughter died of Leukemia at age 17. I will never forget watching her get the platelets and seeing color return to her cheeks and her energy level rise. It truly was life coursing into her veins. I vowed then to become a lifetime donor. It is neat to see Kirstin continue to carry this torch. (And several of my brothers are now very active donors as well). Take the time. Give the gift. You won't regret it.

After the Blood Drive, Kirstin, Aliya and I hopped in the car and drove to Galena for 24 hours of movie watching; knitting and just having 'girl time'. (Oh, and did I mention eating junk food???)

I used the time to make my first proto-type of the bag I have been designing. It is my attempt to make the 'perfect' bag for Kirstin to carry. Several things I am going to change in my next bag, but I am really liking it so far. This one is knit with 2 strands of Paton's SWS yarn. I am loving the colors. May have to make one for myself with this yarn.




Cast on a Kitty-Pi bed for my niece's cat, Cougar. Cougar is a Siamese that looks IDENTICAL to the cat I had for 15 years growing up. If Ryan and Kirstin weren't so allergic to cats, I'd have a siamese as well.

Sarah likes purple, so that is what I am making the bed with. Boy, sure hope Cougar likes it!!

(If you click Here you can see a gallery of kitty's 'modeling' their beds. Gee, maybe I can send a picture in of Cougar and his bed....)




Also worked on and finished a bag for my Bag Me Kal... the Philosophers Bag. I think I need to felt it a little more, but I really like the colors.



No progress to show on the Fair Isle carry-all bag. Needed to do knitting that didn't take much concentration. Hope to make some progress this week.

Well, need to clean up dishes from the Sunday Night Youth group that meets here at our house every Sunday night. Made Mexican Lasagna. Will share the recipe next post. Goes great with the cornbread rolls from my earlier post.

Until next time......

Baby It's Cold Outside....

Well, winter is here. It is freezing out and the wind makes it extremely cold. I know it is almost December and all, but I always dread the coming of the cold. At least this year I will have my knitting to curl up with and keep my mind off how cold it is outside.



I have been doing some more knitting. Here is my second Gelato bag. This is a quick, easy
pattern to knit up and I love how it turns out.

I used Knit Picks WOTA Heather and Malabrigo.
(And, yes, it needs a button!!)












My Daughter had made a scarf out of the Malabrigo, which she didn't like, so I tried to FROG it, to no avail. I then just decided to felt the whole mess and plan on making roses and/or a strap with it.









On my needles now is this bag that I am trying for Kirstin. Here is a picture of it. It is called 'Kristin's Carry-All'. It is my first real attempt at Fair Isle knitting (knitting with two or more colors at one time). It is slow and go, but fun.












Here is what I have done so far... (remember I said it was slow and go.....) I am using yarn that Kirstin had left over from some afghans she wove a few years ago. If I 'pass' on my first attempt, I am going to order some fun yarn to do a second bag with.

I will keep you posted with progress.....


In the meantime, I have to decide what else to knit next. I have about a dozen projects I'd like to do. I have a pattern I am designing in my brain for a bag, so I may start a proto-type. But then there are the clogs I need to do. Oh, and I want to learn to knit socks on 2 circular needles. Another felted hat or bowl would be fun. Ok, I guess I have enough to keep me busy through the cold, winter months!!

Even Sumo is trying to catch a little of the sun's warmth today!! (Yes, I have wimpy indoor dogs) He has many 'issues'...all of which crack me up. One is his need to have his paw under a rug when he is laying down. (The rugs are everywhere because another one of his 'issues' is being unable to walk on our tile or wood floors.....) I don't think he minds me telling you this. He's comfortable with his doghood. He just has issues.

Well, off to do a little baking and some knitting.


Until next time....

Back To 'Normal'

Well, Thanksgiving break is over; the boys are back to school; Kirstin is feeling better and went to school as well; Aliya is back from a visit to her parents in Chicago; so I guess you could say that things are back to 'normal'. It was great having the 5 of us together for a very long weekend.. it has been awhile. Ryan studied in England last year so he was not around for any of the Holidays. It felt so good to all be together.

We worked on taking some family photos for a Christmas card... We got a couple that could work, so I hope to have them in the mail next week. I have been a bit delinquent in sending out Christmas cards and want to be sure to get them out early this year! I love hearing from family and friends from around the world during the Holidays.




I was very proud of Nikko and Sumo for how well they did in the photo. They usually don't like to sit and have their picture taken.. especially Nikko. (The one on the left). They have been the greatest dogs!! They are brother and sister from different litters. Nikko is 11 and Sumo is 10.




I did get some knitting done over break as well. Two bags actually. (Well, almost two bags. Ran out of yarn on one of them. Bummer)
Both bags were new for me, which is always fun to try a new pattern. The first is called the Romantic Ruffle. (The pattern can be found here in PDF format)
I need more yarn to do the handle, but the rest of the purse is ready to felt. I used Lambs Pride Bulky in Pistachio.

The second bag is the Fiber Trends Gelato pattern. This was a fun pattern to knit and I can't wait for it to dry. I can see many more of these in my knitting future!! (Knit with Galway Highland Heather and Plymouth Outback Mohair)
Here it is before felting:






And here it is after a date with my washing machine:

Needs a button. Story of my life.




I leave you with this fun picture of me and my boys. They are becoming such fine young men. I'm very proud of both of them.

They make me smile :-)




Until next time.....

