Better than Tim Hortons...

M and B love Timmie's Peppermint Hot Chocolate, but at $2.00 for a medium, we've found a perfect alternative. And it uses up the pounds and pounds of candy canes they get from the Santa Claus parade!

For the Hot Chocolate:

Mix up your favorite instant hot chocolate and add a tiny dribble of pepperment extract.

For the Pink Whipped Cream:

In a blender or food processor, pulverize some candy canes. Red and White ones work best for a pink topping, the green, red and white ones give a muddy sort of color to the whipped cream. Once you have a pink powder, use 3 tbsp to 1 cup of whipping cream and whip it up.

To put it all together:

Top the mug of hot chocolate with the pink whipped cream and sprinkle with additional crushed candy canes.

Yum! (and if you get everything on sale, about $0.30 per mug!)

Merry Christmas

We've had a lovely Christmas Eve day. Sleeping in followed by baking up a storm (clockwise from top: gingerbread, angels, cinnabon clones, shortbread). The kids had such fun cutting out gingerbread and the house smells wonderful. They must have been at it for about 2 hours - they filled almost 5 baking sheets!

I love the gingerbread angels (centre right). A few years, M wanted to make gingerbread angels and I told him I didn't have a cookie cutter in that shape. Undaunted he said, "that's OK, you'll think of something." With such hope in his mommy, I got creative and figured that hearts cut in half, with a gingerbread boy on top would be OK. He thought they were great and this year, he dipped the "wings" in sugar before placing the gingerbread boy on top to give the wings sparkle. The one with the heart in the centre is "just for me" because he says he loves me so much.

Tonight we'll have pizza and then sing a few songs, light our advent wreath candles and read the Christmas story from the bible. After that more relaxing while eating cinnamon buns and watching Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I just love the stop-motion animation. I think Yukon Cornelius is my favorite character!

Merry Christmas!

No Fail Fudge

Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids before the Chrsitmas break. After a week of thinking to myself, I'll make the teacher's gifts tomorrow, I was down to one day left. I promised to drop off the packages at lunch so B & M could distribute them before they went outside for recess. We'd planned to make butterscotch candy and color half of it with black food coloring to make "coal" for some Naughty and Nice candy.

However, once the kids were on the bus, I couldn't find my recipe and realized that for the amount of candy I needed to make (enough for a goodly amount for 12: teachers, EAs, secretary, principal, bus driver...), I was going to need more than a morning anyways.

So I gave it a bit of thought and decided mother-in-law's No Fail Fudge recipe would be perfect. It has never failed me since she gave me the recipe. 4 batches would cover it nicely. I decided to boil up two at a time, and pour them into a sheet pan, since I don't have four 8" square cake pans. All done in 40 minutes - one sheet pan plus a bit in a loaf pan. Feeling very proud of myself, I got the little dishes and cellophane bags out, found some green yarn for tying it altogether and made some tags on the computer while the fudge cooled outside in the garage (-30 degrees C yesterday!)

After about an hour, I checked on the fudge which was now very cold, but unfortunately still quite gooey. It had failed. For about an hour an a half I occasionally poked it, hoping to find it's consistancy miraculously changed. I had lunch with hubby and expressed my utter frustration to him in a myriad of ways until he finally said, "If you keep shooting down all my suggestions, I'll stop making them." Admitting defeat, I drove him back to work, and headed to the school to tell my girl that I was going to let her down, that we had sludge - not fudge, and that I couldn't package it with spoons as it looked far to unappetizing.

Once home again, and still not quite willing to give up, I thought that maybe a different corner of the pan would have different chemical properties. Remember I made 4 separate batches? And what do you know! Only the batch belonging to the corner I had poked (and the bit in my loaf pan) had failed. All that frustration for nothing. I quickly cubed up the good parts, packaged them at lightning speed and raced off to school just as the kids were coming in from recess! Cries of "thank you, mommy, you're amazing" echoing in my ears, I went home, had a cup of tea and vowed to start on next year's teacher gifts in July.

And I finished a Happy Frog!

What could be better...

