Christmas I can't believe it is almost here

I can't believe how fast this year has gone and that Christmas is less then one week away. I have stuff that still needs to get accomplished and I don't know if it will.




Luckily all my cookie baking and candy making is done.... okay almost done. This year I've made once again probably too many cookies and I even tried my hand at candy making.








The candy making was an adventure: I made toffee which came out really well and was super easy to make. I loved checking the candy in the water and seeing it get to the harder stages it was so fun to break that thread of sugar.


Besides the toffee I also took a stab at making caramels. Once again it was easier then I thought the only bad thing about the caramels was when it came to wrapping all those individual pieces.









One other thing I made this year will probably weird many people out but oh well. It was a little something featured in the holiday edition of Kraft Food Family; they called them "Mint Thins" it is basically chocolate covered Ritz crackers with peppermint. I know it may sound weird or gross but they really weren't that bad.

As for the cookies I made quite a few:

1. Chocolate chips
2. Ginger Krinkles
3. Chocolate Pistachio Twists
4. Latte shortbread sticks
5. Snickerdoodle crescents
6. Mint stripes
7. Frosty chews
8. Sugar cookie cutouts
9. Bocca di Nonnas
10. Mocha Hazelnut Biscotti (they still need to be glazed)

Well I'm off to finish a gift I need to finish knitting by tomorrow so I have time to block it. I'm making the Argosy for my mom's Christmas present. http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTargosy.html I have about 10 more pattern repeats to go and then I need to do section 3. If all goes well hopefully I'll have it done sometime tonight or early tomorrow.

Tempting Sweater Revisited

I am so happy that my sweater is finished. Tempting was a great pattern. Though if I see a pattern that is all ribbing it will be awhile till I attempt that one. If I wouldn't have mastered the 'continental purl technique' I would be working on this sweater for ever. I'm happy with how it came out and even happier that it fits. With the knitting of this sweater I think I found a favorite wool yarn; Cascade 220 http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-220.asp. Knitting a sweater in wool that will felt is something I highly recomend; especially if you despise weaving in the ends like I do. Wool that will felt allows one to do a join of the yarn ends with a mini felting process and that makes finshing that much easier. The only ends I had to weave in was where I started, finished, the sleeves, and the sleeve joins which wasn't so bad. I'm definitely looking forward to making something else with wool that will felt.

One thing I realized since I have made both of the Tempting sweaters offered on http://www.knitty.com/. I've come to realize that the pictures that they show with the pattern seem to be messed up. With the Tempting sweater (the sleeves are off the shoulder); while with Tempting 2 (the sweater appears to have a normal neckline). But when you reach the finished product the reverse seems to be true. Alas that just must be one of those things.

Now that I've finished this sweater for myself... I guess it will be time to make something for someone else... I've got a couple Christmas presents I need to make and then I'll just have to decide what my next project will have to be.