Ten Years and Counting

 Hello from the foothills!  I've been using my new camera a bit, but oh my, I'm no photographer, not yet anyway.

I hope to enroll in an online photography course soon to remedy my ignorance with the new camera, but in the meantime I'm keeping it on Auto. ;)

Have I ever mentioned that I cook a lot?  You should see my poor stove.  It's black and white and scratched allover, but I really don't mind.   Here's one of Goodman's favorite breakfasts.

I crocheted this sparkly scarf recently from what I thought was acrylic yarn, but after I got in the swing of stitching I began to itch and break out.  It seems only 10% wool will not be tolerable, either, so...

It's hello cotton, linen and acrylic for me.

This little green guy is one of three little cuties from Susan B. Anderson's String Along Toys pattern.  More on them next time.  (He's thinkin' about something...)

To celebrate my tenth blogaversary I'm giving away this skein of fingering weight, kettle dyed Malabrigo Sock yarn.  It's 100% merino wool, 400 yards so there's enough for a fine pair of socks or whatever you'd like to make with it.  In the event the random number generator picks a non-knitting entity...

I'll be happy to substitute a couple of bars of my homemade soap if you like.

All you have to do is leave a comment to be entered.  I'll contact the winner on Friday January 27, 2017.  Have a great week, y'all!
Edited 1/27/17 to add:  Random number generator chose JES.  Congratulations, I've sent you an email.
Thanks to everyone who left a comment on this post.  I always enjoy hearing them.

Adorable Felted Slippers

Hello from the hills!
I'd been wanting a Christmas Cactus for a while, but I totally forgot to get one when they were available in the stores last month.  I found this one on Etsy from Cumberland Plants for only $2.50.  It's small, but half the fun of plants is watching them grow.

The single digit temperatures last week had me thinking about warmer footwear to ward off the chill around the house.  I found this free pattern, Two Hour Felted Slippers and had the best time knitting up a few pairs and felting them in the washing machine.  These red ones were made with Cascade 220 yarn and took 3 cycles to felt.

If you've felted wool you know the knitted item must be larger than your normal size before you start the felting process.  And some yarn felts quicker than others.

These natural/oatmeal slippers were made with Patons Classic Wool and took only one cycle to felt. I added straps and a few of my polymer clay buttons for the French Press look, and they are toasty warm.  I think they're the cutest house slippers ever, however, they will not be staying in my house...

For nearly a year as I knitted socks, hats and slippers I've had rashes on my face, but I naturally attributed that to my love and indulgence in chocolate confections.  In the past few months I began to suspect wool as the culprit for the irritation on my face and itchiness on my wrists and hands.

The last pair of slippers that I knit, left below, were finished yesterday morning, and I immediately put them in the post to go and live with one of my sisters.  I'd used Lion Brand Fisherman's Felting Wool, and it's great for felting, but you should have seen my face!  It was really inflamed, and I itched all over until they were out of the house.  It seems some wool yarns are worse than others, but to save myself from anymore outbreaks, I'm going to don a pair of gloves (and more protective clothing besides) and pack my wool yarn away until I decide what to do with all the wool yarn I have in my stash.  There are skeins and skeins in large containers, baskets and well, all over the house.

Yeah, I'm pretty devastated over it, but at least it wasn't the chocolate.  Can I get an amen?

Eastern Towhee and female Northern Cardinal above.  Y'all have a great weekend!
Linking up with:  Saturday's Critters
                             The Art of Home-Making Mondays

Hello Snow

Hello from the hills!

The birds are keeping the feeder busy.

One of our granddaughters thinks the cardinal, below looks like an Angry Bird.

This is a quick, picture laden catch-up post. 

The James River at the Jamestown Settlement that we visited on our trip in October.

And the Glass House where they demonstrate and sell hand-blown glass items.

I purchased these two hand-blown apothecary jars to use for my tinctures and such.

One of our granddaughters requested a pair of Dragon Scale Mitts for her birthday so I...

Dusted off my crochet hook to fill her order.  She's happy now. ;)

I started a Granny Stripe Blanket after the mitts were done to use up leftover sock yarn.

There's been a lot of cookin' in these hills.  These Cornish Hens on a bed of vegetables were excellent.

We tried a Chinese Broccoli & Chicken recipe.  Not bad but not perfection.

And this Easy Egg Rolls recipe makes the BEST EVER eggrolls on the planet.  Youngest found the recipe here.  Btw, if you look for duck sauce for dipping and can't find it, just add a bit of water to a few spoons of apricot preserves, and you've got a sauce as good as any in the restaurants.  Great, now I'm hungry.

Snoopy says we got a total of three inches of snow on the back deck.   Hope you are enjoying a little snow with a cup of hot cocoa in your neck o' the woods, too.

If you would like to see more of our snow then have a look at the Ober Gatlinburg live webcam here:
http://obergatlinburg.com/webcam/