…spiced pumpkin softies from Woman’s Day. You can find the recipe here

Overall, these are pretty good. I skipped the pumpkin pie spice and just added some similar spices of my one (1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves). Emily gave them a thumbs up and the baby and the dog liked them too. Oh, and if you drop them onto your cookie sheet you have to flatten them.

Mine looked nowhere NEAR like the one’s in my Woman’s Day (there’s were tiny and very flat and round). Mine were big and sort of ….bumpy? The recipe claimed to make 60 cookies and I made 48 so I didn’t grossly over do the size.

I also used a pastry bag to pipe on the icing. It was easier, IMO, then trying to spread a dollop on each cookie.

Crochet, that is.

When I first started trying to do needlework, I started with crochet. And I hated it. It seemed to me to bethe most unreasonable way to make anything at all. I had trouble counting stitches. I felt uncomfortable. it just didn’t work.

So, I switched to knitting. Tried that and failed.

Went back to crochet. Tried that and failed again.

Went back to knitting and finally had success. Tried my hand at crocheting now and then for a few projects, but found the process to be boring and unenjoyable and decided to stick to knitting.

Not long ago, thanks to Stumble Upon, I stumbled upon the idea of knitting Amigurumi. Well, knititng patterns for these darling little things are few and far between and, well, just not very CUTE. So, I was forced to crochet if I wanted to make Amigurumi.

So, crochet I did. This little one is for Cadence. You can see how small he is compared to a pop can.

And while I don’t think I’ll throw over knitting for crochet, I had a blast knitting these little guys. Stay tuned. I’m sure there are more to come.

I actually have TWO FO for the year. YAY me! I finished the second of the adorable Big Foot Bunnies from “Knitted Toys” by Zoe Mellor. I spoke about this rabbit the other day. I’ll be casting on for a giftie bunny today and I’ve learned the following

1) To knit the body in the round as well as the arms and probably the legs. However, if you opt to do one leg in the round, you need to do the other the same way because the feet turn out different sizes.

2) Sewing on the first before stuffing and sewing helped a ton

3) Reconsider arm placement as I’m considering pulling off Cadence’s bunny’s arms and re-sewing them on a little higher up.

I think bunny 3, which is being made for someone who DOESN’T live here will be even better. I only have a few weeks before Easter, which is when I would like to have the four remaining gifted. We’ll see how that goes.

You may also notice that I have pared down my yarn stash listing. I tossed some of the balls that I knew I just wasn’t going to use. Most of it was Lion Brand crap I bought during my Puppy Puppet stage which I’m just not going to do. There’s no way and with my new knitting books, I have much better toys to knit for both girls than acrylic puppy puppets.

I’m also looking for some socks to knit to use up my six balls of sock yarn. I’m thinking about the following…

Snicket Socks, and Hourglass Eyelet Socks

I’m likely to do just a simple toe up sock pattern for the variegated balls of yarn I have and those knit up quickly. I really would like to knit up what i have in my stash before I buy more. But, that’s always my goal and I never quite hit it. I definately want to knit Ruby Slippers Booties for Cadence which is going to mean more yarn, honestly…..

Cute, eh?

…oh yes I am.

Cadence’s coming hom ensemble…

All knit by me. :o) I’m so happy to have this done. It’s really beautiful and I hope not too chilly for her to be in it. I packed a just in case blue outfit, perhaps I should pack a just in case warmer pink outfit too.

The dress is a pattern called Crumpets. It only sized down to a six month size, but with a ruler and a little math, I created a newborn edition that seems to be sized perfectly to the sleepers I have here. :O)

Bonnet and booties to match of course.

I have finished one of Emily’s nighties. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I tossed out her old yellow one becuase it was more green than yellow and stained and gross and torn. She got her wear out of them. I sewed that for her when she broke her arm last year, so she’s gotten a good year of wear out of them. I have some other material here I’m hoping to sew into another nightie so we can toss the princess one too.

And, last night I finished the first of Cadence’s hat and bootie sets….

We’re getting close…I’m working on the moses basket today with hopes to have that finished soon.

So, admittedly, knitting Cadence’s coming home dress has been a bit of a farce. I cast on for it, oh, nearly a month and a half ago. On vacation, I realized that I actually managed to twist my stitches making the dress totally unwearable and I ripped the whole darn thing out sitting on the porch of the cabin on a rainy afternoon in Eagle River.

So, obviously, the coming home dress is a big player on my “to-do” before baby list–she needs it to come home, right? So, last week, I sit down and cast that sucker back on again. I’m making great progress. Yesterday, I had about…oh…three or four more inches on the skirt. stockinette in the round. Super easy.

I ran out of yarn, joined my new, white yarn, bought out of hte same bin, from the same store on the same day. Knit two inches. Pull out knitting this morning while Eric is still sleeping and Emily is watching Cartoons.

Yeah, that white yarn?

Cream. The new skein at least. ARGH.

