Things I am thankful for:

I was able to take a week off from work because there is no way in hell I would have been able to make a Thanksgiving dinner without several days of preparations. Whether or not I actually make a Thanksgiving dinner that is edible still remains to be seen.

We’ve gotten such a wonderful, incredible response to our Heifer project so far!

Family. Friends, both “real” and cyber.

This beautiful, loving little animal, who brings so much joy to my life:

And a whole lot more! But I need to start thinking about how to deal with this:

Happy Thanksgiving!

But if you hang in with it, there’ll be an FO at the end, I promise.

Today I made a crustless pumpkin pie. I made up the recipe myself, based on other pumpkin pie recipes I have known.

Wendy’s Crustless Pumpkin Pie

2-1/2 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine pumpkin and evaporated milk until smooth, then add all remaining ingredients. Mix until well blended.

Pour mixture into a 9-inch greased pie pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 40 minutes or until the center is set.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled, with whipped cream as a garnish.

Ta-da! There you have it.

Lucy had a lovely time last night because we had visitors — my mom and dad and my dad’s cousin, Jan, who is visiting from Sweden.

Here you see Lucy deep in conversation with my dad and Jan.

Yes, an FO!

Here is Gwendolyn modeling a finished Elizabeth I.

I finished the knitting last night and seamed it early this morning. I carefully steam-pressed the seams and voila!

Another close-up:

Sorry for the not-great pix — it’s grey and rainy today!

Lucy Sez

“Meow! Thank you Casper!”

I loved the Purple Rain roving so much that I finished spinning and plying it.

It’s 3.5 ounces and approximately 215 yards. It’s very soft and fairly consistent — there are a few thick spots here and there. I love how it spun up and plied into barber pole stripey-ness.

Step Socks

I keep forgetting to post a photo of the Austermann Step socks — I finished them last Friday and here they are.

I did get them to match pretty darn well.

Diabetic Key Lime Pie

First thing this morning, I made a sugarless Key Lime Pie for dessert for tonight. Unfortunately I could not find Key Limes, so I had to settle for regular limes.

Here’s the recipe:

Key Lime Pie for Diabetics

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons melted margarine
2 tablespoons Splenda

1 envelope (1/4 ounce) unflavored gelatin
1-3/4 cups fat-free milk
1 8 ounce package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 to 1/2 cup Splenda

Combine graham cracker crumbs, margarine, and 2 tablespoons Splenda and press into a pie plate.

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup milk and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved.

Beat cream cheese in a small bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining 1-1/4 cups milk and the gelatin mixture. Mix in the lime juice and 1/3 to 1/2 cup Splenda, depending on how sweet you want it (I use slightly less than 1/3 cup as I like my key lime pie tart. You can add the Splenda one tablespoon at a time and taste as you go.)

Pour into the graham cracker crust and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

A slice that is one-eighth of the pie is about 200 calories.

P.S. to Janice in GA
Sorry, I’m a Yankee and I like a little sugar in my cornbread. However, because the batch of cornbread I made is to be used in a savory stuffing, I left the sugar out. I also overbaked it slightly.

Tomorrow: a pumpkin pie with no crust! Ooooooh!

Heifer Raffle!

I drew names using my random number generator earlier this afternoon and this week the prizes go to:

Judith C., who won the the Lexie Barnes Mega Mini bag (perfect size for a sock project bag) filled with two skeins of Claudia Handpainted Fingering weight yarn. This prize has been donated by Allison Van Zandt of Simply Socks Yarn Co.

Betty, who won the Hat kit (include handspun yarn for a knitted hat, a pattern, and charms for embellishment), donated by Tigerlilith, Old Maiden Aunt

Linda F., who won her choice of a ChicKnit pattern, donated by Bonne Marie Burns of ChicKnits

Christine Z, who won a complete set of knitting greeting cards, donated by Denise Satterlund. You can view the whole set here: http://www.unravelled.com

Deborah H., who won The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman, Donated by Erin

I’ve emailed all the winners and donors (Deborah H., I get an odd error message when I send to you — let me know if you didn’t receive the winner notification).

