Halloween Treats

I am still in the cookie baking mode...don't know if I will ever be out of it because it is too much fun and the people around me, including myself, are eating them up.  I also made Symphony Brownies last night.  For anyone who does not know about Symphony Brownies, they are worth knowing about.  Also very simple.  Just make your favorite brownie mix batter (not the kind with extra syrup or caramel or chips, just a plain old brownie mix).  Put half of it in the baking pan, take one Hershey's Symphony Bar, break it in pieces and layer on top of batter.  Put rest of brownie mix on top and bake according to instructions on box.  YUM!  I usually keep a few mixes and candy bars on hand.  They're perfect for any occasion. 

My friend Cathy came over a few nights to decorate with me.  She and I are both night owls and it's fun to have a friend that I can call at 10 or 11 pm and say "Do you want to come over and work on a project with me?"  We have a kind of understanding about using cell phones past a certain hour so as not to disturb sleeping husbands.   Fortunately she lives down the block so it's not a long late night trip.

I have started back in my knitting projects as well and just posted a new pattern on Ravelry and Etsy.  Like lots of others knitters I'm into hand warmers in a big way.  They are such a nice snuggly personal gift and they don't take hours and hours to knit.  I knit my first pairs in two new yarns that I hadn't tried before.  Wisdom Yarn's "Poems" reminds me of the beautiful Noro self-striping colors but is much softer.  At only $6 a skein you can make a set for only $12.  I also tried Universal Yarn's "Classic Shades."  I saw it laying on the counter at The Gourmet Yarn Company and had to have some.  When I found out it was 30% wool and 70% acrylic the yarn snob in me waivered for a moment but the color "Sapphires" was so pretty and it felt so cushy I went ahead and bought it.  I swear it would be hard for Clara Parkes herself to tell that there is synthetic in there.  It even has a nice fuzzy halo like the real thing.  And at $7 for 100 grams (enough for both handwarmers and some to spare) it's a bargain basement price for something that looks and feels like a hand-painted luxury yarn. 

Here's the handwarmers made in Poems.  I kind of like the mixey/matchey way they are different from one another but if you wanted them to match a little better you could just pay attention to start each one in the same place on the skein.  You have to buy two skeins anyway.  After I finished my right hand, instead of going on to the next skein, I started the left hand with the end of the first skein and, so, my mixey/matchey result. 

Here are the warmers made from Classic Shades:

Classic Shades repeats the dye pattern twice in each skein so it is easy to make the warmers match up.  And there is even a little left over for a teeny project like a doll hat or cell phone cover.

I posted the "Cabled Hand Warmer Pattern" on both Ravelry and Etsy this weekend although I am having a little trouble getting the picture up on Ravelry.  I did post them both as projects though sp you can see more pictures on the project pages.

Well, I'm off to finish a hat and sweater set out of Ella Rae's wonderful washable wool that I started for my new little grand-nephew last June.  Our weather is just now getting cool so I thought I better get it to him before he is too big for it.  I made a size 12 mths but his mom said he's growing like a weed so hopefully he'll get at least a few months out of it.  I'll post pics this week. 

Happy Knitting, Josey