Sometimes you just want a scarf that won’t roll—EVER. Or sometimes you need the back of an item to look just like the front. The easiest way to do that is to double knit—and mirror your pattern in reverse. On this sample, you’ll see the red side facing you with white “flea” stitches. The reverse side of the fabric is EXACTLY the same, but white with red “flea” stitches. How do you do that? Double...

This holiday season a group of us are planning a Dickens of a Christmas blog hop:

* April of 21st Century Housewife
* Ken of Ken Albala’s Food Rant and many, many books about food which you should check out
* Heather of Mama O Knits too Much, CraftLit and the upcoming pattern book What Would Madame Defarge Knit?
* Margo of Hat Shadows, a professional milliner for film, theater, opera and ballet. She teaches hatmaking courses so check out her blog!
* Diana of A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
* Annette of Sustainable Eats
* Sarah of XX , a print journalist, food blogger and author of an upcoming book about the home canning revolution?

There will be recipes for the traditional foods Dickens wrote of in A Christmas Carol, or recipes that would have been found in Victorian England around the holidays. There will be a professional reading of the story available as a podcast. There will be giveaways, themed knitting patterns and quite possibly hats! There may be smoking bishop and suet cooked in organs. And there will certainly be much making of merry.

I just love this. Atomic Shrimp – Lost Gloves. It’s completely goofy, but there’s just something about it that warms my heart. I don’t know, something about the community of the interwebs, all out there finding new homes for lost gloves. It’s all rather sweet, really. Anyway. made me smile. Hope it does for you too.

As I’ve been plagued lately by lower back pain, I, of course, assumed that everyone else had the same issue. Thus I thought it might be good to bring in a guest blogger with some actual information. Back Pain 101 In a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25% of Americans over the age of 20 reported having suffered pain that lasted 24 hours or more at least once over the past year. Among people over the age of 65,...

I don’t care how you vote (okay, I do, but not for the reasons you think) and I don’t get political on this blog, but I do get “family” on this blog. So. Please encourage your friends and family to vote today. Just not with their feelings. Encourage everyone to vote with their heads. Ignore the hype. Ignore the attack ads. Look at the documentation from the League of Women voters–they’re sane. If you know...

I do! I’m making more and finally found a scientifically sound post on the set point for jelly and jam. I am happy to share the site, but not going to share my apple chili jelly. It’s just how I am. Sorry about that. However, as a peace offering I’m happy to provide you the “Peace Train” v “Crazy Train” off (Yusuf v Ozzy).