A bunch of the knitting girls met up at The Green Bean in downtown Exeter NH for some breakfast and a spot of knitting.

Then we were off to an afternoon of yarnie fun. I was excited to see Wooly Beers, one of my favorite local vendors, being one of the first displays to greet us.

All this yumminess. I could hardly contain myself.

There were also rivers of roving from Riverslea Farm (another fantastic local vendor),

in all the colors of the rainbow.

The spinners had a great showing. These women were having a blast showing off their skills. Wow, it was fun to see all those wheels going.

Some beautiful wool was being spun.

There wasn’t just wool, of course, the beautiful angora bunny was patiently waiting as his amazing coat was being spun. He usually hides his face, I was really excited to get a shot of him being social!

This year there was a large selection of fibers. There was much more of an alpaca presence and lots of dyed yarns. There were artists of all kinds. These hand woven baskets got my attention and I purchased a darker shade one for my studio. What else did I get? I got a yarn holder (stay tuned!)

Another great year in deed. This is such a fun little festival. I thank everyone involved in it’s planning. It’s so nice to have something so much fun locally.

Happy Knitting.

To be honest (and I am a bit ashamed of this fact) it’s the first time I have tried Spaghetti Squash. I know it’s been all the rage for years now, but I have never been a huge squash fan. Much to my amazement, I loved it.

These individual crocks of gooey deliciousness are fantastic. I highly recommend this recipe. I also used the leftovers to create a second lasagna, which kept in the fridge for a few days and was the perfect mid week dinner on the go. Yummy!

Happy Cooking!

A few of you have asked how my studio is coming along…well, it’s coming…

*sigh*

Knitting: I am knitting away on my afghan. I know you are probably sick of seeing it in this space, but I MUST finish it! I have two cakes of yarn left and I’ll be done! This lovely project is so heavy and warm, I have enjoyed it on my lap the last few weeks while the temperatures have fallen.

Reading: With recommendations from many of you, I ordered “Deep Nutrition” by Catherine and Luke Shanahan. I haven’t gotten too far into it, but am anxious to learn more about what I put in my mouth and how it reacts with my body. With just changing what I eat, not the amount, I have dropped 7 pounds (YAY!) I am hoping to soon get back to that pre-baby weight (it has been 4 years now! LOL)

What are you reading? Working on?

Tex Mex Eggrolls

Dear husband and I both decided to make something for Chilifest. I opted for the Chipotle-Black Bean Chili but he thought that this recipe on the food network for Tex Mex Eggrolls was much more exciting. He was right (as usual, but don’t tell him I said that!)

There was a lot of prep, but it didn’t take him too long. The filling mixes up quickly, once the rice is done. Then they are rolled in regular egg roll wrappers.

I think he really wanted an excuse to pull out the fryoltor again (remember the pumpkin spice donuts?) They are fried in peanut oil and topped with a creamy cilantro sauce.

Yummy little pockets of tex mex perfection. Might I add…Sara’s Sangria made for a mighty nice paring. DELISH!

Griff stayed busy during our projects with some play dough playing and making drums out of the pots and pans found in my cupboards. I guess it doesn’t matter if you get your kids a real drum set, pots and pans are always better.

We planned a last minute get together Sunday afternoon. So while the faucet was being changed, and the kid was banging on the “drums” I worked on making my famous sangria and 5 minute bread.

Dinner was found with quick Chicken and Broccoli with Quinoa. It was fantastic! (thank you Tracey)

Sunday morning I got a few minutes for myself. I sat very quietly with my cup of coffee, enjoying some online surfing.

Our afternoon get together was themed “chilifest”. We have done it in the past, but this was a bit of a last min. thing. This made our kitchen VERY busy, even the DH got in on the action by making some tex-mex eggrolls.

The Chilifest rules: Everyone brings their own Chili and to-go containers. Everyone tries all the chili, then everyone takes home the leftovers! It’s a great way to try different chili styles and techniques. Besides, chili is always better as leftovers!

It was another great weekend. What did you do this weekend?

I cleaned out everything in the cabinet. This cabinet had previously been used for my spices only. I realized I have over 50. I not only wanted my spices in here, but my cooking/baking items as well. I wasn’t quite sure how they were all going to fit back in this pantry, but I was gonna make it work. The following day, I went over to my favorite Junque store and grabbed an assortment of wire baskets. They are something I can put spices in three deep, freeing up lots of shelf space. I also grabbed a few decorative baskets to hold some of the other items and add some character. The wooden box at the bottom is something I had been eyeing in the shop for weeks. I just wasn’t sure where I could use it…well I found the spot!

It was fun to see it all come together.  I did find that now I can see everything, I need to trade out/change out some of my food choices. But that will come with time.

The finished project is almost perfect. I am finding the tea the hardest to find a spot for right now. I plan on keeping my eyes out for some old tea tins that I can stack neatly in the door. But overall, I am so excited with this space. I was able to add so much more storage to it, and open up another whole cabinet in my kitchen. I love using space to efficiently.

Altogether, it took me about 3 days. I worked on it a little bit each night. I love it. What do you think?

Can be made into this:

I made this large bag for my Tae Kwon Do sparring gear. I wanted a special bag that was original. I found this pattern by The Green Pepper. It was available at my local JoAnn Fabrics store. I looked for some thick fabric and stumbled across this, what I think is, Asian inspired quilted fabric. Then I was even lucky enough to find this iron-on dragon patch in the same colors as the quilted fabric. I thought it would add a nice touch.

This project was more of a sewing challenge than I anticipated. I learned lots of new skills. The zipper the pattern calls for was not readily available at my JoAnn’s, so I had to make do with a parka zipper. I reinforced it a lot and I think it will work fine.

I even added the loops to make a longer arm strap. But I am very satisfied with the length of the two handles the pattern calls for. So I didn’t feel I needed to make the extra strap, although I have the extra webbing and parts if I change my mind.

My favorite part of the bag is the pocket. I actually got the pattern to line up, that never happens for me!

All of my gear comfortably fits in this bag. It was a really great project. My son is already asking when I am going to make him one! Do you have any sewing projects?

Happy Sewing!

Organization was on my list.  Any free chance I got, I worked on little projects. In the kitchen, we have a few cupboards that have pull out draws. This one next to the sink had two- but it wasn’t that functional and was a little bit of wasted space. After looking at the old sliding system, I found I could take one out and move one to the bottom of the cabinet. It’s perfect for our trash and recycling containers. This frees up a ton of room under the sink for more storage. It is a good change.

I finished up my sewing project from last week. I have the perfect bag for my sparring gear (you’ll see more about this later this week!)

Sunday we enjoyed spinach and feta omelettes.  My omelettes never come out pretty, I am really bad at flipping them just right, but they always taste good.

And we played in the snow.

I also got a chance to knit, met up with family for lunch and also met one of my best friend’s newborn. Such a great weekend. How was yours?