I can finally block my finished garments like a big girl!!!! (No more pinning towels to my guest bed) After pricing many many blocking mats….I found the best bang for my buck was at Lowes. For $16 online and one hour pick up these alphabet beauties are mine!!! I figure they can serve a dual purpose when we ever have kiddos.
Should even have a FO to slap on this baby yet this week! Happy Monday to you all!!
The hubs and I have been on the road A LOT lately. This had led to eating a lot of junk and a poorly stocked kitchen at home. This week I have been absolutely craving vegetables and good home cooked food. But alas, when opening my pantry I didn’t have a lot to work with. I did manage to find:
– tenderized beef minute steak (frozen)
– cream of mushroom soup
– brown gravy mix
– half a bag of long grain white rice
– some beef stock
– frozen bag of green beans
And dinner was born! I mixed two cans of the cream of mushroom soup with the gravy mix powder and a little fresh ground black pepper and salt. I pulled out my thawed steaks and pounded them out extra thin and laid them in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. I poured the soup combo over the meat and slid into a 350 degree oven to bake.
I put the rice in my steamer and used the stock instead of water to infuse flavor. Kinda came out looking like brown rice!?
The meat was done in about the same time as the rice (not sure exactly how long, sorry!) I served the meat and sauce over the rice and added steamed green beans for a complete dinner. All in all this cook/prep time took less than 40 minutes!
It was hearty and satisfying and according to my rough calculations, under 400 calories for the whole meal! I even got a thumbs up from my hubby! Not mention I made dinner without going to the store or drive through lane! The dogs were disappointed I didn’t spill…and they keep really good watch!
Finally some progress on stashbustin’ #7!
This pattern by the Purl Bee is addictive! This is my second go round with this pattern and its just as good as the first. This is my “calm before bed knitting”. I work a few rows every night and I’m almost done with my third stripe!
This pattern makes me think of the Peanuts cartoon for some reason. I find peace and the ability to meditate while working on it. It’s really helping me deal with my Grandmothers passing. Slow and steady progress as row after row of stitches form on my needles. Nothing complicated, just garter stitch beauty.
I’ll be sad when this blanket is finished but I can’t wait to see the end result!
Now I am off to pack for another weekend family event (a much happier one). My other grandmother is turning 80! We are going to let our hair down and stuff ourselves silly! So I’m off to land of little to no cell coverage and no wifi, see you on the other side!!
Finished my first test balaclava/stashbustin’ #8 project!
I just wanted to work with the pattern to learn the building blocks of a balaclava for the special request of my coworker Kevin. I had a skein of Bernat Denimstyle and it didn’t have enough yardage to knit the full length of the pattern as written. So I chose to knit a shorter version. My Rav page is here.
It fit my husband much better than it did me. The yarn was delightful to work with and the pattern was easy to follow. I like the seamless construction but not the all over ribbing. I think I will take out the ribbing on the neck and only keep it around the face opening to keep the fit and stretch. I will also make the cap portion a little taller and the face opening a smidgen smaller.
I really hope that I can come up with a really cool FO for my awesome co-worker. I feel under pressure because he is a wood worker and understands quality construction and the value of hand made! I’m about to cast on test #2!!
Happy Knitting!!
Digging through my stash turned up a bunch of Bernat Baby Blanket big ball. I purchased several colors of this super bulky polyester blend thinking it would make great baby presents.
I chose a sand brown color and CO on The Addictive Baby Blanket by Renee M. A few rows in I realized this yarn was not suited for this pattern. So I frogged it. Then I cast on an improvised checkerboard style blanket with seed stitch border. I really tried to make it work, but about 25 rows in I was getting perturbed!
This yarn is extremely hard to keep gauge in! And it’s mostly likely my issues. I knit pretty loosely and on top of this the yarn kept grabbing and sticking to itself. This created bumps and ugly sts in my finished work. It also lacks stitch definition in my opinion. It is super soft, washable, and bulky yarn knits so fast. I’m determined not to give up in this yarn! So I once again frogged my work….
I am doing another improvised design. I cast on 100 stitches and worked a simple K1, P1 row followed by P1, K1 row to create a seed stitch pattern. I also stop every so often and give my work a little tug (downward) to pull the stitches into place and avoid “bumps” or “lumps” in my work.
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This blanket is destined for a dear friend I grew up with. We have literally known each other our entire lives. Her baby shower is in April so I need to get cooking. Hopefully this super bulky on large needles and no brainer pattern will speed along!
Happy Knitting!
Plugging along on Stashbustin’ #6!
