Saturday, November 29, 2008

What day is it?

Photo Album and Knit & Crochet Photos updated!

First and foremost... Let's hear it for four day holiday weekends that make you forget what day it is! HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!!

Published another pattern on Ravelry!

Holiday Cheer Coaster
Holiday Cheer Coaster
Free pattern here!

A Candy A Day
I've also gotten more candies made for the garland or ornaments. I'm up to 12 now!

Scrappy Tuesdays - Week 8
Scrappy Tuesdays, Week 8. Washed that motif that my niece spit up on last week and attached it along with another I made. =P

And now for our Thankgiving wrap up...

"Okay, honey, we've been trying to get a nice picture for several minutes. Let's make this a good one... Okay, yeah, this is a pretty good one, I'm smiling and you..."

Thanksgiving 2008
"HONEY!" Leave it to the love of my life to make me have to take yet another picture of us. Haha, love you, babe! ♥


Stu's loaded baked potato salad was a hit and so was my pumpkin roll. Dad said that we should both make out dishes each Thanksgiving now. He even asked us to leave at least one more helping of each for him. Thanks for the compliments, Dad.

For more Thanksgiving pics, start here, use the browser to the right by clicking the right picture in it.

Crepes
I made crepes for brunch today! I like to call them creepees.

My creation
Some pan flippin' action for ya! (Please forgive how I look, I just woke up, haha.)


It was a really nice week, despite getting sick on Thanksgiving day and battling it over my holiday weekend. Oh well, I'd rather be sick while watching movies and crocheting or knitting instead of having to work while I feel like pew.

Stu's been pluggin' away at his blog. Check it out! Even if you aren't a gamer, the humor he adds makes it entertaining for those who are game-impaired. I enjoy reading it. Come to the Kow-side...

Hope you all had a great holiday!

Now Playing:
Natalie Merchant - Kind & Generous

Friday, November 28, 2008

Holiday Cheer Coaster - Free Crochet Pattern


Holiday Cheer Coaster

The perfect accessory to hold your cup of holiday cheer!


Size: 4.5" wide (at widest point) x 6" tall

Materials:

H hook

Worsted weight yarn in green, brown, yellow and whatever color(s) you would like for garland, bows or lights.

Yarn needle to weave in ends and to sew



Tree Body:

With green ch 19.

Row 1 - sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across to end, ch 1, turn.

Row 2 - sc first 2 sc tog, sc to last 2 sc, sc last 2 sc tog, ch 1, turn.

Row 3 through 18 - Repeat rows 1 and 2, crocheting in every stitch on odd numbered rows and sc 2 tog on each end of even rows.

Border - Ch 1, sc evenly around tree edge, ss to first sc, finish off, weave in ends.


Trunk:

Holding the tree body upside down, find the middle 12 stitches of the bottom and mark each side of them.

Row 1 - (still holding tree body upside down) w/ brown, attach to the first of the 12 center stitches w/ sc, sc to end of center stitches where end marker is, ch 1, turn.

Row 2 - sc in each stitch across, ch 1, turn.

Row 3 & 4 - Repeat row 2.

Finish off, weave in ends.


Star:

With yellow, ch 1, turn chain.

Round 1 - 5 sc in first ch.

Round 2 - (ss, sc, ss) in the first sc, repeat for the remaining 4 scs, finish off.

Sew star to top of tree.


Garland, bows, lights:

For the garland, I just top stitched however I thought looked right, back and forth across the tree. It took me a couple tries. Do what looks good to you. (I chose to do garland because it seemed the safest for my baby niece, which is who I design my coasters for. She loves to play with them.)

For bows, I suggest hooking a short piece of yarn through the tree body so that the two ends are in front, then tying them in a knot and trimming it up. You could even unravel the yarn ends to give them a fuller look.

For lights, I suggest hooking a short piece of yarn through the tree body so that one end is in the front and one in the back, then tie a tight knot (or knot the same piece several times) on either side and trim up the ends.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

I have a feeling...