I got together with some friends last nights for crafting and appetizers. Here's what I brought:


Mix together:
250 g cubed cream cheese
1/2 cup sundried tomato and oregano dressing
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tbsp peppercorns
1 sprig's worth of rosemary leaves, finely chop half of them
1/2 a lemon's worth of lemon zest, finely chop half of it


Serve with bagel chips, crackers, mini toasts, etc...


And this is what we made, clockwise from left: lime pomanders, decorated christmas balls, ribbon candy ornaments , and felt poinsettias.

Burp

A few years ago, B did a project on Koala's and discovered some interesting facts. Did you know... that koala's call sounds like belching.

Hence, this koala baby's name. I finished him up last night. He was quick and fun. Instead of working flat and seaming, I worked his pieces in the round.

And I started more secret Christmas knitting. M loves froggies and the pattern for Happy Frog by Crafty Hedgehog caught my eye on Lime & Violet. Here's the start:

M will love this little guy, who will easily be finished tonight.

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Bits & Pieces

I've been enjoying the holiday busyness with my family. But there has been a wee bit of holiday knitting.




Raynor Gellatly's Koala Baby is on my daughter's wish list.



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Fetching

My daughter has claimed the Midnight Magic Yarn. I decided to make her a pair of Fetching mitts. They will be perfect for skating. The first is done. Number two is waiting on the needles with only two rows completed.

Christmas has arrived and with it all the fun business. Here's what I was busy with this weekend: (clockwise from left) skating tests on Saturday and Sunday, putting out my snowmen, decorating the house and supervising the tree decorating. B put up the tree herself! but asked me to do the lights. When we had time, we dipped into the boxes of Christmas decorations and put them on the tree. Still a few more to put on - the one's the kids made in kindergarten and other handmade and sentimental ones.

Couldn't wait for Monday

So much for "Mondays are for Spinning", Wednesday's are too. I couldn't wait to finish off these singles. I Navajo plied these on my wheel. Took a bit to figure it out, but I think I got the hang of it. I'm quite happy with this yarn. It's well balanced and has a lovely sheen.



Details:
Midnight Magic 80% Merino/20%Silk
from Aurelia Wool & Weaving
~ 100g worsted weight

Hopefully I'll have enough for a pair of mittens (maybe fingerless?)

Midnight Magic

I've spun up the 100g of merino/silk roving. I've got about 1.5 bobbins. I think I'll try Navajo plying this. I've been successful doing that on my spindle, but this will be a first on the wheel.

Crazy Weekend

It started after school Friday and didn't slow down until Sunday evening! Just a few activities that overflowed our weekend minutes include: figure skating, hockey games, gingerbread house decorating with friends, church, kid's Christmas party, a baptism service and a church potluck.
What a whirlwind! I'm glad it's Monday!

Here's a sampling of our fun - the kids enjoyed decorating their little houses. Some of them ate more icing and candy than ended up on their houses, but it was a great time. I think the peanut butter ball penguins are my favorites.

George, a garden variety earthworm

The pattern is ready. I hope you enjoy this quick and easy knit.

George isn’t too bright – but he’s a loyal friend. His best friend Bookworm and him often discuss the practical versus the academic aspects of composting.

This pattern is suitable for someone who can knit in the round on double pointed needles. The size of the project combined with the worsted weight wool, make it a great, quick project. Other skills required are increasing and decreasing, embroidery, making I-cord, and seaming.

Available as a FREE Ravelry Download.

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Earthworm in Winter?

My daughter decided to make some concept sketches for me to use in upcoming patterns. Here's one that I'll be developing as a free pattern.

This is George. He's quite shy. You'll see more of him once the pattern is ready.

Very Cozy Mittens

I loved Grumperina's Shifting Sands Scarf from the first time I saw it. And since Christmas knitting is in full swing I needed a quick project for a special recipient. With only 3 balls of Knit Picks' Andean Silk in Lettuce, I knew it wouldn't be enough for a scarf. So I thought mittens and a neck warmer.

Here are the mittens! They are sooooo warm, it must be the alpaca!

