Ebony and Ivory

...almost.

Pizza Party!

Homemade pizza is becoming more and more common at our house. This is my recent kick:

tomato sauce
pesto swirl
sliced tomatoes
basil leaves
fresh mozzarella

Perfection.

Ode to the Nephew

This is my nephew. There are no words for how much I love this kid. He's clever, he's hilarious...it's pretty much non-stop hilarity when he's around. He took up a love for the Steelers that Jose and I have strongly encouraged. His ninth birthday was last week, so I took to the NFL.com custom shop to find the right gift. I hope it turns out to be the shirt he sees the Steelers win Super Bowl XLV in! Side note: he has emailed me at least 3 times per day, each day this week asking for us to take him to the Super Bowl. I wish, kid. I WISH!

HERE WE GO, STEELERS!!!

You may remember that I made some bibs recently. One of those bibs was gold with a black button and I told Tina that it was baby Q's gameday bib. Today, she wore the bib as a cape. In honor of the Steeler's entry to Super Bowl XLV, I give you...SUPER STEELERS BABY!!

Dishclothmania!

The day that I got Christy's box of fabulous yarn, I began my dream of knitting cotton dishcloths. Seriously, I had knit two in two days. LOVE it! I couldn't capture a good photo of either, so I've delayed this post.



This one is a butterfly. I chose the wrong yarn for this, it should have been done in solid, because the effect is more like one of those visual trickery puzzle deals. Now I know.



Again, thank you Christy...this trade was AWESOME!

Craftday Thursday...

Recycle a book - make a purse!

[Game], Set, Match!

I finished the second sock in record time. Probably because of the NFL playoffs.

Needles: 3mm Harmony Wood
Yarn: Malabrigo
Pattern: Scrolls, More Sensational Knitted Socks
Top 1X1 rib

Goals are for Winners

My brother says that "resolutions are for suckers and goals are for winners" so I've decided to set some goals for 2011.

One - Work through at least level one of Rosetta Stone Spanish. I want to make strides towards speaking Spanish with my family-in-law. I can understand a lot of what's being said, but that's just not good enough.

Two - To bike at least 400 miles, in addition to my other workout routines.

Three - Read at least 12 books. That doesn't sound like much, I know. But I used to read ALL the time and then I just stopped. Dunno why. Last year I read 12 books in January and then 2 the rest of the year. I figured that 12 books would mean one per month and I can totally do that. Besides, I've already read 4 thus far. I think January is my binge-reading month.

Four - To make serious headway with my stash. I'm no longer under the illusion that I will not buy anything else until I've knitted everything in the house. And I'm not just saying that because I've bought more yarn - I haven't. But I'm going to be visiting a few places this year and I know I'm going to want to buy some souvenir yarn. In my mind, I was going to be done with my stash by the time I started traveling. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. But like I said, I'm making serious progress. And I'd still like to see it all knitted up by the end of the year.

Five - To knit a sweater. Once upon a time I took a sweater class and I didn't like it very much. I was brand new to knitting and I didn't like the pattern or yarn that I picked. It was worsted weight on size 7 needles. Bottom-up, stockinette stitch. For those of you who don't knit, let me translate: bo-ring with a side of that'sgonnatakeforever. I hadn't had the desire to knit a sweater until my SiL gave me a few knitting magazines for my birthday. There was one in Knit Simple that I can't deny - the Bell-Sleeve Turtleneck. It's awesome, it's simple, and it's knit in super bulky yarn. I envision it being my movie knitting project. My meeting project. The thing that I don't have to concentrate on very much. I am targeting a start date in April. That will give me time to finish my felted bag and (hopefully) several pairs of socks.

So that's it. Just five goals. I should ask my brother if I'm a winner for setting goals or if I have to achieve them to enter winner status.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

I've never been a pumpkin fan. Not sure why. In the past few years, America's sweetheart gourd has really grown on me. So when one of my fabulous neighbors approached me with this pumpkin pie recipe, I whipped it up the very next day. First of all, I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard. Second of all, it was crazy easy (and in addition to promising that it was easy, he assured me it was delicious). Third of all, I had a party the next day, so it filled a crucial food slot.

Verdict: it was easy, it was delicious and I will most certainly make it again!

Ingredients:

1 8oz cream cheese (softened)

1 can pumpkin

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions:

beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar together with mixer on low setting. (powdered sugar will go everywhere!)

add 1 can of pumpkin and all spices. mix well.

refrigerate for 3 hours before serving. serve chilled.

serve with cinnamon graham crackers and ginger snap cookies.

Wait, they're supposed to match?!

I've had two socks on the needles for MONTHS...and we're not talking about two-at-a-time matching socks. No, I was working on the first sock in two separate pairs. It was a little like second sock syndrome, but with the first sock.

Over Christmas, I decided that this was a little ridiculous and made it my goal to finish them both before beginning anything else. Now that I've made good on that, I'm aiming to finish the mates to both before attempting new projects. I make no promises.

The Crimson Pride sock yarn was definitely disappointing. The colors do pool and I tried several different patterns before settling on this alt waffle rib. Such a boring pattern, but I think it was probably the best I could do with the yarn.





















The purple Malabrigo did not disappoint. The subtle variations of color allowed for a more complex pattern that I love love love! It's a 14-row pattern called "scrolls". Not horribly difficult, but it does require more attention than I'm used to giving...great for solo air travel and during TV shows that I don't care much about.

close-up of the pattern scrolls pattern:

Roll Tide, Happy New Year!

Remember when I posted about my Crimson Pride yarn projects? Well I finished the scarf and decided to make a hat with the leftovers. I actually finished them both over Thanksgiving weekend, but I just settled on a button for the hat.

In honor of the complete beatdown that 'Bama put on Michigan State today, I present my completed Crimson Pride scarf and hat! Hooray for a 10-win season! ROLL TIDE!!