Archive for the ‘Knitting’ Category

Snowing lightly outside right now

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I have no idea what the evening hours will bring.  So far, it’s just snowing lightly and accumulating a little bit.  Right now, it’s nothing to worry about, but eventually, the snow will become heavier and the winds will get stronger and we will get one heck of a snowstorm.  We could possibly get a foot of snow and will probably have a snow day for school tomorrow.  I don’t get to stay home, because I have to work at my clinic job, but I bet the clinic closes early, too.  We’ll have to wait and see.

I finally found my Lands End sweatpants.  I haven’t known where they were, for months and with the cold weather upon us, I wanted an extra option to wear to my school job, to keep me warm, since we are outside with first graders, for 20-25 minutes.  I’m so happy!

I need to get caught up on my dishcloth pictures.  Some on my camera need to be downloaded.  I”m so behind.

Yummy Summer Salad

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Chicken Pasta Salad with Blueberries

Blueberry Vinegar:

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 cups white vinegar
2 T. sugar

Salad:

1 (9-oz) pkg. frozen French-cut green beans, thawed
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts(about 1-1/2 lbs.)
3 cups cooked spiral pasta (cooked without salt or fat)
1 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 T. finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup, plus 2 T. plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup plus 1 T. reduced-calorie mayonnaise
3 T. blueberry vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
Lettuce leaves (opt.)

Blueberry vinegar: Place blueberries in a sterilized 1-qt. glass jar. Combine vinegar and sugar in a non-aluminum saucepan over high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour vinegar mixture over blueberries. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 days. Strain blueberry mixture through several layers of cheesecloth into decorative jars; discard blueberries. Seal jars with a cork or other airtight lid. Yield: 2 cups

Salad: Place green beans between paper towels and squeeze until barely moist. Combine green beans, chicken, pasta, blueberries, celery, green onion and oregano in a large bowl. Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, blueberry vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl; stir well. Pour over chicken mixture; mix gently. Cover and chill 2 hours. Serve on a lettuce-lined plate, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (about 1-1/2 cups)

Cooking Light March 1995 (I think.  Can’t find magazine issue anymore and can’t verify online, either.)

Mid-April KAL and Some Flower Pictures

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

The mid-April KAL was called April Showers and designed by Deborah C. Tilley. It does look like falling rain. The yarn is Sugar””””n Cream Faded Denim and was knit on US 6 needles.  My Moebius wrap is getting ever wider and getting closer to being done.  The picture here was taken on 4-24-09, but I””””ve made significant progress since then.  The kids had a blast dying eggs on Easter Sunday, before Sarah went back to school.  The eggs were boiled on the Saturday before, but we ran out of time, then. I””””ve also enjoyed watching the flowers grow and bloom.

We are hoping that the flu passes us by. So far we””””ve been lucky, although Emily and I recently had colds.  Mine is still here, but getting better everyday.  So far, Gary has still been healthy.  Emily is hoping they DON”T have a “flu-cation” from school.  She thinks it”””’’s bad enough that we have to make up the wintry days on June 12th and June 15th.

Today, the sun is shining and the temperature is in the high 50”””’’s, which is a huge improvement over last week”””’’s rain. A few blocks from us, a sewer collapsed, so a major intersection is going to closed off for a month.  Ugh. I hope the time goes fast.

Finished Dishcloths

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Wow, it doesn’t take long to get behind here! I have 5 dishcloths to post.

  • February – Kiss Me (hot purple in Bernat handicrafter yarn on US 7 needles – Lisa Millan of Digknitty)
  • Mid-February – Circle Cloth (Tan Sugar’n Cream and Fiesta Peaches & Creme on US 7 needles – Hakucho)
  • March – Pot O’ Gold (Yellow Peaches & Creme on US 7 needles – Emily Jagos)
  • Mid-March – The Windmill Dishcloth (Aqua Mist Peaches & Cream and Teal Sugar’n Cream on US 7 needles – Sew-Funky)
  • April – Illusion Egg Hunt (White Peaches & Creme, Light green Peaches & Creme, Hot Purple Bernat Handicrafter on US 7 needles – Deborah C. Tilley)

Also, since we happened to be driving through Fond Du Lac today, and stopped at Animal Outfitters to buy some Sam’s Yams sweet potato treats.  Jasmine’s Gotcha Day is in 2 weeks and we wanted to get her a special treat.  You can see that she enjoyed her slice of dehydrated sweet potato.  It is crunchy and has ridges, so it’s supposed to help keep teeth clean.

