Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Yarn Along

Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting/crochet projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to this week...
Reading: Truth be told, I haven't gotten even one page further in this book than last week:0) Still one I want to read, just haven't had time this week for it.

Crochet: I just started 'In Bloom Beret' designed by Brittney Waterhouse for my daughter yesterday. This is another project that I promised to do for her last autumn. It always takes me a day or so to work out learning something new again, so I've been playing with the pattern a bit and think I have the hang of it now:) This one should prove to be a pretty quick project, which is good since she's already decided that she wants a second one in another color. (**I just have to say what fun it is to have my 17 year old actually requesting that I knit and crochet things for her!!**)

Knitting: I got the 'bonnet' portion done on Patsy's Bonnet!! It will still need the string (i-cord) and flower decorations attatched.
I took the above picture just to show that at this point in the project I was semi-happily using dpns. That could not be said for the majority of this project!!! I think I'm going to need lots more practice with dpns before it becomes a comfortable practice:)  
I was trying to show the shape of the 'hat' here, but I'm thinking I will try and get my daughter to model it for me once it's all done:) 

That is all for this week, what are you working on? 

Sunday, October 23, 2016

October FNSI

Friday was FNSI hosted by Wendy over at Sugarlane Designs. It is night (or day, or weekend as it was in my case) to sit down and finish up a sewing project or two, knowing you are in good compan with others doing the same thing:) This month I DID sew on Friday night, but that was because I found a mistake I made in my project and ended up needing more time to work on it. I actually needed more time than I thought since I just finished it up this morning:) I started this project long, long ago...
This picture is from over a year and a half ago!! This design is from Gail Pan and can be found in her book Patchwork Loves Embroidery as can the pattern for the bag that it was designed for. THAT is what really took me forever. I love to embroider, but don't love the sewing bit quite as much. Add to that my missing bits of the instruction along the way (the instructions are wonderfully detailed and easy to follow, if only you actually follow them!!).
One mistake made the back of the bag 1/2 inch shorter than the front. This, thankfully, was an easy fix!! 

All-in-all if I had only just sat down and worked on this, it wouldn't have taken nearly so long, and I would have had this beautiful bag to carry around with me all this time...
I LOVE it!!! This is going to get so much use:)

Off to see what others worked on!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Yarn Along

Yeah!! Another Yarn Along Day!! Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to this week...
Reading: I just started up this series by Kate Jacobs. So far it's been a very sweet book, hoping it continues to be a nice easy read as there are 2 other in the series that I'd like to read as well.

Knitting: I got the curtains all knitted up!!! Still need to sew the pocket for the curtain rod, weave in ends and block it though. I'm super happy about how these turned out:)

I've also started on a 'hat' for my daughter. Technically it is an adult sized bonnet, but she won't let me call it that, even though 'bonnet' is in the name of the pattern;)  This is Patsy's Bonnet found in Custom Knits Accessories by Wendy Bernard (HERE on Ravelry). I started this one last autumn, got to the part where it goes on dpn, messed up, started over. Ha!! I never got past this...
Then when I went to pull it out to work on it I realized that even though she picked the dark brown last year, she doesn't have anything other than black jackets and a black coat. So I asked if she still wanted brown and she didn't. Now I'm doing it in the dark gray pictured above and I'm just about to the point of switching over to dpn. Wish me luck!!
I also had been working on making the crocheted rectangle that I posted a couple weeks ago, into a bag. BUT... I sewed up the sides wrong, got out the scissors to pull one side out, ended up cutting the bag yarn?!?!? I had already had my doubts about liking this as a bag, for one because it was pretty heavy and bulky. I pulled out all the yarn, re-balled it all up and it is waiting to join more yarn to eventually become a lap blanket - I think:) 

Off to see what you all have been up to!!  

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Autumn Update and a Recipe!!

