Felt Like Knitting

No Bake Cookies

Earlier this week, my knitting neighbor J gave us some oatmeal cookies. These weren't ordinary oatmeal cookies. These were oatmeal raisin nut cookies and they were the best oatmeal cookies I'd ever had. Unfortunately, I was a pig and finished them so none are left to pack in my lunch for tomorrow. And I'm out of eggs to make the pumpkin muffins I thought I'd bake. Then I remembered one of my favorite cookie recipes from my childhood. These were the cookies I hoped would be the snack at Vacation Bible School each day. :)  They're really more like candy!

                                                                 

No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

1/4 stick margarine

1/2 cup milk

Add together in medium size saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add together:

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups oats

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir together quickly and spoon out on waxed paper.  (I stir in the peanut butter and vanilla first.)

                                

Sock and quilt progress

Hi all.  Just a quick note to share completed sock #1!  It's modeled by my daughter.  Since it fits her, I can use my notes for her pair of socks.  My whole sock knitting adventure started when E requested that I knit her a pair of socks.  She's been waiting patiently for several years and I'm looking forward to knitting them for her.

                                        

Why are hand knitted socks so comfy?  I'm tempted to wear this sock on my good foot while I knit my second one.  I can see why people get addicted to knitting socks.

One more WIP to share, but this one's a quilt top:

                                        

In Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder writes about her sister Mary working on her 9 patch quilt.  So that's the kind of quilt I made for the class to put together.  I'm excited that I've been able to use up stash fabric!  The blocks are from fabric from a quilt I made for my mom, the red squares are from a quilt I never finished, and the strips are from fabric from the church quilters.

This quilt will go to Lutheran World Relief to be distributed to a refugee family somewhere in the world.  The top was quick to put together since the blocks can be so big.  LWR quilts are supposed to measure 60" x 80" and are often made of large single blocks instead of quilt squares.  I accidentally cut the blocks too small so I'm going to have to add a border.  That might actually finish it off nicely.

I'm off to cast on for my sock #2 and to iron my border fabric (which I also have in stock!).  Have a great evening!

Catching up

I'm not going to post my menu this week.  I did make it and so far I'm following it, although it is only Tuesday.  :)  But there have been so many things going on in the past month or so that I've been meaning to share.  Today it's time to catch up.

1)  The robotics team has had a great season.  The state tournament was in January and they placed 2nd this year.  This earned them the honor of being invited to represent Georgia at the FLL U.S. Open!  We're so proud of them all!

2)  I'm teaching enrichment classes this semester:  three JrFLL (Junior FIRST LEGO League) classes and a Little House on the Prairie class.  I've loved all of them and the kids are so enjoyable.  I come home each week with a list of funny things that happened.

3)  Each class is required by the school to take part in a service project.  For the Little House class, the girls are going to tie a quilt to donate to refugees.  Last night I started the quilt and I'm amazed at how quickly it's coming together since I have a goal and a deadline.  I'll share photos when it's done.

4)  My daughter's foot is broken.  It started hurting last fall and it took me a long time to get her to the doctor.  She was dancing on it, jumping around, etc. so I figured it couldn't hurt that much or be injured badly.  Wrong!  She is now in a boot and we're praying that her foot will heal.  It's a bone that's hard to heal and having it injured for so long makes it worse.

5)  My big toe started hurting in December and I went to the doctor.  After a round of antibiotics, a visit to a podiatrist, and waiting to see what happened...my nail separated from the toe.  I requested a different podiatrist and this one was better than the last.  He took care of it today.  If you want gruesome details, email me.  :)

6)  In January, I was installed on our church council as the Worship & Music team leader.  So far, so good.  It's an interesting time to be on council because our church is in the process of calling a new pastor.  I'm learning a lot and I know this is an opportunity for me to grow.

I think that's about all the new stuff.  Everything else (messy house, unfinished projects, laundry, etc.) is still here, too.  :) 

More than a menu

Today is the day I usually post my weekly menu.  I'm still going to do that, but I have big news first.      

                                      

There is sock knitting going on here and it's not even painful!  I'm so excited.  I'm using Silver's Sock Class to create my sock and it's going so well.  (Hmm, I wonder if there is a fan club on Ravelry?)  What I like about this pattern is that it's actually a tutorial and I'm getting a custom fit.  My problem in the past has been that I've tried patterns that are for smaller feet or narrower legs or whatever.  Knitting toe up so I can try it on makes sense to me.

The stitch pattern is the June 11th entry from 365 Knitting Stitches A Year Perpetual Calendar.  It's called the Eyelet Mock-Cable Rib.  I like it because it's easy to memorize and helps keep me going.  ("I'll just knit one more repeat.  Okay, just one more after that...")  Progress might be slower if I was knitting straight stockinette.

