Jose's Christmas Socks

I took my skein of Too Much to Dream and knitted a pair of socks for Jose. I thought it would be a surprise, but he kept asking questions along the way that told me he knew. Boo on that, but yay for the outcome!

First, Jose said they are the best fit of any of the socks I've made him, so that's positive. Second, I wrote the pattern and I like the way it turned out. There's a little more variegation in the yarn than I would have liked for this simple pattern, but it's still nice. I'd like to type up the pattern and post it on Ravelry, but it's just so simple that I feel like it may not be worth it. We'll see. Third, Jose said the socks might be his favorite gift. That may mean that the other gifts I gave him were failures, but I'll take it to mean that the socks rock :)

This is my attempt at a close-up of the rib. The cuff is a 4X1 rib and for the body of the sock, I ran 15 stitches (with a purl on either end) down so that it's just off center on the front of the foot. My original vision was for a cable, but I wasn't able to find one that was masculine enough and I started running out of time. I just got a book of stitches for Christmas, so I should be able to find a manly cable for next time...

5th grade fun!

Niece's party was less structured, but just as much fun as nephew's. The kids all had their snacks at their desk and some craft projects traveled the room so the kids just stayed put. I got to see her desk and her cluster of friends...crazy adorable.

Sam and friend...


A Venn diagram of gift preferences. The librarian in me LOVED this.


Sam was dying to make this ornament. We were at the very end of the craft circuit, so you can imagine how hard it was to wait out the suspense. I got her here focusing so intently that her tongue is out, Michael Jordan style...but I somehow missed a photo of the finished product. Aunt fail.


Sam has a painting in her room that Jose and I wanted to buy from her. She set the price at $6,000, which is just out of our reach. This was a drawing of hers on display at school that she offered up for a mere $1,000. I took a picture instead, insisting that I would just print copies for myself :)


To commemorate the day, we did a self-portrait. She declared it a great Facebook pic, and I completely agree. She's such a good mini-me.

4th grade fun!

It just so happens that the holiday parties for both my nephew's 4th grade class and my niece's 5th grade class happened during my visit home last week. Lucky for me, the kids like me and invited me to attend :) I'm here to tell you that I was entirely amused from the minute I walked in until the minute I left. Those kids are my favorites. In the whole world.

Jake's class had a really organized party - the teacher had six stations set up with a different activity at each one. I got too caught up in helping with activities to photo-document each one, but I did manage to get my favorites.

What holiday party would be complete without ornament making? Here's Jake working on his:

I'm certain that every parent/aunt/uncle/grandparent thinks their kid produces the best stuff, but for real - this was the best ornament there. LOVE.

The cookie decorating station was a favorite. There were sugar cookies that kids would top with icing and then a giant marshmallow. Red and green M&Ms and piping bags with icing were used to decorate the cookie like a snowman.

Fun kid story: Jake walked over to one of his classmates who was using all green M&Ms and all green frosting and said "you going all green this year, buddy?" and clapped his hand on his back like a grownup asking about some home improvement project. Super. Double. Extra. CUTE.

The finished cookie:

The teacher told me that she got this idea from Pinterest. I wasn't surprised since Pinterest is the best. The kids were all super focused on making their snowmen, and I didn't hear anyone complaining about their sugar cookie topped and decorated with sugar. Win, win, win.

RKG Holiday Party Sponsors

A few months ago, I set out on a mission: recruit raffle giveaways for the Raleigh Knitting Group's holiday party. My goal was to send out 8-10 requests with the hope of securing 5-6 items. When it was all said and done, I sent out eight requests and received eleven prizes! ELEVEN! I wish I could take credit here, but this is really about the generosity of the folks I reached out to.

As one final thanks to our amazing sponsors, I want to share the photos of our excited winners with their raffle prizes. I hope you will all continue supporting these shops that so generously supported the RKG this holiday season!

Yarn Tree Studio, Raleigh, NC

Sassafras Creations

Knitterati Sock Club

Hillsborough Yarn Shop, Hillsborough, NC

Great Yarns/Yarns Etc., Raleigh, NC and Chapel Hill, NC

Downtown Knits, Apex, NC

Cozy, Durham, NC

Color Me Happy Yarns

Admit Ewe Knit, Raleigh, NC

Many thanks to you all, and happy holidays!