So, all of yesterday’s work was ripped out again this morning. I found the third ball of yarn I bought that day, and it matches the first, thank goodness, so tomorrow, I’ll spend my day finishing up those last three or four inches on the dress and hopefully will get to the booties tomorrow as well. Then, it’s just buying ribbon and knitting the bonnet and that project will be finished. I’m toying with knitting a blanket, but that’s just crazy.

In other news, the Holiday Grand Plan starts this week. For those not in the know, it’s an eighteen week plan to get yourself and your household ready for the holidays. I’m not sure that the entire program will be useful, because I’m not sure scrubbing grout with a toothbrush will make the list with a new baby, but I’m all for being more organized considering the new baby. Check it out. It’s pretty anal, but helpful. For those less anal, Organized Christmas features a shorter, six week plan. But whatever works for you, right?

The reason why this scarf is called The Potato Chip scarf is becuase, apparently, you can’t make just one. There must be something wrong with me becuase unless I get a specific request, this will be the one and only scarf I make.

Yeah, it’s cute and yes, it was nice to use two whole balls of yarn out of my stash to make it.

this is the third time I’ve knitted on this scarf. Scarf one was done only in black, in the reccomended yarn and gauge. It was TINY. There was no way I could wear it. I hardly came down over my ladies. After a while of thinking if over, I ripped it out.

Decided I’d do two color stripes. Sounded good. Cast on. Decided to double my original stitches to give it better length. Realized before I even got through my second repeat that the amount of stitches was bordering on stupid, so I ripped that out.

Upped my needle size to 10.5 and got the frilly thing you see here. I used all the fushia and nearly all of the black. The small amount I’ve saved will either be turned into a cat toy (I beleive this is a wool blend) or as salvage for my sock cast on.

It’s been several days since I updated. Thursday and Friday I was down with another reincarnation of my yucky cold. I feel a little better today, but I have that nagging “You’re Gonna Get Sick” feeling at the back of my throat. I guess we’ll see. I’m drinking a warm cup of coffee and waiting for my husband to bring some cocoa up to work for me. Let’s get started with the Friday Five, shall we?

List your five favorite beverages.
1. Water
2. Pepsi
3. Lemonade
4. Orange Juice
5. Milk Shakes :o)

List your five favorite websites.
1. Moms Who Think
2. Two Peas in a Bucket
3. Knitting Blogs List
4. Yahoo Games (Love those Crosswords)
5. MSN Groups(where my favorite on-line people reside)

List your five favorite snack foods.
1. Nachos
2. Pretzals (particularly Schnieders honey mustard and onion nibblers)
3. French Fries
4. Baby carrots and French onion dip
5. Good citrus fruit

List your five favorite board and/or card games.
1. Trivial Pursuit
2. Balderdash
3. Euchre
4. Dominoes (I know it’s not a board game, but it is a favorite)
5. Solitaire

List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
1. Mario kart (Yes, I know it’s old, but it was my favorite game to play with my brother)
2. Super Mario Brothers (another old pick)
3. Some driving game that my dh owns that I cannot recall the name of, but that I like to play
4. Crazy Taxi
5. Just about any on-line word game

Okay, so that’s done. I joined another web ring yesterday-for knitters with CATS! How cool is that? (well, probably not cool, but I think it is). I have three cats and consider myself a cat person (though I do own a dog). My eldest cat, Shelby, is four. We got her from a pet store (long story! We DID try and adopt a cat from a shelter, but didn’t come with proof of current address). Anyhow, we have made up for our transgression with Shelby and have since adopted three strays, so I think we’re dong pretty darn good. Our youngest cats are siblings, Angus (male) and Belle (female). They’ll be a year old in April.

Here’s a picture of Emily with Angus and Belle when they were babies

Aren’t they sweet?

I did remember to take pictures of two of my FO Thursday, but didn’t get them uploaded and now I’m at work, so I can’t share. Hopefully tomorrow I can get those up.

Started work on a surprise red and white striped scarf for N-N (Emily’s teddy bear) last night. Thought we’d give it to him for Christmas. It’s my first time every knitting with two colors (Yes, I AM a novice). I’m knitting it in garter stitch on size 6 needles. I’m just going to go along for a foot or two and then bind off and add tassels. I think Emily (and by default, N-N) will love it).

Also working on some thumbless mittens for Emily. She has such a problem getting her little thumbs into the thumbholes on her winter mittens. It’s awful. I found a pattern at Knitlist for Toddler Sized mittens and am now making a pair, with some adjustments, to fit Em. The original pattern called for size 6 needles. I upped the size of needles to 8s. I made one mitten that is about one inch too short, so I’m going to work a few more rows tom ake them longer for her. I’m knitting them in Red Heart Light and Lofty in a really nice Ice Blue. They won’t be waterproof, but I figure she can wear them when we’re out running errands and to school.

I am also thinking about altering them to fit my Grandpa. He’s disabled (he has muscular dystrophy and cannot use his arms from the shoulders down). I know he wears mittens, but wonder if he has problems with the thumbholes as well. I will ask him about that the next time he calls and add them to my project list if he wants them