Cabling, cabling, cabling...

I've finally finished my Upstream scarf!  Now I just need to get the pattern finished and send it and the scarf off to Knit Picks.  I hope they accept this pattern too!

 I tried to get some good pictures of myself modeling the scarf, but I didn't end up with any that I really liked.  So I basically wasted an hour, putting on makeup and fixing my hair, then another hour taking pictures.  Oh well.  Hopefully, Knit Picks photographers and models will have better luck.

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And now I'm off and running on the next design...

This is my Avonlea scarf, and I just sent the design proposal to Knit Picks on Monday.  I hope they like it!  I might not hear back about it for a couple weeks; they're a bit backlogged on patterns, from what they told me before publishing my second pattern last week.  Anyway, I'm using Knit Picks Capra yarn in "Scarlet" that I got from a friend in a swap. ☺ I am in love with this yarn!  I want to design a bunch more patterns using it!

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My latest pattern is up!

"A Girl's Best Friend" is finally available on Knit Picks!  The download is $1.99, and I highly recommend Knit Picks yarns. ☺

Here's the pattern link: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/A_Girls_Best_Friend_Fingerless_Mitts__D10656220.html

Hey, politicians, can you hear us now???

I stayed up really really late last night, technically really really early this morning, but whatever.  I was watching election returns, naturally.  I know, I don't talk about politics much, but that's not from a lack of interest or a lack of knowledge.  I am very interested in politics, and make a point to educate myself on the issues.  I spent several days googling all the candidates on my local ballot, to make sure I voted my conscience.  In the past, I would have just voted a straight party ticket, all the while wishing I knew who the heck these people were and whether they deserved my vote.  This year, I decided I wasn't going to do that any more.  It's too important to leave to chance.

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All that said, I am THRILLED with the results of the elections!  Yes, a few races were disappointing, including several I really thought would turn out well.  But in general, the "good guys" prevailed, and I am happy.  I'm wearing red today, to celebrate.

And now the hard work begins.  We need to make pests of ourselves, never letting our representatives forget that they work for us.  We hired them and we can fire them.  They need to keep their focus, and not sit down and whine about how bad things are.  Yes, things are bad all over, but now it's time to get to work fixing them!  I have a list of things I want congress to do, but it's not like they read my blog, so I'll just leave it at that, for here.  I'll be contacting them directly, often.

I said something about getting more pumpkins, didn't I?

Well, the girls begged again....and I really did want to get more pumpkins anyway.....so I let them each pick one.  Kitty picked a tiny one, and Angel and Princess kept picking different ones, both trying to get the "biggest".  Finally I told them to just pick, and it turned out that Princess's was the biggest.

 I cut them all in half, and let the girls scoop out the seeds themselves, which they enjoyed, for the most part.

 We ended up with less pumpkin, about 5 cups...

 And more seeds; this is only half...

We took a bunch more pictures, but I'm going to have Angel blog about the whole project in the next few days, and she doesn't like it when I blog something before her....so don't tell her.  And check her blog soon to see her "How To" post about roasting pumpkins. ☺

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And just a reminder: Get out there and vote! Unless you're a democrat.  Y'all already screwed things up royally.

Happy Halloween!

Well, it's Halloween again.  How did it come around again so quickly??  After last year, when I spent a week and lots of money sewing fancy one-of-a-kind costumes for the girls and then they didn't even win the costume contest...I decided to go with ready-made costumes.  Less work, and less money.

So this year, Angel is an "Enchanting Princess"...

 Princess is "Dorothy"...

 And Kitty is Snow White...

And, surprise, surprise....Angel won the costume contest at church!  Go figure.  The time all I have to do is hem the costume and fix her hair, she wins.  Sticking with store-bought costumes from now on.  Our neighborhood contest is later this afternoon.  I'll really laugh out loud if one of my girls wins that one too.

So anyway, have a safe and happy Halloween, y'all!

The official start to fall...

The girls begged me to buy a pumpkin the other day.  Actually, they've been begging since the pumpkins appeared in the grocery stores.  I finally gave in.  But not to carve scary faces....to roast it!  I've never cared for jack-o-lanterns, and the girls don't either.  But we love pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread!  And I'm going to attempt pumpkin cheesecake this time, too!

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So anyway, I googled "how to roast a pumpkin", just to make sure I could remember how.  As I was cutting the pumpkin in half, Kitty was all excited.  When the two halves fell open on the table, she looked disappointed.  She said, "There's not a pie in it!" Hahahaha!  No, sweetheart, there isn't.  We have to make the pie ourselves. ☺  I discovered that I didn't have two baking dishes large enough to hold the halves of the pumpkin, so I had to roast one half at a time.  Next time, I will choose a smaller pumpkin.  In the first picture, the half on the right is done, and waiting to be scooped.  The half on the left is waiting to go in the oven.  Excuse my messy stove.

So after about three hours total roasting time, lots of scooping, chopping and pureeing....I ended up with only seven cups of packed pumpkin.  And a very messy kitchen.  Still working on getting it all cleaned up.

 And after the second half of the pumpkin was roasted, I turned up the heat and roasted the seeds!  Because we love roasted pumpkin seeds!  They're gone now.  Well, they're almost gone.  Hubby is going on a trip today, and he's taking the rest with him.  So, as far as the girls and I are concerned, they're gone.

I think I need to get another pumpkin...

Finished one project...

A friend commissioned me to make four sets of my "A Girl's Best Friend" mitts for her nieces.  I was going to use different yarn for each set, but my friend assured me all of her nieces would like the sparkly yarn.  So I went ahead and made them all with Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn", which I don't love, but as acrylics go, it's not really as awful as Red Heart.  I had thought about using wool, but I don't like to make stuff for other people using wool, unless I know for sure that they know how to take care of wool properly, and that they want to.  So anyway, here's a pic of the four pairs of mitts!

The pattern will be available soon on http://knitpicks.com/ and I highly recommend using Knit Picks yarn, over Hobby Lobby acrylic.  I'll post a link to the pattern once it's up. 

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I'm doing some research these days.  Nope, not election research; got that done a while back, and voted early.  Now I'm doing research about flooring.  Hubby has finally agreed that we should rip out the carpet in our family room and bathrooms, and the linoleum in our kitchen, and the boring white tiles in our entryway, and get new flooring!  I am so beyond excited about this!  Soooo...

We're getting a nice neutral ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.....

 Wood in the entry and family room....

And a gorgeous granite tile for the fireplace surround and hearth.

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