News From the Nest, January 24

Good Morning, my friends!

We are coming off of a lovely weekend!

The weekend started with an ice storm Friday. I know that sounds bad, but in my area, it really wasn’t. We had prepared for something much worse; we had the generator filled, food in the pantry, etc. Schools and businesses were closed, so no one really had to go anywhere. It ended up being one of those days where I had permission to stay in and stay warm…and knit!

The ice melted in time for us to join our fantastic Game Night crew Saturday night for an outstanding dinner, a fun game, and a much-needed night of laughter. And then, we had another wonderful dinner of laughter, good fun, and love with mom last night!

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• Several months ago, my brother asked me to mend two of his cashmere sweaters which had served as a moth-buffet. I finally got around to mending them this weekend and documented the process in this post in case you find yourself with moth holes in your favorite sweaters. It’s surprisingly easy and a very effective mend, you’ll be surprised how almost invisible the mended area is.

• But then, I did a thing. I decided I would do a little research into these little critters so that I could tell my brother how to avoid the damage in the future. That ended up being a combined lesson in ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ AND ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ I had always assumed it was moths that eat clothes, which is bad enough. But then I learned that it was actually their larvae after the moth laid its eggs in the cloths, that chew the holes. For some reason, for me, the thought of larvae crawling and chewing through my sweaters is MUCH yuckier than a moth chomping away. And then, if you do get moths/larvae in your closet, it’s not an easy fix to get rid of them. So, while I have no reason to believe that we have moths in our closets, I am going to be proactive in preventing them from coming in the first place. I’ve laid out everything I learned and what I am going to do to prevent clothe eating moths in this post.

O.K., enough talk about bugs.

• It seems that there were a BUNCH of you tackling your bedroom and bathroom clutter this past weekend! Holy cow, that page received quite a few visits.
• Looking for some easy Valentine’s Day Treats? Heart-shaped chocolate bark and Chocolate Truffles are all chocolatey deliciousness!

• Is 2022 the year you want to learn how to make jam, jelly, preserves, conserves, etc? This Jelly & Jam Making 101 post gives you the basics and links to related recipes.
• Gwenn has a new grandbaby! She used our Cloverleaf Blanket pattern and this Baby Shimmer yarn. If you can’t get the Shimmer in your area, this yarn is very similar, just without the ‘shimmer’ thread throughout.

• If you are knitting gifts, make sure to nab these printable labels to tell the recipient how to care for their knitted treasure.

• Warm, Cozy and Nourishing Meals for these cold months.
  • Hearty Beef Soup
  • 15-Bean Soup with Smoked Turkey
  • Creamy Turkey Soup
  • Brothy Beans

• Are you familiar with Arepa? If you don’t know what an Arepa is, don’t feel bad.  Neither did I. But all that changed when Terry and I had dinner at a new Latin restaurant in town. Arepas are very simply flat cornbread, almost like thick tortillas, that hail from South America, specifically Venezuela and Colombia. I was intrigued so did a little research on this new food. The fact that arepas are gluten-free was a big plus for me as I am always looking for gluten-free bread options. And, they are easy to make and are a great substitute for bread.

• Does your cast iron need a little love? How I brought my cast-iron back to top form!

Well, friends, I am signing off. I would love to finish this too cute baby blanket today! Think polka dots and pom poms! Hope to publish this post and pattern in the near future.

Hugs,

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!