What do you do without power? You knit!

This past weekend was quite the adventure. We got hit full on with the ice storm that pounded the entire central Massachusetts area. We lost power on Thursday and didn't get it back until late on Friday. We are one of the lucky ones. The kennel still does not have power. A generator was hooked up to give heat and water for the dogs but it's just bare bones. There are still many trees down and the power lines at the top of our street are still laying across it. We still have no phone or TV, but we have heat. That is all I can ask for! It is amazing to drive around the area and see the shear number of trees and limbs down. Driving over the weekend was like an obstacle course. I am truly thankful we escaped any damage to our house.

So, stuck at home Friday with no power, I managed to crank out the knits. I finished the Boyfriend Socks aka Hubby socks.

I love how they came out. It has been mailed down to Hubby in Georgia to see if it fits before I start on the second sock. There is a lot of ribbing in the sock, so I'm hoping its a bit of a forgiving pattern if I didn't size it correctly!

I also knit a hat for my dad. He was our savior this weekend. He and my mom drove out on Friday with a propane heater to help keep us from freezing! We didn't end up needing it, but I think it was the mere presence of the heater turned ours back on! So, I knit him a new hat.

He works from home in the chilly basement, so he wears a hat all day in the house. Right now, he wears the Fake Isle hat I knit a while back, but it is a bit big. I'm hoping this one will fit him better. It's the Turn a Square hat - thanks to Sarah for letting me try hers on! It was a really quick knit. I finished it in less than a day and have now started a second one for me! It needs a good blocking at the decreases, but I like how it turned out. The yarns are Lang Polar and the burgundy is Patons Classic. Both leftovers. A great stashbuster!

Sunday I took Ace herding. We haven't been in about a month, so he was super excited! He did remember some things from before, and once he settled down, he did very well.

We go back again on Saturday, so I'm hoping that going more often will help focus his mind a bit more so we can get down to working quicker and not have as much "frantic" time. It is a lot of fun though, as Ace's enthusiastic barking confirms!

My other adventure was on the culinary front. A while back, I tried to make my own marshmallows. Let's just say it was so much less than successful. The cold weather and need for cocoa warranted another try. This time, I had a much better result.

They came out perfect. I love the taste. Not sickening sweet or grainy like packaged marshmallows, but creamy with a subtle sweetness and nice vanilla flavor. I used this recipe, but there are a bunch out there. Next I want to try peppermint flavored ones - I think they'd be perfect in cocoa!