I knit very loose, you may need to go up a needle size. Using 3.25mm dpns I cast on 44 sts for the cuff and knit in k1p1 for 3 inches. Then I increased evenly to 55 sts (11 pattern repeats). On the first row of the pattern, work in pattern for 55 sts, place marker, m1, place marker. This begins the thumb gore. Continue working in pattern, and making one stitch just before and just after the marker on the knit-only rows.

On the next knit-only row (once you have 15 sts between your markers) slip the thumb stitches to a stitch holder and continue knitting in the round. I didn't cast on any extra stitches in place of the thumb stitches as it would mess up the stitch pattern. Once a total of 13 pattern repeats have been completed (or less/more depending on your size) beginning decreasing for the tip, beginning with row one of the pattern.

Mitten Tip Rows: (see Grumperina's pattern for stitch definitions not shown here)
1/3LC = slip 1 st to cn and hold in front, k1, k2tog, then k1 from cn.
1/3RC = slip 3 sts to cn and hold in back, k1, then k2tog, k1 from cn.
Row 1: *1/3LC, k2**, 1/2LC, k1* repeat from * to * 4 more times, then work from * to ** once.
Row 2: knit
Row 3: *1/2RC, k1**, 1/3RC, k1* repeat from * to * 4 more times, then work from * to ** once.
Row 4: knit
Row 5: *1/3LC, k1**, 1/2LC* repeat from * to * 4 more times, then work from * to ** once.
Row 6: knit
Row 7:*1/2RC**, 1/3RC* repeat from * to * 4 more times, then work from * to ** once.
Row 8: knit (33 sts)
Turn mitten inside out and work a 3 needle bind off. Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Transfer thumb stitches back to dpns. Pick up 5 sts in the gap and work in pattern for 15 rows. 16th row: K2 tog to end of row. Cut yarn, thread tail on to a darning needle and pass it through the remaining sts. Pull tight and weave in ends.

It took one ball each for the mittens, so with only one ball to go I don't know whether the neckwarmer will be large enough. I plan to use 6mm dpns to give the neckwarmer plenty of drape, so the yarn should go a bit further.

Monday Night Knit Night

before...

I'm going to attempt to work on my spinning on Mondays. Not quite a "Mondays are for Spinning" thing, but just to work through the fibre I have.

Fibre:
Midnight Magic 80% Merino Colour Blend / 20% Silk roving from Aurelia Wools
Singles WPI: 24-30 (it's a bit uneven)
Twist angle: 25 - 30%

Box of Fluff

I predrafted this roving. When I have a shoe box full of fluffiness, I spin. I'm finding it a bit difficult to find just the right amount of twist for this particular roving. It's frequently breaking at underspun points. But after an hour of spinning this evening, it's breaking less often.

How much I spun, while helping friends learn to knit and spindle spin

Micah's Baby Blanket

Micah’s Baby Blanket pattern gives two sizes: a baby sized and a sofa sized blanket. This blanket was initially knit in a cozy cotton, but a soft superwash wool would be an excellent choice too. This pattern is not difficult, but does require counting and an ability to recognize the developing pattern. This blanket is worked in "patches" joined by vertical and horizontal bands of garter stitch. Each "patch" is 24 stitches wide by 30 rows tall. The vertical bands are 3 stitches wide and the horizontal bands are 6 rows tall.

SIZE (approximate)
baby size: 30 inches x 40 inches
sofa size: 40 inches x 52 inches

MATERIALS
10(16) – 50 gram balls Knit Picks Swish Worsted
14(23) – 50 gram balls Knit Picks Shine Worsted

1 US #7/4.5mm, 32 inch/80 cm long circular needle

notions required: darning needle

GAUGE
16 sts/28 rows = 4" in moss stitch


Available as a Ravelry download or through my Etsy store.


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KallieMairi

a juvenile cephalopod

When my little niece turned two, I wanted to knit her something unique to match her intelligent personality. This simplified octopus is the result of playing with yarn and ideas for a few weeks. Kallie Mairi is suitable for children under three or as old as you like.

