Socks Done!

One more finished project in 2012.  These are the Ripple Effect socks that began last year as the August Mystery socks.  Got one knit in August, then it waited on the mate.  They are knit with Patons Stretch Socks in Taffy colorway.  I prefer the French name "Bonbon Caramel".  I will be wearing them to the Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Parade tonight.


Holding jeans at highwater level to show the legs.

Lacy heels, even.

Knitting in 2012

Wow, I had not realized that I hadn't posted anything since New Year's.  Lazy me.  I have been knitting, though, along with having fun in the Dickinson-Galveston area.  Got to have a January meetup with Carrie K and Billie Rae at Park Avenue Yarns in League City.  Great yarn shop and a wonderful place to sit & knit. 

In February Billie Rae, Mary Kay and I met at a Galveston coffee shop for knitting fun.  You just can't beat the laid-back resort feel of Galveston.  Relaxing visiting, knitting and good coffee make for a great afternoon.


Pat, Billie Rae and Mary Kay in Galveston

At the Mardi Gras parades I was so glad I had knit Beverly's Earwarmer.  I used LionBrand Woolease and love the soft feel.

Here are a few more photos of finished projects in 2012.

Patriotic Coasters

Podster Mitts

Fiesta Coasters



Happy 2012!

Time for new beginnings of creating the very best life for the rest of our days.  I really can't give any better wishes than the ones presented on this greeting card so have borrowed it to share.

New Year's Wishes

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastroenterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the I.R.S.

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.

May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends. May you find the food better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily do that night.

May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, may the commercials on TV not be louder than the program you have been watching, and may your check book and your budget balance - and include generous amounts for charity.

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent, your siblings and cherished friends.

And may we live in a world at peace and with the awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.

Still 2011

Christmas Day is over but the sentiments, visiting and good eating are still going on.  Sad how ordinary life crops up in the middle of the fun by requiring cleaning and laundry.  All the ads seem to be pushing us into 2012 while I am still savoring (read getting used to) 2011.  Early this year we were saddened by the death of one of Ron's cousins, Glenn Reece, then at the end of the year lost Ron's mother, Thelma Reece.  Two large losses yet the Lord has carried us through and we are having a great time sharing about these people and old times with some of Ron's cousins & family.

Mother asked me what I would really like for Christmas and I requested a hanging needle holder like she made me last year.  This is the one she made for my longer, 36-40 inch circular needles.  The hanger broke so this year she reworked the top a little.

Lots of room in each pocket so I can put several needles of the same size in each one.

This year I wanted one for 16 -24 inch lengths.  Mother pulled out fabric and zipped out this one for me.

Perfect!  Here is a little closer view of the pockets.

No more having to dig through packages of needles to find the right size then straighten the cables!

By the way, I have learned a trick to straighten the longer cables.  I use a microwavable heating pad, get it hot, clothespin each end of the needle to a sturdy rug and lay the hot pad on top for a few minutes.  Take off the hot pad and let the needle cable cool while pinned straight.  It has worked every time for me.

Christmas Sweets

I inherited my dad's sweet tooth.  He loved candy, cakes and pies year round but most especially at Christmas.  For some reason we seldom make fudge and other candies except at Christmas.  I was about 8 when our family tried making taffy.  Dad always bought saltwater taffy at the Texas State Fair in Dallas but this time Mother cooked it up and Dad had my brother & me helping him pull it.  I remember how sticky and messy it was but it tasted yummy.  Don't remember ever trying that again.

Another of Dad's favorites and one of mine was fruitcake.  My friend Knitrageous wrote about the famous Collin Street Bakery fruitcakes.  They are really good but Dad's favorite was one his mother always made and Mother, then I, followed suit.  My grandmother would not tolerate wine or liquor in the house except for the bit of wine to season her fruitcakes.  She would wrap the cake in cheesecloth and saturate the cheesecloth with wine.  Then it was wrapped in foil and set aside for several days.  If she thought it was needed, a little more wine would be added.  I have used wine but also used apple cider for a teetotalers version.  Any fruit juice with a little "tang" would work.

