I have an unprecedented three pairs of socks on the needles right now. One pair is done using intarsia and I hope to get lots of technique photos and info for the blog.

Lately DH and I have been fantasizing about moving to remote Jemez Springs. It is about as far away from his job as our house now in the other direction and he'd get to avoid driving in the big city altogether. Jemez Springs is about halfway between Rio Rancho and Los Alamos and is notorious for a now closed treatment center for priests.

I think it is the 2nd most beautiful place in NM I've seen (My #1 choice is Taos Ski Valley) and certainly the most colorful. The red rocks are the reddest I've ever seen. Here's the view across from the Walatowa Visitor Center on the Jemez Pueblo. I was really rushing to get photos but next time I'll get some photos of the Pueblo itself and all the hornos (outdoor clay ovens) in the yards for baking bread. The Jemez Pueblo is also famous for some very colorful pottery.



Here is the Jemez Springs bath house. The town also boasts 3 or 4 funky restaurants, a Zen Buddhist center, and some art galleries. Although there is a nearby winery and even an alpaca ranch the nearest grocery store is 30 miles away.



Here is main street. The town has around 375 residents with an alternative vibe and reminds me a bit of either Madrid, New Mexico or Dolores, Colorado. It even has a little river running through it.



Recreational opportunities abound and DH would be in heaven hiking and cross-country skiing. There's even a nearby alpine lake (a rarity in NM). This photo is the Valles Caldera National Preserve north of Jemez Springs - it is a massive collapsed volcanic crater.

the ultimate brownie

I found a Nigel Slater book (The Kitchen Diaries) at the library with a recipe for the richest, most chocolatey brownies I have yet tasted.

The recipe is also available online here. If you would like the substitutions for the ingredient amounts, this is what I used:

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 lb butter

2 T butter

9 oz chocolate pcs. (70% cocoa solids)

3 lrg eggs + 1 egg yolk

1/2 cup flour + 2 T flour

1/2 cup cocoa + 2 T cocoa

3/4 tsp baking powder

Oven 350 degrees

Enjoy!

[Warning: One brownie has 327 calories, 82% of which are from fat]

This weekend, I have mostley been....

Unpick's and new knits, I have been unpicking the old to make way for the new. Thanks Leana (Knit lab) an old scarf that was in a donation of wool. I like to think of the story of why and where the knit was from (knit history)
And then to re-use it, in something modern......
An unfinished knit, deserves to get finished!.(Vintage, very cool!)

Using knits and Crochets, I want to make a new sofa blanket as we have one big crocheted one. But two children so course they fight!(Any excuse). Using up some odds and ends but all a simalar thickness.
I have made alot of 20 stitches by 20 rows square samples.
(All have of cousre have come out in different size's, depending on knit, stitch and tool!)
Not sure yet how I am going to put it together, will work on that this week coming. Once they are attached I will then edge it, with crochet to get the size of blanket required.