A Chill in the Air and Chili on the Stove!

Malabrigo Rasta

Finally!  Winter has hit Hampton Roads.  We can now wear our Malabrigo Rasta Cowls, our Madelinetosh Honey Cowls and our Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Shrugs.  I bundled up in my first knit sweater made with Alpaca Boucle and a crazy yarn from Ironstone.  Oh, it feels good to wrap up in all those wonderful knits!


Rasta Cowl by Carla



Madelinetosh Honey Cowl by Mickey

Today was a fun day at the shop.  With the cold air blowing at 35 mph, I discovered that the windows in the front of the store were terribly drafty.  So out came the coffee and the caulk gun.  While the ladies enjoyed a fresh cup from the Keurig I hopped from window to window killing that frigid draft.  Luckily, it worked!  But, after all that, I decided to leave early.  After Kiki arrived I ran home to put on a pot of Chili.

My recipe is simple.  It is an alteration of a recipe from an old friend of my husbands.  I cook by adding a handful of this and a drop of that, so bear with my measurements.  They are not exact, but they work. 

Andrea’s Family Chili

1 Package stew beef

1 onion diced

1-2 lbs lean ground beef cooked and drained (or cooked on the grill if it’s not too cold out)

2 McCormick brand Original Chili Seasoning packages (do not substitute)

1 can diced or crushed tomatoes 29oz

1 large can tomato sauce 29oz

1 large can tomato paste 16oz

2 cans light kidney beans 16oz

2 cans pinto beans 16oz

2 garlic cloves crushed or minced

Optional hot seasoning mix or other hot chili powder to taste (I don’t add any to mine)

Top with Cheddar cheese and diced red onion

Directions:  Cook Ground beef separately and drain well.  In a large pot, brown stew beef with onion.  Once brown, drain the fat and add all of the canned goods (tomatoes, beans, paste, etc.)  Stir well.  Add cooked ground beef.   Add seasoning packages and garlic. Additional hot chili powder or other hot seasoning can be added if desired.  Cook on medium to low flame for 1 ½ - 2 hrs or more.  The longer, the better.  Stir often.  Stir again.  Stir some more.  There is nothing worse than burnt Chili.  Top with minced red onion and cheddar cheese to taste.



Dragonfly Fibers' Traveller

 Hopefully this recipe and some chunky wool from The Yarn Club will keep you warm this week.  I’m off to work on my CasuCowl in Dragonfly Traveller.

Happy Knitting,

Andrea

Crazy for Cowls

Hi Everyone! We are extremely grateful for the many folks who came out to the Early Black Friday Sale we held over the weekend. Now that much of the summer stock is gone, we can stuff the shelves with more goodies from Madeline Tosh and other  yarns that are perfect for this winter and the Holiday Season. Lots of boxes are arriving daily, so Andrea has kept all of us busy in the shop with rearranging and adjusting where everything goes. For many years, cowls have made the fashion scene. From knitting 150 grams of super bulky alpaca/wool in the GAP-tastic cowl, to making Madeline Tosh's Honey Cowl in her to-die-for Pashmina Yarn, to my latest two finds: The Burberry Inspired Cowl which folks at the shop are making out of 2 skeins of either Cascade Eco Duo or Jade Sapphire 6-ply or 4-ply cashmere, and the Uber Elegant Cowl which I am making out of a skein of Dragonfly Fibers fingering weight -- cowls are a hit for both the knitter and the wearer during the winter months.

What I like best about cowls is that they stay in place as I actively move about my busy day while keeping my neck warm. I easily feel temperature changes, and having something on my neck seems to put them in check. In this photo, Donna models the Honey Cowl she made out of Madelinetosh DK in Calligraphy.

About two years ago, I knit a cowl for my sister as a Christmas gift. This year, I adapted the GAP-tastic Cowl from Ravelry to work with her busy schedule and to offer more stylish versatility. This unisex cowl also knits up FAST -- as in it only took me less than 8 hours of a day to finish!

If you want to learn how to make these awesome quick gifts, we have oodles of patterns to suggest like Berroco's made out of Souffle. It only takes 4 skeins and knits up very fast.  And if you have a pattern that you want to try, bring it in so we can get you started.

Cowls are definitely ALL the rage this winter.

See you soon!
Kimberly =:8