One Last Snow Memory

I think this picture is my favorite snow picture. It was taken on December 23rd just as the sun was setting.

The boys' ice sculpture was pretty darn cool, too.

A New Year's Resolution

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to finish several projects before starting any others. This baby blanket is for Matt and Amy, and I'm worried it's not baby-like. It is soft and I really like the color and not all baby blankies have to be pastel ... right? The sex of this child will not be known until birth and I'm really bored with yellow and all of it's derivatives. But I worry that this blankie might be a tad boring.

On the other hand, boring can be good. We found out at the birthday party that Greg and Michelle are expecting another girl, and Michelle shared that she's thinking of using magenta, orange, and lime in the nursery. I picked up some yarn at All About Yarn and started another blankie, finished a four inch square, and promptly frogged it. This yarn hurts my brain. I'm sure it would keep a baby up at night. I'll exchange the yarn for some nice pastels, and make a hat out of the used skein.

And I really need to finish Ben's blanket. And the picket fence valances for the kitchen.

Neighborhood Treats

Careful, this stuff is addicting. Our neighborhood exchanges Christmas time treats and I make caramel corn, which is always well received. My addiction began many years ago at the Lloyd Center Karmelkorn Shoppe. While my mom and sister shopped, Dad and I would go to our "secret place"--the Karmelkorn Shoppe--and get the medium-sized box, then watch the ice skaters from the bridge over the ice rink. We would polish off the entire box and get rid of any evidence prior to rejoining the rest of the family. Our secret. Wonderful memories. My next significant experience with caramel corn occurred when I was student teaching at Stephenson Elementary School. One of the teachers brought a huge bowl of homemade caramel corn to the teacher workday/Christmas party, along with a stack of recipe cards because "everyone always asks." Now I could make the stuff myself, which was timely because the Karmelkorn Shoppe at the Lloyd Center was long gone. A quick google search now produces the same recipe (ah, the internet age) and I've discovered that adding a couple handfuls of pecans is the right thing to do.

Let It Snow

It's still snowing and I am still loving it. And I'm on vacation for two weeks. Can life get any better?

It was just a few months ago that goats were clearing this path through the blackberry vines.

Finished in the Nick of Time

I started this scarf forever ago and just finished it this week. I fell in love when I first saw the pattern for the Northern Lights Wrap in the Lion Brand Yarn catalog, but the kit was just under $100 (cheaper now!) and I couldn't justify paying that much for a scarf. Then I got the email from Smiley's Yarns announcing that Moonlight Mohair was on their Midnight Madness sale for 99 cents a skein. The pattern is a simple stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border. I slipped the last stitch on every row to tighten up the edge and that worked nicely. The yarn is Moonlight Mohair Northern Lights and Trellis Ocean, and is knit holding the two strands of yarn together on size 11 needles. The pattern calls for fringe, but I'm not a big fringe fan--too much zipper catching and nose tickling. The scarf is wonderfully soft, fuzzy, sparkly, warm and cozy.

Sugar Cookies: Iced vs. Frosted

I've always wanted to try icing sugar cookies. I want cookies that look like the ones on the cover of Family Circle or Good Housekeeping. When the boys were young, they loved to frost cookies and douse them with sprinkles. LOTS of sprinkles. They had a grand time but produced less than picture perfect results. Their interest in baking cookies with their mother has waned, however, so this year I set out to make The Perfect Sugar Cookie.

OK, well, at least I got that out of my system and can move on. First of all, "painting" icing on a cookie is time consuming. Especially considering that teenage boys can polish off a batch of cookies in a very short period of time. Second, icing just does not taste as good as frosting. Third, I admit ... I like sprinkles. And fourth, according to Ben, the iced sugar cookies look "fake". With Ben's encouragement, I abandoned the icing and whipped up some buttercream frosting. Ben says these are "real" cookies ... and I agree.

Warm and Cozy at Home

Is there anything better than a snow day ten days before Christmas? Although the College is open today (first day of finals!), I stayed home due to icy roads. I'm curled up on the couch, alternately knitting and reading my new book A Field Guide to Cookies (thanks, Sarah!). The camera is safely back from Seattle and I've already ventured out for a few shots.