Can Anyone Relate?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!! We are especially thankful for the twinkle that is back in our daughters eyes today after several weeks of being ill. As you may know, she did end up in the hospital after I took her in Monday morning. I was told that we had 'failed outpatient home therapy'. Ouch. We failed. (The doctor did reassure me we had not failed parenthood in general... and then did go so far as to say that our daughter 'had failed to respond to outpatient home therapy', which somehow made me feel better!!) Anyways. She was admitted for 24 hours where the IV pump became her new best friend and pumped her full of fluids and strong antibiotics. She came home Tuesday and has felt better every day. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. The flowers and balloons she recieved really brighten up the family room where she has been parked on the couch recovering!!



Today is one of the eating days that my family looks forward to every year. The eating of the lefse. My oldest son Ryan and his friend Mallory came Wednesday morning to roll out the lefse. It was a huge help. They did great for the most part...



...until they started using the sticks as weapons. Time to intervene and take away the sticks!!

They did manage to finish rolling out the dough and made quite a nice stack of lefse.

Mallory took some home to share with her family. Interesting to hear what they think!!

I did tell you that I would document our unique way of eating lefse. Tried to do that today. Here you see the triangle shaped piece on my plate with a little bit of everything from my Thanksgiving meal on top. (The key to it being really yummy are the cranberries...)







Next it is folded so that melted butter can be poured into the pocket. (I never said this was non-fattening, did I??)










Here you see my son demonstrating this lost art of lefse eating from across the table.










And, finally, my first bite of the season. Mmmmmm... Yup. Just as good as I remembered!! (I went on to consume three of these food filled lefse pockets.. which about does me in!!). Pie will have to wait!












On to the knitting front. I was able to felt my son't clogs. Here you see them on his feet pre-felted.

And here they are next to my clogs. I am liking the black and gray combo. I am thinking of doing the same colors on my hubby's clogs.. only maybe adding a stripe of some sort.

It is amazing how much they shrink!! Once they dry I know Aaron will love wearing them.




















Been working on a purse. Switched patterns right before I cast on because my daugher was thinking she may like the colors in a bag like my lazy daisy one. So here it is pre-felted. (I used the S-cord handle from the KnotSewHobo bag>)


Here it is felted. Will add a stone button to the front. Maybe a lazy daisy or two in brown. Now to decide what to cast on next.....


























I leave you with this parting shot of my family singing Christmas songs around the piano. Kirstin is feeling well enough to play for them. It sounded wonderful to me... (not that we are making a CD or anything). It is just wonderful to all be together. I am so thankful for the family that God has blessed me with!!



Until next time......

What A Weekend!!

Well, we made it through the weekend, but it was not a real fun one for my daughter! She continued to spike fevers; get the chills etc.. Took her to the hospital Sunday afternoon and it turns out she has pneumonia with a very low white blood cell count. I'll take her in Monday morning to my hubby's office and they will give her a couple of bags of IV fluids and some IV antibiotic... (that was her alternative instead of spending the night in the hospital....) Hopefully in a few days she will be feeling lots better. A friend of Kirstin's stopped by with these beautiful Gerber Daisys (which are my daughters favorite flower) and a stack of movies to pass the time. A wonderful bright spot in a yucky weekend!

In the meantime, I didn't do much but sit with her; watch movies and knit. Boycotted the kitchen (dear hubby ordered in or cooked all meals :-)!!)

Here's what came off my needles:

The monster clogs. They are as big pre-felted as I thought they'd be!! Here they are next to my clogs.. which are a women's medium!

Felting these should be fun. Next clogs to be cast on will be for my oldest son, who wants brown and pink ones!! (He claims to be a 'trendsetter'. I think he just likes to be different!!)







Also finished and felted my second RunAmokKnotSewHobo bag. I did the small one; added a flap and a couple of Lazy Daisy stitches. Just need to put a snap on the bottom of the flap and it will be ready to carry. I think that I will enjoy this one!









I had started a Ballband Headband awhile ago from the book Knit One, Felt Too and decided it would be a good weekend to finish that up. Need to pick up some velcro and attach that and it will be totally finished. (but, at least it's off my needles...)





Next to get off my needles was a scarf that I started quite awhile back but had run out of yarn. Found more on sale at JoAnns, so got that finished as well. Sumo volunteered to model it for me. OK, so he wasn't exactly a real happy volunteer, but he loves me, so he did it. Doesn't he look handsome?? I would make him a doggy sweater if he wasn't so darn big. (Plus my husband says it would humiliate him!!)






Last thing to be cast off was the second of my Irish Hiking fingerless gloves. This was a first for me to cable and to use the mattress stitch to seam. They are not perfect, but they are done and I know I will wear them quite a bit this winter.





As I said, I boycotted the kitchen this weekend, but spent quite a bit of time thinking about the yummy Garlic Chicken Pizza recipe that I saw on Sheri's Blog over at the Loopy Ewe. (Didn't know which part to link.. so I linked the whole thing!!)

As soon as things settle down and I lift the boycott I am going to make the Garlic Chicken Pizza!!!

Sadly, my poor sock still sits in my knitting bag waiting to be finished. No progress this weekend. It's the only unfinished project I have on my needles after this weekend. I am inspired by The Yarn Harlot who is knitting a sock a day. Quite different from my current goal of a sock a year!!

There is hope. I will be a sock knitter someday. I just know I will!





But I am still a bag-lady at heart. And so, I think I will sign off and go cast on another bag.

Nikko was feeling a bit jealous of Sumo being featured earlier.. so here she is with the yarn for my next bag. It is some Aran Paton's with a Noro colorway that I think will be very beautiful done up together.



Until next time.......


P.S. For those who are interested... The big bowl of cookie dough tipped the scales at 17 pounds 8 ounces. I didn't keep track of exactly how many cookies it made, but it was close to 200!!