Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Today in Jo's Knitting Land ...

So I've been working on an uber-secret project in a gorgeous green shade of Knitpicks CotLin yarn. I wasn't happy with the way my joins were coming out. Being a fairly new knitter, I've been just joining the new yarn and then weaving the ends in. In doing this, however, my ends always seem to pop out. I don't like that. My uber-secret project doesn't like it either.

To make my knitting happier, I scoured the internet in search of better ways to join (take this to mean that I want to my 2 stand-by sites ... KnittingHelp.com and Planet Purl and looked through their how-to video library). I came up with the 'Russian Join!' Voila ... my kntting is happier, and therefore, I am happier!

Unfortunately I read ahead in the pattern and I see more how-to videos in my near future! Next lesson up ... short rows w/ a wrap & turn.


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things In My Freezer Right Now

Ack, this could get scary, LOL!! Here we go ...

1. Waffles/pancakes ... the girls love these on a cold morning, drenched in maple syrup!

2. Turkey ... it's been sitting there for, well, goodness knows how long. One of those things I don't like to make, but I feel I should have on hand. Yeah, probably time to get over that, huh?

3. Chicken parm ... mmmmm, nothing better than a dinner you can just thaw out and heat up!

4. Pizza ... a great Friday night dinner, especially when you make it 'Family Movie Night!'

5. Margarine/butter ... always a good idea to keep some in reserve.

6. Ice Cream ... I think at this particular moment we have 'Party Cake' and 'Moose Tracks!' Oh, and I think there's a berry frozen yogurt in there, too.

7. Shrimp ... I love the Schwan's Shrimp Scampi & we just bought their Butter Shrimp to try as well. I also have a bag of plain old shrimp.

8. Pork chops ... whenever there's a sale, I grab some extra to freeze. Sometimes I marinate them, sometimes not.

9. Veggies ... for quick weeknight dinners, frozen veggies are easy. Usually tastier than the canned variety!

10. Popsicles ... hey, I have kids!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things To Love About Fall

Today's topic is '10 Things To Love About Fall!' FUN!!

1. The cooler weather & no humidity ... yeah, I'm done with the hot, steamy stuff!

2. Spectacular colors  ... there's no place like New England to experience the glorious colors of autumn. The bright reds, golden yellows and oranges, even the browns!

3. Apples ... apple pie, apple cider, apple muffins, apple crisp, apple butter ... so many glorious ways to celebrate the apple!

4. Football! When fall rolls around, they strap on the pads & hit the turf for some rough & tough football, and we love it! 'Specially when the Patriots rout the Dolphins and make sushi out of 'em (just sayin')!

5. Baseball's Fall Classic ... love the excitement of the hunt for the pennant ... even when the Red Sox don't make the mix (hey, all the starters were on the DL for goodness sake!), we can always root against the Evil Empire!

6. Crisp, clean air scented with wood smoke.

7. The crunch of dried leaves under your feet as you take a walk in that crisp, clean air.

8. Crockpot dinners ... nothing like coming home to something warm and delicious after a day being out in the crisp, clean air.

9. Anticipating the coming winter ... I'm already planning to knit the 'Drifty' hat & mitten set, almost can't wait for it to snow!

10. Watching the pure joy on my children's faces as they dive into the huge leaf pile hubby makes for them. Yeah, lovin' fall in New England!