Main Street

This is what Main Street looks like in my small town this afternoon.

The snow

Matt plowing through the snow with the snow blower.

The snow is DEEP

Jamie walked over to see us this morning.
The snow is DEEP. She is taking her snowsuit off. I snapped a quick picture to show how high the snow goes up her legs. Way up over her knees. It is DEEP and cold. The interstate is still closed. We got about 16 inches of snow, maybe more. Burr

Matt's Beer Bread

We are very snowed in today. The streets are not plowed in our small town yet. And the interstate was closed last night, and is still closed this morning. We could not get out of town if we had to. So Matt decided to bake a loaf of his favorite Beer Bread.http://www.recipezaar.com/Guinness-Beer-Bread-55355

Matt's new hat

Matt is such a Lucky because his lovely wife, (that would be me) knit him a very warm hat from her hand spun yarn. The Watch Cap is his favorite kind of hat because it is a very long hat, that is cuffed up , which keeps the ears extra warm. You need a very warm hat here in South Dakota in the winter time. I have some brown Merino wool that I spun into a single, then I spun some Coopworth wool/angora that I also spun into a single. Then I plied the two together to get a very warm worsted weight wool yarn. Then I knit a simple 2 x 2 rib Watch Cap for Matt. Now he is one happy guy!!!

Thank You Mary Jane

Some one call 911, because I am in shock and not breathing. No kidding, I am overwhelmed by the
AMAZING box that MJ sent to me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Where to start, where to start!
First of all I got a Beautiful hand knit shawl, that at this very moment I have wrapped around my shoulders, keeping me warm on this
very COLD winter morning, and I don't think that I will take it off until next April!!!! I have a Darling hand knit hat ,
on my head, and I am drinking my morning coffee out of an Elvis mug. Can you see why I need an ambulance right now, because
I must be near death, because I am NOT breathing yet. and I am not done telling you about all of the AMAZING gifts in
my box. MJ also gave me the PERFECT knitting book, she was so very much thinking of me when she choose this book,
Knitting On Top of the World, by Nicky Epstein, with designs in it from Scandinavia, Iceland, Latvia, Russia, and Estonia. When the paramedics get here they are going to have to pry this book out of my hands, because I am never going to want to put this book down!! And I am still going through my box. There is 8 ozs of the softest warmest roving EVER 8 oz of Coopworth wool/angora roving, which I will have on my wheel, if I ever start breathing on my own again!!!!
And MJ also got me The Knit Kit something that every single knitter should have! Everything right at my finger tips when I need it. I am
keeping it on my table right next to my chair in the living room, where I sit and knit all day. I am still not done opening gifts yet, Matt may have to help me,
because this is much to much for me. You see I am still not breathing, because every gift just keeps getting better and better. Out of the box now is a BEAUTIFUL glass
slipper to add to my slipper collection. I have over 300 slippers, and MJ gave me another one, And it is one that I don't already have, and have never seen before.
Just the PERFECT slipper for me!! One more thing in my box, it is Rose Quartz, rock soap, that I will use when I take a bath, if I ever recover from opening this amazing box.
MJ everything in the box was chosen just for me, and I LOVE ever single gift in my box. A Million Thank You's, and a Million Hugs Mary Jane.
This is just the perfect gift!!!! I am going to try and calm down now, and sit quietly in my chair and browse through my knitting book, and finish my morning coffee.

Horseshoe Sock with Round Toe Pattern

I designed this sock using the horseshoe pattern. The horseshoe goes all the way down the front of the foot, and down to the heel of the sock in the back. So the pattern runs up and down the middle of the sock. It is a very easy to knit 8 row pattern repeat. It is easy to memorize the pattern after just a couple of repeats. Worked from the top down on size 1 DPN using fingering weight yarn.
http://mrae123.etsy.com

No Big Top Cupcake Pan for me

OK Wal Mart had the Big Top Cupcake pans yesterday.
https://www.bigtopcupcake.com/?mid=592103
I am sure you have seen them advertised on TV.
The box said that they come with an Idea Book.
Mine did not come with an idea book.
It was tuff but I found a customer service number for the product.
called them and told them that the idea book did not come in my box and could they
send one to me.
They said NO since I bought it at WM, I had to take it back to WM.
Well I have read some reviews of the product and it seems like a
lot of people did not get their Idea book either.
The only thing in the box was the pan.
NO instructions on how to use it at all.
No baking times, no ideas for what to put on the inside for fillings.
Nothing, nota, zip.
I was so pissed because they would not send me their stupid Idea Book.
I am taking the darn thing back, and I am not getting another one.
It is a very flimsy silicone pan type deal that doesn't even want to stand up.
If you would put batter in it, I am not even sure that it would stay upright while baking.
You may end up with cake batter every where.
I am sooooooo disappointed.
Casey saw it advertised on TV and wanted me to buy one so that we cod bake big cup cakes, and
then decorate them. I thought that it would be sh a FUN kid project.
But unfortunately we won't be able to do it!!

