We Love You Allie & Always Will

As a child I asked for a kitten every time I was up for a gift (Christmas, birthday, and any other gift giving event). Since my father didn't like cats my dream was never fulfilled until Tim and I were married and my dog had died. Our daughter Katie was 2 when we adopted the cutest little calico that we unanimously named Allie.

Allie knows Addi Turbos are the best needles!

Last Friday we sadly had to say good-bye to our Allie. She was almost 15, and had been sick for a couple of weeks. Last week everything went downhill and we found ourselves attempting to nurse her back to health. Unfortunately she was unable to eat, so she rapidly got weaker.


The weather on Thursday was in the 60s and sunny, so I opened the curtains to the back yard for Allie to look out if she felt like coming downstairs (she spent most of her time in our Master bathroom which is the where she began her life in our house). After much deliberation and many tears, Tim called the vet and scheduled to bring Allie in Friday morning. Friday morning we served her Maple Pecan Crunch cereal in a saucer of milk. She was so happy, considering she was constantly fighting to get into Tim's cereal bowl every morning.

Allie enjoyed her "maple milk" breakfast!

When we came home from the vet's office we found our other two cats looking nearly as sad as we did. To think they could sense the change in our home was amazing. Cats are funny creatures. We have been fortunate to have 3 of the sweetest cats belong to us ... or more likely we have belonged to them :)

If you've ever opened up your heart to a cat or a dog, you know as I do that the love of a pet is worth the pain of loss you endure in the end. We love you Allie, and always will.

One Monday last summer Allie was surfing Ravelry with me

Daybreak KAL

We had a fantastic time last night starting the Daybreak shawlette/scarf by Stephen West. Our first KAL of 2012!  It started off by most of us getting to KT just in time to see Suzanne E. finish up her very first knitting project.  It was the Noro Striped Scarf and she did an amazing job considering she just finished Nancy's Beginning Knitting Class on December 10th! Then everyone pulled their color choices out and we spent some time helping each other decide which color to start with.  We all cast on and were able to get our 'Make One's' under control by evening's end. 

I brought a couple bottles of wine and a new recipe called Robert's Corn Dip featured in Where Women Cook magazine.

Robert's Corn Dip (Makes about 6 cups)

• 3 (11-oz) cans sweet corn & diced peppers, drained
• 1 (7-oz) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (6-oz) can chopped jalapenos, drained & liquid added to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 (16 oz) pkg shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Scoop-style corn chips

Mix all ingredients except corn chips together and refrigerate. Serve with corn chips.

It's not too late to join us for the Daybreak KAL  - Tuesdays in January from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  Most, but not all of us are using two skeins of tosh sock - many beautiful and vibrant colors are left to choose from.

Renee

It's Confession Time!

I told Tim last night that I'm in love. Of course I love him to pieces, but I am having a "yarn love affair" with Madelinetosh Pashmina! It's the most beautiful, softest, bounciest yarn I've ever used. I'm making the Imogen Cowl and the pattern just screams fantastic in Pashmina. What do you think? I've got a bit left to knit, but here's a peek prior to finishing and blocking. 

My Imogen Cowl in the Thicket colorway

A few of the other lovely colors of Pashmina

I've got more Madelinetosh yarns slated to come in very soon, so I'm sure a little more Pashmina will wander home with me. I just hope that Tim won't mind! :) 

As you prepare your New Year's Resolutions, be sure to add "knitting with Madelinetosh Pashmina" to your list. You won't be sorry ... except for maybe when you get hooked like I am. I hope you have a Happy New Knitting Year!

Knit a Quick Cowl!

I found a miniature leaf pattern in Barbara Walker's book A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and decided to use it to make a quick cowl/infinity scarf for my daughter Katie as well as for a shop sample. I made Katie's cowl in a couple of hours, so just in case you need a pattern for a last minute gift, here are the instructions. The finished cowl is 8 inches wide by 56 inches in circumference. If you would like to make it longer or shorter the pattern is a multiple of 6 stitches.

Leaf Lace Infinity Scarf

Materials 

• Size 13 circular needle (24- to 32-inch is just perfect) 

• 2 skeins of Cascade 128 Superwash.

Miniature Leaf Pattern 
Round 1: Knit.

Round 2: *Knit 3, yarn over, slip 1, knit 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over; repeat from * around.
Round 3: Knit.
Round 4: *Yarn over, slip 1, knit 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over, knit 3; repeat from * around. 

Instructions
Cast on 132 stitches.

Join carefully to avoid twisting your cast-on stitches. Purl one round. Knit one round. Purl one round.
Work Miniature Leaf Pattern for width desired.
Knit one round.  Purl one round. Knit one round. Purl one round. Bind off knit-wise. 

