As promised we have completed our first prize drawing for our followers. The winner is Kelly Perkins and she will be receiving 1 skein of Opal Hand Dyes in the Leafy Forest colorway.

Congrats Kelly please call the store at 515-222-9276 to make arrangements to get your prize!

Knitted Together customers enjoy a good party!

Last Friday night we opened our shop up for a fun evening event. We had a wine tasting as well as what we called a "yarn tasting." Both were a big success with over 40 knitters present! The wine came from WineStyles of West Glen, a shop owned by some friends. For the yarn tasting, I created kits for a skinny scarf that used 16 different yarns that our customers may not have ever tried. The kits were sold out in 5 minutes and I've already seen some completed scarves. There are some truly creative people out there. For those of you that didn't make it to our first Friday Night Knit Club, we will have the next one Friday night, April 23rd from 6-9 PM.

We will have our first prize drawing for Followers this Saturday morning and announce it on the blog about noon (Iowa time). You have until Friday at midnight to become a follower for this prize if you haven't already joined us. The winner is getting one skein of Opal Hand Dyes in the Leafy Forest colorway. It would be beautiful for a gorgeous leaf patterned sock or shawlette.

Monday night I made a quick meal out of salad and Spaghetti a la Philly. I found the recipe online, but I'll type it in here. It was quick and a big hit at our house!

Spaghetti a la Philly

• 1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
• 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
• 4 ounces (1/2 of 8-oz. package) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
• 2 Tbsp. Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet. Stir in sauce and cream cheese; cook on low heat 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce is well blended and heated through, stirring frequently. Drain spaghetti. Add to sauce; mix lightly. Place on platter (or plate) and top with Parmesan.

Happy knitting!
Nancy

TODAY SHOW: Knitting in the news!

This morning I was watching the Today Show while I had my breakfast when Jane Pauley (former Today Show host) came on with a wonderful story about knitting and life transition. It's about a woman named Betsy McCarthy who worked in a very stressful job and gave it all up for knitting. Throughout the interview McCarthy knits constantly! Check it out. Her story reminded me of myself in some ways ... except the part about the former 6-figure salary. :)

FYI Followers and Followers-to-Be: We will have a drawing for Followers very soon! If you haven't signed up yet, please click the "FOLLOW" button on the bottom left side.

Calling all followers and followers-to-be!

I would love to have everyone that reads or occasionally reads my blog to become a "follower." We will be having prize drawings and they will be for followers only. The more followers we get the more often we will be able to give prizes away. Sign up to follow me soon if not today!

I'm really close to finishing my first toe-up sock. It was a stretch for me since I have always done cuff down. The heel was my biggest issue, because I like a slip-stitch heel flap and a lot of patterns that I looked at had short-row heels. Anyway, thanks to Jean who works for me and also teaches our Toe-Up Sock Class, I got through the heel and I'm nearly done with the cuff.

I've picked out a couple of WIPs in my collection to work on, too. I've made it halfway through on my Stork's Nest Scarf and it's looking really nice. I also am working on my Revontuli out of Zauberball Crazy. I think It's going to be really beautiful, too. I put it away about 5 months ago and basically forgot about it... The other day someone reminded me about it, so I got it out today and will dive in and try to finish the remaining 20 rows!

My friend, Kelly recently had surgery and has been off of work. She's been getting out more and more and everytime she comes into the shop she has baked something delicious. I told her she's going to kill me! Last week she brought in Dutch Letter Bars. They are wonderful! I asked Kelly for the recipe, and if I could share it. She gave me the recipe and I made them this weekend and now I'm going to share the recipe with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did.

Dutch Letter Bars

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 stick margarine, softened (do not substitute either of them, you need one of each)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 can Solo Almond Paste
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream the butter, margarine and sugar together. Add eggs to mixture, then *almond paste, and finally flour, mixing well after each addition. Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with white sugar. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and share with your knitting friends!

*pinch off small pieces of almond paste and add in to the batter or it is hard to mix well! Using a stand mixer works really well!

FYI: You can find the Solo Almond Paste in the baking aisle near the pie fillings.