I suspect this is going to be a long post. So, please enjoy! I know I enjoyed writing it for you. =)

Photo Album and Knit & Crochet Photos updated!

Scrappy Tuesdays - Week 7
Here's week 7 on the Scrappy Tuesdays afghan. I would have had one more motif, but I let my baby niece play with it and she spit up on it. So, I'll need to wash it. I need to make her more coasters so I'm not offering her my projects while she visits me. >.<

I’m all over the place with this. I keep trying to make motifs and a layout that is asthetically pleasing, but that just makes things harder (and take longer). I think I’ll just start doing it random, paying no attention to what colors are where or if there are too many of a color or certain yarn in one area.

Fraggle Rock Baby
It fits! I made this hat on a Knifty Knitter loom for Danika shortly after she was born and it was SO big. Well, it fits now. But, I'm sure she's growing out of it as this picture is being taken.

A Candy A Day
Another project! Ugh, I have GOT to stop starting new projects before I finish others! I'm crocheting at least one candy per day to make Christmas tree garland or ornaments. They are really cute though, huh?!


And the big news is...

Dah, dah, dah, dah!!!
The last square was attached to Polly's bedspread tonight! The only thing left now is closing up the intersections at the corners of the squares and trimming yarn ends up!


Today's special treat... I made my first pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving at my parents'!

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
First, we beat the eggs.

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Then, add the pumpkin and dry ingredients.

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Spread it in the pan. It's really thin, I hope it turns out okay.

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Then we dust a cotton kitchen towel (no nubbies!) with powdered sugar.

By the way ladies, if you want a new set of kitchen towels, just tell your man that you need this certain kind of towel for a roll cake. But, really make the cake, so he believes you. (Haha, just kidding, honey... I love you!)

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Then we roll the hot cake in the towel and let it cool on a cooling rack. I don't have a cooling rack, so I use an upside down cake pan.

I was afaid it was gonna be too tiny, it was so skinny!

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Mixing the cream cheese filling. Mmm, yes, after spreading the filling, I cleaned out this bowl with a spoon. This filling is SO yummy!

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Unroll the cooled cake, spread the filling and rooooooooooll back up! It's so pretty for my first roll cake, isn't it?

Looks like it's not too skinny after all. It's also pretty long too!

I had the cut the ends off for it to fit in the only airtight container I had that would work.

Oh and remember that new set of kitchen towels? Just count on loosing one. The one you use to roll and cool the cake will get stained by the pumpkin, haha.

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
Here's my little cake roll, dusted with powdered sugar and in it's container, all ready to go to Mom and Dad's!

My First Pumpkin Roll!  (For Thanksgiving at my parents')
I knew Stu and myself wouldn't mind my cutting off the ends... it meant we got to do a taste test! It's so good!

And last but not least...
They're making my turkey!

They're making my turkey!!!
A lady who came across my turkey coaster pattern was great enough to send me this picture of her finished coasters and told me how much of a hit they are, "My kids have confiscated these. I can’t even use one for my drink! They are 3 and 5, and they have been playing with the turkeys in their play kitchen." How exciting! Thanks for sharing, Keri!


Another kind lady who commented on my coaster pattern mentions it in her blog here and posted pictures of her finished coasters here.

It just makes me so happy...

Now Playing:
Roseanne - Home-Ec

Monday, November 17, 2008

Ef...

I forgot to update on the Scrappy Tuesdays afghan last post... so here it is...

Scrappy Tuesdays - Week 6
Again, as in week 2, it was getting too late to finish that last motif, I was getting really tired and was up an hour and a half past my bedtime. So, one and 9/10 squares, haha.


Thank you and goodnight!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

C is for Cakies!

Photo Album and Knit & Crochet Photos updated.

Well, Ryn made her first cookies!

