daily yarns 'n more

they fit like a glove

I am so glad I didn't try and surprise Mr with these.  Seeing that he wanted to wear them when he was working they had to be just so, not too long that they were in the way, and not too short that his fingers froze.  I found the pattern here where the link came from Ravelry.  This is the true color of the mitts.

We had a wonderful weekend, we got out of the house and took a drive to the nearest town.  Not our town but in the opposite direction, we actually shop in this town quite frequently.  They were giving horse and sleigh/wagon rides at the fair grounds.

On our way back home we stopped off at the stream where Jim sometimes fly fishes, just to check to see if there were any trout still in the stream, and there were, he spied one.

What snow we had is mostly gone now, the sun yesterday was pretty warm and it melted, at least up on the ridge here it's almost all gone.

How was your weekend?  Hope you all have a wonderful day.

there's nothing like the aroma of banana bread in the air

I didn't make this yummy looking bread, my wonderful husband did.  He makes banana bread often and with his fresh ground whole wheat flour.  It tastes as good as it looks :)

I was going to surprise Jim with fingerless gloves for working down in the catacombs as he calls his office.  With the wood stove going all the time and his office being in the basement the heat doesn't get down there and it gets pretty cold.  I've got one done now I need to work on the other.  I wanted them to fit and I just figured I wasn't going to be able to do that without trying them on him as I was making them.

The days are flying by and it's only 10 days now till Christmas....Yikes!  Are you all ready?

hello baby hat

I found this pattern on Ravelry, the pattern is by Susan B. Anderson on her Spud & Chloe blog.  I just used what scrap yarn that I had in my yarn stash, my hat is made with a much softer yarn than the one she made.

rip, rip, yum, yum

I have to tell you I ripped this hat out at least 3 times.  I was ready to ball it up and toss it across the room after ripping it out one too many times.  I'm not talking about the cabled band, that was a piece of cake.  It was trying to get the body of the hat onto the cabled band that gave me so much trouble.  But, I stayed with it and love the results.  The band is cuffed up and walking the other day I was so glad that it was.  It gave me extra warmth and the wind didn't hit my ears at all.

The yum yum part, is the pumpkin pie that I made.  I just love this time of year...pumpkin pie and peppermint ice cream...tho not necessarily together.

Headed to town this afternoon and the snow there is almost all melted.  Getting out of our driveway wasn't so easy tho.

Winter has arrived.

mitchell's sweater

I finished my first ever baby sweater or any sweater for that matter.  This is going to our newest grandchild...Surprise!!! It should be in your mailbox today, at least I hope it is.

I went looking for buttons the other day and these tractor buttons I found were too cute to pass up.

I can't wait to see how it looks on him.  We've been enjoying the indian type summer days here but it's supposed to start getting cooler again.

a date i had with myself

I've been reading a book called The Artist's Way and one thing the author asks us to do is go on an artist date with yourself.  I haven't picked up the needles in ever so long, so my artist date the other day was knitting.  I started a pair of socks for myself with yarn that is hand dyed.  The yarn is from a local yarn shop where the owner and her husband raise sheep.  So this yarn is humanely raised and is grass based with certified organic pasture and hay.  This wool is awesome to knit with.

when it rains, it pours

After finding out why we weren't able to get on the internet, our computer started giving us problems.  So, instead of going on line checking my favorite blogs, I found some unfinished projects.  I have needed some new dishcloths and had two already started, so I finished them up.  I also made a dishcloth with a maple leaf in the center of it.  It sure feels good to have some new ones to pull out of the drawer.

Before Lauren left, we went through all my cookbooks and recipes.  I sat down to look for a frosting recipe and found some long lost recipes that I haven't made in ever so long.  Here's one that I got years ago from one of my sister-in-laws.  I didn't have any walnuts so I used pecans and they tasted just as good.

Toll House Cupcakes

1/2 cup soft Butter

6 Tbsp. Sugar

6 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

1 Egg

1 cup + 2 Tbsp Flour

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

Combine and beat until cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  Beat in 1 egg.  Sift together and stir in 1 cup plus 2 T. flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Spoon by rounded tablespoon into lined paper cups.

Bake 375 ° 10-12 min.

Topping:

1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1/8 tsp. Salt

Beat until very thick.  Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 chopped walnuts, 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Spoon 1 tbsp into each cupcake.  Bake another 15 min.

 

I've got a few other projects that I've been working on this week and hope to show them to you when I'm done. 

It sure feels good to be back on-line again.

getting away from winter for a bit

Well kind of anyway.  Here's what was on my needles.  I joined Karen over at Sew Many Ways in an on-line baby shower.  I decided to knit a baby hat out of the Knit Baby Head & Toes book.  I didn't have to buy any yarn, I just dug in my stash.

We're still trying to simplify our life over here and Amy over at Homestead Revival has a homemade drain cleaner posted.  Amy always has some great posts on frugal living.

Our well pump seems to be going out and tho we can take showers, washing clothes is out of the question.  I just might be getting snow and melting in on our wood stove to get water if it doesn't get fixed any time soon.  The "well guy" is supposed to be coming out on Monday.  Partly because it's really really cold right now, and partly because, we live in the country and small town life.

We are still cooking on our wood stove every chance we get.  Why turn on our gas stove/oven if we have the wood stove going. 

So, I guess living without running water can't be all that bad.  Right?

i'm starting to dream of spring

I couldn't make it up to the house from the road yesterday after work.  The roads were pretty good and I got through just fine, until I hit our driveway.  Jim had to get the Yukon and tow my van down our 700 ft driveway to the house.  It was drifted so bad.  Lauren went to work  so Jim drove her.  He left the truck by the road because our driveway was so drifted in.  Jim had to snowshoe to his truck when he went out to get her.  Our driveway isn't plowed out yet and I have to work today.  I'll probably have to snowshoe to the truck if I go in.  Jim said he would put me on a sled and pull me to the truck, but I just can't see myself getting a ride that way.

After finishing my mittens, I started on another project.  I just can't seem to keep my hands off the knitting needles.

Over at my photo blog, I've joined a fun meme called "First of the Month".  Head on over there to see what that's all about.  While taking my photo for that yesterday, I spied these guys on the railing.  They look so cold.

Last night on the way home from getting Lo from work, Jim ended up pulling some kids out of the ditch.  They were pretty thankful for the help. 

I hope to get some shots of our lovely snow today. 

Stay safe and warm :)

bad weather predicted

Or would you say it's already here?  I was not driving when I took these photos.  Jim and I skipped to town to do some errands and grocery shop.

I'm happy to say that I finished my mittens just in time.

I hope you all are safe and warm if you're in for some bad winter weather like we are.