Anne has started a little thing on her blog called Work In Progress Wednesday. Now a little bird did tell me that she had me in the back of her mind when she thought of doing this……imagine that…<grin>. Being the good natured soul that I am, I decided that I would join along, in spite of all the teasing I have taken over WIP’s…LOL.
I love the way Anne sets weekly goals for herself. I think I may join along with that after the first of the year as well.
Now onto the WiP’s. See that mitten………I have knit and ripped it now twice. The third time was the charm. Knitting with handspun is always a challenge when it comes to gauge for me. The first mitten…….was a wee bit too skinny, the second one was a wee bit too long…..the third one, was just right. Knowing what I know now….the next mitten should be done tomorrow…whew.
Of course…….I could have knit a swatch~ eek!
No…you are not seeing things…there are 3 mitts. Now you may be asking yourself…why 3?
The mitts that I knit last week, were to go into the mail over the weekend. As I was getting them ready to be boxed and wrapped, I tried them on one last time, as I really love the way they feel on my hands, so soft and cushy!
The mitts looked the same….until….I turned them over. Holy crap! However did I manage to do that?
Now the person they are going to may or may not have noticed and may or may not have even cared, but I knew that I was not going to be able to send them that way.
I looked at how much yarn I had left over in the skein and decided instead of ripping one back, that I would just knit another one. The good news is, I now know that I can get 2 pairs of mitts out of one skein of this yarn :-). So my friend will get a new pair of mitts…and so will I.
Moving on to Christmas Preparations…….
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just one short week away. Do you have your Christmas shopping/knitting finished? I don’t, but I am getting pretty close to being finished. Whoo hoo~
Every year on Christmas Eve we have a family gathering. I have been serving many of the same items year after year, and I thought that maybe this year might be the year to try a few new things.
Appetizers always stump me, as Martha Stewart I am not. If any of you have some good recipes that you are willing to post on your blog, or share with me privately, I would be so appreciative. In fact…….if you share one of your recipes, I will again share the one recipe that I could never not make on Christmas Eve………
EGG~NOG
12 eggs (separated)
1pint heavy cream
1/2 gallon milk
1cup rum (more or less)..we like more 🙂
1 1/2 c. sugar
3tsp. vanilla
dashes of nutmeg
Beat
yolks & sugar in large bowl. Beat whites in another bowl and beat
cream in yet another bowl. Slowly beat milk into yolk mixture, then
fold in whites and cream. (I actually beat the whites and cream in, so
that it is well mixed). Add your rum and then top off with lots of
nutmeg ~YUM
In the spirit of giving, I will leave you with the Christmas Carole that makes me smile each and every year. This time I am posting it a wee bit early, so that you can enjoy it for a bit longer. Of course my family gets tired of hearing it….but oh well, it’s only once a year, right? LOL
~Cheers!~
The Woolen Rabbit 
…..
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The singing reindeer cracked me up! Thanks! I love the mitten. Too bad you had so much trouble with it, but the result is worth it. Thanks for the Egg Nog recipe.
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Ugg, I’ve done that, different mitts, makes me chuckle though. Forgot about the Singing Santa, thanks!
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OK, I have a few that I am willing to share, will send them to you tomorrow. Also, the mitten looks good and the “matching” hand warmers gave me a good giggle…
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I love the reindeer thing – I played it over and over last year. Thanks for the reminder!
Vodka Tomatoes
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup pepper-flavored vodka
3 tablespoons coarse sea salt or celery salt
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
Optional: lemon juice, sherry, Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco, celery seeds
Prick each tomato 5 or 6 times with a skewer. Place the tomatoes in a small bowl and pour the vodka over them. Soak the tomatoes in the vodka, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours or overnight.
To serve, place the tomatoes in a serving bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the salt and seasoned pepper. Serve the tomatoes with toothpicks and the salt mixture on the side.
The tomatoes are very tasty soaked in just the vodka, but you can also add a splash each of lemon juice, dry sherry, Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce, plus a sprinkling of celery seeds. The result is akin to bite-size Bloody Marys.
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I have some tasty recipes for Cream Cheese Spread, a Bacon Cheddar Cheeseball and a cheese ball with blue cheese. They can be made ahead and are all very tasty. Let me know if you’d like any of them.
What a great idea to set weekly goals. This year, I set goals for the year and that was extremely helpful. If I set goals each week – wow, I’d accomplish so much! I like the idea of WIP Wednesday, too.
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That does sound good.
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I can see how it happened that the mitts didn’t match and am pretty sure I might have made the same mistake. Good thing you caught it before they went in the mail.
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Ok— easy peasy Kate-wheels.
1 package of crescent roll dough (in a tube, we are VERY classy down here)
1/3 lb-1/2lb of nice ham (black forest, prosciutto, etc)
1/3 lb sliced cheese (we love sharp provolone)
1/4 cup pre-made pesto
Open tube of dough and lay onto floured countertop. Squish (very technical) the “joins” of the dough together. Gently roll out with rolling pin (dusted with flour). You want to stretch it out in each direction, but just a little. Pour pesto onto dough and spread around. Put down a layer of cheese, from edge to edge, then a layer of ham (repeat only once if you like). Roll up the dough like a jelly roll. I slide mine into wax paper at the point and tape it into a tube. Start cutting out 1/2 inch “rounds” and place onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. 375 for 8-10 minutes. Good hot or cold!
Different variations:
1) ham and cheese with mustard
2) roast beef and cheese with BBQ sauce
3) buffalo chicken breast (sliced from the deli), bleu cheese and buffalo sauce
Happy holidays… oh, and I am totally keeping the sock yarn you dyed for my sister-in-law…. she’s on my naughty list.
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What could be better than handspun mittens? Even if you did have to rip em back several times. 🙂
Oooo – yes – I, too, have done odd and wonky things with second items in a pair. Right now, I have 1 of a pair of socks finished from Trekking, and I am stalled on starting #2 because I cannot remember what size needles I used for #1!
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Your handspun mitt looks so wonderful – (and I wish I had made myself more of that particular roving… grin) I too have found that I must swatch with my handspun.
The purple mitts – oh my – I had a good chuckle over that – It is reassuring that other people do the same kind of goofy things that I do. (and they sure are lovely too!)
Joyous holidays!
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THANK YOU for that link. I heard that version of the song on the radio this morning…swear to gosh, my visual was the reindeer and santa singing it as I tapped my foot.
Quick appetizer, decadent, TDF:
Roll small dab (2/3 walnut size) of robiola cheese onto slice of prosciutto, roll up like a cigar, place two arugula leaves in the bigger end, and serve. It is sinfully good.
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Your work really pays off – they’re great! And yay! You get a pair too.
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