Ryn Cakie Collage
She made confetti cake mix cookies for a project in her speech class. She did really good! ♥ She started calling the cake mix cookies "cakies". It's starting to catch on in our house.

Amber Moth
This is Stu's moth pet on one of his online games... I wanna say World of Warcraft, but I'm not certain. He named it Amber, after me! Isn't she pretty?!

Peachy's Scarf
My cousin Peachy (Raechel) is knitting this scarf. It's so perfect and beautiful. I'm so proud of her! ♥

MP3 Chair
I made this out of cardboard so I can watch video on my MP3 while knitting/crocheting.

Wedding Flowers
Mom, Ryn and I went shopping for wedding flowers. We got the flowers for my bouquet, Ryn's and Christy's. I still need a few black roses though, the Walmart by my mom's didn't have any.

I tackled my first meatloaf tonight...

Meatloaf Collage
The photos in this collage were taken by Ryn. ♥

My First Meatloaf

My First Meatloaf
I made a colby cheese meatloaf and it turned out great, except...

My First Meatloaf
Lesson learned... don't do cheese stuffed meatloaf in a cake pan. Next time, I'll see to it that the cheese has no escape route to melt flat and burn.

Stu's Dude
So this is Stu, doing programming for school! He's using those programs that you always see in animation extras on your DVD's. Ya know, the ones where it just looks like a wire frame of the object and it can be moved and manipulated. It's rad!!!

Stu's Dude
This is the "dude" he made.


And last but not least...

Ryn is now in the Honors Society! Congrats Ryn!


In needlework news...

I only have one square left for Polly's bedspread!


Now Playing:
Roseanne - Becky, Beds & Boys

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Finger Sweater (Crochet Version) - Free Crochet Pattern


Finger Sweater - Crochet Version

Finger Sweater - Crochet Version


I made this at the request of a crocheter on Ravelry who saw my originial (knit) finger sweater and asked for a crochet version pattern.


Pattern is for size 9 finger, but can be easily adjusted for your finger and yarn. Just size by loosely wrapping the foundation chain around your finger before proceeding and adjust accordingly.

Materials:
worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver in Wedgewood.)
G hook

ch 12

Row 1 - Without twisting chain, sc in first ch of foundation chain (mark first st in row if it helps you), (1 sc in each ch) 10 times.

Work in continuous rounds now and throughout.

Row 2 - sc 11.

Row 3-5 - Repeat row 2.

Finish off, weave in ends.

Loading... 72% Complete

Photo Album and Knit & Crochet Photos updated!

Ryn and I had a Mommy/Daughter sleepover last Saturday. I even packed an overnight bag, came to the door and we stayed in her room all night, just like a real sleepover. We knit, watched Friends and Roseanne. Then we had apples and peanut butter and fell asleep watching Corpse Bride. I should've gotten pictures. We plan on doing it once a month now, so I'm sure I'll get pictures soon. I had a lot of fun!

I wrote another pattern and published it on Ravelry...

Gobble Coaster
You can find the story of the design, the pattern and more pictures here.

Scrappy Tuesdays - Week 5
I didn't do any motifs for my Scrappy Tuesdays blanket during week 3 & 4 due to Halloween planning and events. I finished two motifs this week. It's so ugly it's cute. I ♥ it!

Hahahahaha!
I bought this shirt for Danika, I couldn't resist. My dad just about fell out of his chair laughing when he saw it... he could hardly breathe, he was laughing so hard.

Twisty Hair Bun
Just a little twisty hair bun fun.

Ryn's Binding Off!
Ryn learned to bind off today! Doesn't her knitting look great? I'm proud of her! ♥
Ryn's Binding Off!


Stu is doing a lot more design stuff on the computer for school now. He just recently made a simple scene of trees and wood piles from pictures of textures that he took of things close up in our house. It's awesome! I'm so proud of him too! ♥

Now Playing:
Roseanne - Boo