Penguin! my latest knit project!

One of my friends found this free pattern on Michael's website HERE!!
So I decided to try it!! here is what I got!?

MEASUREMENT
Approx 6" (15 cm) tall.

GAUGE
21 sts and 27 rows = 4" (10 cm) in stocking st.

MATERIALS CHECKLIST:
Loops and Threads™ Impeccable™ (Solids 4.5 oz / 128 g)
Contrast A: 1 Ball of  (01040 Black)
Contrast B: 1 Ball of  (01008 Aran)          
Contrast C: 1 Ball of (01630 Pumpkin)
Contrast D: 1 Ball of  (01436 Cherry) 
Stuffing
2 Glue-on googly eyes
Size U.S. 5 (3.75 mm) knitting needles or size needed to obtain gauge

ABBREVIATIONS
Approx = Approximately.
Beg = Beginning.
Inc = Increase 1 stitch into next stitch by knitting into front and back of next stitch.
K = Knit.
K2tog = Knit next 2 stitches together.
P = Purl.
P2tog = Purl next 2 stitches together.
P2togtbl = Purl next 2 stitches together through back loops.
Rem = Remaining.
Rep = Repeat.
RS = Right side.
Ssk = Slip next 2 stitches knitwise one at a time. Pass them back onto left-hand needle, then knit through back loops together.
St(s) = Stitch(es).
WS = Wrong side.

INSTRUCTIONS
Body: With A, cast on 7 sts.
1st row: (RS). (Inc 1 st in next st) 6 times. K1. 13 sts.
2nd and alt rows: Purl.
3rd row: (Inc 1 st in next st) 12 times. K1. 25 sts.
5th row: (Inc 1 st in next st. K1) 12 times. K1. 37 sts.
7th row: (Inc 1 st in next st. K2) 12 times. K1. 49 sts.
Beg with a purl row, work 27 rows in stocking st.

Shape Neck and Head: 1st row: (RS).
(K2. K2tog) 12 times. K1. 37 sts.
2nd and alt rows: Purl.
3rd row: Knit.
5th row: K2. (Inc 1 st in next st. K4) 7 times. 44 sts.
Beg with a purl row, work 15 rows in stocking st.

Proceed as follows:
1st row: (RS). (K5. K2tog) 6 times. K2. 38 sts.
2nd and alt rows: Purl.
3rd row: (K4. K2tog) 6 times. K2. 32 sts.
5th row: (K3. K2tog) 6 times. K2. 26 sts.
7th row: (K2. K2tog) 6 times. K2. 20 sts.
9th row: (K1. K2tog) 6 times. K2. 14 sts.
10th row: (P2tog) 7 times. Break yarn, leaving a long end. Thread end through rem sts. Fasten securely.

Sew back seam. Stuff Body. Sew bottom closed.

Belly: With B, cast on 6 sts.
1st row: (RS). Inc 1 st in first st. K3. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. 8 sts.
2nd row: Inc 1 st purlwise in first st. Purl to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st purlwise in next st. K1. 10 sts.
3rd row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. 12 sts.
4th and 5th rows: As 2nd and 3rd rows. 16 sts at end of last row.
6th row: K1. Purl to last st. K1.
7th row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
Rep last 2 rows twice more. 22 sts.
Beg with a purl row, work 23 rows stocking st, having 1 st at each end of row in garter st.

Shape “Bottom Face”: Next row: (RS). K1. ssk. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. 20 sts rem.
Next row: K1. P2tog. Purl to last 3 sts. P2togtbl. K1. 18 sts rem.
Next row: K1. ssk. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. 16 sts rem.
Next row: K1. Purl to last st. K1.
Next row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. 18 sts.
Next row: K1. Purl to last st. K1.
Next row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. 20 sts.
Next row: Purl. Break B.

Shape bottom of Beak: **1st row: (RS). With C, K1. ssk. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. 18 sts.
2nd row: Purl.
3rd row: K1. ssk. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1.
4th row: P1. P2tog. Purl to last 3 sts. P2togtbl. P1.
Rep 3rd and 4th rows twice more, then rep 3rd row once. 4 sts rem.
Next row: (WS). P2tog. P2togtbl.
Next row: ssk. Fasten off.**

“Top Face”: With B, cast on 2 sts.
1st row: (RS). (Inc 1 st in next st) twice. 4 sts.
2nd row: (Inc 1 st in first st. P1) twice. 6 sts.
3rd row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
Rep last row until there are 20 sts.
Beg with a purl row, work 5 rows stocking st. Break B.

Top of Beak: Work from ** to ** as given above. Inside of Beak: With C, cast on 1 st.
1st row: (RS). Inc 1 st in st. 2 sts.
2nd row: (Inc 1 st in next st) twice. 4 sts.
3rd row: (Inc 1 st in next st. K1) twice. 6 sts.
4th row: Inc 1 st in first st. Purl to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. P1.
5th row: Inc 1 st in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
Rep 4th and 5th rows twice more, then rep 4th row once. 20 sts.
Work from ** to ** as given above.
Sew Inside of Beak between Bottom and Top Beaks, matching points.
Sew Belly/Face in position.