Mamaw's fudge

I don't really have a name for this stuff...I just call it "Mamaw's chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallow fudge". Not very catchy, is it? I could call it "mmmmm, wow!" or "ohmygod", but for now we'll just call it "Mamaw's fudge". This is the stuff that I think of when i think about the holidays, because Mamaw took any special occasion as a reason to make it. She had a crazy sweet tooth, as evidenced by this made-up candy.

So how do you do it? It's super easy. Here we go.

Ingredients:
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
a dollop of peanut butter
1/2-3/4 bag of mini-marshmallows

Melt the chips in a double boiler, or in a medium sauce pan over low heat. Add a dollop of peanut butter when the chips begin melting. Melt both, stir together well. NOTE: I hate when people use measurements like "dollop" or "smidgen", but really, just use as much or as little as you'd like. I probably use 2-3 tablespoons per 10 oz of chocolate.



Once the chocolate is melted, add in marshmallows and stir until coated. I feel like I've added enough marshmallows when there isn't much remnant chocolate left in the mix.

Historically I've poured the mixture in a glass pan, let it set in the fridge, then cut it into squares for serving. This year I decided to use the cupcake tins since they worked out so well for my birthday candies. Worked like a charm. Also, I usually double the recipe because it's for a party or some gathering of peoples. My double batch at Thanksgiving yielded 14 cupcake cups.

Since this is such an insanely sweet treat, I wasn't sure if the Lopezes would be into it, but they were! On day 3 my brother-in-law called dibs on the last piece and I was so incredibly happy. It's tough not to be able to share Mamaw with my new family, so it was nice to share this piece of her.

HO HO HO!: Christmas in November

Jose's whole family came to Raleigh for Thanksgiving, which was super, super fun...but the shenanigans didn't stop after just one holiday. Since the fam won't be together for Christmas, we decided to exchange gifts the day after Thanksgiving. That's right, black Friday was our Christmas.

A few years ago everyone came into town on December 27th and we celebrated Christmas and then NYE as a family. Jose's mom was SO into being together that she handed out everyone's gift and "ho-ho-ho'd" with each one. Hilarious and fun. Well, this year she decided to outdo herself. She bought a Santa costume. No joke. I laughed until I hurt.

I keep referring to all of my gifts as "my favorite". I'm pretty easy to please anyway, so it's totally normal that I love all my stuff. My in-laws gave me a Santa charm for my charm bracelet which will serve as a constant reminder of what a fun day and year this was, and what a great extended family I have. HO HO HO!

halloween 2008

One year later. More pumpkins, still very little improvement in my technique. I thought that modifying the color here would make it look cooler...but it didn't really. Maybe a little.

Suggestions for my 2011 pumpkin? Perhaps pinterest has some ideas for me...

halloween 2007

I'm a big fan of Halloween. It's the one day of the year where it's legit to dress up and act crazy and not worry about being judged. It's also marks the REAL beginning of Fall and cooler weather in the south. All very positive things.

I do love carving pumpkins, but I'm not very good at it (see above photo, my pumpkin is the saddest one). It's not about how good you are at something, it's about how much you enjoy it, right? Right?

what is love?

Has it really been that long? Time has sped by at an inconceivable rate - tomorrow marks our sixth wedding anniversary. You are correct, that means that we were married at the age of 16. Or maybe we're just in denial about how the numbers add up...

So why am I blogging today instead of tomorrow? Well, because we are celebrating our union with a night out on the town tonight. Why tonight instead of tomorrow night? Well, that's because tomorrow is the kick-off to college football season. You may be asking yourself: what kind of husband rearranges an anniversary celebration to watch football? I'd have to point out that it was my idea. The love of football: one of many reasons why I love Jose.


Other reasons include: the fact that he gives in to my crazy whims (like going to Super Bowl 43), he cheers for my Alma Mater, even though they are hated by his college team, he loves growing vegetables as much as I do, he has indulged me in rescuing two of the cutest dogs on the planet, he is surpassed in awesomeness only by his fantastic family, he does the laundry, he rarely complains about my yarn habit (and loves the socks I've knitted for him), he never forgets a special occasion, he's an excellent chef, he baby talks the aforementioned dogs when he thinks no one is listening (sorry, but it's true), he complains minimally about some of my ridiculous TV shows, he handles all bug and spider issues promptly...