Sarah got a new cellphone today.  It’s an LG Banter.  It looks pretty neat and takes awesome pictures.  She will have fun with it.

Tinkering with the blog again

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Was trying to get my header image to link back to the front page of the blog and I kept messing everything up. I’ve spent way too much time tinkering with it. Maybe now I can get back to knitting my April dishcloth, and/or cleaning out the fridge, since it is garbage day tomorrow. I did already pick up after the dog, so that’s not staring me in the face, or the bottom of my shoes.

It’s so cold out today. We did reach the 40’s, but that chilly northeast wind took away any semblance of warmth, that that temp might have had. Brrr. DH had to shoot pictures at a soccer game and was just complaining how cold he was. Standing out at recess was no fun, either. I wonder when spring will actually come.

The tulips keep getting bigger and the grape hyacinths are getting more purple by the day. Just imagine the leaves and the green grass we could have, if it would only warm up. Emily and I have planted a whole slew of things to go outside, in May: Zinnias, Cosmos, Coleus, Fennel, Parsley, Oregano, Basil, Lettuce, Poppies, and some others. We also bought some dahlias (pinkish/purple and white) and some Centerfold Lilies, also to go outside, when it’s a bit warmer. I can’t wait!

Mid-February KAL

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

This one is fun. It’s like a ballband, but with round windows, instead of rectangular bricks. For the pattern, tan is color A and the Fiesta ombre is color B. A is the color in the foreground and Color B is the background. I’m having fun knitting it!

Yarn and dishcloth, Fiesta Peaches & Creme, with Tan Sugar'n Cream

Yarn and dishcloth, Fiesta Peaches & Creme, with Tan Sugar'n Cream

Macro shot of mid-February dishcloth

Macro shot of mid-February dishcloth

Two nights ago, the weathermen had us with a winter storm watch, for 5-8 inches of snow. Then yesterday, it was only a winter storm advisory, for 3-5 inches of snow. Overnight, we only had about 1/4-inch of snow. It barely covered the driveway and Gary’s car, which has to stay outside, was barely covered with anything. I’m listening to the radio at 7:00am, and WTMJ has a reporter in downtown Sheboygan, reporting about who it’s drizzling a little and the visibility is low. Uhhh, no. I had just been out with the dog and didn’t notice any drizzling or decreased visibility. I can’t believe they sent a reporter up here, all the way from Milwaukee for a measly 1/4-inch of snow! Must be a slow news day. The weathermen get to excited about their models, when maybe they should just look out the window.

January KALs

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

The beginning of the month dishcloth, was a garter stitch ice skate designed by Emily Jagos of Designs by Emily and the mid-month one was a sample of garter stitch, stockinette stitch, seed stitch and some lacy diamonds, designed by Debbie Tilley, for her 3yo daughter. Eventually she wants to teach her daughter how to knit, too. The mid-month design was entitled, “Cheyenna,” after the designer’s daughter.

The ballband was started while sitting at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI, while watching the Brewers play the Colorado Rockies. I had a blast, even though the Brewers lost that night. We were there as a part of Stitch n’ Pitch.

2009 January KAL - Ice Skate

2009 January KAL - Ice Skate

2009 Mid-January - Cheyenna

2009 Mid-January - Cheyenna

Ballband in Brewers' colors, that was started on July 9th, at Stitch 'n Pitch

Ballband in Brewers' colors, that was started on July 9th, at Stitch 'n Pitch

Playing Catchup Finally!

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Holy cow! I got so busy at work and just had no time for extras. I was barely even getting email read, let along posting in my blog. Someone quit, then someone was hired, but then she had to be trained. Then people were off, in December. I barely had time to breathe! So, the blog waited and waited and waited. Now I have 14 pictures to post of finished objects, snow from December 19th, and big waves from January 3rd!

My family was very happy that Obama won the election and that it was a done deal even before we went to bed on November 4th. We look forward to the Inauguration now!

