It's been awhile

Okay so my personal goal of writing at least once a week has failed. Too much going on. I have been missing my family a bunch lately and have decided that because of that today I am going to make my Grammies Wheat Germ Brownies...Don't let the wheat germ fool you these are gooey and full of molasses. And yet better for you than if they were made with flour. I grew up with these and the smell of them while they bake and cool brings me right back to sitting on Grammies kitchen floor with the molasses spoon in my hand savoring each lick. Molasses what a New England tradition... So if you feel the desire here is the recipe:
Wheat Germ Brownies
1/4 C melted butter or Marg.
3/4 C Sugar
1/4 C molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg( I use freshly grated)
1 C raisins
1 C wheat germ
Appx 1 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C powdered milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all of these together and bake in a 8 X 8 buttered and wax paper lined pan(butter paper) at 350 degrees for 30ish minutes. The brownies will pull away from the sides of the pan when done. Remove from oven and let cool for about a half hour then turn upside down and peel off wax paper. These tend to stick to the paper so you haven't done anything wrong if they don't stay together. Enjoy. From my family to yours.

Zeke, we love and will miss you....

You have been there wise old man for a long time. Now we must say goodbye... Know we all love you and will think of you and your little strut...your talking back...your insistance on eating whatever we have...the pizza man...Hugs forever...We love you...

What now?

Ever drift aimlessly in the knitting scene, tired of knitting the same type of thing again and again? Unsure of where to travel next? I finished my socks in Step last night. I then discovered that the sweater I so badly wanted to knit wasn't going to look right with my yarn given my gauge was way off the given...I have had this yarn for a year now and I am no closer to making into something for myself than I was then. Even better it has been discontinued...surprise... my knitting chicks can attest to the fact that it has been nothing but trouble even to simply wind up. So I am faced with two sock yarns to start...I am tired of socks. I have made 6 pairs of socks for myself in the last year....4 for my kiddos....one for the hubbie and several pairs of baby booties... I want a break...So I might start an afghan...I know here it is June in Missouri and I am thinking of starting a warm blanket. My friend needs a blanket. I am off to search the patterns in my stash.

Catching up with my sock pics!

So today I caught a break in the weather and went outside to catch some much needed pictures of some of the socks I have done. Last summer I had done the Jaywalkers with some cotton mix yarn that I think was Online brand. If it wasn't then it was Sockotta. I love them but they are a bit loose...I tried to knit on 1s but that wasn't working so any ways here they are...

A couple of weeks ago I started and finished this awesome pair of Monkey socks from Knitty in Jitterbug that some wonderful fellow sock knitters got me for my birthday! It says Popsicle but we thought Jamacian man! They are so me! I love crazy yarn! Unpredictable beautiful yarn. Jitterbug was fun to work with and so soft I will certainly go and get more as soon as the budget allows... This was the end result...

This week I have been getting ready for the end of school and managed to get the first of the Spiral eyelet pattern done in Step! I love it! So soft! Definitely will be looking for colors I can stand in this one...It is tamer than most my sock yarn but I like the colors together and it just looks right. Who knows what the next pattern may be...can't wait to see which yarn calls out to me next!

I'm it?!? AGHH!

Okay so Deb tagged me this week and I have been way to chicken to do anything about it... 7 things? Mmmm...

1. Most people don't know that I was born in El Paso, Texas at the Army Medical Center. I frankly have been slightly ashamed I wasn't a REAL Vermonter.

2. I met my husband on the internet. I DO NOT recommend this to any one else but it has worked for us for 11 years!

3. One of my best friends has been my friend since I was 10 and she was 9. That means this year is our 20th year of being friends...Scarey!

4. All of my immediate family lives in Vermont and New Hampshire. There is a constant battle between which is better...I have never lived on the other side of the river and have always called Vermont home.

5. I am one of 9 children. My dad and his first wife had three boys ( a set of twins and a single), then he married my mom and had three girls, THEN he married Aurie and inherited her kids so 2 step brothers and a step sister. For a long time we kidded my dad about heading the Brady Bunch.

6. I lived on goat farms until I was almost 10. I plan on going back and having a few because of my experience. I love goat cheeses and milk... it doesn't bother my stomach like cows milk which is actually why my mom started getting them.

7. My strangest pet I ever had was an iguana named Sampson( we found out later Delilah would have been correct). The guy at a pet store in the Ozarks said no one wanted her and he was going to let her go in the parking lot when he closed shop. Now any one that knows me knows I am a softy when it comes to animals. So I took her home and got online and started to read about them. She lived to be 7 years old. She was 6 and a half feet and she rode all the way to Vermont from St Louis on the dash of my 87 Taurus... She was so happy to be in the sun. My dog use to lick her and guard her from the cats...Mellow Rocks!

So there you go. My 7 things...trouble I am having is who to tag next...Oh I know... Here it comes your way Em.

In the meantime, I have put down the snowdrop shawl because I can't decide if I screwed up or if it is just because it is my first lace... My new sock is awesome and I will try to get some pics up soon.
Peace to all.

Look what she did!!!!

Hannah did this almost all by herself minus a few drop stitches! She now is the proud owner of a washcloth! So happy am I!

To start anew

Okay so I started a new project. I decided I have been terribly boring as of late just knitting sock after sock...I have had this beautiful lace weight in my collection for almost a year now (http://www.knitpicks.com/Shimmer_YD5420112.html in morning mist) and frankly I have been too chicken to get involved with it...I don't want to mess it up so...there it sat. Well I figure the semester is over and I have a little more time on my hands than before so why not... I have a great support system and probably between us we could figure this out... Okay so I am chicken when it comes to trying new stuff with yarn but then I love it... I am not sure where that comes from but it probably drives everyone around me nuts.... This I will try to amend...I will be more daring with my yarn. That in mind I chose the yarn harlots snowdrop shawl http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/images/Snowdrop_Shawl_v1.0.pdf for my first attempt. It looks to be a easier but interesting pattern. I will keep you all informed on how it goes... knit on knitters, knit on.