The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen

The Keepsake is a breathtakingly good Book. Full of Action packed suspense!!! It is a very fascinating book. You are guessing and guessing all the way through this book.It is a stunner from page 1 to the very end!!! Read it!!

Peanut Butter Bon, Bons

Casey and Grandma made chocolate, peanut butter bon bons today. Casey is enjoying the chocolate.

Knitting On My Mind

KNITTING ON MY MIND
Knitted last night and the night before
Husband came in and threw me out of the door
Someday I'll stop
Just give me another sock
Knitting is on my mind

When I'm not knitting I shiver and shake
If my needles are clicking I don't care what I make
Sweaters, scarves or throws
Anything goes
Knitting is on my mind

Fairisles are funky and cables are neat
When I cast on my life feels complete
I need needles, yarn and hues
To cast off the blues
Knitting is on my mind

Finished my knitting I've run out of wool
When my needles are empty everything's dull
Though my fingers are sore
Gotta get to the store
Knitting is on my mind
© Jean Moss, 2003

Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins

Mocha Chocolate-Chip Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, and more for sprinkling on top
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup strong coffee, room temperature
1/3 cup, plus 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In a large measuring cup, mix all wet ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir ONLY till moistened. It's very important not to over-mix or they can get very tough.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill with batter. Sprinkle with some of the remaining chocolate chips and then baked for 18 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Makes 12 good size muffins

My new sock design

Oblique Sock with Round Toe. This is an easy to knit sock with an 8 row pattern repeat. Easy to memorize but not boring. Featuring a Dutch heel, and a round toe. Knit on size 1 DPN from the top down. http://mrae123.etsy.com

Sunset hand dyed, handspun yarn

Have you ever enjoyed a Beautiful golden sunset? That time of day when the sun begins to fall below the horizon. I tried to capture the beautiful colors of the sunset in this yarn. I hand dyed this yarn with blue, gold, purple, and burnt orange dyes to get the look of a beautiful sunset. Then I hand spun this wool into 122 yards, of DK weight yarn at 13 WPI. This is a 2 ply yarn.

Mommy's Little Girl by Diane Fanning

This is a True Crime story about the Casey Anthony case. I watch the Nancy Grace show almost every night, so I am very familiar with this case and was not sure that I would learn anything new reading this book.
But I did. It is a very interesting book. Read it.

Baking with Kairi

My sister RoxAnn brought my great niece Kairi out to visit today.
She is just the sweetest little girl.
We baked cookies.

Rooster Hand dyed, Handspun Yarn

The Rooster is King of the chicken coop. A rooster is often more colorful then a hen. As in this case with this Beautiful Rooster yarn. I hand dyed this soft Merino wool, to capture the red, black, gold, and brown color of the rooster.
This is a 2 ply yarn that is 10 WPI, making it a worsted weight wool yarn. At 124 yards, I can see this knit into a lovely scarf, hat, or a pair of fingerless mitts.

Star-Shaped Baby Afghan

My nephew and his girlfriend are going to have a baby. A great reason to buy yarn, and to crochet a baby afghan. I choose the Star-Shaped baby afghan pattern to knit for them. I think that it turned out so very cute. I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn for this afghan. I used a pink, a blue, and a green. Perfect baby colors. This yarn is sooo soooo very soft. Perfect for a baby.

Mortal Danger by Ann Rule

I love True Crime stories. And Ann Rule told the terrifying tale of Kate Jewell, and how she survived living with John Branden. But another women was not so lucky and lost her life at his hands. A Good read.

Brownie Pan

I bought this yesterday https://www.perfectbrownie.com/
and tried it out today.
I sprayed the heck out of it with cooking spray to make sure that my brownies would come out of the pan nicely.
I have to say that it was difficult getting my brownies out of this pan. I even put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to make sure that they were very cool.
I think that you need to flour and spray this divider thing.
But I did get nice square shaped brownies.
Be sure to use a cookie sheet when you bake with this brownie pan, because some of the batter did leak out of the bottom of the pan.

