I hope that everyone has a blessed and merry Christmas! And you all get lots of yarn and "stuff". See you soon. Happy knitting.

Went to the birdstore the other day to pick up some safflower seeds for the parrot and here's the view. The chincillas belong to the owner. Aren't they cute? So soft and I just want to "squeeze" them.

Crazy big bird alert!
Here are the holiday flower bouquets from Trader Joe's.
And the store has some lovely decorations.

I love the smell of the cinnamon pinecones at the front door. Smells like Christmas.

I've been busy getting some of my ufo's finished. And a few fast, bulky knits inbetween as well. Because everyone needs a new hat or headband, right? But I only have 2 ufo's left...yes,yes, one of them is the poncho. But I'm getting to it.

I'm off to finish a hat for a friend so I will be better about posting as soon as I am finished with the gifts.

Here is my favorite hand lotion. I treated myself to some as soon as Williams-Sonoma got it in stock. It smells luscious and feels so good. And lasts quite a long time as well. Quite worth the money as I get alot out of it.

Here's where sis was a week ago. She has a friend that has season tickets to the Bengals' and he invited her along to see the game. Talk about a bird's eye view! But she had a good time and got to tailgate with some of his friends in the parking lot. Mom and I stopped by Burger King the other day for a veggie burger (mmmm. good) and this is their tree. Very nice decorating job,no?

I have finished several projects...woohoo! and happy dancing all around. I made a few speedy things out of super bulky yarn that finished up in an hour or so. First is a speedy cabled cowl ( I found the pattern on Ravelry) and it's lovely and warm. I have worn it several times over the past few days and it's super. Covers the back of my neck that is not covered by my sweater or scarf. And I can layer instead of having a shirt and sweater on all the time. Two thumbs up for this knit!

This is made from the same yarn...Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Chunky in Cranberry. I do hate knitting with needles any bigger than 8's but these were on 13's and 15's. *groan* But knit so fast that it is done before I had alot of time to moan about it.

Sis has a friend in town this week who is also a vegan so today I did some cooking to share with them. I made roasted tofu and veggies (so good) ,a macaroni/tempeh dish cooked in a skillet that is reminiscent of hamburger helper. Also made pumpkin ice cream, cherry almond cookies, papaya and toasted coconut muffins, and pumpkin brownies that are below. I am tired now. Oh, and also some lemon squares. All vegan and pretty tasty as well.

I also finished the sampler vest that I was working on made from Peaches and Cream yarn. Mom liked it so much that I gave it to her. I think it looks better on her anyway. And she seems to be really happy with it. Now I'm going to work on my Ragna sweater and TRY and finish putting together the Celtic poncho. Hahahahaha...no really, I will get it finished. Stop that laughing, I really will get it finished. I promise.

Yah!! I am FINALLY finished with the secret knitting. Did the last bit just a little bit ago! Happy dancing all around. I'm glad the yarn came 'cause I didn't have enough.Whew. Will post tomorrow because I'm just tired.

Saw this on the way home the other day. If you look very closely in the sky you can just make out the Goodyear blimp. I have never seen it in real life...only on the television during an NBA game! Pretty neat. I wish I could've gotten a closer shot but you do what you can with a camera phone. Here are the cute little fir trees they have at Trader Joe's. Which is nice that they have those since they stopped carrying the toothpaste that I always buy! Grrrr. I liked it because it was all natural with no fluoride and it was cheap. What a crock. That's the one thing that I don't like about TJ's. They are always getting rid of things that I really like and then that's it. When I first shopped there they carried this wonderful frozen mushroom "pie/tart" kind of thing that was absolutely fabulous. And it was vegan. If I had known that they were discontinuing it I would have bought all that I could find. I still can taste them. Just so good.
Here's my yarn purchase from a few weeks ago. It's a worsted weight and I thought it would make a nice pair of thick socks.
We are getting are first taste of colder weather this week. On Thanksgiving it's supposed to be cold and rainy/snowy. Time to break out the knitwear!! I made a really cute headband/hat with beaded fringe that I'm looking forward to wearing. It's perfect because it goes right over my ponytail and fits great.

On the knitting front. Well. I am almost finished with the project that can't be named but I'm not sure that I'll have enough yarn. Disaster!! And I can't find it anywhere because it's on backorder. Eeeeep.
I finally found some on the website (Hobby Lobby) and placed an order for 2 more skeins. I thought that I bought an extra skein but I guess I was wrong. They said it takes 1-2 days to process and then 5-7 days for shipping. Talk about cutting it close!
Here is a shot of some brownies I made the other day. Very good and chocolatey. Not overly sweet and they got better after a few days.

And some peanut butter blondies that were wonderful!

Okay. Now I have to go and knit some more. And tomorrow I am cooking for Thanksgiving so I will lose at least part of knitting time. I'm making a Tofurky with onions,potatoes and carrots, maple-glazed squash, bread, pumpkin pie bites and Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse icing. Mmmmmm. All vegan of course and, hopefully all great.

Hope everyone has a Happy and Blessed Turkey Day! See you soon.

KNITTING going on!! I will be updating this in a day or two. See ya!

Been doing some cooking this week. Finally found a vegan biscuit recipe that didn't turn out like hockey pucks!! These are delicious and actually taste like biscuits. I have totally missed biscuits. I gobbled 2 of them straight out of the oven with some strawberry jam. Oh so good.Decided to make a Tofurky this week also. Roasted it with onion, carrots and potatoes with some delicious mushroom gravy. Mmmmm. Made the leftovers into a tasty potpie. Who says you can't eat good stuff being a vegan?

Have made progress on the knitting which shall not be named. Yah! for me. So I got myself a treat to celebrate. I had a 40% off coupon at JoAnn's so bought the new knitting calendar. It has some great patterns and have already decided on a few that are in the queue.

Here's my quick finish project that I knit the other day. Took about an hour to make the hat but longer to bead it.

I really like it. It's a headband/hat from the new book "Hattitudes". It has some great patterns and alot are really fast knits. I especially like this one because I have a ponytail and I can just wear this right over it.

The yarn is Patons Classic in the Autumn colorway and it's a nice yarn.

Mom liked it so much that she had me knit one up for her also. But without the beads.
We are having Indian summer these past few days. Today it was in the upper 60*s and just sunny and lovely. Although I am ready to wear my knitted things it sure is nice to have the warm weather. Especially for the heat not having to run.