a new adventure!

Hi friends! We woke up to snow! Today will be spent being cozy on the couch, knitting, with Berny :)

I thought I had written about my new adventure, but I just looked back through the posts and realize I haven't! So, my adventure is that I'm learning how to .......

........................ drum roll ..............................

SPIN YARN! 

A lot of friends on Instagram are spinners and I'm so envious of their gorgeous handspun yarns! And it makes me really excited to think about knitting with yarn that I've spun - I think that's the coolest thing. Ever. I'm learning on a drop spindle and roving that I purchased from Joseph's Coat:

I honestly can't remember what kind of wool this is, but I want to say it's BFL. There are little seeds and bits of grass in it... which I kind of like because it gives the wool a natural feeling, yet, I don't want it in my yarn! I had an option to take a class with the LYS owner, but for now, I think I will practice on my own. I borrowed a few spinning books from the library and have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube. I really like Tanya's 'Learn to Draft Fiber' video:



(Tanya is also the owner of A Yarn Loving Mama Etsy shop and has beautiful handmade drop spindles, roving, and stitch markers)

I've spun about half of the blue roving so far! My first spindles-worth is lumpy, uneven, and has too much spin in it - but I'm going to keep it :) I started again, being more mindful of keeping it smooth and putting less spin in. It is slow going because I don't practice every day... I think that might change because I just received this gorgeous hand-dyed roving from Amanda at Pretty Penny Fiber Arts:

So lush! They are incredibly squishy and smooth and beautiful... I just love them. I am peeing myself because I want to spin them so badly, but I also don't want to undo their perfect little braids!

Stay warm and safe out there!

What's tater, precious?

Fiiinally writing about my goals for this new year :) I added a new page link (under the header) to keep track of my progress.

One of my goals this year is to make more homemade meals. It's not that we eat out a lot, but it's really easy to fall back on canned soups or chili, and I'd really like to cook more healthy. I won't share every single meal, but maybe the recipes that are new and delicious. I've started planning the week's meals and shopping for all the ingredients on one day. And holy cow has it helped! It means I'm more conscious about only grocery shopping one day a week, stocking up on pantry staples, and using up produce before they expire. It takes some strain off me too, because when I get home from work, I already know what to cook. And since Scott is always home before me, he can start prepping.

So, to start it off, we made Skinnytaste's Baked Potato Soup the other night:

it was very good and very easy! The main ingredients are potatoes and cauliflowers! Crazy, huh? You end up cooking them until tender, then pureeing, and that's added to the chicken broth and milk. I like this soup because it isn't heavy or greasy, but the cauliflower helps to add body. I also learned you can cook a potato in the microwave :)


I hope you all have a great weekend! I started a pair of stripey green socks that I will be knitting on today.

Jesse

Hi friends!

This post is more along the lines of what I had in mind to break my absence. Thank you everyone who sent me a message yesterday about my weird experience. Your thoughts and comments calmed my nerves and I slept very soundly last night :)

A few things I've been working on:

Woodland sampler; can't wait for February!

And I finished my Zombie Vixen mitts for the Instagram KAL!  

I love how dramatic the light makes the cables!

this one is slightly awkward because it looks like I don't have a pinky

Pattern: Zombie Vixen Mitts by Susan Claudino
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in colorway 705
Needles: 2.25 mm


It was a fun KAL and the variety of colors used was awesome! Self-striping, acid green, speckled, jewelly blue...and they all looked GREAT! This was the perfect KAL project for me because I really needed the support of other knitters to finish. The cables are beautiful, but they aren't fun for me, you know? Fair Isle, garter stitch, miles of stockinette stitch, those are fun to me. But this project does give me hope that I will be able to knit cabled socks, and I have quite a few in my queue that I'd love to knit!

I used a darning needle instead of a cable needle. Some of the KALers cabled without a needle at all, and I tried it but didn't catch on. Maybe the next cable project I will try again. It was an easy to follow pattern (available for free on Ravelry), with line by line instructions for cables.


I counted my knitting totals for 2012, and by far, I knit monsters the most!

I used an app called PicFrame to do this; the best spent $0.99, seriously!

It makes me wonder what I will go knit-crazy on this year :)

Hoping everyone has a happy Tuesday,
Jesse

freaky deaky

I would have liked a different post subject to break my blogging absence. But I am really creeped out!

