[Knitting A Conundrum]

Needles, threads, Pan and pot, company's coming, what's cold? what's hot? Lace on the table, apron on the waist, napkins neatly monogramed, what's left to taste? Potholders, quilted, eggnog in cup, Holidays are here - guess what, time's up!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

VRWKNWC Chat Ping! Weekend and holiday discussion! Are we busy yet? Got any recipes to swap? Making anything fun? Interesting sights? (I saw a bunch of tundra swans last night at sunset...awesomely beautiful).

[Mercat]

For years (over ten in fact) I didn't make pies because a local pie pantry made them better than I could but they have gone out of business so here I am making pumpkin chifon pies. Went out today and got a double boiler. I use mostly unsalted butter with a little shortening in the pie crust.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

What a cute group! Can I join your Ping List? (I crochet, craft and sew.)

Foodwise: Thanksgiving will be at MILs this year (we all alternate) so she's only a few miles up the road from me. I'm in charge of Pumpkin Pie this year, so I'm making Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes. Yum! Of course, some of the "traditionalists" in the family will whine, but too bad. Learn to bake your own d@mn pies, LOL!

Craftwise: I'm making Gift Baskets for most of my gifts. Each has a special "theme" for the recipient, but I'm also including crocheted dish cloths, homemade jellies and bread & soup mixes in Mason Jars. I'm crocheting a scarf for my sister with those fun yarns from Lion Brand, and I'm also making four of the pink Breast Cancer scarves for my three best friends and myself. (One survivor in the group, one that didn't survive...and who knows if we others will be so lucky?) I gotta get offline and get crafting! :)

Recipes: If anyone wants to make Gifts in a Jar, there are a WEALTH of recipes here. I've made a lot of them, and they turn out well and people ask for more:

http://www.recipegoldmine.com (Look to the massive recipe index on the right side of the page for "Gifts in a Jar.")

[LongElegantLegs]

I've almost finished a Christmas scarf from fun fur; It's like trying to knit with milkweed! It's beautiful, though. I'm thrilled with it. As far as Thanksgiving goes, well...Mr Legs will be grateful to have a dinner that's not mainly tofu, raw veggies, or rice. Keep expectations low, that's my motto. :-P

[retrokitten]

Yesterday I started on a scarf for my sister in-law out of a yarn called Katrina by Patons. I thought it was kind of bland sitting there in the bin, but they had a sample square that really looked nice. It's so soft and has a little bit of shimmer to it. I ended up buying chocolate brown, lavender and a color called "frost" that is a very light pastel green.

As for Thanksgiving, this is the one holiday that hubby and I stay home for. I'm doing Weight Watchers (we could be the needleworkers and weight loss circle! LOL), so I tried to cut out the really bad stuff or make healthy substitutions. For example, no bread or gravy (hubby wanted au gratin potatoes instead of mashed so that was an easy one). Since it's just the two of us it's much easier to plan for just our tastes then for a big group.

The toughest part was finding a desert. I still wanted to make something nice, but not go overboard and have too many leftovers. I found a recipe for an apple cake that makes 8 servings at only 195 calories each.

Oh! The little blanket I made for my kitties they decided that they like it all of a sudden. They would not touch it for anything and would actually go out of their way to avoid it, but then Friday they decided they wanted to lay on it and actually fought over it! Silly creatures.

[A knight without armor]

..."gobble-gobble-gobble" purl "gobble-gobble-gobble" purl "gobble-gobble-gobble" purl repeat