The Help

Well, it was a busy week. No Vintage Stitchers, no Common Threads, but the H-word, Thanksgiving dinner, cooking, eating and guests. I did finish Vroni's turtleneck, though.

I wanted to make the pattern available on Ravelry, so I worked up another one to test the pattern. Lotte and Vroni each have one now.

The pattern is available in my Ravelry store here. They're selling like hotcakes. (Of course, the fact that that pattern is free may have something to do with it.) Several people have already finished theirs.

Thanksgiving was nice. I fixed a turkey, which I didn't eat, but our guests enjoyed it. Our next-door neighbor, who helps us with things from time to time came and my friend Lynda and her husband, who live in our neighborhood. Our next-door neighbor brought a pumpkin pie, and Lynda made an apple pie and a Brussels sprouts recipe that was heavenly. 

I made the traditional Lanttulaatikko (the Finnish rutabaga casserole my MIL always used to make for holidays) and a Quorn Turk'y Roast. I also made yams, stuffing and salad, and expertly opened cranberry sauce from Trader Joe's, and  Pacific Wild Mushroom gravy (because it's vegetarian, and everyone could eat it). Needless to say (but I'm saying it anyway), we have leftovers.

Lynda and her husband offered to stay and do the dishes, but I insisted on waiting until the next morning, when I could do them peacefully alone. Imagine my surprise when I got up on Friday morning and found this:

The little rascals didn't notice me at first. They had one to wash and two to dry.

Then they saw me. "Oh, good morning! You're up!"

Because the dishes were stacked (sort of) on the left, they gave the lefty the job of washing. I don't think Vroni ever saw me.

They were doing a good job, so I left them to it. (Yes, I know Lotte is wearing pearls to do the dishes, but she's organizing and managing.)

I think they know we are traveling over Christmas, and only one of them can come along.

Things to do this week: Get the horses and other Christmas presents mailed off. Clean up my fiber studio. Wish me luck!

What's on my needles: Part 2 of a design in development.

What's on my Featherweight: Coats.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for the Park City Singers Holiday Concert.

What's in my wine glass: Lanzos Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon, from Spain. Because of the label. Lynda brought it to our house for Thanksgiving, again, because of the label.

What's my tip of the week: If you have a bread machine, you can mix up (on the dough cycle) a loaf of bread, remove the dough from the pan, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for one of those busy days. The day you plan to serve it, take it out of the freezer and allow it to thaw entirely. Let it rise in the pan you plan to cook it in (without the wrap, of course) and bake it as usual when it has risen enough. It will rise more slowly, because the yeast has been sleeping in the freezer. 

I keep my yeast in the freezer, because I buy it in bulk to save money, and it keeps nicely there for months.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.