There's nothing like a long holiday...

...I feel recharged and ready to take on my Christmas tasks!

Thanksgiving dinner was a hit. I tried a new appetizer of sauteed mushrooms and melted brie in a sourdough bread loaf. It was very tasty. The turkey was wonderfully flavored from the spicy brine (I used the Williams-Sonoma brine mix) and everything else turned out great. I tried an apple galette for dessert -- aside from apple juices spilling over into my oven, it was pretty painless to make.

On Friday, we took our annual trip with friends to a Christmas tree farm. They have been making this trip for over 30 years. We tag along to enjoy the company and the munchies, but don't buy a tree because they don't have a large selection of Douglas firs (which we prefer). We'll probably get our tree next weekend from our favorite place.

The rest of the long weekend was filled with knitting or quilting while watching movies. Since our daughter was visiting friends, going to her HS reunion, etc., she needed a car. Needless to say, I was sans car for most of the time. Not a big deal since I really didn't need to go shopping. LOL!

So, I made progress on the left flip-top mitten:


I am using the pattern in Not Just More Socks by Sandi Rosner. I thought it was going to be difficult to make the finger portion of the mitten, but it wasn't too bad. (Of course, you can't see them in this picture because the grays just blend together.) The biggest problem was the thumb -- I kept getting a big hole at the base. I finally figured out a way to close the gap. (I hope I can remember what I did for the second mitten!) I had my daughter try it on and it fits perfectly. And she loves the color...Whew!

I'm knitting the ribbing for the "cap" portion now. Here's a picture of the palm side of the mitten:



I've slipped in a piece of paper so you can see where the cap is detached. This will be the part of the mitten that flips up. You can see the outline of the fingers in this picture.

I also worked on an Advent calendar for my daughter:


I'm at the quilting stage, basically just outlining some of the motifs. I should finish the rest of it pretty quickly.

I'm starting to feel "Christmas-y"...I love the holidays! Soon it will be time to start baking!