More Summer Craziness and Winners

Sorry I've been so delinquent in announcing the winners of my contest. Will it help if I distract you with a photo of an adorable kitteh?

 

One of the reasons for the delay is that I'm in NC visiting my mom and her adorable cat, Cissa. We're here celebrating my sister Katie's "significant" birthday.

While here I was lucky enough to meet the talented, smart, adorable Mandy of Zigzag Stitch fame in person. She gave me a sneak peek at her book, The Red Collection. The book will be available this fall. It looks great. I can't wait for my copy.

IJK has been baking non stop since we arrived. She made not one, but two batches of pistachio macarons - heavenly. As I type this the smell of her latest indulgence is filling the house. (Sofie just walked in with a sample of this morning's kitchen madness and it did not disappoint!)

On top of IJK's baking there have been pies. If anyone on this planet makes a pie better than my mom, I have yet to taste it. "Mutti" is genius with a crust. (Note the candles on the center pie. In my family it has always been birthday pie. Never birthday cake.)

I often complain about our winters in North Western NJ. I may need to suppress those complaints in the future after experiencing North Carolina in August. Brutal. My ever-ready model, Sofie, was nice enough to wear wool for a quick photo shoot of the Snow Drops & Snap Peas hat & mitt set. What a trooper the kid is.

 
Using a random number generator I selected five winners to each receive copies of the two patterns in the set. They have each been notified and will receive their patterns when they are ready in about a week. The winners are; Jen (blogless), Andrea, Mary, Pixie, and Bloepper.

The winner of the Stitch Collection is RebKatz. She's already received her books.

I leave you with photos that document our summer. Anders and Sofie's band, The NowhereNauts, has had several shows including one at TT the Bears in Boston. They've also written a lot of new material & have been in the studio recording. To hear the new music check out their MySpace page. If you like what you hear join their Facebook group and follow them on Twitter for updates.

Along with baking delicious treats, Izzy has been busy stitching. She's made several animal hats - she's selling the owl pictured below on Etsy - and a sparkly headband for Sofie.

Handspun from one of Funky Carolina's colorwork kits - the fiber was a gift from Sarah.

The beautiful hand-bound book below was given to me by NJStacie when I visited Boston earlier this summer. I am hoping she comes to my area to give one of her bookbinding classes. IJK and I will be the first to sign up!

Comments

[Kym]

Sounds like you've had a glorious summer! :-)
(My son has a "birthday pie" every year for his birthday. He is not a fan of cake. . . but pie? That's another story altogether!)

[mai]

i hope you're enjoying your time in NC! that cat has such pretty eyes! i love the idea of birthday pie as well since i'm not a huge fan of cake. sweets are not my thing! oh, and is blame the patient now defunct? xoxo hope you're doing well!

[MiA]

Wow! Those handspuns are really yummie!

[Beth]

You've had a busy summer! Happy birthday to your sister!

[liset]

Sorry, got stuck at the picture of the cat.. I love her so much!! My own (foreigner white) siamese had an exact same sister. Soo, soo, so beautiful!

[Mandy]

Glad to hear all the baking was successful!!

[Kar]

Looks like you have had a very busy but nice summer with family. Even with the heat. :) We don't do birthday cakes either. Cheesecakes and pies are the picks around here.

[Linda Butkus]

Yay! I love birthday pie! We prefer pie over cakes any day. Yahoo!

Your family is lovely. Thanks for sharing :D

[Heather]

Despite the scrapes and minor health issues, you, my friend, are having a fantastic summer!!

[Mom2Schnauzers]

Yummy yarn AND macarons??? I fell in love w/macarons when we visited France. I chose not to bring any home because I was told that they don't "keep" well. How DOES she make them?

[Pat]

Will your Mom divulge her crust recipe? I'm always on a quest for a better pie crust!

[Liz]

Happy belated birthday. If you think your winters are bad, come visit us here in the western part of the Midwest. We get down to a toasty -30 usually, then add wind chill onto that. =D It's a knitters dream.