November knit bits

I am pleased to say that I accomplished my November knitting goal of completing the two holiday gifts I making this year. The first item is a gift for Aidan's teacher, a simple buttoned neckwarmer:

My hope is that Mr. A will keep the scarf at school to quickly put on for recess and stay warm while keeping the students from killing each other. The pattern is Fourteen by John Brinegar and once I found an online video that showed me how to knit into the row below, it was a fun and easy knit. I used Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed by Plymouth Yarn and oh, baby, is it soft.

I also finished the other item on my list but I have no picture to share because a) it is still blocking, and b) there is always the off chance that the person for whom it is a gift will read this post and I don't want to spill the beans. Stay tuned for a post-holiday sharing of the photo and description.

I also quickly knit up a cute little star ornament from leftover yarn in my stash:

It is for a knitting friend who recently experienced an unfortunate life-altering event and a group of people is sending her these little crafted hugs to put on her tree.

As for the other goal of maintaining my walking schedule of three times a week...well, not such a success there. Between wet weather, holiday guests and winter laziness, I did get out several times to walk but not as much as my goal. While I am going to try and remain active outdoors as much as weather permits, the only goal I am going to set for December is to make it to New Year's Eve with my sanity intact. And for those who know me well, you know just how much of a challenge that can be.

And a good meal was had by all

Here was the menu at our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday:

• Turkey
• Cornbread dressing (made by my mother, who makes the BEST cornbread dressing)
• Sweet potatoes
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Creamed corn
• Cranberry sauce, both homemade and jellied straight from the can
• Homemade rolls
• Apple pie
• Chocolate chess pie

Whew. I used my new mini pie pans from King Arthur Flour, so we didn't have two full size pies. The mini pies were the perfect size.

We brined our turkey this year using a recipe from Emeril Lagasse:

That 48 cent per pound turkey (love love love my Wegmans) was both beautiful and delicious:

As you can see, I don't put any effort into fancy table decorations or linens; instead, I put lots of effort into preparing delectable food:

And Thanksgiving dinner at our house was well the effort.