Socks, Socks, and more Socks!

We were on summer vacation, I stopped into a yarn shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Easy Cable Socks by Diane Hall. They were very easy, mindless knitting.   I just needed something to keep me busy, while we traveled across America visiting family. If you are new to knitting socks or cables, this is a good one to begin with.

I made the socks for my friends, Sarah and Dawn.  They each had a birthday in August and deserved a wonderful present!  The teal ones were for Sarah (who loves this color!) The purple ones are for Dawn! It's always important to have good friends they make life so sweet!

Finished Tim's Sock's

Well, I purchased another camera hopefully this one will work better than the Cannon I had. I purchased a Nikon CoolPix in a great red color.

We have had some major changes in our family this year.  My husband works in China now and is always gone.  Not the best way to keep a marriage strong.  My daughter Kristine married this year on the 6th of April. And we moved into a wonderful home outside of town, the dogs and the kids are much happier.

I have started a quilt for my daughter Kristine from the Nickel Quilts book but the move interrupted the sewing it always takes me awhile to set up my sewing area after a move.

Mostly I have been knitting in my spare time to keep me sane! I finished Shur'tugal Dragon by Alice Yu. I really liked the doubled-tail cast on it made for a very sturdy cast on that I will be using again in the further.  The directions for the doubled-tail cast on can be found here.  


http://www.socktopus.co.uk/2009/04/doubled-long-tail-cast-on/


The socks very easy to knit after awhile I had a rhythm going that made them quite fun to knit with very little concentration needed. Always a good thing as I tend to knit while doing other things like watching movies, or listening to books on tape. 

All Bran Muffins

All Bran Muffins Recipe

I have a wonderful recipe to share with you today.  It is a variation of the original recipe featured on the Kellogg’s All Bran box of cereal. My mom use to make these for us when I was a little girl, they are a great source of fiber and delicious to eat!

1-¼ cups flour

½ cup brown sugar

1-tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt  

2 cups of All Bran Cereal

1 ¼ cup milk

1 egg

¼ cup vegetable oil (or ¼ cup applesauce)

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Raisins (I used mixed dried fruit like blueberries, cranberries etc)

Nuts

To begin, place the cereal in a bowl, cover with milk and let stand while you assemble the other ingredients.  Combine the rest of the ingredients except the raisins and nuts.  Stir in the cereal mixture.  Once all the mixture is moist add the fruit and nuts.  You’ll notice I didn’t specify amounts on the fruit and that’s because I mix in what looks good to me (most recipes call for 1 cup but I find that sometimes that’s too much fruit) also it greatly depends on what I have on hand.

Place in a greased muffin tin (or use the handy muffin papers to save on washing difficulties)

Bake in an oven preheated 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back to the touch.

I like using the applesauce because it cuts down on the cholesterol and as we are always looking for ways to cut the fat it’s one of my favorite ways to do so.  Enjoy!

Now for the latest update on our new addition, she continues to wiggle her way into our hearts, particularly Dave’s! She now bounces to the door when he arrives home from work and nothing will satisfy her except he stop to pick her up! 

She also loves lying at Tim’s feet when he is playing “Minecraft “ on the computer.  It’s quite fun to see how he has stepped up to help and train the Chloe’.

Of course I am coming to think of her as the pesky little puppy, she must have attention, and she must have it now!  Seriously, I love cuddling with her on the couch, she keeps me very warm during the cold Indian winter.  Although winter here is not cold compared to Utah standards, it is still quite cold especially when you consider the fact that there is no heat!  Everyone I have asked about it states, "It's only cold for 2 months, it's not worth it to put in heat."  To which I reply, "Tell that to my feet!"  

Because it has been so cold I haven't been in the mood to sew much, however, I have been in the mood to knit and crochet.  I have been able to complete  2 rosey earflap hats, the pattern for which can be found here: 

http://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2010/11/rosy-earflap-cap.html 

I loved this pattern it worked up quickly (an hour per cap!) If your looking for a cute last minute Christmas gift this could be your answer!

Because these worked up so quickly I was also able to knit up a pair of socks for Dave in a nice comfortable wool! He will love them and with the marble floors here they will go a long way towards helping keep him warm this winter!

I used yarn from Light Brown Hare which fortunately ships internationally! The yarn knitted up wonderfully! I really enjoyed working with it.  You can find her yarn here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lightbrownhare

Have a great day everyone!

My latest swap yarns for my sock yarn
blanket!

Decorations for Dewali at our hotel!

We've had a busy couple of weeks.  We traveled to Mumbai and stayed at the Oriental Hotel in West Bandra.   These pictures came from the front steps.  I love the drawings and think they would make great quilt designs.  Dewali is the festival of lights and they really celebrated.  Lots of fireworks!  They were even throwing fire crackers in the stairwell of our apartment building.  Something that was very startling to me!  The tradition is to give gifts of fruit and nuts.  India has a lot of holidays that are just cool.  My favorite is Brother/Sister day where you give gifts to your brother or sister depending on which day it is!

 I made this Christmas stocking for my son, Mike, who is currently serving a mission for our church in Los Angeles, California.  I will be mailing him a package this week with some wonderful indian things like a beautiful leather wallet that is embroidered.  The women here do amazing work and I am lucky enough to live near where it is all made.

My children are coming to India for the holidays. It will be wonderful to show them all the sites and just be with them.  They are very excited to have the opportunity to see where we live and meet all the people here.  I am sure we will spend several days visiting the markets not to mention the sites here in Bhuj.  We are also taking them to a wild life park which I am sure they will enjoy.  I sure do miss being near my children.  Mike will miss out on India this year but he will be coming here after his mission.

Mike has been having great success teaching people the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am still amazed and grateful that someone took the time to teach me the gospel 29 years ago.  What a difference it has made in my life.  It has truly taught me that "Men (and women) are that they might have joy"

Easy Sugar Cookies

I found this wonderful recipe this weekend and enjoyed making these cookies, they tasted like home and were easy to make without the use of a mixer (something I keep getting told is unavailable in India).
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of butter softened (very soft)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth add in egg and vanilla, gradually blend in dry ingredients. Roll into balls of dough and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven 375 degrees or 190 degrees C. Let cookies stand two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

I was also able to finish making the monkey socks this weekend: They turned out great and were easy to make, once I had the pattern down they went swiftly.

I also started to make the sock blanket which will use up my leftover sock yarn but will be years in the making.