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all!

Lucy sez:

“Zzzzzzzzzzz . . . baby chicks . . . zzzzzzzzzzz . . . baby chicks . . .

This is the beginning of the cornbread stuffing I am planning on making for Thanksgiving.

A pan of cornbread. I was, of course, forced to eat a couple of pieces of it because the recipe I’m using (from a Cooking Light magazine a few years ago — here’s the recipe online) does not call for a whole pan of cornbread. It actually calls for two corn muffins.

But I love to make cornbread and I love this recipe in particular. It’s one I’ve used forever, and I got it from my mom.

Cornbread

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I use fat-free)
1 egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons melted shortening (I use “I Can Believe It’s Not Butter” light sticks)

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Whisk milk, egg, and shortening together lightly and add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined, then pour batter into a greased 8″ square pan. Bake for 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Cool a few minutes in the pan before serving.

Spinning Beginning

Here’s the first bobbin of the Purple Rain roving. I love all the shades of purple here and can’t wait to see how this will look plied. I’ve got about 3.5 ounces total of this roving, so it won’t take long to spin up the second half.

I’ve no plans for the yarn — I need to wait and see how much I end up with when I ply it.

Holly commented:
OK, I see a Lendrum and a Little Gem, didn’t I remember your having a Kromski?

I do have a Kromski — a Minstrel.

Sherri asked:
What kind of spinning wheel do you have? I’m considering buying one and am blog-polling people that have them. Pro’s and cons? Good bad and ugly?

My favorite of my three wheels is my Lendrum — I think I do my nicest, most consistent spinning on it. But I know people who have other favorites. Your best bet is to go somewhere where you can try out different wheels and find the one that fits you best.

Elizabeth Progress

I have made some progress on my second Elizabeth sleeve today, even though I did put in quite a bit of spinning time.

I took my car in for service and waited for it at the auto shop, so that was a good chunk of knitting time. I did endure some good-natured ribbing from the guys at the shop (Get it? Ribbing? I crack me up.) about my knitting. But it was all in good fun, and they treat my little Honda with TLC, so I’m happy to put up with it.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the second weekly drawing for Heifer weekly prizes. Five wonderful prizes will be awarded — check the prize page for detailed descriptions of the November 21 prizes. I’ll be drawing the winners in the early afternoon and posting to the blog a tad early. I’ve got a family dinner to go to in the evening.

I would like to once again thank everyone who has donated so far — the total so far is amazing!

Lucy is pleased that so many of you have donated baby chicks.

Tune in tomorrow to find out who won this week’s raffle, for spinning and knitting progress, and for a recipe for a Key Lime Pie for diabetics!

We are having a lazy Sunday chez WendyKnits.

Lucy is in her kitty bed, dreaming of baby chicks.

I just started spinning some Blue Moon Fiber Arts roving.

The colorway is Purple Rain and it’s merino/angora blend. Quite lovely and soft!

Last night I finished the first sleeve of Elizabeth I. Whew!

One down, one to go! I’ve started the second sleeve, but I’ll spare you a photo because guess what? It looks like the first sleeve.

I’m hoping to get this sweater done this week because I have taken the whole week off from work. Woo hoo!

I’ve got a lot to do this week, though. Tomorrow I take my car in for routine service and inspection. Tuesday I’ve got a fun family get-together. And on Wednesday, the Thanksgiving preparations will start in earnest.

I’ve already done the grocery shopping.

I think this will turn into a food blog for a few days.

Swedish Twined Knitting

There were several questions in the comments about twined knitting.

I’ve done it in the past, but it’s not something I’ve spent a lot of time doing. There is an excellent page describing it, with great photos, here. This page was created by the lovely and talented Theresa. She’s got a number of great pages of knitting tips and tricks.

Heifer Project

I updated the total raised in our Heifer project a little while ago — we’re doing great! The next weekly prize drawing will be held on Tuesday. There’s a lot of really great stuff being given away this week. Just sayin’.