Over the holidays I made a festival of neck tubes. When it’s really freaking cold and you’re being active, a neck tube is so much better than a scarf. My husband wears them for cycling and I wear them to walk the dog, but some are so pretty I wear them all the time.

Want to know what they’re made of?

Clockwise from the top left:

1.) lime green Noro Oimochan, a super bulky 100% wool yarn knit in ribbing with a rolled stockinette edge

2.) the purple one with buttons is knit in moss stitch from my handspun wool/silk blend

3.) the multi one is Noro Kureyon held double and knit in stockinette

4.) the light grey is Rowanspun Aran, ribbed edges and stockinette, with one big cable

5.) the brown is Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in 2×2 rib

6.) the red and black is Jaeger Matchmaker 4 Ply in 2×2 rib

7.) the stripey purple is my handspun Merino in 2×2 rib

I also spun some yarn from batts I got for Christmas from the greatest friend a girl could have, Miss Michelle from Delicious Yarn.

It’s a mix of Corriedale and Romeldale wools with tussah silk and silk noil. These batts produced a lumpy, rustic yarn that’s lovely and soft. I’m thinking I need to knit a neck tube with it!

ETA: I’ve added a button so people can subsribe to the blog through Bloglines. A thousand thanks to Becky from Knitting Interrupted for her help.

Here it is:

There’s also one off to the side for future use.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having fun during the holidays. I know we are. Lots of food was made and eaten. Lots of spinning and knitting-type presents were received. Shambles the dog even got a present in the mail(homemade organic dog biscuits) from the glorious Jen. Happy dog. Slightly confused by the bounty dog. A good time was had by all.

I can finally show a sweater I made for my mom for Christmas, since it has been gifted.

It’s a modified Tilt from Knitty. I couldn’t get row gauge with Kureyon, so I ended up just doing the top half horizontally. I love the way it came out, with one exception- THE SLEEVES! They are soooo long as written in the pattern. I have to remove about 6 inches for them to fit properly, and my mom does not have short arms at all. All in all, it is a beautiful sweater and will be gorgeous once the sleeves are shortened, which I will do by removing them and unraveling from the shoulder down, I think.

Here are some other views of the sweater. I dig the look of the construction, although if I never have to do that many seams again, it will be too soon.

button band

center back

Many thanks to Bonne Marie Burns of Chicknits for linking to my blog. I noticed a freakish upswing in visitors yesterday. That explains that! I’ll try to be entertaining!

Snacks!

Christmas food gifts are the best. These are my two tried and true favorites:

Coconut Bon Bons

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

4 cups (12 oz.) sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup finely chopped pecans (I like this addition, not necessary)

1 (12 oz.) bag semisweet chocolate chips (sometimes you need more- keep some handy)

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Combine milk, butter, sugar, and coconut, mixing well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Roll coconut mixture into balls and place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm.

Melt chocolate with shortening in double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth.

Dip coconut balls into chocolate. Return to prepared baking sheet and allow to dry at room temperature.

Store in refrigerator for a few weeks.

Makes 4 dozen.

Deviled Nuts

One pound of shelled nuts- I like whole almonds, cashews, pistachios, and hazelnuts. Peanuts are good, too.

2 egg whites

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne, or as much as you like

fresh ground black pepper

a few splashes of Tabasco

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Put everything but the nuts in a blender and blend well. Stir liquid with nuts in a bowl. Let sit 15 minutes, then remove nuts with slotted spoon to two greased or nonstick cookie sheets and spread out well. Reserve leftover liquid. Bake for 10 minutes, until they have dried a bit, stir them well and drizzle with remaining liquid. Mix and spread out again. Bake 20 more minutes, or until fully dry. Remone from oven and let cool before packing in containers. Can be stored at room temp. for a week in a sealed container.

YUM! These are both so easy and completely delicious.