The yarn is ShibuiKnits in Wasabi and I'm using two Addi Turbo circs, size 1.  (Did you know these can bend?  I always thought they were too stiff until I stepped on one and bent it.  Fortunately I was able to bend it right back in place and I was surprised.)  The yarn color along with the stitch pattern reminds me of moss so I'm calling these my Moss Socks (like I have so many socks lying around that I have to name them all!).  I've just turned the heel of my first sock so I may soon have a completed sock to share!

On to the menu...  (Menu Plan Monday from Orgjunkie.com)

Monday:  Asparagus quiche, fruit

Tuesday:  Macaroni and cheese (I doubled the batch and froze half last time I made it.)

Wednesday:  Pecan crusted chicken tenders, noodles, roasted cauliflower

Thursday:  Roast beef, carrots, potatoes

Friday:  Fish, fries, veg

Saturday:  Pizza, salad

Sunday:  Soup and grilled cheese or if I feel like cooking, I might make venison pepper steak in the crock pot.  (Thanks for the idea, Carole!)

Let me know what you're eating.  Maybe I should have the goal of trying someone's recipe each week.  That might be fun.

WIP Wednesday...not just knitting

                                     

You know how it feels when you have too many WIPs and UFOs around the house?  That is how I'm feeling right now, but not because of knitting projects.  That's how I feel about life right now.  It appears that I've over committed myself (again).  Many commitments, plus wanting to keep up with people (on Facebook, through my blog and by others' blogs, and via email) leaves me feeling like sitting in a corner with my knitting.  I just can't seem to do everything right now and I don't know how to "frog" some of it.  I did make a to-do list the other day and that helped.  Now I just need to keep attacking it.  The list is more than one 8.5 x 11 page long and it keeps growing.  I'm really doing okay - maybe I just wanted to whine.  How do you all cope when you have too much to do?

On to knitting...the socks were coming along well until a needle broke.  One of my Harmony needles split at the base.  I was going to order a replacement right away, but haven't yet because I think I'd like to buy a few more and don't yet know what sizes I want.  So I switched to Magic Loop.  I'm to the toe for sock #2.

WIP #2 is a felted bag.  I decided I wanted to have a project I can work on while my family watches TV.  A long time ago I bought yarn for a bag that I wanted to design.  I never made it and now I'm going to try something a little different.  I'm hoping to make an argyle bag but we'll see...  What's shown above is just the bottom so you may be seeing this for several Wednesdays.  :)

WIP #3 just got frogged this morning.  Have you seen the Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf?  It's so pretty and there are many beautiful color combinations on Ravelry.  I decided to make this my new project while waiting on E's guitar lessons.  Yesterday I cast on 420 stitches and today I managed to goof up.  I'll start over soon.

WIP #4 is gone, too.  It's a charity hat made from recycled and dyed wool.  It was almost done when I realized it was too small.  Then it was almost done again when I realized it was too big.  Then I decided to knit it with the yarn doubled and it was too bulky.  It's in time-out right now.

And WIP #5 isn't mine.  A friend from church asked if I'd finish a sweater her aunt had started for her.  But I need your advice on that so I'll save it for another post.

Good luck with all of your WIPs - knitting and otherwise!

Menu Plan Monday - February 9

Time is slip sliding away, isn't it?  How can it almost be mid-February?!  One thing is constant - the need to eat.  Here's what we'll be having this week...

                                   

                                                   More menu plans at orgjunkie.com

Monday - meatloaf, noodles, asparagus

Tuesday - sloppy joes, cauliflower, boxed au gratin potatoes

Wednesday - salads with chicken, foccacia

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - pork chops, rice, veg, canned fruit

Saturday - dine out

Sunday - spaghetti, salad, foccacia

What about you?  I enjoy reading what you plan to eat.  It always makes me hungry!

Menu plan Monday...on Tuesday

                                        

                                                    More menu ideas at Orgjunkie.com

I started to clean out the fridge and make my menu yesterday when E woke up and said that she had started feeling bad the night before and still felt awful.  She had a headache, sore neck, fever, and felt like she did when she had mono last year.  Her pediatrician and I both felt like she might have meningitis so E and I went to the ER.  By the time we were seen (and after much praying), E felt better.  So no spinal tap was done (fortunately!) and she's feeling much better today.  I'm really thankful that she's okay.  Now on to the menu...

Monday - Turkey noodle soup (made from cooked turkey and broth from the freezer - cheap!)

Tuesday - Pasta Sausage Bake (made with pepperoni instead), salad, canned fruit

Wednesday - Homemade macaroni and cheese (from my good old Betty Crocker cookbook or maybe I'll try this newer version), mixed vegetables, pumpkin pie

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Chili

Saturday - out with friends

Sunday - reception at church

What are you going to eat this week?