And the final reason is that his idea for a joint anniversary gift this year was a new composter. The one I've been dreaming of. The one that will help us be even more green and garden-efficient. And he's just as excited about it as I am. That's love, folks. That's love.

Fun with eggs

We love Easter. We love fun times. Egg-dying is a no-brainer...

Tie-dye is this year's style.




Jose fashioned a crown out of the egg dipper and this egg was crowned the winner.


The white spot looks like an abstract reindeer leaping. It's Easter and Christmas, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Happy Valentine's Day, one and all!

Our handmade gift rule for Valentine's Day was a huge success! Jose loved his gift and I love mine! The fun part of the frame is that you can pull the wedding photo out and behind it is a "young Jose and Tif" photo taken in 2003 at the Baseball Hall of Fame.


















Shari's Berries are pretty phenomenal. This particular batch was delivered to us courtesy of my fabulous in-laws.

I know what you're thinking...what about Berger? Jose got socks, Tiffany got a cool frame...we both get delicious strawberries...but what does the poor, sad, brown dog get? The answer: a delicious cupcake-shaped cookie.

Happy Sockentine's Day!

This year, Jose and I agreed to make each other gifts for Valentine's Day. I've had this Flat Feet yarn for 6 months and I've just been waiting for the right time to bring it out. It was tricky to make them without being able to measure Jose's foot or have him try them on as I went, but they actually turned out perfectly. AND, much to my surprise, Jose LOVES them. I always peg the wrong gifts as hits!

I must also mention the "wrapping paper" I used. I put the socks in a cracker box that was going to recycling and I wrapped it in extra copies of a report that I presented this week. The bows? Those are brittle old rubber bands that were on their last leg. I'm pretty much as proud of the wrapping as I am of the socks.

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.

Christmas Scarf

I made a scarf for Jose to match the hat that I made him...but I couldn't post it until now, because it was a Christmas surprise.







































It's a basic 2 x 1 rib in Noro Iro. I combined the leftovers from his hat with another colorway that I had. We gave each other a Christmas budget, so that was a way for me to stretch my cash.

Knitty Christmas!

It's a happy, lazy Christmas at the Lopez house. Among other things, Jose gave me a few knitting books AND the yarn to make the felted bag that I posted about a few weeks ago! Another loophole...I didn't buy the yarn. So excited!!


































Also, my SiL gave me a subscription to Knit Simple. Like the Jelly of the Month Club, it's the gift that keeps on giving. UNlike the Jelly of the Month Club, it's awesome :)

nye menu planning

As has become tradition, we are hosting a New Year's Eve party this year. I said in the invite that we would make some good ole pork bbq for sammiches and that we would have apps-and-desserts-a-plenty. I invited folks to bring a side if they'd like, though I plan to also have that aspect covered.

If you know me, you know I love the SmittenKitchen blog. So over the past several months, I've earmarked some recipes that I might like to make for the party. I'm certainly open to suggestions, in fact, I wish you would send any and all favorites to me! Factors that will make a recipe more appealing to me: lack of meat (I do have some veggie friends who would appreciate being able to eat at my party) and the ability to pre-cook so that I'm not frantically trying to get timing right. If your recipes don't fit those categories, send them anyway. There are exceptions to every rule.

Starters
feta salsa
garlic butter roasted mushrooms recipe
fried cheese balls with guava dipping sauce

Side dishes
sweet potato
eggplant toast
spicy squash salad with lentils and goat cheese
zucchini and almond pasta salad.

The sweets
Mamaw Self's peanut butter fudge
iced oatmeal cookies
gingerbread apple upside-down cake.

COOKIE MANIA!

Last year at Christmas, my friend Jill baked and decorated these awesome sugar cookies and I was lucky enough to receive a box of them. Ever since then, I've been scheming and plotting to bake and decorate my own this year.

The dough making/cookie baking process started on Wednesday...

















On Saturday, many dozens later, Jill and I started decorating...
















delicious trees...















yummy stars...















my favorite of all, jill's snowflake design...















my loot:

Finished Project One: Christmas Stockings

Last year I found a stocking pattern that I fell in love with...the first stocking went very quickly, but the subsequent two dragged out a bit. With the Christmas season approaching and my new goal of knitting my stash/finishing projects, I decided that getting these stockings done and felted was a priority! My camera charger is still MIA, so this is a poor quality Blackberry photo, but I still wanted to share!