Thanks for all of the guesses on the next Challenge! A few of you correctly identified my knitting as the Transition Gloves from Shibui Knits.  I have wanted to knit those ever since we got the pattern in over a year ago.  Of course I had to overcome my dislike of knitting from a chart, and also my inexperience with colorwork.  When Claudia’s Wollmeise Sock Club colors arrived, they seemed to shout “Transition Gloves” to me, and it was finally time to take the plunge. Now that I’ve started in on them, I see more of these in my future. I was sitting and knitting on them thinking that a black and white version would be SO cool (Shibui Ink and Ivory), as well as a red and white, and maybe a chocolate and blue, and …..  Well.  You can see how much fun I’m having thinking up combinations. And then I happened to wander over to Ravelry to visit everyone else’s combinations, and added a few more that are now “must knit” combos. (Check out Natlie’s Piano Gloves – just what I was imagining in Black and White.)  So the new Loopy Challenge, which will run from now until 12/31/08 is this: Knit something to warm your hands (or someone else’s hands. ‘Tis the season for starting your holiday knitting). It can be Fingerless Gloves, or Mittens, or regular Gloves, or even a muff. (Do they have knitting patterns for muffs? Seems like a felted muff might be fun.) In the spirit of “challenging” you a little bit, I encourage you to try something new with this.  Maybe you haven’t knit anything for hands before and the whole idea is new.  Or maybe (like me) you want to try colorwork, or learn two-handed knitting, or knitting fingers in gloves instead of mittens or fingerless mitts.  Maybe you’ve done all of that so the challenge for you would be to design your own or adapt a stitch pattern you really like – like taking any of the sock patterns you have and using that pattern for gloves or mittens, for example!  Whatever you choose, it will be fun to see all of the different options that people come up with.  If you already have something in mind, post in the comments and tell us what you’re going to do.  Otherwise, just hop in at any time. We will do another Knit-A-Long beginning in January.  Remember, we’re alternating Challenges with KAL’s now.

A couple of week’s ago I did a post about “It’s a Perfect Day for …” and had you leave comments. So many of you mentioned that it was a perfect day for Chili that I had to make up a pot of it – it just sounded so good.  So I thought I’d share the recipe with you.  I got this recipe from a teacher that I used to teach with (way back when) and have been making it ever since.

Cold Weather Chili

3 slices fried bacon
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 – 5 (smaller size) cans Brooks Chili Beans
2 large cans diced tomatoes
3 Tbl. brown sugar
2 Tbl. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
8 chocolate chips

Fry bacon and set aside to drain.  In bacon grease, brown hamburger and onion.  Drain.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about an hour. (Or put it all in the crockpot on low and let it simmer all afternoon.)  Cornbread Rolls go well with this chili.

We’re heading off to Indiana this afternoon for Parents Weekend at Taylor. We can’t wait to see College Girl and College Guy! (And I’m pretty sure that Payne’s Coffee and Ivanhoes Ice Cream will be on the schedule as well.)  Also, I will be out of commission & out of the office most of next week, as I’m having a bit of surgery and am taking a few days to recover. It would be nice if it was something fun that would make me look 10 years younger, but alas, it’s nothing exciting like that!  Keep me in your prayers and I plan to be back with you via the blog and email on Monday, the 29th.  Susan and the Elves will keep the orders going out.  They’re the best.  If you need anything, feel free to call here or email Susan (susan AT theloopyewe DOT com). Have a great weekend!

Sheri perfectdayforknittinginthecaronthewaytoIndiana