Ok, Scott leaves for work everyday at the same time. It's early, and I try to wake up with him but usually sleep in. Today, he left like normal and I fell back asleep. I woke up to him touching my leg and then heard him leave through the garage. I figured he forgot something and needed to come home to get it, but didn't want to wake me up. It was 7:45 am. I texted him, "Was that you?" and he writes back, "???"

O.M.G.!!!!

I checked all the doors and windows, everything was locked. Everything looked to be in order. Berny was sound asleep on the couch.

The best I can come up with is I was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, and mistook the events for reality.

But.... holy shit!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season! Time is really escaping me and once again, I have many things to share with you.

All of the Christmas knits were well appreciated, which made me feel very good. The only knit that needs reworking are dad's socks, which are too short :/ easy fix, I just don't want to look at them anymore!

My last two finished objects of 2012 were:

1. Intersections Break by Mel Ski:

It's a fast and fun knit. I used stashed bulky yarn; the pattern calls for worsted weight held single or doubled. I might tink back and knit it a bit longer; as it is, unblocked, it doesn't quite cover my ears completely.



















2. Hitchhiker by Martina Behm:



I looooove this pattern so much. It was a relief to knit something that wasn't on a time frame. The pattern is simple yet engaging, and it was perfect to knit while finishing The Night Circus (which I loved).

I received this yarn from Scott, for Christmas. It's Knit Picks Imagination in Mermaid Lagoon. I still have one skein left...

And I received the pattern from wonderful Andi. I know I will be knitting this scarf over and over, it has become my favorite.



 

A few projects I'm working on:

The Zombie Vixen mitts is a knit-a-long I've helped start on Instagram. There is also a Ravelry group with a thread dedicated to the KAL if you aren't on IG but would still like to participate!

tag with #zombievixenkal2013 :)

It is a fun pattern knit with fingering weight yarn! I've decided to try knitting them two at a time :) This is my first time using Koigu KPPPM yarn and I am so in love. It is one of the nicest yarns I've used and was definitely a splurge.

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery gals have done it again; they've designed a new cross stitch sampler that starts TODAY! It is called the Woodland Sampler. 

I've been stitching the frames and am waiting for the January's design to come out :)

and there is one more KAL I want to join, I'm just deciding on yarn. It is 22.5 Degrees by Martina Behm. I am obsessed with her designs! Garter stitch is just so smooshy. There is a Ravelry thread for the KAL too :)

I will be back soon with a few Christmas photos.
Happy 2013 friends :)

I have been meaning to blog for some time but December is flying by!! I'm sure a lot of you are also feeling this way.

So many things have happened this month. How about a fly-by blog post with a ton of photos?

1. We celebrated Erin's birthday at our last Book/Craft Club

Emily made yummy lemon bars to celebrate

and Abbey kind of worked on her girl owl:

it's funny, Abbey has been working on this owl for months but it never seems to change ;) bwaha

the spread was amazing, as usual:

Our next book is Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which looks very interesting and fun.

2. I received a wonderful wooly package from my dear friend, Lorri, in the UK:

Both hanks are incredibly delicious! I'm still undecided what to knit with them, but I think a little shawl with the green hank would be gorgeous.

3. We also celebrated my second brother's birthday:

4. Scott's mom performed in a Jubilation bell concert:

It was beautiful and tinkly-sounding and so lovely to experience. I tried to YouTube a good video of people playing bells, but a scary video of an exorcism came up in the results and freaked me out (see for yourself: YouTube "bell concert church" and it's at the top O.o) 

5. I fiiiiiinally turned the heel on dad's socks and am on the foot:

6. Our Book Club's First Annual Holiday Switchy Switch was last weekend and it was amaaaaazing!!! Of course, I didn't take photos, but here are some of the wonderful crafts I was gifted, and some handmade items I purchased from my crafty friends:

I am in love with these t-shirt coasters made by Autumn!! Thanks Autumn, and Erin for letting me have them :)

The following pairs of earrings are from my friend, Shari:

They are all gorgeous and I love them!

And this beautiful necklace was made by Katie! I LOVE sand dollars!

It was such a wonderful day spent with the best people. We watched Christmas movies, stuffed our faces, exchanged gifts, CRAFTED, and some of us took naps. I am truly thankful to have such beautiful ladies in my life.


That's all for now, happy Wednesday!

FO: Holly, Ivy, and Bunneh, and Owlies

The finished trio for my mom!

grandma's old ornaments; they are glass and I have no idea how old, but I LOVE them!