We've had a rather warm Autumn so far here. A couple days have been in the 60's and I think we got into the 30's one night, but yesterday we tied a heat record at 90 degrees with a few places in Western Kansas hitting just over 100 degrees!! We are back in the 70's today with no indication that we are going to get hot again, thank goodness:)

I've been working a bit here and there to get at least a few things done on my Autumn Bucket list.
I have...
-finished knitting the curtains (they are not blocked or sewn together yet, picture will be up tomorrow)
-started on knitting dd a hat (picture tomorrow)
-working on stitching Bittersweet Lane from Blackbird Designs
-bought one book and borrowed another on knitting socks (yet to actually start on these)
-Went to a hay rack ride/hot dog roast with our homeschool 'Elevate' group (my daughter is the one standing all in black, looking at me:) This was a lot of fun!!
-bought an Autumn candle and have used about half of it now. It's 'Fall Festival' from Langley Home, I got it at Dillons/Kroger/Gerber
-Have switched out the cleaning out closets for cleaning out and rearranging a few of the kitchen cabinets that needed it really bad.
-And of course, I have found a few pumpkin/fall treats to enjoy, including these...
I made the pumpkin tea latte with Pumpkin Spice black tea from the Republic of Tea, Natural Bliss Pumpkin Spice flavor creamer from Coffee Mate and a bit of whipped topping (optional, but yummy:). I've had this quite a few times!! And I finally have a finished recipe for these muffins.

Cranberry/Apple Oatmeal Muffins

6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1/2 c. water (more or less)
2 c. ground oats (I ground mine from old fashioned oats)
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. milk
1/3 c. honey
1 c. chopped apple (1/2 to 1/4 inch chunks, I left the peal on)
3/4 c. dried cranberries

Mix the yogurt with the ground oats adding water until it's formed into a thick paste. Let sit in fridge over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place oat paste in a mixing bowl and add baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, eggs, milk and honey. Mix until all clumps are gone. I used a wooden spoon, but I'm sure you could use a mixer once you get it started. It takes a bit of work to get the clumps out. Add fruit and stir.

Pour 1/3 c. of batter in well greased muffin tin. I used muffin liners and still greased the liners. They will stick like glue if you don't:)

Bake in 350 degree oven for approx 20 min.

These are dense muffins as they are made from oatmeal, but they have a nice texture and aren't overly sweet.

This is the first time I've played with a recipe to this degree so if you try them out, let me know what you think!! Any suggestions are welcome:)

Well, I have a few more weeks before I have surgery to have my thyroid removed so I'm going to try and get several more things done on my list before then, and hope for a quick recovery (the dr said it would be quick!!), so I have time to finish up as much as I can:)

Friday, October 14, 2016

Playing in the Kitchen

Just popping in to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth:) I keep trying to get projects done before I post them and I got all slowed up last week because of Dr. appointments and my daughter's crazy schedule!! :)

It looks like I'm going to have to revamp my Autumn Bucket list as it turns out that a surgery I had hoped to avoid won't be avoidable. It's an easy surgery, having my right thyroid removed, but it will slow things down for a bit, so a few things will probably get moved aside. I have a few weeks before that happens, though, so I have been busy trying out some of my goals. The last couple of days I've been playing in the kitchen working on coming up with a healthy, but also yummy Apple/Cranberry Oatmeal muffins. The first ones were sweet, but dry and didn't have enough cranberries. Today's creation...
Not sweet at all, but pretty good with a drizzle of honey:) 
These are very moist (maybe a bit too much), had more cranberries, but weren't sweet at all. I added almost the same amount of honey but since the first ones were a bit sweeter than they needed to be I added a little less honey this time. I think the issue is that I soaked the ground oatmeal in plain Greek yogurt overnight in the fridge this time. Plain Greek yogurt is pretty sour so I think I needed the extra honey to combat that. Also, I think I need to add less milk when mixing it as the batter was a little soupy. I will give it another try and see how they turn out. Hopefully I will have a workable recipe to give you next week!!

Next up in the kitchen will be hot pepper jelly. I have soooo many red jalapenos and Serrano peppers in the garden, it's time to do something with them!! That will be a post for next week:)

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Yarn Along

I'm joining in on this week's Yarn Along hosted by Ginny from Small Things. For this KAL we post what knitting projects we are working on as well as what books we are currently reading. Here is an over-view picture of what I've been up to this week...
Reading: I finished The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee which was a great read and I highly recommend it:) I gave up on Deliverance From Evil, turns out I wasn't in the mood for a darker story. But then I picked out Before You Leap from Amazon's freebie of the month. It really hasn't been too dark yet, but I think we are getting there. Good story that is keeping my attention though, so I'm pretty sure I'll get through this one:) 

Yarn: About half way done with the second panel of my curtains!! Hoping these will be done by next week. And I got the crocheting done on what will become a carry around bag. Still not sure what I'm going to do about handles yet - nylon strap, crocheted strap, fabric strap that will match the lining??? We will see...

That's all from me today. I'm working away on my Autumn Bucket List, hoping to have an update on Monday:)