Show and Tell Friday

I hope everyone has enjoyed our beautiful spring days lately. The rain has made everything green up and I love hearing the birds singing in the morning.

Today Darlene shares her finished Block of the Month afghan. It's hard to see in the picture, but she used the cable on one of the blocks to section off each block. Darlene, it's absolutely gorgeous! If you want to join our knit or crochet Block of the Month, there's still room. You can start any month you want. And at the end of twelve months, you get a beautiful afghan like this.

And Leigh made this sweater out of Berroco Comfort yarn. Looks great on you, Leigh!

Everyone in the Weekly Class knows that Donna is a Noro Silk Garden fan. She has made several projects from Jenny Watson's "Designer Mini Knits" book. First she made, a top with short sleeves.

Then she made gloves out of Silk Garden Lite. Both of these projects are from the book.

She also made a jacket out of Noro Silk Garden. Donna's learning a lot in the Weekly Class. And one of these days, we'll get her to knit with a different yarn. :-)

Look Who Turned Six!!

My granddaughter turned six years old last week. It brought back memories of the first moment that I held her in my arms exactly six years ago. We have so enjoyed having Ariel live with us. She has such a sweet spirit and rarely gives us any trouble. For her birthday I knitted her a couple of dinosaurs. She loves dinosaurs and already has quite a collection. I used the Knitting at KNoon pattern "Prehistoric Pals" and made the T-Rex and Stegosaurus. Here's a photo of them. They were really quite easy to make. I've already promised Ariel that I'll make her the other two...the Triceratops and the Brachiosaurus.


And here is my sweetie with "Rex" and "Steggy", as she calls them.

Ariel went to Florida last week with her daddy and her cousins, so I didn't get to spend her actual birthday with her. So when she got home late Saturday night, she told me that she was now six and then said..."I've moved all the way to the other hand". I thought that was so cute...but then I AM her grandmother. :-)

Have a wonderful day today and enjoy this beautiful spring weather we're having!

Show and Tell Friday

For Show and Tell today I wanted you to meet a couple of the gals who help me out here at The Yarn Haven. Leigh is our Saturday gal since she got another job as a MRI tech. She brought in her neckwarmer to share. She made it out of Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn.

She also brought in her scarf using Farmhouse Lumpy Bumpy yarn. She used 2 skeins and knit 200 sts in garter stitch. Leigh has a gift for picking out beautiful colors.

Then we have Melissa who works a couple of days each week. She brought in the vest she made in the Weekly Class using Tahki Bunny yarn. I think she did a great job and I appreciate her desire to increase in her knitting skills.

Maybe we'll get a photo of Diane and one of her projects in our blog soon as she also works a couple of days each week. Any of these gals will be glad to help you with your knitting projects if you need help. I'm thankful to have them all as part of our team!

I also wanted to share with you the sweater Karen made for her daughter using Muench Family yarn. She used Trendsetter pattern #3037. I love the c

cupcake buttons she found to put on it.

Well, that's it for the first day of spring. I'm sure I'll have many more projects to share with you in the coming days.

A Recipe from the Sit 'N Spin Group...

Last Saturday at our Sit 'N Spin group we were missing a few of our regulars, but enjoyed having someone new join the group. We also got to taste the wonderful Chocolate/Butterscotch Rice Krispies treats that Carol brought. They were so good that I thought you might enjoy having the recipe.

Chocolate/Butterscotch Rice Krispies Treats

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 c. butterscotch chips

4 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup chocolate chips

2 T. butter

1 T. water

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Melt the peanut butter and butterscotch chips together. Add the Rice Krispies and mix until the cereal is coated. Take 1/2 of this mixture and put into a buttered 8 x 8 pan. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and butter together. Then add the water and powdered sugar. Stir until smooth. Layer the chocolate mixture on top of the Rice Krispies mixture in the pan. Then add the rest of the Rice Krispies mixture on top. Keep refrigerated. Cut into squares before serving. (If you make a double recipe...and you probably should since they will go fast... they will fix into a 9 x 13 pan.)

Enjoy!

An Adventure in Teaching

On Saturday we had a first here at The Yarn Haven. I had to teach a sock class in the dark! About 20 minutes before we opened, the power went out. So when folks arrived for the class we pulled our chairs up to the front window, sat down and began the class anyway. It was interesting seeing the expressions on people's faces when they came in. Imagine coming into a dark store where all the lights are out, but here in a semi-circle surrounding the front door are ladies sitting and knitting. We were kind of like a welcoming committee. But even with the lights out folks still wanted to shop for yarn. We were able to help people find yarn...with a flashlight...and make their purchases... with the help of a receipt book and solar calculator. Now those folks were focused on a mission! About the time the class ended, the lights came back on and chairs were pulled back to the tables. Our adventure was over, but I doubt anyone will ever forget the knitting class they took in the dark. And even with the lights out, several of the gals finished their socks. Yeah!