I'll share the recipe for Dad's favorite, a dark fruitcake.  I like it very much but my favorite is actually a white fruitcake.

Fruit Cake  

Oven - 275 degrees 

Mix together:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar - packed in cup

4 eggs 

Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. 

Sift together:

2 cups sifted flour

1 tst baking powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves 

Stir into oil mixture alternately with 1 cup fruit juice (pineapple or orange). 

Mix 1 cup more sifted flour into

1 cup shaved citron (Mother & I leave out & substitutes green cherries)

1 cup chopped candied pineapple

1 1/2 cup whole candied cherries

1 cup raisins (light are better)

1 cup chopped figs

3 cups coarsley chopped nuts

Pour batter over fruit, mixing thoroughly. 

Line 2 loaf pans with brown paper.  Pour batter in pans.  Place pan of water on lower oven rack.  Bake cakes 2 1/2 - 3 hours in slow oven - 275 deg.   

After baking let cakes stand 15 minutes & remove from pans & cool on rack without removing paper.  Cover & store to ripen.  If cakes are to be kept a long time remove paper & wrap in wine soaked cloth & store in cool dry place.

My Loving Mother-In-Law

Thelma Lee Britton Reece

Born, June 19, 1915 in Franklin Co, AL, died December 2, 2011 in Garland, Dallas Co, TX.

Random bits about the woman I knew for more than 47 years as my loving mother-in-law and friend.

Thelma was the youngest child of William Clifton Britton and Mary Amanda Louvon Upton Britton.  Her mother died in the flu epidemic of 1918 when Thelma was 3 and her father and oldest sister died in the measles epidemic of 1920.  Their grandmother and aunt placed the surviving four daughters and one son in the Buckner’s Orphanage in Dallas soon after their father’s death. 

About age 19 when Thelma left the orphanage she joined her sisters in West Texas, working as a waitress in small town cafes in the oil field.  There she met and married Forest William Reece June 18, 1939.  They had Forest William Reece, Jr, Ronald Edward Reece and Angela Kay Reece-Wilson.

Thelma loved music and was in a girl’s singing group while in the orphanage.  She also learned to embroider and decorated some beautiful pillowcases and tablecloths.

She learned a lot of cooking skills from her mother-in-law and enjoyed trying out new recipes.  I enjoyed working with her in the kitchen when we were making some ordinary family meals and when we put on a big spread for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Most of all she loved her family and was so proud of her children’s and grandchildren’s accomplishments.

Thelma was also proud of me and my crafting skills.  She bought fabric and asked me to sew clothing and comforters.  She appreciated butterflies and when I sewed a lapghan using a fabric with butterflies it became a daily-use object. 

She loved both her family of brother and sisters and her extended Reece family.  She was happiest when she was giving and doing for others.  She had many friends in the oil field camps where they lived and in Andrews where she lived from 1966 to 2001.

There was so much more to Thelma than wife and mother.  I am so glad to have known her and had her in my life for so many years.

Colorado Yarn Shop Tour

Some of our favorite sightseeing can be done in local yarn shops so our shopping visits in CO were not unusual.  We had to window shop the two stores in Pueblo since they were closed on the day we were there. 

We went to three shops in the Denver area and were impressed with all three's layout, displays and quantities of yarn.  I did my souvenier yarn buying in these stores.

Ever since reading many of the Maggie Sefton I have dreamed of visiting Lambspun in Fort Collins.  My dream came true.  Although the setting is a tiny bit different from the books (there is a big apartment complex across from the shop and golf course) there was the old farmhouse converted into the shop and Backporch Cafe on a tree shaded corner.

There were room-after-room of yarn displayed, some in little nooks and crannies.  In the front of the house was a big room like a glass-fronted porch with a big table for classes & meetings.  I was totally charmed when I spotted in one corner a man was spinning!  How like the books is that?  Turns out he was just learning to spin and visited with us about RV life.

We were told that Meggie Sefton dropped in to knit and sign books when she was in town!  Sounded like she made regular visits.

Lambspun from the parking lot



Front door of Lambspun



Entryway is a feast of color & texture



Ron was impressed with the silky softness of this tube scarf within a tube scarf