Handspun Yarn Giveaway Winner

I want to Thank everyone for entering my Handspun Yarn Giveaway. The winner of the Handspun Giveaway is momof2grls. She has a Knitting and Family blog at http://knittingmomof2grls.blogspot.com/

Autumn Vineyard hand dyed, handspun yarn

I was inspired by this Autumn Vineyard picture to color this wool. I hand dyed Merino wool purple, blue, green, gold, and orange. The picture is so very Beautiful, and so is the wool yarn, and so very soft. At 11 WPI it is 128 yards of worsted weight wool.

Easy Lace Socks

In South Dakota we are very fortunate to have an amazing knitter, spinner, designer, and author living in our state. Kathleen Taylor has written a new sock Book. The Big Book of Socks. I happen to have a signed copy of this book! I choose as my first project from this book, the Easy Lace Socks. They are knit from the top down, short row heel, star toe on size 2 needles! Kathleen makes sock knitting easy with her new book. She gives step by step, row, by row instructions. A Great Sock Knitting Book.

Mountain View Hand dyed, Handspun Yarn

This is what my mountain view looks like. I can see the mountain, the trees, the leaves, the sun, and the sky. This is Merino wool that I dyed turquoise, green, gold, and brown, to make up my Mountain view colors. It is worsted weight yarn at 11 WPI, and 108 yards of soft, beautiful yarn.

Iris Hand knit Neck Warmer

You can only get a scarf this Beautiful from hand dyed, handspun, hand knit wool. I hand dyed 100% Merino wool using Easter Egg dye. Which I spun into a Beautiful color that I call Iris. The Iris was named after the Goddess of the Rainbow because of its many colors. I got a wonderful mix of purple and yellow in this amazing Neckwarmer. It is soft, warm, and Beautiful. Sure to keep your neck nice and warm against the winter cold, wind, and snow.

Handspun Yarn Giveaway

The Majestic Lion is the King of all the Wild beasts. A large animal found in Africa. The male lion has a heavy mane around his neck, and shoulders. This Lion's Mane yarn would make a beautiful neck warmer or scarf, to wear around your neck. This yarn is 12 WPI, making it DK weight yarn. It weighs 4 ounces, and is 128 yards of Beautiful Merino Wool. Perfect Fall colors.

I am giving away this yarn. If you would like to win this yarn, the rules are simple. Stop by my etsy shop http://mrae123.etsy.com/ Handspun by Mona

Look at the items in my shop and tell me what is your favorite item in my shop. Just leave a comment on my blog with your name that links to somewhere that I can contact you.

The contest starts today October 24, and ends October 31st.

Enter as often as you like, just by leaving another comment on my blog.

Thank You Ann

I first met Ann on Ravelry, she is a Master Knitter from Oslo, Norway. Then I found her again on Twitter. One day I tweeted about a simple pair of slippers that I had knit. She wanted to swap me a pair of my slippers for a pair of her socks. You see the slippers were to boring for her to knit. After seeing her socks, I can see why a simple pair of slippers would be boring to her. So of course I knit the slippers and sent them off to her, for her husband to wear. They are keeping his feet warm now in Norway.

I just LOVE the socks that she sent to me. She knit them while she was at Rhinebeck, in New York for the Sheep and Wool Festival. She designed these socks herself from the top down, she calls them I heart NY. She used 5 colors of Koigu yarn for these socks, and knit them with size 1 needles. Ann is a Master Knitter. I think that she was born with knitting needles in her hands. I wish that I could sit at her feet and learn to knit like she does.

The socks are so very Beautiful, and fit Perfectly!!!!

Thank You again Ann.

Ring Necked Pheasant Hand dyed, Handspun Yarn

I tried to create the colors of our Beautiful State Bird here in South Dakota. I think that I did. I am very happy with the way that is yarn turned out.

Wooly

My Granddaughter Casey is with me today. She got to meet Wooly, and help me groom her.

We still have a lot of work to do on Wolly.

Wooly

Wooly was such a Good Girl today while I was grooming her. I only work with her for about 30 minutes a day, because that is all I can take, and probably all that she can take. She is such a well behaved Wooly wabbit! :) she is still very matted, but I will continue to work with her every day until she is a Beautiful Princess. I have learned how much, and what to feed her now. She still poops a lot, but I guess that is just the way rabbits are. I hope that next week my husband will have time to build her a nice hutch, and she won't have to live in a cage in my garage any more.

