Night out

for just the girls...

Beth & I met up at Loop for the Stitch Party with Franklin. It was alot of fun and we got to catch up on the relam of those who escaped. Bridget planned to meet us, but she thought an all staff meeting at the penitentary was more important.

Mom joined us since she is the latest statistic in the family. Now I have my mom and DH both working on the "what I want to be when I grow up" plan.

Mom got to enjoy a second serving of Franklin on Saturday with his lace knitting class. This was her third event with Franklin - guess he's becoming a habit for her.

Mom's been knitting for over 50 years, lace is a challenge she is determined to conquer. Great to see that even those who've been engaged with needles for decades, there is even more to learn. The rows she came home with were pretty. I'll have to keep working on my scarf projects so I can try the pattern out later on.

The magic

...of Leggos.

LB got leggos for Christmas/Hanukkah and his birthday. Some of the packages were sets while others were just collections of blocks. From the first opening, he started building what is most important to him - Mario and friends. With each round, Mario, Lugi, and the others have gotten more detailed.

For LB, these characters are not only for building, but then for reenacting game stratgies and moves.


Sometimes Leggo Mario gets to watch him play Mario games on the computer.

Wishing you all,

a pint of Guiness,

fresh soda bread,

a warm fire,

and family to share.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Finally finished

I have been lax about posting any projects finished.

DH's scarf took a long time to finish, but now the ends are hiding and he has it for the next cold day.

This yarn was in my stash. I bought it for a gift, but then changed my mind. Now I have no clue it was bought for but it is now a scarf for good friend. Yeah, I officially used stash and have a gift ready for Christmas 2009!

The five hours of knitting and a finished scarf, no wonder fun yarns have become so popular. This was also a wonderful break from the fine yarn of DH's scarf.

Previously I mentioned the plan to knit, sew, or otherwise make most of our gifts for Christmas 2009 or other gift needs this year. Now that DH is a statistic, this is even more timely project plan.

After a lovely day of shopping in Mom's stash, I have started working on some of these scarves for other friends and family. My plan is to challenge myself with each item, either with the type of yarn, learning new stitches, or even trying a real pattern.

This is the first one finished, but this was a new yarn type for me.

It is a cozy to work with as it looks.

For our last trip to VA, I needed knitting that would be easy for travel, so I turned to 3 skeins of eyelash yarn. As I started knitting, I found I had two skeins of one dyelot and one of a second. This scarf used the two and I have a simillar one from the single.

Many thanks to LB for agreeing to let Twinkle begin his modeling career. I'm sure others will come ready and willing for our next show.

you too

can make the whole megillat. Lisa was so taken with my plate of yumminess that she needed the recipe. Well we have a debate going on for which is the better recipe for dough. I'll post both and let you all decide.

Temple hamantaschen

3 eggs
3/4 c canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c orange juice
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
5-6 c flour

1 container filing - flavor of your choice. I favor prune.

Mix first 5 ingredients in the mixer until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix 4 dry ingredients and add gradually.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

Form small balls of dough and flatten to about 2" circle.
Place spoonful of filling of your choice. Pinch at three points to make triangle shape.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Bubbie's hamantaschen

3 eggs
3/4 c canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 c flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder

1 container filing - flavor of your choice. I favor prune.

Mix first 4 ingredients in the mixer until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix 3 dry ingredients and add gradually.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

Form small balls of dough and flatten to about 2" circle.
Place spoonful of filling of your choice. Pinch at three points to make triangle shape.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

So enjoy the recipes and I'd love to hear which you like best.

The whole Megillat

Saturday afternoon was our annual celebration for Purim with the Shores making hamantaschen. I make the dough and L picks up the fillings. The kids go for the cherry most often, but my favorite is prune.

Now this is just a plate of wonderful yumminess!

Back in the running

Now I have a new toy - an Acer laptop. DH ordered this for me before his layoff as my Valentine's suprise.

My prior laptop was dying a slow and frustrating death. Between the wireless card deciding when to communicate and never when I needed, and the battery which held a 1/2 second charge; I was ready to scream. Thus my lack of posting for a couple of weeks.

I'm still setting up my preferences and adjusting to the size of the new machine. Before others in blog-dom think I've left the building, I figured a quick update post was in order.

I have been busy with projects in my year long crafting for gifts and using anything in my vast stores of supplies and ideas.

Check back soon for some of the results.