Feet: (make 2). With C, cast on 7 sts.
1st row: (RS). Cast off 3 sts. K3 (including st on needle after cast off). Turn. Leave rem st on a spare needle.
2nd row: K3.
3rd row: Cast on 3 sts. K7.
4th row: K7.
5th to 8th rows: As 1st to 4th rows.
Cast off (RS).
Sew Feet to Body.

Right Wing
Note: When working with 2 colors within a row, wrap colors around each other, where they meet on WS, to avoid a hole.
With A, cast on 3 sts, With B, cast on 3 sts.
1st row: (RS). With B, inc 1 st in first st. K2. With A, K1. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
2nd row: With A, P4. With B, P4.
3rd row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K3. With A, K2. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
4th row: With A, P5. With B, P5.
5th row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K4. With A, K3. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
6th row: With A, P6. With B, P6.
7th row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K5. With A, K4. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
8th row: With A, P7. With B, P7.
9th row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K6. With A, K5. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
10th row: With A, P8. With B, P8.
11th row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K7. With A, K6. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
12th row: With A, P9. With B, P9.
13th row: With B, inc 1 st in first st. K8. With A, K7. Inc 1 st in next st. K1.
14th row: With A, P10. With B, P10.
15th row: With B, K10. With A, K10.
Rep last 2 rows 5 times more. Cast off.
Fold Wing in half. Sew bottom and side seam.

Left Wing:
Work as for Right Wing, substituting A for B and B for A.

FINISHING
Sew Wings to Body, placing shaped edge towards back.
Scarf: With D, cast on 85 sts. Knit 5 rows (garter st). Cast off.
Fringe: Cut D, 2" (5 cm) long. Knot into fringe across ends of Scarf. Trim fringe evenly.
Glue on googly eyes.

linking up to:

xmas pictures (practice)

So the kids got these great new outfits for Christmas, so we had to do a family photo shoot!

Which one do you like??!!!

Thanksgiving PUMPKIN bar recipe

Ever since I met the Porteous family and now that I am a part of their family I remember one great thing around the holidays!  Pumpkin Bars.... I enjoy making them more than I enjoy eating them anymore... so I thought I would share the recipe and some thoughts with you......
Pumpkin Bar
Bars:  4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing: 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened  1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened  2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions Preheat the oven to 350F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again.

 This is the Best part......

Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.


Finally.....taste them!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah!!!! that's goooooooood!

Turkey Trot!!!

Turkey Trot!!! A 4 mile run fundraiser for the Oregon ZOO!

The Nagging thought on the eve before our race...." we are going to be completely miserable and get SOAKING wet"!!. But this morning at O'dark 30 there was NO rain! Yeah!

This was Ana's first race ever and I was hoping that it did not turn out to be a flop and miserable.  Because I always love to have more runners!

I wish I could show you all a map of the course but if you know the area around the ZOO it is HILLS everywhere!  Start at the forestry center and head to the Japanese Garden parking lot... The first half of the race went pretty well and pace was good too, but after the halfway point it was a out and back course and what was downhill there was a BIG hill back.... so our pace slowed.... but we made it to the end at the bottom of the zoo down on the concert lawn.  I was SO happy to see that we did it in 45 minutes! For being cold, not very well prepared and Ana's first race, we did GREAT!!!  ( and there was NO rain)!!


Thank you thank you! and EAT lots of turkey!!

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

So for Thanksgiving we decided  to try a new kind of bread.. I found this neat Pumpkin Cheese bread recipe on Country Living and thought.... YUM!

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

Serves: 12 Edit

Yields: One 9-by-5-inch loaf (12 servings)

Total Time: 1 hr

Prep Time: 20 min

Oven Temp: 375

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• 3 3/4 cup(s) All-Purpose Flour, plus more for surface and bowl
• 1 tablespoon(s) Light-Brown Sugar
• 1 package(s) Rapid-Rise Yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoon(s) Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon(s) Cayenne Pepper
• 3/4 cup(s) Pumpkin Puree
• 4 ounce(s) Shredded Sharp Cheddar
• 1 tablespoon(s) Unsalted Butter, softened, for buttering pan
• 1 large Egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

---

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together 3 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, yeast, salt, and cayenne. Add 1 cup water, pumpkin, and cheese; stir to combine. (Dough will be slightly sticky.)

1. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it forms a smooth ball. (Add up to 1/4 cup more flour if needed.) Sprinkle a large bowl with flour and add ball of dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

1. Butter a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon butter. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and use hands to flatten to a rectangle, about 9 by 10 inches. Roll dough into a log and place seam-side down in loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using a sharp knife, slash loaf down center. Brush loaf with egg wash.    

1.  Bake until loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 40 to 50 minutes. Turn out of pan onto a wire rack to cool.

YUM!! Looks and smells so good!

Read more: Pumpkin Cheese Bread Recipe - Country Living