We had a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas, although I was so busy I barely got to enjoy it. Had fun at Christmas celebrations on both sides of the family. My family did a White Elephant gift exchange. Parameters were that the gift had to weigh about a pound and cost $10 or less. I ended up with some Charmin’ Ultra Plush toilet paper and while my sister thought toilet paper would be the ultimate gag gift (and we did laugh about it!), my family was in desperate need of toilet paper, at that precise moment, so we were glad to get it! LOL! Gary got a bundle of bungie cords, Sarah got some fancy hot chocolate mix, and Emily I can’t remember anymore. Gary almost got candy, but that was stolen away by a candy-hungry nephew! Bungie cords are more useful for him, anyway.

I didn’t get to open Gary’s present, until we were together with Gary’s family. He had it shipped to their house and then had my SIL wrap it in 3 different boxes, each one completely wrapped with ribbons and bows, too. It turned out to be an 8G iPod Nano in turquoise blue! So, I’ve been busy uploading music and getting that all set up to my specifications! Also, we had to delete a ton of music from my iTunes library that even Sarah wouldn’t be listening to anymore.

Emily earned all but $20 towards a Nintendo DS. She got Polar White and is enjoying it very much. Sarah was doing some video work for my nephew Ryan and got paid nicely for that, so she went out and bought a Wii. We’ve all been having fun with that. I bowl better on the Wii, than I do in real life! The cow racing game on Wii Play is hysterical. It’s also hard to play the game, when everyone is laughing really hard.

I’m way behind on posting pictures of finished knitting projects, but I was finding time to get them photographed.

Emily and I carved pumpkins tonight

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

We are busy tomorrow evening and were too busy last weekend, too. Tonight was the only night we could do it. Emily carved the little pumpkin, in her botany class, so they could learn the parts of the pumpkin. The rind is called the exoderm. The edible part of the pumpkin is the endoderm, and the divisions inside, where the goop is and the seeds, is called the carpals. I took a picture of my pumpkin, right after I cut the top off, so you could see the carpals.

She designed a horse picture, for her bigger pumpkin and realized that you have to have positive areas and negative areas, to make the design show up properly. Mine is just a face, because I have no time or patience for templates. I’m lucky I have a carved pumpkin.

Emily and Dawn's Pumpkins - 08

I’m behind on posting dishcloths. I hope to catch up this weekend. I know I have to post both Octobers for sure!

Fall is here

Friday, September 12th, 2008

I’ve really been a slacker! Ugh. I’ve been working 48-52 hour payperiods, the last 4 weeks, along with Emily having to be at the county fair, all 5 days that it was running, have to go for 4H judging, of her knitting, shopping for wedding clothes, going to my nephew’s wedding, and trying to sleep in there somewhere! The last 2 weeks of August were insanely busy.

For the good news, though, Emily entered her Wicked Sweater, her Foliage Hat, her Saucy Socks and her Cabled Mittens and got blue ribbons on all of them!! Woohoo for Emily!!!!!! Plus, her Wicked Sweater got a special merit and if she wants to, it can be displayed at the Wisconsin State Fair next summer!!!!!!! She’s only been knitting since March 2007, but she’s a most amazing knitter. For her riding, she got two red ribbons, but she had a blast, and was so cute in her show clothes.

I’ve also been busy knitting away, with my Monthly Dishcloth KAL group. I love knitting dishcloths, that are a mystery. I’m way behind on posting my work, though. In the gallery above, you can see the dishcloths that I knit, from the beginning of August. With the yellow one, I thought I might have enough yellow. I almost did, except for 1-1/2 rows, and the bind-off! LOL! Peppercorn was from one of the cones of Peaches and Creme that I got for Christmas from my SIL. The schoolhouse was a good September design. I just wish my purl stitches had been a little tighter.

Weather in Wisconsin has been uneventful and nice most of the time. The last 2 days have been damp and cool, though. Will love it when the extra moisture goes away. A few mornings this week, we had temps in the 40’s!!! The last two mornings haven’t been quite so cool. We haven’t needed the AC or the heat, which is good. I’ve needed long sleeves and quilts, though! LOL!

My thoughts and prayers are with those who live in TX. God Bless You tonight!