Holly:

Ivy:

Bunny nugget:

and the bunny I first knit is on the tree:

I would love to knit a ton of these bunnies for the tree! I have been knitting a lot of them, only I keep giving them away!


I also knit these Owls for Autumn! She's having a baby girl soon and she loves owls:

Pattern: Owl Puffs by Jenna Krupar
Yarn: Stash worsted weight, mostly Patons Classic Wool
Needles: US 5
Mods: none! The pattern is very quick to knit and easy to follow. Knit from bottom up, and closed with Kitchener stitch.


So this will be a super busy and fun week: there's Book Club on Wednesday, Holiday Switchy-Switch on Saturday (a full day event: our Book Club's holiday party where we will eat a lot, watch Christmas movies, craft, and give handmade gifts!), and for everyone in school, it's Finals Week!


How cute is this ornament?? I might have to make some, as well as all the others in her ornament series! Arg, I had better get moving. Why is it that when I have so much to do, I procrastinate the hardest?


Happy Monday! Stay warm.

More FOs

It is a gray Monday here, so I spent the morning baking these Cheesy Quinoa bites!

Autumn made them for us at the Halloween book/craft club; they are incredibly good, and I will be making these all the time now!

The recipe (which I basically copy and pasted from the email Autumn sent! I believe she found the recipe on Pinterest?)

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

Makes 28 bites

 

-2 cups cooked quinoa

-2 large eggs

-1 cup shredded carrot

-2 stalks green onion, diced

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-2 Tbs all-purpose flour

-1/2 tsp seasoning salt

-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together quinoa, carrot, egg, green onion, garlic, cilantro, cheese, flour, salt and pepper.

3. Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes

 

I ended up omitting the cilantro and green onion because I didn't have any on hand. I did add a bit of chopped red onion. Also, I used a regular size muffin tin since I don't have a mini muffin tin, which left me with a little bit of mix still. So by the tablespoon, I scooped little balls of mix on a greased cookie sheet. Worked just fine! I did cook the muffin tin cheese bites for about 25 minutes I think. I highly recommend making these!!

 

My knitted Christmas gifts bag is filling up slowly!

Dot:

a Rebecca Danger pattern

Honegart:

loooooove this pattern!

Pattern: Stephen West
Yarn: Knit Picks Biggo in Sapphire Heather and Green Tea Heather
Needles: US 9 and 10
Mods: I just did one pattern repeat before decreases

This is the second hat I'm giving Scott. The colors might be too bold for him, but I really like them. This is a great unisex hat pattern, and I will be knitting many more! Maybe not out of Biggo though... the bulky cables killed my hands.

A fun group of ornaments!:

Holly and Ivy, and a bunny nugget

I still have one monster left to complete the trio, but I am dreading it because it's a three-color striped one! Eek. Maybe I will use self-striping yarn... These guys are sitting on Turn A Square, kind of a nice seat don't you think?

Cross stitch progress:

Yikes, I need to get ready for work! Too much fun baking and eating and blogging :) Hope you all have a wonderful week!

FOs

Oops, I meant to post this on Friday! Oh well, leaves me room to add things :)

Holly:

the trio will be for mom

Christmas Cafe au Lait:

for my cousin

This was such a great pattern! The texture is awesome, and they are a nice, snug fit - which I love.

 Cross stitch update, I'm finished with week two:

The more I stitch, the more I love it! Each square seriously is cuter than the last.

And last but not least, I'm currently working on the second monster of the trio, Ivy, and reading a new book!

I am such a fan of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling (you probably knew that already) so I am incredibly excited that she wrote another book! I read a lot of negative reviews on the book, but I will see for myself. Part of me thinks people will hate just to hate, especially since she's had so much success. It's a darker book, that's for sure.

I hope all you of enjoy your weekend! It seems like it will be wet and chilly here.

Kawaii

It was a good weekend for my Kawaii Winter Wonderland sampler, I completed three squares! (I finished Day 9 after I took this photo). Day 9, incidentally, might be my favorite so far! But the penguin is super cute too! Basically whichever square I finish most recently is my favorite :)

It is a bad weekend, however, because I am sick. It started Saturday night; I was achy and cold and tender and my throat was sooo sore. The worst I felt was definitely last night. Today has been better, but I still feel lethargic and cold at times. And now Scott has the chills.

We've been watching a fair amount of films lately: Brave, Midnight in Paris, and Total Recall, and I'd recommend all!  

