I started my third pair of socks last week and just finished the first sock yesterday. I decided to go with a short cuff this time! And now I can finally do the Magic Loop cast-on, heel and Russian bind-off WITHOUT pulling up the you-tube videos!  Yay for me!

It started snowing this week (Tuesday night) and didn’t really stop until last night (Friday). It’s beautiful to look at but I have no desire to be out in it. We did venture out Wednesday morning to get hair cuts and pick up a few groceries in town but otherwise I’ve only stepped outside to get a few pictures.

The snow had started to drift and block our way into the house by the time we got back from town Wednesday. Jim had to shovel us in (versus shoveling us out)!

Thursday brought even more drifting snow. My poor little pink flamingo is getting buried!

By Friday, Jim had shoveled at least 5 times and it was piling up!

The following are my favorite snow pics! You can see the snowy cliff wall above the arborvitaes. We haven’t ventured up the switchbacks since Wednesday so have no idea what kind of shape they’re in. I do know that we haven’t had mail serve since Wednesday and the garbage man couldn’t make it down either.

It was still snowing pretty hard late Friday afternoon.

Finally, late Friday night the snow had stopped. I love this picture of my little bistro table and bench on the deck!

It’s Saturday morning and already up to 24 degrees – the warmest it’s been in a week! However, Accuweather says we’re going to have more snow today! Glad I’m retired and don’t have anywhere to go!

I was watching Chef Anne Burrell on the Food Network channel last week and she was making Italian focaccia bread. I’ve been trying to find a recipe for a certain bread that’s made in Italy but hadn’t had any luck – until I saw this show. So, last night I made it.  Oh my, is it ever delicious … and, Kevin & Laura, it tastes just like the bread you bought every day when you lived in Florence!

Fortunately I’d watched Anne make this bread so I knew to spread my fingers out and make “finger holes” all the way through the dough when I was stretching the dough to fit the jelly roll pan.

After it’s doubled in size, topped with kosher salt, olive oil and baked, this is the final result:

We couldn’t wait for it to cool before digging right in!

I finished my second pair of socks earlier this week. I’ve even worn and washed them. They are super comfortable. For anyone wanting to knit socks, the toe up sock pattern using circular needles is definitely the way to go! I’ve already started on my 3rd pair!

Another going away gift I received when I left my job was from my manager, Leslie. We knitted together every Thursday during lunch and she knows how hard it was for me to learn how to make socks! She gave me this wonderful wool yarn and stainless steel circular knitting needles. Jim loves wool socks but since Leslie bought me pink yarn (hm, I wonder how she knew I loved pink!!!), he won’t be getting these when they’re done!

Thank you so much, Leslie! I’m almost done with my second pair of socks and I’ll definitely be starting with this yarn this week!

One of the attorneys I worked with the last 2+ years gave me a great, thoughtful going away gift. Little did he know that I didn’t make pies! Shortly after Jim & I were first married, I made a pie. After the first bite Jim compared it to his mom’s pies, and the comparison wasn’t good. My mother-in-law was the world’s best pie maker so I never made a pie crust again. Until today!

The gift contained a pie crust mix, a jar of pear/cranberry filling and the “Pie and Pastry Bible” cookbook! I’ve already found several things I’m going to try! Anyway, here’s my finished pie.

The pie was delicious!  Thanks, John!

Tracy (http://wowprincess.com/blog/) decided on a homemade Christmas this year too and this is what she stitched for Jim & I.

She did a beautiful job (my picture doesn’t do the piece justice). It has our state, our initials (my initials before we got married) and the date we got married. And of course you’ll notice that it’s in pink – my most favorite color!!! Jim is going to do the matting and build me a frame to go along with the mission style of our remodeled house.

Thanks Tracy – I love it!

After many attempts at making socks with 5 double pointed needles, I had given up … until Shirley (one of the gals in our Wednesday Perkins Coie knitting group) started a pair of toe up socks. I learned to use circular knitting needles last year and after watching Shirley I was pretty sure I could knit those socks! However, I totally messed up the measurement and ended up with socks that were way too big for my foot! When we were at mom’s for Christmas Eve, she tried on the one finished sock and it fit her so I will give her my first pair of socks. They are very warm and will keep her feet warm this winter!

The pattern I used was called Toe Up Raggi Socks from http://olivemermaids.blogspot.com/2010/02/toe-up-raggi-socks.html. I ended up learning three new techniques from you tube videos: Judy’s Magic Cast-on (http://knitpurlhunter.com/blog/?p=244), toe up heel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu5YAKsAEpY), and Russian bind off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv6Vib66MWg&feature=related).

You, too, can knit these toe up socks – give it a try!

This year I decided to tone it way down for Christmas and only give homemade gifts. I only have to buy for a few people, and none of them really need anything.  When I saw this yarn at “So Much Yarn” in downtown Seattle, I immediately thought of Tracy (http://wowprincess.com/blog/).  I came up with the following:

The scarf is a knitted cable sampler (with 7 different cable patterns) by Debbie Macomber, the author.  It was very tedious and I worked on it for months – just ask the gals I knitted with on Wednesdays and Thursdays! Since Tracy travels so much, and it seems she’s always going to very cold places in the winter, I knitted the little wristlets to keep her hands warm on those cold steering wheels. The minute I saw the slipper pattern I knew I had to make them. Those were the very first things I made when I learned how to knit in junior high and I’m definitely going to make some for myself! And finally, I crocheted the re-usable bag. I’m definitely going to have make myself some of those too!

In 2011, I started finishing afghans that my mother-in-law (Ora) had started before she died in 1998 (my father-in-law gave me boxes of yarn that I had stored all these years).  This pattern is a chevron (or zig zag) and I had to figure it out.  But it turned out great. I kept this afghan for Jim.