Friday, December 30, 2011

Someone's Turning One!

Patchwork Jeans
I love my new sewing machine! It has 25 different stitches and an attached needle threader. It's just like an arm with a VERY tiny hook that goes through the needle. When I threaded the needle with that fantastic thing I told Little Miss, "Oh, my! Mommy like!" I'm sewing some patchwork, drawstring pants from old jeans that have worn out in places. I hope to make lots of patchwork clothes for Mo and I from clothes she grows out of and clothes that I wear out to save us some money and have fun expressing my hippie side!

Birthday Treats
I got Mo's cake and the guest cupcakes baked for her birthday party on Sunday. That's right folks, she turning 1. Can you believe it?!?! That's red velvet cupcakes and white cake and six white cupcakes, by the way.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

New Background

My background stopped working, so I had to find a new one.

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011
Mo opening her first Christmas gift ever.

Christmas 2011
Kate got the camera she wanted.

Christmas 2011
I got a sewing machine! Now I can sew a buncha things to help save us even more money and make gifts for people!

Christmas 2011
Stu got the complete Star Wars Saga on Bluray.

Cinnamon Rolls
I made cinnamon rolls with Jiffy baking mix, since we already had everything for them on hand, including the baking mix. They turned out tiny and biscuit textured. They weren't what I expected, but still good. I will bake big puffy ones next year.

Lavender Mitts
I just finished knitting these hand mitts for Morgana. She refuses to keep her hands in my coat or the sling when we go for our daily walk, so I made her these.

Oh, and I have to license and DBA my Etsy shop before I actally open it and it's gonna cost a pretty penny. So, that's been put on hold for now. But, don't give up on me yet, it'll happen!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve Eve

The day before Christmas Eve was a bit busy...

Split Pea Soup
I made split pea soup. One of my knit friends held a meeting a her house and served this delicious soup. Hubby and Teen Miss loved it! I will definitely be making it again.

Blue's Clues
Little Miss watching Blue's Clues on the laptop while I make pfeffernuse.
Blue's Clues

Grandma's Pfeffernuse
I probably mentioned it last year, but... My Dad's Mom passed away last year from cancer. She would mail some of these cookies to my parents' house every year for Christmas. I thought this Christmas cookie tradition shouldn't die with her. So, I got the recipe from my Mom and made them last Christmas. This is my second year making them.

Grandma's Pfeffernuse

Knit Belly Bunny
I had accidentally made an extra square in each color for Morgana's blanket, so I made a bunny out of garter stitch squares! His ears are the squares folded in half into a triangle and the end of each ear is open. Little Miss likes to shove her hand in there, lol. I think I'll wrap him up and put him under the tree from me tonight.

Knit Belly Bunny
Uhhh... there's someone in my project shot.

Monday, December 19, 2011

This is what I'm watching on TV tonight while I knit and the baby plays with her toys. A fireplace on Xfinity On Demand, set to soft holiday music.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Lazy Sunday

Wearing Down For Morning Nap
Wearing Down For Morning Nap
...in the homemade mei tai from a pair of lounge pants.

Double Thick Crochet Kitchen Sponges
Double Thick Crochet Kitchen Sponges
I prefer the size, shape and feel of sponges over dishcloths, so I made these. Made to save the environment and us some money.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Made for the holiday cookie exchange for my knit meeting yesterday. They turned out delightfully delicious!

Now, I'm going to print a few pictures of Morgana for my Grandma. She asked for them last week and I hadn't gotten to them yet. Then, I will be knitting Morgana's blanket. I'm to the border now!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Freeze Frame!

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Saturday, December 10, 2011

There's a reason this pattern was written for a furry yarn.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

I'm crocheting washable kitchen sponges to save us money.

I put up the tree earlier this week. I decorated it last night.

I'm now doing the edging for Morgana's blanket. Don't try the yarn taped to needles thing I posted about before. It doesn't work. Hard to get the yarn off the yarn cable onto the needles and other issues. I'm just going to edge top and bottom, then each of the sides. It'll just be easier that way.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Sunday, December 4, 2011

I'm putting the border on Little Miss's blanket now and was having a hard time with the length that my interchangable circular cables being too short. Interchangeable needle, a little scotch tape and a looooong piece of yarn... Voila! Custom length cable!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Bread's done. The crust is really crunchy, so I put it in a closeable container while still warm, hoping the heat and moisture will soften it.

Little Miss wanted to eat the bread right out of the oven... "Okay, Mom, I got my spoon... Ennnhh! Can you bring it closer? I can't reach it."

This our bandana fort. We've had quite a lot of fun crawling to chase each other around the "door" and peaking at each other through the gaps.

Breads on their second rise. I was scared at first because the dough wasn't rising, then I realized it wasn't warm enough and I put the bowl over a bowl of boiling water and voila! Now I'm doing the same thing for the second rise. I only have one good loaf pan, so the other is going to be a round loaf.

First time making bread. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

She's perfectly happy stealing my socks and flingin' them around.

That blur is not a ghost, it's my sock.

Told you I can't stop baking. I still had some spice cake mix left, so I did an apple crumble. This is after the initial attack by my family.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Etsy In Progress

My Etsy shop is getting closer to its grand opening! I have my shop policies up, just got my bank account verified for paypal today, so that's all set up. Now, I just have to link my paypal to Etsy and get all my patterns typed!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Baking Fever!

Biscotti Batch #2
Second batch of biscotti in a month. I can't stop baking... we're in trouble.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Fruit crisp is done!

Pumpkin roll is done!

I'm also making a fruit crisp to use up some apples, oranges and bananas before they go bad. Also using what's left of the spice cake mix from the pumpkin rolls.

Making pumpkin roll. This one is just for us. I made one for Thanksgiving at my parents' yesterday.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I whipped up some sweet pumpkin soup with some of the leftovers from making my pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving at my parents'. I make the roll every year. The soup turned out delish and I plan to use the left over heavy cream to make a whipped topping for the soup!

The front view. Being able to spread these extra wide straps over the chest and shoulders makes baby wearing max comfy! Forgive my weird face, I was being silly with Little Miss.

My homemade mei tai. It didn't turn out exactly how I planned because my cheap machine couldn't go through all the shoulder strap pleats in the original design. I made it with sheets I found in the thrift store. It's not as finished looking as I imagined, but it does the job just fine.

Today's yarn braid practice. I'm getting better! Tomorrow I'll try some at the back of my head somewhere to master blind parting.

First Cheerio!

First Cheerio!