Hey everybody! How was your Thanksgiving? How was your weekend? All good, I hope!

I spent a lot of my time this weekend getting our house decorated for the Christmas season. In the midst of my decorating, though, I took some time out to photograph a newly finished pair of socks.

I decided to pose them against a Christmas wall hanging I made several years ago, rather than taking my usual modeled shots. I think it’s a nice back drop for these gorgeous navy blue socks.

It’s my usual pattern – picot edge, slip stitch heel – which I’m working on writing up, I promise.

The yarn is Kim’s sock yarn and it is absolutely scrumptious. These socks were a complete joy to knit because of this fabulous yarn. And I just love the deep rich blue.

This is pair #17 for the year, by the way. Just in case you’re keeping track or something.

Thanksgiving is over – let the Christmas season begin!

Have a great weekend.

Here we are with the final installment of Thankful Thursdays. I have so enjoyed writing these posts and reading everyone else’s posts, too. I think we should do this every year! And today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for food. My family has more than enough to eat and I am grateful that I have never known real hunger.

In particular, on this day of feasting, I am thankful for:

1. Turkey. It’s the star of the meal and while I love the white meat for a sandwich, when it comes to the Thanksgiving dinner itself, pass me the thigh.

2. Stuffing. Call it dressing, call it stuffing, call it whatever you want just please make mine with celery, onion, oysters, and lots and lots of Bell’s Seasoning.

3. Mashed potatoes and gravy. This combo rounds out any meal nicely but on Thanksgiving it’s the best part of the meal.

Of course there is also squash and turnip and cranberry sauce. And no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without the relish tray, stuffed dates and figs, and pie – my own contribution to the holiday meal.

Whatever your favorites, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

As Hillary pointed out to me last week, it can be hard to fit in knitting projects on the blog these days. Tuesdays , Thursdays and Fridays are pretty tied up with themes and Mondays are usually about weekend activities so that really only leaves Wednesdays to talk about knitting.

Last week I remembered that I never showed you pictures of the other thing I knit for Margene. Susan came up with an idea, right before Margene’s surgery, for she and I to each knit a half of a shawl. She volunteered to find the pattern, send me the yarn, graft the two halves together once we finished, and then present it to Margene when she got home from the hospital. I was thrilled to do it!

The pattern is the Clementine Shawlette from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007. And the yarn is Louisa Harding Kashmir DK.

We each got 35 full repeats done and, while I was worried that our gauges would be different and obvious when the pieces were grafted together, Susan assured me that they were remarkably similar.

She also assured me that Margene was quite thrilled with our handiwork.

I’d say, given the smile on Margene’s  face (in a photo that Susan sent me – thanks!), that Susan wasn’t exagerrating.

The official theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Things You Are Thankful For. Since I’ve been doing Thankful Thursday this seems a bit redundant so instead I’m sharing 10 People (Living or Dead) I’d Like To Invite To Thanksgiving Dinner.

1. Abraham Lincoln. He made it official, after all. And he’d keep Dale occupied.

2. Abigail Adams. Our first feminist definitely deserves a seat at my table.

3. Oprah. I’ve been watching her for 24 years and I’m still a huge fan.

4. Julia Child. I wonder if she’d be willing to do all the cooking?

5. Pat Summit. She’s the coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, in case you aren’t familiar with her. I’d love to meet her.

6. Martin Luther King, Jr. And can I add Bobby Kennedy here, too? Sort of a two-for-one deal.

7. Meryl Streep. I think she’s the greatest actress of our time.

8. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I’d love to hear his views on our world today.

9. Harvey Milk. He’d liven things up, I’ll bet!

10. Jimmy Buffett. I know he’d bring the tequila and what’s a party (even Thanksgiving!) without tequila?

It’s an eclectic group, that’s for sure. I just hope they like brussel sprouts.

It’s Thanksgiving Week here in the United States and that means I’ve got food on my mind. Well, pie . So I thought I’d share a pie I made this weekend.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Pie

20 Oreo cookies
3 T butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Process oreos in food processor and mix with 3 T butter. Pat into pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 oven.

Meanwhile, combine peanut butter, heavy cream and vanilla in a saucepan. Heat until peanut butter melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and pour into pie shell. Chill at least 3 hours. Drizzle the top with melted peanut butter before serving.

I brought this to a gathering on Sunday and it was a hit. It goes a long way because it’s so rich that you really only need a very small slice to be satisfied.

Simple, easy and delicious. It doesn’t get better than that.

The floral arrangements throughout The Mirage were spectacular and huge. Actually, that sort of sums up Vegas in general.

Have a great weekend!

We’ve covered the big stuf in the last 2 weeks of thankfulness posts. Family, job, home, pets. There’s still so much left to talk about, though!

This week I am thankful for:

1. My friends.  I certainly never thought I would make so many friends when I started this blog but that’s exactly what happened. And I have wonderful friends at work and at home, too. I have many and I am blessed.

2. My hobbies.  Knitting comes at the top of this list but I also love spinning and photography. I am thankful that I have the time and resources to devote to these hobbies.

3. The wonders of our modern world. Indoor plumbing and electricity. Email and iPods and cell phones. Aluminum foil and plastic wrap. Microwaves. All those little and not-so-little things that make my life better.

Expressing thanks for all these things makes me happy.

Before I went to Vegas I finished another pair of Socktoberfest Socks. This is pair #3, the final pair in fact, the Through The Loops Mystery Socks, for those of you keeping track. They are also my favorite pair.

The pattern is fantastic. That’s no surprise since Kirsten is a wonderful designer.

And the yarn, Claudia Hand Painted in the color Cherries, is a perfect match for the pattern. But damn, red is hard to photograph.

I love the attention to detail on the toes. Just look at the way that twist is finished off!

It was really fun to have a change from my usual stockinette sock and do something with a little lace and a little cable.

And a lot of style!

Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Things You Wish You Knew How To Do. I’m going with the over-the-top approach. I must still be high on Vegas fumes or something.

1. Grow money. My father always said it didn’t grow on trees. I’d sure like to prove him wrong.

2. Make Sarah Palin shut up. I can’t help but listen when she speaks (train wreck analogy) so I wish she would just. shut. up.

3. Make Carrie Prejean go away. Seriously, why is anyone paying any attention to this tool anymore?

4. Time travel. I’d love to go back in time and forward in time and travel around in our own time, too. And I’d like to do it all without having to deal with airport security and buses and planes and trams and everything else that makes traveling a pain in the ass.

5. Find a cure for cancer and all the other horrible ailments in the world. I know too many people who have suffered and died. And I know too many people who grieve because of it. I’d be very happy to put an end to all of this.

6. Establish world peace. Through knitting. We know our power and I bet we could actually do this.

7. End all forms of hypocrisy. I could go on and on about this. But I won’t.

8. Knit in my sleep. This would be multitasking at it’s finest.

9. Sing. Honestly, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. And yet I’m the one who always knows all the words to songs. It’s a cruel twist of fate.

10. Solve all the world’s problems. Poverty – gone. Hunger – gone. War – gone.

It’s a nice list, don’t you think?