• Brave is obviously cute and a well animated Pixar movie, and an instant favorite for me.  
• Midnight in Paris is very interesting, starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, about a couple who visits Paris. Owen Wilson's character is an actor who is an aspiring writer, and is transported back into time to meet his literary heroes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as artists Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. The conflict happens when he falls in love with a gal (from the 1920s) and realizes he doesn't love his fiance, although, from the start McAdams and Wilson don't really have chemistry....  
• Total Recall is a good sci-fi thriller. It runs in the same vein of Inception and The Matrix, what is reality? but takes its own approach. (it appears this is a remake of a 1990 film also called Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). 

 Whew! I didn't mean to write so much about movies. But a few new movies I do want to see are Life of Pi, The Hobbit, and Cloud Atlas!

How about some crafty love?

• Noodlehead's tiny tree ornaments made from fabric scraps are so cute
• I love Andi's hexagon afghan, it is stunning
• This stripey, slouchy hat of Kepanie's is just perfect
• Check out Ellen's fabulous DIY yarn bag for controlling multiple strands

Are you watching Baltimore play Pittsburgh? Do you see Pittsburgh's throwback jerseys?! Call me crazy, but I like them. I'm in the mood for a large bowl of ice cream...what do they say about dairy and colds? Is it bad to mix them?

Looking forward to a short work week, spending time with family, and eating a LOT of good food.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends :)

WIP Wednesday

I have a few gifts in progress to show you.

The first is a pair of socks for my dad. The pattern is Simple Skyp by Adrinne Ku, and the yarn is Knit Picks Stroll sport in Midnight Heather. It is a little more blue in person; it's pretty black in the photo. I am loving this pattern!

The second gift WIP are these mitts for my cousin:

Isn't it pretty? I am in love with this mitt. The pattern is Cafe au Lait by Paula McKeever, in Ella Rae DK. I haven't cast on the second one yet, but the first only took a few days.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed by Christmas knitting, especially since I started cross stitching and that's taking half my free time :) I went idea shopping today though, and I am starting to feel a little better about the situation. I can't share what I bought today because it might be for someone who reads my blog! ;)

new craft

I couldn't resist this super cute cross stitch pattern:

photo via http://meylah.com/thefrostedpumpkinstitchery

....so I have started cross stitching! It will ultimately be a calendar for December; each week a new block will be available to stitch.

My first one! (a little hard to see the white floss)

It is entirely too addicting and Christmas knitting is being forgotten.
 

Aren't new crafts fun?!

bunny nuggets and things

Wow, I can't believe it's already November 1st! We had a pretty unspirited Halloween... no costumes, no pumpkins, no trick-or-treaters! This is the second year we've lived in this house, and we didn't have any trick-or-treaters last year either. I think because we live so close to the mall, most kids go there. Scott and I have been having a Matrix marathon, and finished the third movie last night.

I was recently gifted a pattern on Ravelry by a dear and kind friend, and although I'm sure she would not mind if I mentioned her name, I will keep her anonymous. I just wanted to say thank so much, you are a wonderful being, and I was absolutely floored that you did this! The pattern is Hitchhiker, one that I've wanted to knit for some time, and now Hitchhiker and this wonderful RAK will always be synonymous in my mind!

A few things off the needles recently:

Bunny nuggets!

Pattern: Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport in Sunny Day
Needles: 2.50 mm
Mods: none! super cute. I used 6 mm safety eyes and glued little pom poms for a tail instead of making one.

Starting a new book, the first physical book I've picked up in a long time

Daybreak! Will have an actual photo shoot soon...

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West
Yarn: Knit Picks Chroma fingering in Galapagos and Stroll in Dove Heather
Needles: US 4

Mods: none!! Perfect size after blocking, not too big or small, just right.

for Aunt Linda...first Christmas present knit!

Pattern: Cranberry Sauce by Brittany Tyler
Yarn: Knit Picks Cadena in Cranberry
Needles: US 9 & 10 1/2
Mods: none, but it is a little short. Good news is I didn't run out of yarn like I thought I would!


That's about it, hope you are all enjoying your week!
Thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Socks for Lorri

These socks were sent to the UK, and since my friend has received them, I must share photos!

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL
Needles: 2.25 mm
Modifications: Magic Loop

The texture is hard to see in the first photo, but you can see it above. I think this pattern benefits with a lighter color yarn :)

This was my 13th pair of socks for the year!