Christmas Card

We just finished our Christmas cards.  This year we tried something new and went vintage.  Yes, thats me, at least fifty years ago.  I have fuzzy memories of waiting in line to sit on Santa's lap.

And here is my husband Pete some sixty years ago.  I found these photos and framed them both for Pete last year at Christmas.   If you keep the spirit, we are always young at Christmas!

Most Beautiful Felted Slippers

Materials:  

• 1 skien Berroco Peruvia 100% wool for slippers.  I made these slippers with other brands of wool but love the way the Peruvia feels and it felts beautifully.  The available colors are lovely as well.  A few yards of scrap wool yarn are needed for petals, leaves and french knots.
• Size 10 straight knitting needle
• Yarn needle
• Mesh bag for felting in the washing machine

Slippers:

• Cast on 42 stitches and knit stockinette stitch for 7 1/2 inches
• Knit 4 rows
• K5, k2tog and repeat till end of row (36 stitches)
• K next 3 rows
• K4, k2tog and repeat till end of row (30 stitches)
• K next 3 rows
• K3, k2tog and repeat till end of row (24 stitches)
• K next 3 rows
• K2, k2tog and repeat till end of row (18 stitches)
• K next 3 rows
• K1, k2tog and repeat till end of row (12 stitches)
• K next 3 rows
• k2tog (6 stitches)
• K next row
• Thread 20 inch tail through last 6 stitches and weave end in body.

Flower petals:

• Cast on 9 stitches
• Knit first 3 stitches (leaving remaining 6 for next two petals), turn
• Purl 3, turn
• K1, increase 1, K2, turn (4 stitches)
• P4 , turn
• K1, inc 1, K1 inc 1, K2, turn (6 stitches)
• P6 , turn
• K1 inc 1, K1, inc 1, K1, inc 1, K1, inc 1, K2, turn (10 stitches)
• P10, turn
• K1, K2together, K1 K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1(7 stitches), turn
• P7, turn
• K1 K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1 (5 stitches), turn
• P5, turn
• K1, K2tog, K2tog (3 stitches), turn
• Purl 3 stitches
• Cast off remaining three stitches and using yarn needle weave loose yarn into petal

Using a new piece of yarn, repeat above with the next 3 stitches on needle and then again a third time with the last three.
After felted, you can use the purl side if you like the curled petal look or the knit side if you prefer smooth petals.  The slippers above have just one three petal flower but it also looked nice with two layers of petals with one color slightly varied from the other.

Leaf
Same as above but with just a single group of 3 cast on stitches.  You can knit a couple extra rows of 3 on one end for a stem if you like.


Felting
Set washing machine on hot water and extra small load.  I used a small amount of laundry soap (Meyers basil scent - mmm!) but have successfully felted without adding soap as well.  Place slippers and flower parts in mesh bag and agitate 3 minutes and check size, resetting to beginning of agitation cycle each time.   Mine took 3-3 minute cycles but I have found the time varies by yarn.

When the slippers looked the right size, I tried them on to make sure.  When they are the right size,  rinse them with cold water, gently wring out and roll in a thick bath towel to remove excess moisture.  Shape slipper including pointed toe and stuff lightly with newspaper or paper.  When dry, layer the leaf and petals on the front of the slipper and attach with a grouping of French knots -  I used black yarn.

Great Book for Felted Knitting Patterns

Knit One Felt Too is a great resources for felting patterns.  It is full of patterns for hats, mittens, slippers, baby and household items.  I noticed that the book is was available on Amazon new and used for just $4.00 - a worth while investment!   Here are a few of the slippers I made:

The best part of knitting these were that my niece, daughter and I sat by the fire, drank tea and knit them over Thanksgiving weekend.  I was impressed with my nieces resourcefulness as she taught herself to knit the week before on UTube and came ready to make something!  Way to go Emily!

Eight Gifts

My neighbor shared this lovely verse from Anita Silvert of the Chicago Jewish Community Center in Chicago.  It is meant for Hanakkah, though it seems to be relavent to many of us of other faiths.  We are reading on gift each evening this week - I changed the last gift to faith to give it broader meaning.


Below are eight “free” gifts, in no particular order. We encourage you to read them, adapt the language to fit your family situation if you’d like, and share them with your loved ones this year around the Hanukkah hannukiah (menorah). One suggestion is to print them out on cards and laminate them, to read year after year.

Each night, pick one to read, beginning by saying, “Tonight I (or we) give you the gift of___________”


Tonight I give you the gift of LOVE
This is the first gift first. I love you. I will always love you. This is unconditional and non-negotiable. Gibraltar may crumble, the Rockies may tumble, but I will love you always and forever, no matter what.

Tonight I give you the gift of HOME
As in, you can always come home. As in, you can bring your friends home. As in, this is your home. You have a place in the world, with us, a shelter, both physical and psychological. It looks just like any other home, maybe more chaotic than some, but it is your home, your safe place, where you started and where you can come back to.

