Is Thanksgiving Weekend Over Already? And...did I really have to cast on my Hemlock Ring Blanket?

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone...
highlights at our house included (by my perspective)...

1. A wonderful Thanksgiving feast at church (our family has helped served a free Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings at our church ever since we moved to NH over 10 years ago...so it's our family's "tradition") and I had a piece of Canadian pork pie (don't know the real name) too, that was out of this world delicious!

2. This was followed by a trip to sister's house (aka the Martha Stewart of our family)...oh my...she had the BEST sweet potato souffle, the BEST homemade pumpkin pie, the BEST homemade lemon meringue, etc...so my mom and are passing the "cooking queen mantle" to her when my mom is too old to cook, drop dead, etc. Yes, Boopie (sister's nickname) is a GREAT cook and baker. Sigh. I didn't get those family genes, apparently.





3. Seeing all the nieces and nephews on my sister's side.

4. Sneaking in wonderful knitting time early in the morning while the turkey was in the oven and watching Doris Day and Rock Hudson in the movie, Pillow Talk. I couldn't get to the White Christmas movie at that time, since geriatric dog Toby had decided to sleep in front of the dvd cabinet, and was not inclined to move himself for me at that moment.

5. Finishing my second pair of thrummed mittens, this pair for my youngest son.

6. Spending the day after Thanksgiving with my mom, and we hit the stores in New London, NH...not very exciting like the malls, BUT we had a ball! The Artisan's Workshop (great store known for "Handcrafted Items & Fashions, Eclectic Collections, Gold & Gemstone Jewelry, Silver, etc. store in PC's ), PC's (Peter Christian's Tavern) for lunch, Knit New London (two hours of yarn love, and new stash...more of that later), Spring Ledge Farm for fresh wreaths, 2 stops at the local Dunkin Donuts, lots of puppy toys, a pink fleece dog coat and such at Abercrombie & Bridge Pet store, and then more local gift store shopping. Done!



7. a new dishwasher!!!!!! Yes! My old one died approx. 2 months ago. It's not installed yet, but will be sometime this week.

8. having college boy home for the week was wonderful! Yes. Now, he's back at college for 3 weeks, and I've got to clear out my knitting stuff out of "his" room before his month long break for Christmas.


9. My friend and craft partner in crime, Christine, had me sit down at her wonderful sewing machine and cut and sew up a lap sized Yellow Brick Road quilt top, using Eleanor Burns Christmas fabrics from my stash, on Saturday morning...Really! She's quite the taskmaster, and I am thankful that she did this, as I have been frozen and fearful to start a quilt, although my quilting fabric stash equals my yarn stash. Now, my homework that she gave me is...
put the border on. Stay tuned!

10. I'm sure I'm missing more highlights of the weekend, but that's enough rambling right now.

Back to Knit New London....

OK, a great yarn store. Great assistance from the store staff and the owner...we spent two hours here...I touched everything, of course. I also signed up for the second class of the Hemlock Ring Throw and cast on, although I was strongly encouraged to wait for class on Dec 1st (easy to cast on using Emily Ocker's method).




What did I come home with?
Enough Cascade 220 for 4 pairs of Fiber Trends Felted Clogs (Christmas gifts)
2 skeins of Cascade Eco Wool for the above throw (a 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, in a grey that doesn't look the same here, but mine seems lighter (color 8049, "Tarnish"). It's a great squooshy yarn, and this throw takes only a pair of skeins, for a completed $30 project!

Lobster Pot yarn for a shawl (a yummy cashmere blend)
sale yarn Rowan Biggy Print for a cabled mystery bag on the Ready Set Knit podcast KAL
a few pairs of Addis and dpns, Soak, etc...things I needed for various projects.
Um...I'm sure I've forgotten things, but that's the jist of it. :)