Isn’t this beautiful?  Dream in Colors gorgeous colors, and a bit of silver sparkle spun into the Smooshy yarn base to make it pop. This is their new yarn base called Starry. (And I knew that my hubby’s photo would turn out much better than my attempts.) We plan to have this up at The Loopy Ewe early next week. I know these would be beautiful as socks, but I think we’ll also see a lot of shawls and scarves and hats and gloves and mitts knit up in this, too. (Why hide it in your shoes?) I will confess to having cast on a cowl. FPS*. I am having a serious problem with casting on. In Wednesday’s post I referred to my newly-discovered (newly-admitted?) KADD. I don’t have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) but I definitely have KADD (Knitting Attention Deficit Disorder.) My number of WIP’s is ridiculous and it doesn’t seem to matter how many I have on my list – it just keeps growing. I do have a lot of single socks, but lately, the thing I keep casting on is scarves. One right after the other. I AM finishing some of them. I had to – they’re for Christmas gifts.  But there are still too many mid-stream that get set aside for the next sparkly fun interesting exciting pattern or yarn that comes along and intrigues me momentarily. It really is fun to make scarves and mitts and hats out of “sock yarn”. And it’s a good way to keep motoring through my stash. (But I don’t think it counts as “using it up” when it sits there as a half-done WIP. sigh.)  This weekend I’m spending some time organizing the stash. I hope I come out alive.

Today’s recipe is one that Elf Karen shared with us and then I made some changes to it. (I don’t change knitting patterns all too often, but I seem to change recipes when I make them.) It’s delicious and perfect for a cool winter evening.

Chicken and Mushroom Soup (or leftover turkey?)

6 cups water
2 quartered onions
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
5 chicken breasts

Cook the chicken breasts in the above mixture until tender. Remove the chicken and chop into bite-sized pieces. Strain the rest of the mixture and reserve the liquid.

2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onions
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup butter
5 cups fresh white bread, cubed

Saute the onions, celery and mushrooms in butter until soft. (Do not brown.) Remove from pan and then add in the bread crumbs. (You may need to add more butter.) Stir until well coated and toasty and remove from heat.

2 tsp. sage
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
6 Tbl. chicken stock base
5 cups evaporated milk
3 Tbl. flour

Add sage, pepper, poultry seasoning, chicken stock base, and evaporated milk to a large pot.  Stir to heat through.  Whisk in flour as needed, to thicken slightly.  Add reserved liquid from above, as well as the onion/celery mix and the chicken pieces. Heat through.  Just before serving, add bread crumbs and parsley (if desired) to each bowl.

Before I close, here’s the question for you to answer for the November Blog Contest. I’ll randomly select one person from the comments section, next Friday. So you have a week to leave your comment/entry. I know that there are many of you who, like me, have KADD. I see your orders. I peek at your Ravelry projects pages, I read your comments on Wednesday’ blog. I just know these things. For me, the thing that seems to entice me to start something new is either 1) a new yarn that I am itching to try or 2) a new pattern that intrigues me.  If you have KADD, what is it that gets you picking up another set of needles and beginning something new? (And if you don’t have KADD, just go ahead and admit it. That will get you an entry into the contest, too. Any tips on how to avoid KADD? Don’t say “discipline”….)

Sheri 2or3projectsgoingatonceseemsreasonable
12ormoredoesnot.Ohwell.

*FPS = For Pete’s Sake