How Many Scarves Do I Need?

The question is "how many scarves do I need?" The answer is. Not many, because it doesn't get cold enough in the part of Arizona where I live  to wear a heavy knit scarf. I just seem to be knitting and  collecting scarves. If you are interested in knitting one like this I found the pattern for this smocked scarf  here . It was very easy to knit. I wanted a really long scarf so I used two skeins of yarn.                                                                                                                                                           

My First Knit-Along

I joined the Advent Scarf 2011 Knit-Along on Ravelry. The scarf is made up of 24 different lace patterns with spacers in between. Each day we log in to get our pattern for that day. If I knit each days pattern as soon as it is published, I should be finished by Christmas Eve. I'm using  Lion Brands "LB 1878" yarn. The pattern requires 1,000 yards to make the scarf.  I'm using size 3.5mm knitting needles.

So far, I'm keeping up with the group (It's only day 3, this will change soon)  and I'm really enjoying it. I love knitting lace and changing patterns every day makes this scarf quite challenging.

Linen Stitch Scarf

 We are heading back to Minnesota soon so we can spend the Christmas holiday with family and friends. Decided to knit myself a nice warm scarf to wear while I was back in cold  country.

 I've been bookmarking scarf patterns and the patterns for knitted linen stitch scarves seem to be my favorites.  Linen stitch is new to me so this seemed like a good time to give it a try.  All of the patterns that I have are knit with long horizontal rows. The pattern I tried  said to cast on 450 stitches and knit each row in linen stitch pattern. Well I got the 450 stitches cast on okay but then I  lost count of my stitches while knitting  the first row of the pattern. I had to rip it all out TWO times. Changes would have to be made to the pattern if I was ever going to be able to get anything done. Decided to knit my scarf with much shorter rows and many, many, many  more rows.

 Using a worsted weight yarn, cast on 38 stitches. Follow the instructions for the linen stitch pattern given here.  I used two skeins of yarn so this scarf is nice and long.

Maybe I'll give that 450 stitch another try because I really love the look of linen stitch.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I'll share this wonderful book.  I received it as a birthday gift. If I were trying to list 1,000 gifts I  guess that would be gift number one

 . This is the link to the authors blog. Scroll down to the second page of her blog  and read about the boy Jonathan.

We sponsor a little girl from India through Compassion International so I have been so interested in the blog posts that Ann has shared about their recent Compassion International trip.

Surprise Visits

 This is my favorite place to sit in the sun, drink a cup of coffee and usually read a book. My little camera is always with me because once in a while I have a surprise visitor. If you look to the right of the chair you can see one of them. Below is a better picture of him.

This big coyote came for a drink of water. On the other side of the wall there is a water connection for the sprinkler system. By the looks of the prints in the mud, he isn't the only animal using it as a drinking fountain.

This beautiful bobcat walked right  past me and acted as if I wasn't even there. By the time I was ready to take his picture he had jumped over the wall and was almost out of picture taking range. 

BUGS, BUGS, BUGS!

We spent the whole day at the Desert Botanical garden. They were having a great event, "Chiles & Chocolate". We sampled all kinds of  bakery confections, jams and jellies, candies, pastas, and for lunch I had the best Street Tacos! Of course everything in the show had a Chili & Chocolate theme.

The David Rogers Big  Bugs exhibit  was my favorite!  Throughout the gardens there are 11 giant bugs that the Sculptor David Rogers created from fallen or found wood, and sticks, twigs, branches from trees and plants.

According to the brochure, the sculptures weigh from 300 to 1,200 pounds and range in size from 7 feet to 25 feet long.

It was a great day and  I hope we can attend more of the programs at the botanical garden.

Knitted Baby Blanket

Seems like there's a baby boom going on. All of a sudden I need to knit  many baby blankets to give as gifts.
Spent some (enjoyable) time searching through the free patterns on Ravelry and found this  pattern.
"Concentric Squares Baby Blanket" by Fiber Fiend. Click on the name of the blanket to take you to the link for the free pattern.
This might have been the first time ever that I had a pattern chosen, sufficient amounts of the correct yarn for the project and knitting needles in the correct size, all on hand and I could start knitting  it immediately.
As soon as I finished the pink I started and finished a denim blue one, but forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it  away as a gift.
Next I plan to make this pattern in white with little embroidered flowers .
 

Desert Milkweed

 I was taking pictures of a Desert Milkweed plant, which is a  shrub type plant that grows in our desert garden

 Lucky for me this adult "Queen" butterfly ignored me and continued to feed on the milkweed plant.

On the same plant I found a caterpillar.

The next day I found the caterpillar had disappeared and this was attached to the side of the house. (Sorry, for some reason I can't get this picture to rotate) I did some reading and found out that the adult butterfly will emerge in 7 to 10 days.
Hope I can get a picture of that!

Knitting Some Beaded Bracelets

I just finished knitting these bracelets and attaching the clasps. They were so easy to make!
These knitted, beaded, bracelets are the perfect projects to use all those beads that I collected when I was crazy quilting.
You guessed it, they are going to be great gifts this Christmas.
If you're interested in making some, this you tube video very helpful.
http://youtu.be/VNkSYjq0e_I 

Last Spring I was so excited when I found someone selling knitted jewelry at a craft sale. I not only bought this bracelet but asked lots of questions about yarn, beads, needles and patterns or kits used. I learned from  this talented knitter that kits are sold through this company,  EarthFaire ,
I bought the kit for the "Bead Stew Bracelet/Moonrise On Neptune". It has lots of purple in it so it will work out well with my black and purple wardrobe.
I'll start on it as soon as I can figure out which box I packed it away in when we moved.

Apple Dumpling Recipe

Apple Dumplings With Mountain Dew Recipe

Found this great dessert recipe in our local newspaper and found many versions on the Internet also. This dessert is so easy to make and it tastes great!
 

Ingredients:
2 granny smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cinnamon, to sprinkle over the top
1 can Mountain Dew
Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each slice into a crescent roll.
Melt butter, then add sugar, and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir and pour over apples. Pour can of Mountain Dew in bottom of dish. Then sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

I made this for company and served it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Check out this link from Pioneer Woman if you want to see step by step instructions on making the Apple Dumpling recipe.

It's been a long time since my last post, and so many things happened since then but I'll just give you a brief summary of events.

We listed our house with a real estate agent, spent a couple months keeping the house all neat and tidy so it could be shown to anyone interested in buying, sold the house, spent weeks packing and moving, moved into a temporary residence, packed and moved again. Waiting for new house to be built, which should be finished the first part of December. WHEW!