Sweater Finish

I finished Dennis’s sweater yesterday morning and it is now blocking on the guestroom bed.  It is very dark and hard to see, but basically the sweater is a Knit 3, Purl 1, ribbing throughout. Lots of shaping and the crewneck has a K1,P1 ribbing.  I knitted quite a lot of Chloe‘s hair into it and so I spent a lot of time picking out her individual hairs before washing and blocking.  He definitely will not be wearing the sweater at home around the dog! :-)

I also made two pair of mittens today. I’m right on track for my goal.  These two pair were made with Bernat Jacquard’s. It was part of the box of gift yarn that I received from my friend Kim at Napier‘s Knits.

Alex and Tara are still traveling around Japan while he works and meets with clients. I believe they are in Kyoto now. Tara is due to fly home early next week and we’re praying that the borders will all be open for her. Don’t they make a handsome couple?

My good friend Nita had to have a cardiac ablation yesterday. I spent almost all day at the hospital with her yesterday and took her home late in the evening.  It amazes me that they can do something like that and send you home the same day! This was done at the same hospital that is treating four of the coronavirus patients from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. You would never know it though, because it was business as usual. It’s the same hospital I received my pacemaker at.

Today I had to go to the doctor myself and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. I figured that’s what it was and I had been trying to treat myself, but I didn’t want to go into the weekend with the headaches I was having. I’m now on antibiotics and hope they’ll kick in soon.

I have to admit that hearing the news about this virus is very worrisome, especially with having my children living all over the place. I’m trying to put my trust in God and leave it in His hands. I have always had a problem with anxiety and this definitely doesn’t help.

On a happy note, it was 63°F today. We haven’t had those warm temperatures since last October. Tomorrow is only supposed to be 40 so it’s short-lived but I’m certainly enjoying it. I even opened the patio door for awhile to get some fresh air into the house.

I hope you are all doing well and preparing for whatever might happen as best as you can. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Psalms 121:2

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”  Psalms 4:8

Blessings, Betsy

Sweater Knitting and Pot Pie!

Happy Monday morning everyone. Are we all ready for another week? We had the strangest weather day yesterday. It was sunny when we went to church, but drizzling a little bit of rain when we left. We went to Arby’s for lunch with about 10 other people and while we were there the wind started blowing and the rain and snow was literally going sideways. We ended up sitting and talking for over an hour waiting for it to stop, at least a little, so we could run to our cars. 15 minutes later it was completely blue sky again and it stayed beautiful the rest of the day. So strange.

I have been doing nothing craft wise except knitting on Dennis’s sweater. Here is my progress as of this morning.

Yes, there is some dog hair on there. Chloe is shedding her winter coat all over everything. I have a feeling the sweater will only be worn when he is not at home. Ha! I have just switched needle sizes and have started knitting the bottom ribbing.

Last night I made another chicken pot pie it was so good I thought I would share the recipe with you.

You can make your own pie crust or cheat like I did. :-)  I bought two premade crust’s in the freezer section and just inverted one over the other. They are so good that I don’t even miss my homemade crusts. I have always made my own piecrust, but have had difficulty standing long enough to roll them out because of my back issues. I am so glad I discovered this because we both love homemade chicken pot pie. 

I bought a roasted chicken at Costco last week and this was our fourth meal from that $4.99 chicken. I still have enough chicken in the freezer for another meal. Not bad for five dollars.  Five meals! There was a LOT of meat on that chicken.

Here’s the recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook I’ve had since we got married. I rarely make any changes to the recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chicken or turkey broth

2/3 cup milk

2 cups cut up cooked chicken or turkey

10 ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables

Heat margarine over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Stir in chicken and frozen vegetables

This is where I differentiate from the recipe. You can make your own piecrust or pour the mixture into a premade pie shell. Invert a second shell over the first one and pinch edges to seal. Cut slits in the top for ventilation. Cook uncovered in a 425° oven until the crust is brown, about 30 minutes.

Wishing you all a wonderful day today and I hope you have some sunshine wherever you may be. I have my six month dental check up tomorrow and then I’m meeting a former blog pal for lunch. Not that she’s a former friend, but that she no longer blogs. Ha!  I’m looking forward to that very much.

“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  Psalm 16:8

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Busy Day

It’s Thursday and I’ve had a busy morning already. I’ve been to the Dollar Store, Walmart, Costco and the grocery store, along with stopping to get gas. The frustrating thing is, I have discovered that my Fitbit does not record steps when I’m pushing a cart. So all the walking I did around Walmart, Costco and the grocery store doesn’t even show up on my Fitbit! Oh well. I know I did it. :-)

The yarn arrived yesterday for Dennis’s sweater. I love Knit Picks yarn, but they are so slow in shipping. This took 13 days to arrive and the tracking showed that it sat in Spokane for one entire week before it was delivered. I wonder why that happens every single order?

It is 100% wool and I’m enjoying knitting it except for the fact that I can’t see it at night.

This is what I got accomplished yesterday afternoon. The color above is much more accurate. It is a very dark blue, almost navy.  The sun washes it out a lot in the photo below.  I am making him the Adirondack Pullover by Elizabeth Morrison. It’s the same pattern as the one I made him last winter and he loves it. I told him I would make a different pattern and he said no, he wanted an identical sweater and just a different color.  He even chose the color on the website.

Imagine my surprise when I came home yesterday and found a box on my porch. It was from my friend Kim who has a YouTube channel called “Naturally Kim’s Knitting”. It was chock full of yarn! There are some partial skeins and some full ones too.  We both share a love for the color purple and she gave me four beautiful skeins of purple yarn. Many of these will work wonderfully for mittens. Thank you so much Kim!

There is a table in the corner of our living room that has some of my favorite pictures on it. That one in the front is Mandy, Jamie, and Alex in December 1988, the month Alex was born.  The one to the right of it is of me and my three older siblings, back in about 1965 or so.

This one is of Mandy and I and one of the Queen’s guards in London. We took a trip together when she graduated from nursing school. What a week we had! We wandered all over London, went to Bath to visit Jane Austen’s house, to Stonehenge and to Windsor Castle. It was a week I will never forget.  My goodness I was a lot thinner then and it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long ago!

This one was taken last time Dennis and I visited Alex. We took a trip from Tokyo on the Shinkansen, or bullet train, to Kyoto for a few days and stayed in a Ryokan.  They are kind of like bed and breakfasts here in the States.  They provided the ukata’s,  (I think I spelled that completely wrong), for us to wear in the room and do you see that mat Alex is standing on? Those were our beds. I don’t think my back could take that these days.  I love Japan and we had a wonderful time on that particular trip. I’ve been there several times and I fall in love with the country a little more each time I visit.

OK, I need to get busy and vacuum and clean bathrooms, since tonight is Bible study here at our house. I was lazy yesterday afternoon and spent all of my time knitting and I didn’t get anything else done. Wishing you all a wonderful day.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3

Blessings,

Betsy