Done!

Week ?/52. I'm useless at this numbering system. Valentine's week!

Another project done for February is for Finishing. Cha-Ching!

Here's my Bird in Hand Mittens - yarn is Shelter, by Brooklyn Tweed in Fossil and Almanac. I used about 0.5 skeins of the white, and just a skosh over 1 skein of the blue. Arghh! Increases project cost by 50% - was not planning on buying 3 skeins of this yarn for mittens! But, I think I have plenty left over for a matching hat, so not a complete loss.

Pattern: Bird in Hand
Designer: Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Brooklyn Tween Shelter
Needles: US1

Try something new: crock pot chicken parmesan. You can find variations of this recipe all over the web, I won't repeat it. Verdict: BIG FAIL! Provided many giggles for my 2nd grader though as she watched me try to fit a large (frozen) oval chicken breast into a small round crockpot this morning. I went with frozen because there are 10 hours between leaving for work and sitting down to dinner, and I needed to add a couple hours on to the usual "6 - 7 hours on low" crockpot instructions. I breaded the breasts last night and froze them, stacked, (big mistake) in a container. Then this morning I could not separate them. And they were too big to fit flat on the bottom of my crockpot so I put them in propped up diagonally. The cheese I layered on the chicken all slid off and fell into the sauce. Oh the mirth!

It tasted okay though - just looked a disaster. One blogger claimed her dish was worthy of serving to company. If you are company at my house and I serve you this hot mess, well, you will know what I think of you.

Weight: Goal + 7.5 lbs. Endurance is up, upper body strength modestly improved. Pants a little loose today!

February is for finishing!

Week 6/52

So, I held off posting this week until I could honestly say I finished something. My friend Jeanne (check her out at lifeincleveland.blogspot.com) came up with the great idea of using this short, sweet month to clear the dust of some of those WIPs and UFOs and get some stuff DONE! FINI! She's even having some contests to get you motivated - check it out!

My Argus shawlette is done - off the needles. Still needs to be blocked, so I'll wait on the photo until it's ready for its close-up. What else is on my list for February? Well, I guess I'll have to finish up those mittens after all. Then I'll fire up my sewing machine and finish the casserole tote I started, and bind that quilt I made before Audrey was even born. If I still have time, there's a cross-stitch Christmas stocking with my husband's name on it (really. But the sky still needs to be filled in, and there is some outlining detail that needs work.)

Kitty has a name - Luna. She is shaping up to be a very mellow cat. I've never seen a kitten sleep so much. I have a feeling she is going to need the "Less Active" cat food in another year or so.

Weight: up. Phooey. I didn't eat that much this weekend, but I think all the salt I ate on Super Bowl Sunday must have caused all of Lake Erie to cling to my waist.

Try something new: crock pot Buffalo chicken sandwiches. Awesome. Low fat (but high sodium, unfortunately). We used wing sauce from Anchor Bar. Yum - and we have leftovers in the freezer for more sandwiches this weekend!

Happy finishing!