FOs to Show

Here are some of my latest FOs.

I did finish the Thujas today, so they are done and ready to be wrapped for Christmas. The variation really isn't much, so I'm going to deal with it.

They were done in Caron Simply Soft Shadows, for ease of care later, softness, interesting colors, and niceness to my wallet.


I've been cooking a LOT these past couple of weeks. Every meal. I made amazing crepes, if I do say so myself. This right here is one of my two FOs for the day food-wise. I made Focaccia bread to go with the stuffed shells I made to use up some of the pasta sauce I made yesterday. I really made the bread because I'm making Garbage Bread on Tuesday, and won't have time to make the dough so made it today. It uses pizza dough, then you sprinkle on garlic salt and oregano and basil, cover with mozzarella and pepperonis, roll it into a loaf, cut vents in the top, then bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until it's all nice nd golden brown. Anyway, the bread is noteworthy though, because it tastes exactly like Goldfish crackers. Not lying here. Exactly. I made the bread the way it is listed in Joy of Cooking, 75th anniversary edition, by making pizza dough, not rolling it out all the way, drizzling it with olive oil, and adding toppings. The toppings were Parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of garlic salt, and a dash of oregano. Just enough garlic salt and oregano to be tasted in every bite, not enough to overwhelm. I usually take an engineering approach to my cooking and measure it all exactly, but I didn't this time. Apparently it makes bread that tastes like Goldfish. Who knew?

These are a test knit for Gardiner Yarn Works, Seeded Rib Wristwarmers. I used up the leftover yarn from the Hemlock Ring Blanket (next) and man, they are nice! We've had a cold snap, and they've been warm and comfy. Lee said it looks like the knitting is taking over, as I was wearing a knit cardigan (bought, not made), these, and a scarf.

Yarn is Vanna's Choice in Chocolate, took a bit more than half a skein for the pair. I weighed them at work so I can use other leftover yarns if I had enough, and they are about 28 grams apiece, so a little more than half of the 100g skein.

This is the Hemlock Ring blanket. It's for my grandfather as a recover quickly present for his hip surgery. He's good now, and I do believe he has the blanket, though I haven't called to confirm. That's my official blocking blanket for anything that is too large for the board, not my bedspread or anything. The bedspread is zebra printed!

This took just over three skeins of Vanna's Choice 100% acrylic in Chocolate. Again, the acrylic was for ease of use and lack of strain on my wallet. $10 for a whole lap blanket and a pair of wristwarmers? Count me in! I didn't quite block it well enough. I did the steam thing after washing it and letting it air dry for awhile, but I think it was still wet enough that I didn't allow the steam to penetrate enough. I tried the hold the iron less than an inch above the surface, but it didn't work too well. Next I'll try the cotton sheet version, and see if it works better. Damn acrylic.