New ornaments for our sparkle tree.

And we're done with NaBloPoMo, folks. Not sure what kind of posting schedule I'm going to go to now that November is over but I think that it will probably be more frequently than it was before. I've been enjoying it again, which was what I hoped would happen.

Teeny Tomte, knit from an Alan Dart pattern now lives with one miss Ren of Ren Knits. Knit on size 3 double pointed needles, he was knit from a combination of Berroco Pure Merino DK, Jo Sharp Silk Road Tweed and Sirdar Foxy (which I had to order from eBay UK because it has been discontinued).

These are a cute and easy knit project, although they are a little fiddly. I did as much as I could in the round to avoid having to sew as many seams which worked out really well for me. The Silk Road is a pretty soft yarn, not the best for seaming, so it helped on that front too. I kind of want to knit an entire army of these gnomes, they are so cute with their curly hats and bushy beards.

His tiny friend is a salt shaker, part of a set of tiny shakers given to us as a wedding gift. They were purchased at the MoMA Store in NYC, but I don't see them on the website anymore.

I took some tips from Smitten Kitchen this year, but with the notable exception of using my food processor.

I pulsed 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt in my food processor. Then I cut 2 sticks of butter into big cubes, then tossed those in the processor and pulsed twice. I dumped in a half cup of ice water [no cubes] and pulsed three times more. I do live in a very humid climate, so someone in a more dry climate might need more water. Everything should be pretty well mixed at this point, but there should still be large chunks of butter visible. I split the dough in half, tossed it in ziploc bags and put it in the fridge for 12 hours.

When it came time to make the pie, I mixed 3.5 pounds of peeled, cored and sliced apples with some sugar, some cinnamon, some lemon juice and a quarter cup of flour. I set the oven to preheat to 500 degrees and then assembled the pie. I handled the crusts one at a time and put the pieces back in the fridge when I wasn't using them. (I rolled the bottom crust and put it in the pie plate, then put it in the fridge while I rolled and cut the top crust. Then I put the top crust in the freezer while I filled the pie plate with the filling). Once I had sealed the pie up, I brushed some milk on top and sprinkled on some large crystal sugar.

I made sure I lined my oven rack with tin foil, in case of bubbling over and turned the oven down to 450 degrees and slid the pie in [I aim for the top of the pie to be around the middle of the oven, vertically]. Bake for twenty minutes until nice and golden, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees and baked it for another 30 minutes. [If I was using a metal or glass plate I might have baked it another 5-10 minutes on top of that, but this heavy ceramic plate continues to cook for awhile after it was taken out.] Remove from oven and cool, then enjoy! I think the heat stages in the cooking really helped the butter chunks to melt quickly and make flaky, crispy layers without burning the edges to a crisp.

I am thankful for what I think is going to be delicious pie. Thankful for good friends, old and new and for family, who I wish was a little bit closer than they are. Thankful for the best husband I ever could have imagined. Thankful for generally good health. Thankful for having a snug roof over our heads and enough food to eat. Thankful that we have paid off 100% of our credit card debt. Thankful for a reliable car and the current cheap gas prices. Thankful for our cat who keeps me company. Thankful for everything I've learned throughout this year and thankful for the ways in which I've grown. Thankful for my ability to make warm clothing for myself and my loved ones.

I hope all those of you who celebrate have a lovely holiday. And for those of you who don't, I hope you have a wonderful Thursday.

This week's WIP Wednesday is actually a Finished Object Wednesday, a follow up to last week's WIP Wednesday post. My supplies for this overhaul included:

1 can gloss black spray paint
1 can gloss dark grey spray paint
epoxy
silver star shaped brads
1 g.i. joe doll with kung-fu grip
2 round toothpicks
craft felt
tacky glue

I also needed pliers, scissors, a crappy paintbrush and toothpicks for epoxy mixing and spreading. Nothing tricky here. As I talked about last week, I dismantled an old, falling apart trophy and painted all of the pieces either gloss black or gloss grey with spray paint. Then I reassembled. My husband spent some time digging the screw out from the bottom of the old figurine and then I used pliers to tighten all of the tension roads back together. I epoxied the GI Joe's stand on top, then the GI Joe to the stand, and a star over the Cobra logo on his chest. Then I made the flags, using craft felt and tacky glue. I sprayed some black paint into a paper plate and brushed it on the flags to distress them, as well as using it to touch up the scuffs I had made reassembling the pieces. All told, it cost about $25, the bulk of which were the spray paint and the trophy. A side-by-side comparison, I think it looks way way better now.

Sadly UO was beaten in tournaments at the Civil War LAN so this guy will be living at OSU until UO gets a chance at a rematch.

I think she and I need to have a talk about who the macbook really belongs to. Clearly she disagrees with my assessment that it is mine.

Here's the first of my pay-it-forward items to be received. (I sent them just under the wire, it arrived with only 4 days left before my 365 day deadline.) This one is for D and I's friend Mup so it needed to be a. something nerdy, b. something not too flashy and c. something to keep him warm in the cold. This is what I came up with, one large fair-isle hat with a motif of Space Invaders. I charted the design based on my specific gauge, and used the principles of Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat to get a hat that would give me the most vertical surface possible. I had to alter the raglan's shaping drastically and I didn't really take great notes, so it's pretty much a one of a kind.

We went to see Wall*E today and enjoyed it, although our cheap seat theater is possibly the most uncomfortable theater ever (low seats with high, fixed-position armrests so you end up sitting bolt upright and tipping just your head back to see). Then we made a short trip into Target for a few gifts and some "filler" Christmas ornaments (more on that in December when I decorate). Then home to make some delicious pizza, with black olives and some local chanterelle mushrooms. Delicious.

I've decided to visit some of the things I've knitted this year. First up is one that I am extremely pleased with, a Lace Ribbon Scarf knit from one skein of Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk. This is a blend of silk and sea cell, a rayon made from processed sea weed.

I knit this for my old boss and mentor who wears a lot of black. She also has a great love for vibrant yellowy greens and so the Moss colorway seemed perfect. And so far, it seems like it has been. I've seen her a half dozen times since I gave it to her and she's had the scarf on all but one of those times. It's great to see a gift appreciated.

This pattern is pretty simple, easy to memorize and knit. I did stall out on the scarf for a few months so it feels like it took a long time to knit it, but that was mostly from being slightly bored with the repetition of the pattern. I liked the sea silk as well, smooth and shiny with just a little sproing (there's not a lot of elasticity though, so I think the simple pattern is ideal for the yarn). All in all it was really enjoyable and I had a hard time giving it away in the end.