My Zig Zag Blanket is coming along nicely. The baby for this one isn’t due until June so I’m on a good pace. I’d say I am about half done? I’ve used two skeins and have 2-3 more to go. I’ve had a lot of time to work on this blanket for a very sad reason.
My grandmother passed last week and the hubs and I hopped into the car and spent the weekend with the family at the funeral. Grandma had been very sick for a very long time. She was 90 years old and had battled five different types of cancer. She was an amazing special lady and I’m glad she is pain free and at peace.
She was a crafter herself! I can remember working on everything from blankets to paper projects. We would bake, play dress up, and spend a lot of time in the sand box outside. She will be greatly missed but not forgotten!
On to happier news! I have a couple new WIPs to show this week, progress on my second chevron blanket, and hopefully a finished test balaclava!
Happy Knitting!
Last week one of my favorite coworkers came to me and asked if I could make a balaclava like hat/mask. He is our maintenance guy and spends a LOT of time outside. He has one that has seen better days and cant find what he wants in stores. So I said sure! He truly appreciates the amount of time and effort that god into a hand knit item. And who doesn’t like knitting for those kind of people!?!
So I did some pattern research on Ravelry. His current hat has seen better days but is a pretty basic tube neck with stocking style hat with a ribbed brim and small visor above the eye opening. I finally settled on Trav’s Balaclava by Jackie Kelley. This had the basic building blocks that I needed. I figure I can alter the pattern to what I need. I had one skein of Bernat Denimstyle in my stash that had no particular project in mind. It’s the right weight but not enough yardage. So I just chose to not knit the neck section as long as called for to make sure I didn’t run out of yarn before the end.
I really just wanted to test knit this project and have a working prototype to show my coworker. I want his input before I knit the final product. So far so good!
I’ve completed the (shortened) neck, face hole, and started on the hat section. I need to find a good piece of stiff plastic to use to fill/shape the brim I have in mind. I hope to complete this week and report back to you with his input! My Rav page/link is here.
Happy Knitting!
To justify my falling off the yarn wagon this week, I decided to whip a quick FO using the new yarn! I chose on Holy Cowl! by Hilary Hunt!
I used some of my Natures Choice Organic Cotton in chocolate. The yarn is held double so you need two skeins. I moved down to size 11 needles and CO 74 sts instead of 62 to account for sizing with smaller needles. Rav notes here.
I tried using the 13s the pattern recommended, I just had trouble with the k3tog. I probably should have loosened my tension and stuck with 13s, but I’m the master of my own knitting and I can do what I like!
The pattern makes a nice open lace like design. I royally got off pattern in the middle somehow and didn’t notice until I was almost done. Again I am the master of my own knitting and decided that I had not in fact made a mistake….just improvised a new design detail! The yarn is so dark you really can’t tell without REALLY looking hard anyway.
Big needles and bulky yarn made this fly by! The cotton is deliciously soft and definitely my favorite. I have some berry/red in my stash that is definitely going to knit up into one of these for my dear friend in Portland who is having a rough go and needs a little hand knit cheer!
Happy Knitting!
I had a moment of weakness….a fairly large one. Despite having quite the large stash at home and my 2013 destashing objective…..I bought yarn, quite a lot of it…
I was at Micheals in Sunday for their big sale (first mistake) and I found the Lion Brand Organic Cotton on CLEARANCE! With my coupons it was just $5 a skein when it retails for $9 most places. I gave in (second mistake) and bought what they had left.
I really really like this cotton! It’s soft and strong and oh so luscious!! I added 21 skeins to my stash. But I’m going to go with The Yarn Harlot’s point of view on this one and say a sale is too good to pass up. I got great cotton at a great price, win win! I’ll just have to knit that much harder through my stash.
No sense in crying over spilt milk so onward I knit! Have you ever gone overboard on yarn?
I spent the major part of the weekend photographing and updating my Etsy shop. My shop ebbs and flows with my life. I hadn’t really listed a lot lately as I have been Christmas and gift knitting for the past couple of months. As part of my 2013 destashing project I dug through my FO stash for things to list to earn a little cash. I found a treasure trove of ruffle scarves from my fall craft fairs. Here are a few of the images I captured.
Above are just a few of what I had in stock. I listed every single last one of them on my Etsy shop! As a sign of appreciation to my blog followers I am offering a special coupon in my shop. Use the code “sparkle1” for 15% off any order in my Etsy shop until Feb 15th! Tell your friends and spread the word, I need to destash!
Who doesn’t need a scarf to add a little sparkle to their lives (and support a knitter who needs to feed her yarn habit)!?
Happy Knitting!
Michele plays with yarn, food, and music in Portland
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