Wooly

No pictures in today's post. I am just going to tell you what I have learned about rabbits, in the one day that I have owned Wooly. A boy rabbit is a buck, and a girl rabbit is a doe. And they are pooping machines!!!! I am shocked at the amount that my rabbit has pooped. I am going to have to figure out the correct amount of food to feed her. Maybe I feed her to much!! She is soooo very SOFT, and so very tame. She just sits on my lap and lets me brush, and brush, and brush her. I still have a lot of work to do on her but she is looking way better already. Today she peed on me while I was grooming her. Rabbit pee Ewwwwww!

Wooly

Wooly is a 7 month old Angora rabbit, that my son Dillon rescued, and gave to me. Wolly is a little girl. She is very matted right now. I am going to spend a good part of the next few days grooming her. Eventually I hope to get enough Angora wool from her to spin.

Cake Fail !!!

My Granddaughter is staying with me this weekend. We decided to bake a very special cake for my Sister. I picked out the perfect recipe, I bought all of the ingredients, and we happily went about baking our very special cake. The recipe that I choose is called

Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana Cake It looks perfectly wonderful, and chocolaty. Just the very cake that I am sure my sister would Love. I don't have a fluted pan, but I do have a pan used for baking Angel Food Cakes. I thought that it would work fine for our special cake. WRONG!!!! When I inverted the cake onto the serving plate it FELL APART!!!!! I don't have time to bake another cake, and I don't have a fluted pan either. So we frosted the cake as it is. CAKE FAIL!!!! WAH, WAH,WAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to dry my tears now and go blow my nose!!!!

Fantasy Hand dyed, Handspun Yarn

Fantasy is 100% Merino wool, that I had dyed with blue, yellow, green, orange, and a hint of purple. This yarn Spun up like magic into a Beautiful DK weight yarn. It is 12 WPI and 150 yards of Beautiful, soft, warm , wool yarn,

Red Scarf Project

I knit this scarf for the Red Scarf Project . I just love the way that this scarf turned out. It will be nice and long and warm. I used Red Heart yarn because I know that this scarf can be washed and dryed 100 times and still be nice. The color that I used is called Hot Red. A perfect color for a Red scarf. I used the Enjoyable Rib Scarf pattern. It is an easy to remember, easy to knit 1 row pattern.

Kathleen Taylor - The Big Book of Socks

I got to meet Kathleen Taylor again today. My LYS Athena Fibers had Kathleen at the shop today for a Book signing today. Her newest book is The Big Book of Socks. And it really is a Big Book of Socks. Their are 75 original patterns in the book. And I of course wanted a signed copy :). Their are 7 chapters and 187 pages full of Beautiful sock patterns. It is hard to decide which sock to knit first. I am going to spend a good part of my evening just browsing through this Beautiful sock book. If you look at the picture real close you can see that Kathleen has a pair of knitting needles through her head. LOL

Baking with my Great Niece

My sister brought my great niece Kairi out this morning to visit. We went out for breakfast, then we came home and baked Double Chocolate Banana Muffins. Kairi LOVES to bake. She is a sweetie pie!!!

Proverbs 31:13

She shops for the best yarn...and she enjoys knitting.

Anne Shoulder Scarf

OK I frogged this scarf twice, and cast it on 3 times. Of course the Third time was the charm :). The first time that I frogged it was because the patter is wrong. Go to Knit n Style if you decide to knit this wrap and look for the corrections. The second time I frogged it was because I messed up on the Edging. I must have read the pattern wrong. It is a great little shoulder wrap, and I can see myself wearing this often during our Fall season. The yarn that I used is called I Love This Yarn, in the color Navajo Ombre. I really like the color of this yarn. Perfect Fall colors.

Gypsy, Hand Dyed, Handspun Yarn

Gypsy is 100% Merino wool. I hand dyed this wool, using acid dyes, the colors that I used are red, blue, purple, and gold. I got a wonderful mix of color that I call Gypsy. It is so very soft, and spun up like magic. Their are 13 WPI which makes it DK weight yarn, and 140 yards of luxurious, beautiful yarn. Best when knit on size 5 or 6 needles, with a gauge of 5.5 to 6 stitches per inch. This yarn would make a Beautiful, hat, scarf, or a pretty pair of fingerless mitts.

Elvis

Elvis is home from the groomer, and all dressed up!!

He is my handsome boy!!!