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Those Mason-Dixon girls, this time Kay in particular, have come up with another knee-slapper. (Especially the last picture caption of her adorable Grandma Mabel and aunties “working the cloche hats.” ) And then an invitation to Blogland to “bare all” - and show your vintage 1970s recipe box - like hers from Grandma Mabel - complete with the ravages of time/cooking expeditions. (One of the rules is cleaning the box up before the photograph is cheating). So, here’s mine.

The recipe I’m using isn’t one that shows a lot of wear for a couple of reasons:

1. It’s SIMPLE so not a lot of handling of the recipe card was needed - and
2. It’s “costly” - ESPECIALLY calories-wise - so it didn’t get made a whole lot.

But it’s gooooood! and was a family BBQ “star” for years. (My maternal grandfather brought it with him when he was visiting California from Austin, TX.) Also, I seem to remember using “whipped butter” - a whole tub of it - rather than the “oleo” called for in the recipe. But I love the syntax - sounds so Texan, doesn’t it? “Oleo.”

(Click for big.)

Soon, my recently composed and tested “Reasonable facsimilie” of Starbucks Gingerbread recipe will be added to the already overstuffed contents of this box - and stored away for future generations.

Tags: recipe box by EllyMae
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The neat thing about keeping a journal, is the ability to look back on the things you accomplished in the past year. I’m tempted to make a list of things to accomplish in 2008 and then see how close I can come to it. Tempted, but…sometimes that’s a sure way of not accomplishing them. Maybe I’m more grown up now and can do that. We’ll see. Meanwhile, as I was looking back over this past year’s posts, it brought a smile to see how much I actually did get done.

Knitted:

1 lace scarf (The beginning of the lace addiction)
3 shawls

1 finished February sweater (one more on the needles)
1 BSJ
1 pair “Blu” jeans
1 Stranded baby hat (Ladybug Baby Dale pattern)
1 Not quite finished Ladybug sweater (ran out of yarn right at the end of sleeve #2 and still waiting on the back-ordered skein)

4 pair of socks
for: me, MP, my mom and stepdad

1 Snowflake Cup cozy (KnitPicks.com). Mine is at the bottom of this post.
1-1/2 pairs of felted clogs (whole pair for MP, one replacement for me)
1 Homely tea cozy - also spun that yarn

About a half dozen or so dishcloths - one was from wool for an afghan donated square

1 Ganomy Hat (gotta love EZ!)
1 pair of generic “mitts” (fingerless mittens) that I made from sort of a “recipe” rather than a pattern.

On the Sewing Front:

2 pair of PJs for me
2 sleep shirts for MP
Doll clothes and a doll repair job for Megan
Wedding gift tea cozy and muffin cozy
Finished up the curtains for my mom
Re-covered pillows for the front room here.

I think there may have been a couple of other things that didn’t make it to the blog, and that I forgot to list. I like the progress though. Not really “prolific” but respectable. Last year I was knitting mostly dishcloths and 10-stitch garter scarves on big needles, and towards the end of the year my first BSJ. Its progress, and good to see.

Tags: 2007 projects by EllyMae
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Another beautiful colorway (SOOOFT superfine merino fingering weight) from Lisa Souza. This one is called South Pacific. It also has an “earthy” orangy-tan color in it. So, the Peacock Shawl is goin’ “painted” with this choice. Can’t wait to get started.

Tags: Lace knitting, Pretty As A Peacock, peacock shawl by EllyMae
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Finished. Even with buttons this time! And since I was so used to that little sweater, I decided to just start another one. This next one is in Knitpicks Shine sport weight, and it’s multi-colored. I’m going to wait for the FO to post though, because if it doesn’t turn out like I have envisioned - well, there’s no sense documenting my lame idea. I think I’m short one color too. That’s the exciting part. You get to hold your breath thru an entire project to in hopes that makes things work out in your favor.

Tags: Elizabeth Zimmermann, February sweater, Knitter's Almanac by EllyMae
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I’m kind of amazed at how much faster this yarn knits up than the sport-weight acrylic (ick!) I used for the first one. I heart Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. This is maybe 1-1/2 skein’s worth, and I’m almost finished. I have even already seamed up the sleeves, and woven in almost all of the ends. I decided to crochet a loop at the top for a first buttonhole. I have so far remembered to put in the other buttonholes as I move down the front band. Last time I made it, I forgot to put them in.

Tags: Elizabeth Zimmermann, February sweater, Knitter's Almanac by EllyMae
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