Tonight I give you the gift of FAMILY
This is the other part of your roots, the groundedness you get when you know who you are and whose models you can follow. This is what can make you feel both suffocated and free, alone and never alone. This is your blessing. This is your four beloved grandparents, whether alive or not. This is the family we choose for ourselves, and the family that we’re born into. This is the extended relations that seem endless, but are so dear to us, that every chance we get, we gather together. This is the other departed members of our family whom you hear us talk about. This is what you will be to your children. This is the people who show up to celebrate moments with you. This is growing up in a setting where we try hard every day to show you how a parent and a child, a grandparent and a parent, a Mom and a Dad, should treat each other.

Tonight I give you the gift of KNOWLEDGE
This includes both schooling and street smarts, a house full of books, and the give and take of active debate. We read. You read. You take classes and so do we. But it also includes the music, the museums, the dance and the theater, the family trips and the family conversations. It’s the richness of every experience whether it’s camping or hammering, baking or doing your own laundry, giving tzedakah, or donating clothes. We are filling your minds all the time, even when you don’t know it. This gift you can keep giving yourself all the rest of your life.

Tonight I give you the gift of SECURITY
Well, at least as much as is possible. Your true, long-range security has to come from within, from being and becoming trustworthy. Meanwhile, we will do all we can to give you the foundation of composure, of knowing without question that you are capable. We are proud of your innate abilities and goodness; your good sense, and your willingness to try. You do not have to follow the crowd to gain self-esteem, because you already have from us, and from within yourself, the seeds of true confidence. Just nurture them.

Tonight I give you the gift of OPTIMISM
This includes both a sense of perspective and a sense of joy. Life will be hard enough, so relish the good moments. Be a joyous presence in the world. These other gifts will help you stay strong in the face of adversity, this one will help you savor its absence. Focus on hope, calmness, and a positive outlook, instead of worry and pessimism.. Count your blessings. Have fun.

Tonight I give you the gift of FREEDOM
Freedom within boundaries that stretch as you get older, and freedom within guidelines you can keep using as you mature. It seems this gift comes, for now, in painfully measured doses. But by the time you are an adult, and out in the world of unlimited independence, you will know how to use it, and how to be true to your own standards.

Tonight I give you the gift of FAITH
We give you Faith, your own personal connection with your heritage. This great gift comes with spiritual strength, stories, a strong moral code and values, and an incredible gift for survival. Faith gives you inspiration, scholarship, protection, compassion, a way to live and a community to belong to, wherever life takes you.


Anita Silvert

Lentil Soup - Italian Style

Even though Mulligatawny is my favorite lentil dish (see http://nancyberlin.blogspot.com/2009/11/mulligatawny-soup.html), this is a close second.  It is the rather basic lentil soup I made years ago.  It is still just as good on a snowy day.

1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 c celery
1 c sliced carrots
1 lb lentils
6 c water
2 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 large can Italian plum tomatoes

Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil.  Add the celery carrots, lentils and water and cook until the lentils are soft - about 30 minutes.  Some recipes tell you to blend the cooked soup in a food processor, but I like the texture of the lentils and leave it as is.  Add the tomatoes and cook about 5 minutes more.

They're Following Me!

If they didn't make me laugh, with their eerie expressions I could make a good suspense story out of them.  It must have been the first snowfall yesterday that made me giddy.  On my walk down to Lake Michigan I saw things I never saw before, even thought I was on the same path.  The dusting of snow added certain beauty.  On this snow-giddy day though, I found sticks, rocks and seaweed in the shape of the alphabet, so I started a new hobby collecting all twenty-six (I suspect "G" and "Q" are going to be difficult....)  And the trees were watching me - I saw them everywhere!  So I started collecting tree mugs as well.

Here are some of the characters along the path.  Can you see them?   I am working on some sketches that I will post on my art blog later. (http://www.lizetteberlin.blogger.com)

Can't you hear him howling?

This photo is a bit blurry but the ghost like figure seems like it should be, don't you think?

Nice mustache!

Pontificating

Jimmi

Best Birthday Cake

Now, I don't even like cake, especially yellow cake.  This one breaks all the rules. It is incredible!   Thanks to dear Mary and dear Connie for sharing the recipe.   The only thing I changed was using blackberries instead of chestnuts on the top and (blush...) using cream instead of milk in the frosting.

2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
1 c dry white wine
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 35o an grease and four two 9 inch round cake pans.  Beat the sugar and eggs until light (about a minute.)  Add the remaining ingredients and mix another minute.  Bake about 3o minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Cool and frost with this delightful frosting:

1 1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c unsalted butter
2/3 c of milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 c powdered sugar

Fresh blackberries

Melt butter and chips in microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring until melted.  Stir in cream and vanilla and then gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth with electric mixer - it will be runny.  Refrigerate for an hour , beating the frosting every 15 minutes.  Frost cake and top with fresh blackberries.