Secret Pal!!! and Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Here is our Thanksgiving turkey! We had some issues between my husband and his mother regarding the "doneness" of the turkey, but once those were resolved we sat down to a wonderful meal!

The following day there was a surprise in the mail! My Secret Pal sent me a package! As you can see, Shadow had to investigate! And this package came all the way from Wasilla, Alaska! I can't believe it! How fun!



The package contained two BEAUTIFUL rovings to feed my spinning addiction. The colors are wonderful! My daughter has already claimed whatever I might make from the turquoise roving since she has a pillow exactly that shade! And the multicolor is fantastic, beautiful greens with yellows, reds browns - I couln't resist!


Here is some of it spun up - I had to get right to my spindle! Oh yes, my wonderful pal also sent me the marvelous book Spin to Knit! I have been hoping to get my hands on it! It is wonderful with great photos and explanations for new spinners. Also some teriffic patterns - I love the sweaters and the hats! There was also a bag of Heath Bar Bites but those are long gone!



The Rowing Cat and I looked up Wasilla on the internet and found a great little video about the town that we watched! She can't believe that my pal is from the town where the Iditarod Race starts! She's loved the Balto story forever thanks to the animated video!

Thanks so much to my Pal! You're keeping me busy!

Here's the recipe - This was given to my daughter by her Kindergarten teacher and we have made it every year since! Thanks Mrs. Schrader at Jerry Thomas Elementary in Jupiter, Florida!

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 lb. canned pumpkin
1/3 cup water
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Cream sugar, oil and add eggs. Add pumpkin. Add dry ingredients alternately with water. Grease two 8 x 3 3/4 inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for and hour or until done.

Enjoy!

Help Mom!

Here is the Rowing Cat's stash pile dumped on the couch in front of Mom for a drastically needed untangling . . .


Then I did my magic and this is the result - now the Rowing Cat can start up again on her black scarf.

Except that this happened before she could grab her yarn!

The cat knows a good haul when she sees one! Below are the finished socks from the yarn sent by my Tea Swap pal - they turned out great!

And here's a little "One Skein Wonders" hat I finished. I splurged and bought some Socks That Rock yarn this week - off to cast on!

Spinning, Knitting and a little Hound Dog

Faith, of The Knitting Cook podcast, spoke at length in her latest episode about the wonder of the knitting community, especially the on-line community. I have to agree with everything she said. Here's my story: My Secret Pal 9 spoilee is a woman who lives in Massachusetts and is a writer for a Boston newspaper. My daughter is also a writer, albeit a thirteen year old one. She loves to write. She writes every day and hopes to someday write stories for children. This is simply amazing to me. I would find writing stories to be sheer torture. I mentioned in an email to my spoilee that my daughter wants to be a writer. My spoilee passed on some "words of wisdom" for her which was wonderful. Then I received another email from her suggesting a book she thought might be perfect for my daughter! The book is called Writing Magic and is written by Gail Carson Levine. That night I went to the bookstore, found the book and brought it home. Well, you can imagine that the Rowing Cat was VERY EXCITED about this book. It is perfect for her! And she is very impressed that A REAL WRITER recommended a book to her! So that is my story about the knitting community. It is a place where a fellow knitter takes the time to reach out and do something special for a thirteen year old! I know that I'll always remember this gesture of kindness!


Here is a picture of the merino roving I bought at Rhinebeck. It's a beautiful color and looks nice when spun, but I have to admit that I'm not loving it. It's probably just my drafting technique, but I'm not happy with the way it feels in my hand. I think I should just put this away for another day. I have some wool roving still sitting in my stash that I think I'll pull out and try.


Here's a picture of sock #1 from the Tea Swap Regia self patterning yarn! I'm about halfway through the second. My daughter is very anxious for me to finish them! They do look most impressive to those not initiated into the world of self patterning yarn!

And finally, a shot of the Rowing Cat in her jeans and teeshirt doing a dance to Elvis Presley's Hound Dog for Talent Show night! These girls made quite a pair!

The Fish Head

First a picture of our little Shadow in her best Halloween pose! THEN . . .



The Fish Head - this is the plaque Mark received for winning his race on Saturday at the Head of the Fish! Isn't this a classic?? He'll never get a better prize no matter how many races he wins! Now - where to hang this beauty . . .!