Here is Lee's sock out of Lang Aktion yarn.




Here is Beth's sock out of Jarbo Raggi yarn...an Aran weight yarn.




And here is Tina's sock out of Marks and Kattens Clown yarn.

Didn't they do a good job!!

Show and Tell Friday

Yeah...it's Friday!! I've got lots of things to share with you today.

First of all, Leslie made these fingerless mitts out of the Malabrigo yarn. The pattern is in the 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book.

Then Terri made this bucket hat out of Cascade 220 yarn.

And she got this "Selbu Modern" beret pattern from Ravelry.

Diane made these slipper socks for her grandkids from Plymouth Tweed yarn. You can turn the cuff up or leave it down. The pattern was in the Holiday 2008 issue of Interweave Knits.

And Leah made this scarf for her Dad out of the Tahki Aliseo yarn.

Great job, everyone, on your projects!

Think spring!! We want the warm weather to return!

I forgot...

Tina brought by some wonderful banana bread to one of the Weekly Classes a while back and I thought I had put the recipe on our blog. But evidently I forgot to do so because it simply is not here. So.... here's her wonderful recipe from A Taste of Home magazine. It was definitely the best banana bread I had ever tasted!



















Special Banana Nut Bread

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 - 1/2 cups of ripe mashed bananas ( about 4 medium)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all- purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans

Orange Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Fold in one cup of pecans. Transfer to 2 greased 8in x 4in x 2in loaf pans. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean.In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients; drizzle over the loaves. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to wire racks. Yield 2 loaves.

Thanks, Tina, for sharing this recipe with us. I'm sure I'll be making it for my family in the near future.

Mmmm...Chocolate Muffins...

Last week Marilyn brought by some chocolate muffins for her Weekly Class. They were soooo wonderful, that I asked her for the recipe. She was kind enough to share it with us. These are a great way to add fiber to your diet...and what recipe isn't good if chocolate is added!




















Chocolate Muffins
(only 2 points on the Weight Watchers scale if you use a low fat brownie mix)

Ingredients needed:
low fat brownie mix (regular cake box size)
3 cups All Bran (regular noodle-shape ones)
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 t. baking powder

Mix All Bran and water together and let it sit for a few minutes. Add baking powder and brownie mix and stir. Put into greased muffin tin. Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Show & Tell Saturday...again

Wow, I can't believe I forgot all about blogging yesterday! But at least I remembered today that I needed to share some more finished projects with you.

First of all, we have Tina's shrug. She made it out of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande and used Plymouth Pattern #N026. Very nice job and I love the color!!

Then Tina also finished her Fiber Trends Options Jacket. She used Louisa Harding Hulda yarn combined with Crystal Palace Kid Merino. It turned out to be a beautiful combination!

Daniel brought in several finished items to share with us. First of all was this scarf he made out of the Malabrigo yarn. The pattern came from the "Knit Scarves" book. I love the lattice work on the bottom.

Then he made this cabled scarf out of Cascade 220 yarn. I think he found the pattern online. I'm sorry the picture isn't any better because the scarf was very nicely done.

And he graduated from scarves to making his first hat! It was a simple garter stitch hat out of Cascade 220, but I think he's now working on a hat using the fairisle technique. He's doing great for someone who only learned to knit about a year ago.

Be sure to bring in YOUR finished projects and we'll share them with everyone on our blog. Have a great weekend!

We Have A Winner!!

Our anniversary month has now come and gone. Those of you who earned discount certificates should find them in your mailbox in the next couple of days. If you're in one of our Weekly Classes, I'll pass your certificate on to you when you come in this week.

I want to share another finished item that Pam made…her Adult Surprise Jacket. She used the Mountain Colors River Twist yarn and then added different colors of Cascade 220 that were in the Mtn. Colors yarn. And she found some perfect buttons to go with her jacket. Didn’t she do a nice job? I think she’ll get a lot of wear out of this jacket. Did you notice that she is holding one of the yarn bells? Well, she was the winner of our Anniversary Drawing and the prize was her choice of any of our yarn bells. She had secretly been wanting one, and I was thrilled that she got her wish. If you’ve been thinking about getting one of the bells, you might want to act quickly because I’m not going to be restocking them and I only have a few left.

And by the way, we have another Adult Surprise Jacket class coming up this Saturday, March 7, April 4 & 11. This is a great time to get started on this jacket now so that it will be finished in time to wear next fall. Leslie has also finished her ASJ. She chose many different shades of green for her jacket. It’s on display at the shop right now if you’d like to see it up close. Stop in and sign up for the class if you are interested in learning how to make this awesome jacket.

Great job on your jackets, ladies...and congratulations, Pam, on winning our Anniversary Drawing!