Enjoy!

The Grand Prize Winner Is...

On Saturday December 17th we drew the name of the Grand Prize Winner of the Holiday to Holiday: A Path to Knits and Purls contest. There were 8 names in the "hat" and the suspense was killing us! Then Tim drew out the first name for the Grand Prize; the winner is ANN GILBERT!

Ann won a gift basket worth over $700 in prizes. The generous vendors that supplied prizes are Cascade Yarns, Classic Elite, Misti Alpaca International, Mountain Colors, and Westminster Fibers/Rowan Yarns. We at Knitted Together donated a set of Addi Turbo Clicks and a Namaste Buddy Case. Ann was thrilled with her winnings. We continued to draw names of the 7 other contestants: Carrie Cavanaugh, Colleen Dawson, Ashley Davidson, Marsha Duea, Dawn Mooradian, Kim Moore, and Tasha Wells. They all won a prize!

Ann as well as all 7 other contestants had completed 4 of our 6 different contests. We want to thank all of them plus everyone that completed even one of the contests for participating! We also want to thank our vendors for so generously giving in order to make this possible!

We have truly discovered the joy in giving. Be sure to watch for future contests in 2012! 

Winners of the Fall/Winter Sweater Contest!

Yesterday the voting for the final contest ended. We are happy to announce the winners! With eight absolutely beautiful sweaters, the details of the winning sweater caught the attentions of many! The winner is ...

#3
by Dawn Mooradian

Dahlia Cardigan

Designed by Heather Zoppetti

And as always we also had a drawing for the "voter" prize, chosen at random. The Voter winner is Dee Henderson, chosen for the vote she placed in the shop. 

Dawn has won 12 skeins of Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky and the Donegal Tweed pattern book. The retail value of Dawn's prize without tax is $197.95. Congratulations to Dawn!

Dee has won two knitting pattern books: Simply Glen by Debbie Bliss and Chic Knits published By Martingale & Company. She also won a knitting bag that was hand-knitted by me (Nancy). Congratulations to Dee!

As this sixth and final contest has come to an end, we want to thank everyone; knitters and voters alike who have made this such a wonderful series of contests. We may just have to do this again in the coming year!

We will announce the winner of the GRAND PRIZE(S!!!) in the store on Saturday, December 17th. Stay tuned for details.

Customer Profile: Irene Erker (Ravelry name: Knitting4Sweetie)

This month my eyes are on Irene who is a fantastic and talented lady I have gotten to know through open knit times here at Knitted Together.

Irene is a first generation American who learned to crochet from her Yugoslavian grandmother.  Thirty years later, Irene's mother taught her to knit with just a minor drawback - all the knitting terms Irene learned were in Hungarian because her mother didn't know the English terminology!  When Irene returned to Iowa she walked into Knitted Together, put her hand out to Nancy and said, "Hi, I'm Irene and I'm new to knitting."  Irene said that Nancy was so kind and helpful that first day that she was truly bitten by the knitting bug and hasn't put her needles down since.  Irene knits with the "Friday Afternoon Sparklers" - a wonderful group of gals who meet at open knit time at KT.  Irene is currently working on Embossed Leaves by Teva Durham and is using Artyarns Silk Rhapsody.  Check out more of her projects on Ravelry.

She is married to a wonderful man who loves it when she knits (he says it keeps her yelling to a minimum) and they have three children who also reap the benefits from more knitting and less yelling.  While living in San Diego, Irene was a formulation/method development chemist for a pharmaceutical company.  She has since replaced her lab career with cooking (Irene indicates she loves to cook, cook, cook!) and would like to share one of her favorite recipes with her KT friends.

Cherry Scones

•  2 cups flour 
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/3 cup chilled butter (cut into pieces) 
• 1 egg 
• 2/3 cup whipping cream (can sub low-fat milk) 
• 1 cup dried cherries (add chocolate chips, if desired) 
• 1 tsp almond or vanilla extract 
• egg wash (1 egg, 1 tsp water)

Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Combine dry ingredients in food processor.  Pulse.  Add butter pieces.  Pulse.  Add wet ingredients.  Pulse until dough is formed.  Spoon-drop dough onto greased baking sheet.  Brush top with egg wash.  Bake 15-18 minutes.  ENJOY!!

If you or someone you know would like to be in the Customer Profile, please contact Renee at Knitted Together (515-222-9276), by email:  reneepetrie@live.com or send me a pm on Ravelry (BobIsMyCat).  I would love to hear from you!  This could be one of those cases where it's better to volunteer before I volunteer you :)  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!

Happy Knitting!
Renee