The holidays are almost here. Stay tuned for our last Knitting Central Holiday Blast coming on Sunday. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to get your savings!

Today at the Grand Central Station Holiday Fair in NYC, I saw an amazing booth (among others) but this one had all hand knit and/or hand crochet pieces of art. You must check out their site, 

I wish I could have photographed each one for you, but these two shots will hopefully give you an idea of their talent. The name of the company is Emma Company.

It's always great when you can have the family together on a Sunday. Great way to start your week. Rack of lamb, wild rice, roasted brussel sprouts

What a beautiful site this is! Our dear friend and vendor, Trish from Tanglewood Fiber Creations is letting her one of a kind and magnificent handspun, hand-dyed yarn dry in the sun. When it's done, it is off to one of our lucky customers...

Not sure if you all know the story behind this tree?  Many years ago, the husband of the couple that owned this tree thought it was such an ugly tree. The wife felt bad that it was viewed as ugly and actually pruned the tree. The husband is now gone, but she said how surprised and happy he would be to know that out of all the trees available, this one was chosen. Look what a little pruning and someone believing in you can do. What a great lesson for all of us...

Such amazing windows. 

Can you imagine passing this on the street? I LOVED it. 

Snow is coming soon. The holiday energy is all around us...

Just finished my newest design, "Karina's Vest", named after a kind and beautiful young woman who inspired the design. I will be placing a button where the closure is now, just haven't decided on which one. The stand away collar frames the face. The cross-over front allows you to close it in many places, thereby allowing you to wear this as a sweater or an outer garment with layers underneath. 

The pattern will be ready for you at our booth #2201 at VK Live.

Quite the day. Baked 4 dozen Butterfinger Candy Bar Cookies (yum) for a charity cookie exchange tomorrow. Finished up our Holiday Gift Savings E blast that will be sent out tomorrow morning.  A big shout out to our wonderful associate Jess for putting it altogether. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to take advantage of the savings. Our Holiday E blasts only goes out to our newsletter list. Took a hot bath, chilled and did some knitting. A great end to a hectic day....

There are still plenty of things you can knit in time for the Holidays. Make sure you are signed up for our newsletter to see our latest gift items and our special holiday offers coming to you on Sunday morning. 

It doesn't get much better than this. My dear "Trish the Dish" from Tanglewood Fiber Creation's is spinning up some pretty gorgeous cashmere to fill an order for one of our customers. It's so beautiful Trish!

Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows- Knitted Ram Ears. It's exciting to see these beautiful holiday windows incorporate knitting into the magnificent designs. 

I'm on the search for more knitting in holiday windows. If you find any windows that show knitting, "please" share them with us.

Stuffing the big boy.. 26 lbs. Looks like Rick might lose his hand in there. 

A little goofing around before starting the serious preparation part of the day.

Mary's beautiful bud vase. The perfect centerpiece.

The day after - Bow and arrows in the backyard.

Weaving in the kitchen. 

So great to have family around. From our family to yours, hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

This applesauce is such an easy, fast and most delicious recipe- enjoy!

4 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices about an 1" thick
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla

put the apples and water in a pot and heat over medium heat until boiling. reduce to simmer and stir occasionally for 5-10 minutes until apples are tender. Add all the other ingredients and heat through. chop up a bit or put in a food processor and pulse a couple of times. since it is homemade, i like it to look a little chunky.

Had to share this with you. What a hilarious site. For those of you that always wanted a mustache, but can't grow your own, maybe this is the perfect answer. 

It continues to amaze me how creative we can be with our knitting and that it always bring a smile (or mustache) to our face. http://www.beardhead.com/santa.html

For those of you that asked...These spinach balls are so easy. Even people that don't like spinach seem to love these. It is such an easy make in advance hors d'oevre.

Makes approximately 30 balls - size shown above.

2 pkg frozen chopped spinach. defrost and squeeze out almost all the moisture

2 cups garlic/herb croutons

1 cup parmesan cheese

4 eggs beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp nutmeg

sesame seeds to cover

Directions:

Drain spinach. Grind croutons. Mix everything together, but seeds. 

Make 1" balls- coat with seeds and freeze on cookie sheet. When frozen, put in a ziploc bag. Take right from freezer and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately. Can be made and frozen a month in advance. 

I think we all deserve one of these. Wrap yourself in a luxurious Heirloom Pencil Roving Throw this year. Lightweight, but cozy warm and perfect for year-round use. Made from Imperial Ranch's Pencil Roving, which has irresistible softness.  Can you feel it around you??

I am hearing a few of you did not know about our newsletter and have missed out on some of our purls of wisdom and goodies. We apologize for that. We thought you all knew. It's not too late! You can still sign up and see our "Holiday Have to Have" offerings and deals that will start up very soon. We will be featuring the hottest knitted and non-knitted gifts for everyone on your list. There will be things for young and old, knitters and non-knitters (yes we think of them as well). There will be special offers attached. Don't miss out-sign up now, so you are on our list.

Rick made this hat for his niece Riley with a matching sweater. Here is Dylan, Riley's little sister, with mom Shawna, wearing the hat. Every stitch worked into that hat was done so with much love and it's so nice to see it being passed down. It's like her Uncle Rick is giving her a hug every time she wears the hat. 

I know it's past Halloween, but I couldn't resist. This is the cutest little sheep I have every seen. Her name is Cole. Her Grandma Donna made this awesome costume by hand! 

Cole saw the cow bell and thought it looked quite yummy. Here she is trying to take a little taste!

"The seafaring sweater is stitched into the history of all countries with a shoreline"... Great article- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/fashion/08iht-fknit08.html?ref=fashion