Jenolan Shawl

GiGi recently pointed out to me that I had not yet blogged about the pattern that I released in December, the Jenolan Shawl.

I have to admit that it surprised me that I hadn't even mentioned it, but, as I explained to Gigi, there's been a lot of stuff going on around here.  What with visiting my sister-in-law, rollerblading, making lotion, and working on my dissertation, poor Jenolan fell to the way side.

She's a lovely winged shawl and (brace yourself!) it's not a triangle.  Except for the points made by the edging, Jenolan has a flat bottom in back. 

The winged shape keeps it draped nicely around the neck so that it doesn't slip off of the shoulders. 

The main body of the shawl is in stockinette leading down to a lacy bottom.  The pattern has two versions of the bottom lace edging.  Version A is simple enough for beginning knitters to challenge themselves.

And version B, with double yarnovers throughout, is complex enough to keep an experienced knitter interested. 

Jenolan is named after the Jenolan Caves in the Blue mountains of Australia.  The lace is meant to resemble the limestone formations that help make these caves so beautiful.  Hopefully, it does them justice.

Not that I'm much of a spelunker,
Joyce

P.S. Version A is knit in Knit Picks Swish DK in Indigo Heather.  Version B is knit in Knit Picks Capra in Regal.

Holiday Cookie Baking

Every year, in honor of the holiday season, the twins, TK and KT, host cookie baking weekend.  It's a weekend where a bunch of us get together to, you guessed it, bake cookies. 

It is a 2 1/2 day cookie creation extravaganza where hundreds of cookies in over a dozen different varieties are made.

 

We're talking everything from raspberry thumbprints,

 

to cherry cookies,

 

 to rainbow cookies,

 

to rugelach,

 

to the classic chocolate chip,

 

and several varieties of truffles.

 

Everyone takes turns mixing, scooping, baking, cooling, and wrapping cookies.  There might also have been some smooshing and icing involved along the way. (I'll never tell, but here are some pictures of what that might look like. :-D )

 

 

By the end of the weekend, I didn't want to ever see another......

Who am I trying to kid?  I love cookies!

I can't wait for next year,
Joyce

Another way to celebrate Thanksgiving

Hubbie was out of town for Thanksgiving, so the twins (TK and KT) were nice and invited me to join them for their holiday celebrations.  The majority of the day was spent making food for the people staying at Hosteling International.  For some of the people that came to eat, it was their first Thanksgiving.  For others, it gave them a small taste of home.  Some of the hostelers volunteered to help us cook and a good time was had by all.

There was turkey.

Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

And pie. So much yummy pie. 

Pumpkin and apple to be precise. 

The apple was delicious. 

Sadly, I didn’t get any of the pumpkin, but I heard great things,
Joyce