SIZE
one size

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Head Diameter: 4 inches
Height with Tentacles Extended: 6 inches

MATERIALS
Knit Picks Swish Superwash Worsted; Ballerina: less than one skein
A few yards of each for the embroidery:
Knit Picks Swish Superwash Worsted; BubblegumKnit Picks Swish Superwash Worsted; Black
1 set(s) US #4/3.5mm double-pointed needles

notions required: darning needle, stitch holders, waste yarn, poly stuffing, ribbon.

GAUGE 22 sts/28 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

Kallie Mairi is knit in stockinette on considerably smaller needles than suggested for Swish Superwash Worsted. This gives her a bit more structure and prevents the poly stuffing from poking through the knitted fabric. Each tentacle is a separate knitted tube. These are grafted together to form a ring of tentacles. The live stitches from the inside and outside of this ring are then worked separately in the round. A worsted weight cotton yarn would also be a suitable choice for Kallie Mairi.

Available as a Ravelry download or through my Etsy store



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Francois & Mimi

a French mouse couple

SIZE
one size

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Head Diameter: 2 inches

Height: 5 inches(not including limbs)

MATERIALS
miscellaneous worsted weight – color of your choice
· 20 g main color for each mouse
· scrap yarn for beret, scarf and dress
· A few feet of black for the embroidery: Black
1 set(s) US #4/3.5mm double-point needles

notions required: darning needle, poly stuffing, 12 inch piece of chenille stem.

GAUGE
22 sts/28 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES
This pattern is suitable for someone who can knit on double pointed needles. Other skills required are increasing and decreasing, embroidery, making I-cord, and seaming.

Available as a Ravelry download or through my Etsy store.

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Opie

a cuddly crustascean with odd claws

SIZE
dependent on yarn weight used

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Worsted Weight
Head Diameter: 3.0 inches
Width from claw tip to tip: 7.25 inches

Fingering Weight
Head Diameter: 2.25 inches
Width from claw tip to tip: 3.25 inches

MATERIALS
Wool yarn in a color and weight of your choice.
A few feet of black yarn for the embroidery
1 set(s) US #4/3.5mm double-pointed needles if using Worsted weight yarn
1 set(s) US #0/2.0mm double-pointed ndedles if using Fingering weight yarn
notions required: darning needle, row markers, stitch holders, poly stuffing.

GAUGE
not important – in fact, you can use any weight yarn you’d like to adjust the size of your Opie

PATTERN NOTES
Having watched far too much of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch, I decided that this cute cuddly crustacean is named Opie. Although Opie’s appearance gives only a passing nod to the anatomy of the Atlantic Snow Crab (Chionoecetes opilio), Opie still shares the name. The Opie’s show were knit with 0.7 ounces/20 grams Lana Grossa Meilenweit “Bosco”, and 1.0 ounce/30 grams Patons Classic Wool “Rich Red Tweed”.

This pattern is suitable for someone who can knit on double pointed needles. Other skills required are increasing and decreasing, embroidery, making I-cord, and seaming.

Available as a Ravelry download or through my Etsy store.

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Beth's Kitty

My daughter has finally caught the knitting bug. She came up with an idea for a cat with long I-cord limbs. Here’s our combined inspiration. Knitting Kitty was knit with inexpensive 100% wool from W*lM*rt. Kitty is working on socks with “Sunshine Yarns” cherry blossom colorway

SIZE
one size

FINISHED MEASUREMENTSHead Diameter: 2 inchesHeight: 5 inches(not including limbs)

MATERIALS
miscellaneous worsted weight – color of your choice

20 g main color
A few feet of black for the embroidery:
Black
1 set(s) US #4/3.5mm double-point needles

notions required: darning needle, poly stuffing, 12 inch piece of chenille stem.

GAUGE
22 sts/28 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES
This pattern is suitable for someone who can knit on double pointed needles. Other skills required are increasing and decreasing, embroidery, making I-cord, and seaming. My 10 year old daughter was able to knit the I-cord and body with minimal help. She needed help with the seaming and with learning how to increase. She already knew how to k2tog.

Available as a Ravelry download or through my Etsy store

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