Chicago wind-cast

Tonight: Windy with rain early...then a light wintry mix of precipitation overnight. Low 17F. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of precip 90%.


One corner of my house thinks it's a wind tunnel when the weather get blustery. Good thing we took care of the leaves last month. Ditto w the window insulation, aka giant plastic shrinkwrap. I'd hate to hear it esp upstairs. Train noise doesn't bother me one bit mostly since I grew up not too far from railroad tracks. It's one of those feels like home sounds and fitting since I am near them once again.

Potato soup after all

An idea I've had to awhile was to make some sort of potato soup. It's getting colder, or rather down right cold as I can hear the wind whirring past the corner of the house, and soup is always cold weather food. I found a receipe on The Food Network's website that looked both yum inducing and easy. I made it last nite and after adding more mashed potatoes after pureeing it and more cheese than in the recipe I thought it turned out quite well. It's not too photogenic though last nite it did look good in our red bowls. I was just in the "eat now" mindset then getting out the camera.

The whirry weather, as expected in a Midwest winter, is keeping me inside today. Rather that is the plan, to finish up some laundry and knit. The Hawks scarf continues to grow and I think I have the final idea for the WIP baby blanket. She-who-has-not-been-named will be here next month so the holiday time I'm hoping will be some quality knitting time.

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Originally uploaded by mustbuymoreyarn

I find myself more and more into the holiday spirit the past few years. Perhaps it's being w the love of my life that has added that warm fuzzy holiday feeling even more than normal. He has wanted a retro silver aluminum tree for a long time. We had only seen smaller ones in the stores and our idea of a second tree was a larger one. Our first tree was a tabletop one bought so that we'd have a tree since we couldn't not have one for Christmas. There were trees we looked at in the stores but none made me say "YES that is the one!" and now I'm glad. The tree is true vintage. You can tell from the box,. There were also instructions, and newspapers inside the box dated 1959.

Now the question is how to decorate it. I'd love to somehow make yarn pompons or something fun but I know anything ball shaped made of yarn will just lure Little Cat into climbing the tree. He is already interested it in.

You know your have played too much Xbox when...

I've gotten a chance to play more Beautiful Katamari lately. I took some time, parked my comfy clothes clad butt in the chair, and listened to the odd somewhat chirping cats as they got rolled up. Then I dreamt of being part of some sort of pinball testing group. I actually do like pinball too so that's works even if I'm asleep. Today while out and about I see a piece of an orange at the edge of the sidewalk. While it is not normal in the general sense, random bits of food strewn here and there don't surprise me that much anymore. The odd, well in the normal sense, part was I immediately thought MANDARIN and there was a lil katamari in my head rolling it up. Sad, yes. Amusing to other players of the game, most likely.

This is MY box. Go away!

Penguins and cookies

I love Target. I have always loved Target. I love Target even more when the holiday cuteness runs rampant. I love fun mugs and this penguin one is the latest to my collection. I did see more fun stuff included w the theme but I smushed the urge to load up on the cuteness. I'm planning to wait and see with upcoming sales since there is a platter included that'd be cute for our now annual Cookie Party.

This year's party, the first of many, turned out so well that we're already planned another for next year. (The details, of course, to be set up much later though to set a date in stone now would be a smart idea. Getting ten, well eight in final attendance, ladies to find a day in their busy schedules is often difficult but in the end a great time. ) The mulled wine receipe ended up delicious and will definitely be made again. A night of laughter, cookies, wine, with friends is definitely a great way to start the holiday season.

Dusting off the blog

I took a blogging hiatus, or at least the intention to blog was put on hiatus, so I could focus on my knitting. It was a noble effort, to say the least.

I got hit by Murphy's law of knitting which I can say beforehand I had not dealt with of this magnitude. The baby hooded wrap that I worked like mad on ended up too narrow - it's currently in reconstruction/replotting stage since what was done turned out really well. I lost a WIP with circular bamboo knitting needles - sob. The man scarf for The Husband ended up too ruffle and not enough ribbing. When the knitting gets wacked out, the tough take a break and start again. I try not to knit aggrivated since I find that my gauge ends up all wonky.

So things are much better in knitting land. A Blackhawks inspired scarf for the husband is the latest addition to my WIPs. It's a basic ribbed scarf but with a red band at each ends and the fringe inspired by the logo colors. The baby blanket is on hold but I have some cute ideas including using her initials somehow. The other scarf is coming along but slowly. I don't know why it's taking extra time though maybe the three alternating stripe colors is the cause.

I ended up totally by chance finding 9 skeins of Lion Brand Incredible Yarn in Autumn Leaves at one of the dollar/discount stores. All the same color lot for $9 was such a great deal I took it as a sign. It'd be a nice wrap idea.