December snow.....

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner! It seems to sneak up on me earlier each year!! I started to knit a scarf for my daughter. I found some gorgeous yarn by Malabrigo. The colors are purple, green and violet. Absolutely stunning!! The yarn is so soft. My daughter's winter coat is a classic black wool. I think the scarf wrapped around her neck will just sparkle. The pattern I am using is called "My so called scarf". The pattern is perfect for showing off variegated yarns. I found some great help with this stitch on youtube. I probably wouldn't of tried making this scarf if I didn't see this video. Of course I have made some errors and have had to go back and fix. You would think I would've learned not to knit late at night!!


We finally got some snow this past week. I am loving every minute of it. We got snow, ice, rain and even thunderstorms! I dream about the snowfall. When morning comes I race to the window to see how much we have. I think right now we have about 6-8 inches on the ground. Yesterday my miniature horse Minnie was chasing my big horse Bo around the pasture. She was galloping, bucking, rearing and just plain having fun! It is a joy to watch. My big horse gets a little irritated with her.

Tychus Finally Done!!

I finally finished my son's Tychus hat. I made it out of acrylic yarn. Not my favorite to work with. I used Vanna's Choice made by Lion Brand. I have to say that I don't really care for their yarn. Almost every other skein had huge, nasty, unbelievable knots in them that I had to finally cut out. The other problem is how it totally dried out your fingertips when you knit it up. My son has a severe reaction to wool and yes even alpaca. That's why I had to use the acrylic. On the positive side he loves it!

Can you feel my pain??!!!

The Best Ever Pumpkin Soup

I made the best ever pumpkin soup the other night. I have been cooking this soup for a few years. I thought I would share it with anyone reading. I know that I love great recipes. I hope you try it. It is fantastic!!!! I made a big pot and served four people. Everyone had seconds. I had a
small container left over. Three years ago I shared this recipe with a friend. Her husband is a fireman. He loved the soup so much that he cooked it for the other fireman. This soup is delicious!!!!!!


1 baking or pie pumpkin peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large can of chicken broth
1 medium onion diced
1 c rice
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 c brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c heavy cream

Place pumpkin into large pot. cover with chicken broth and bring to a boil.
once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until pumpkin is soft and tender.
in a skillet, saute onion in butter until golden brown and soft.
add butter and onion to pumpkin.
once pumpkin is soft, you can break up chunks with a spoon or remove it from the broth and pass it through a Foley mill.
return pumpkin to the broth and stir in the rice.
at this point, if the soup is too thick, add water until the soup is a little watery.
this step is necessary because the rice will absorb a lot of the moisture and could burn very easily.
continue to monitor the soup consistently.
add water as necessary to maintain a heavy cream consistency.
once rice is soft, add heavy cream, brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.
serve hot with some crusty bread!

I substituted brown and wild rice bcause I didn't have any white rice left. Next time I make it I will roast the pumpkin in the oven instead of boiling it. When you roast something it brings out the natural sweetness.
It was just as yummy.This is a perfect Thanksgiving addition. I'm sure everyone who likes pumpkin will find it unique and decadante!!

Tychus Hat

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Originally uploaded by barbarino93

O.K. so I started another hat for my son. I'm thinking that this one will fit. It's worked with horizontal stripes. The pattern is from:
www. knitty.com When I found this pattern on ravelry the comments made were how fast it knits up. Well, that's just not the case for me. I'm a slow knitter. Then you have to factor in the mistakes and ripping and I am almost the slowest knitter! LOL. I am not giving up. I know that I will get better the more I knit. It's simular to any new thing you try. Practice makes perfect!!

The no pattern hat that needed a pattern!

I have not posted for a while. It seems as though I keep making mistakes on my knitting. I have to rip, rip, and even more ripping. I did finish the no pattern hat for my son. It looks great. The only problem I have is it's way too big. I even swatched! It reminds me of the kid on the Fat Albert cartoon who had the way too big knitted cap on that covered his eyes.
I put a pot of hot water on the stove and dropped in the hat for about 7 minutes and I think it got even bigger!! Now I am contemplating what to do next. Maybe I will wash it and put it in the dryer??!!
I really think I should change the name of this blog to miss adventures in knitting!!!

Carried Away

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Originally uploaded by

Well,I got a little carried away today!! I decided that my circle wrap that I finished last month didn't look right. Also it was itching my neck too much. One of my friends said "it looks like it's choking you". My husband just kind of looked at me in the wrap and didn't say too much. That's when I knew I had to rip back the turtleneck. Because I still am not very experienced I ripped it back way too much!!! As one row became two. six, 11, there was no turning back....It's wound back into 5 balls!! Bummer right?!! Oh well.. Another learning experience for me. Hopefully I can finish this fast so I cant wear it.
The weather is so much more like fall should be. I spent a lot of time on Ravelry adding my stashed yarn. It was a great way to spend the day off. I also got in some housework too. My horse "Mini" surprised me by breaking through the fence. As I was washing the kitchen floor, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a black and white blob in the yard. She was happily eating grass. I'm sure she loved it because I have had her on a diet. She gained about 50lbs over the past two months. Can you say crash diet?!!! Good thing I was home.

What Georgous Weather!!!

WoW!! I am amazed at the weather we have been having this fall. We still have not even had a frost. This weekend the temperature has been in the 70's. It's kind of hard to concentrate on indoor tasks when the sun is shining and you know the weather is going to get cold!! I did a little cleaning of the garden.....but not really too much. I still have some good stuff growing. I picked all the green yellow plum tomatoes I could find. I hope that they will ripen in a week or so. The golden sun sweet cherry tomatoes are still producing in abundance. I have lots of volunteer lettuces growing also. I also chaned my outdoor pots for the fall. I wanted to add some great color to the patio. We love sitting outside so it's nice to be able to look at natures beauty!!

I haven't done a lot of knitting. I was working on Justin's hat late one night and you know the rest...I didn't realize until two rows back that I made a mistake. I set it down and looked at it for a few days then I finally ripped it back to the mistake. Since my knitting skills are still average ripping was a great learning tool. I like how it's turning out. It looks great on him with his beautiful blue eyes. Of course my head is dreaming with other projects and beautiful yarns. It's just my old job that gets in the way!!!!

Well here's to another great weekend. Take time to enjoy life!!!!