Today is my birthday and I am choosing to spoil myself! Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and lots and lots of knitting. Maybe a little family fun with the kiddos or a movie marathon.
I wish every a kickass Saturday! I am rolling on the high of having last Thursday and Friday off of work for an extra long four day weekend.
Rachelle
I was on the receiving end of a day off work Monday. This coupled with the Grandparents corralling the kids for a portion of the day led me on a WINDING FRENZY. The cooler fall temperatures have set in and I’m absolutely craving more hand knit sweaters.
So obviously the only logical thing to do was wind two sweater quantities of yarn!? The top lot is my Treasure Goddess Yarn DK Treasures and some newly aquired Hedgehog Fiber Merino DK in the Deep End colorway. I hope to turn these skeins into a Radiate by Jojo Locatelli. My expanded ramblings on this obsession can be found here.
The second lot is the Malabrigo Rios I purchased on Local Yarn Shop day. Its the Fresco and Seco colorway and I hope to turn into into a Weekender by Andrea Mowry.
I know some knitters don’t wind up their cakes until their cakes until they ready to knit it. But in this house I just don’t have that time luxury. So I have adopted a technique to try and negate the “stretching” that happens to yarns under the tension of sitting in a cake.
I hand wind the skeins into a loose ball (right) and then use that ball to wind on my ball winder into a cake. I use my free hand to monitor and keep consistent but gentle tension on the yarn as it goes into the cake. So far this this has worked for me and none of my yarn seems worse for the wear even after *cough* years *cough* of sitting in a cake.
Do you have any idiosyncrasies about winding yarn?
Jellybean from time to time likes to bake and cook with me. Sp during his birthday shenanigans we made a birthday cake. We made the cake together and then I added the base coat of chocolate frosting.
He then went to town with every color of frosting, every decorating frosting tip I could round up, and literally every variety of sprinkle we own. He wanted to make it look like “trash” and not the derogatory kind. He was thinking a la Oscar the Grouch. I think he nailed it!
Then he proceeded to grab my phone and take “beautiful” photos of it. He concentrated SUPER and hard and I stood off to the side laughing till I cried. My kid is something else and I wouldn’t trade him for anything. So I’ll just leave you with a few of his cake glamour shots….
P.S. it was also delicious!
It’s hot and my kids are extra special kinds of wound up because of the heat and limited hours outside. So this week’s self care is brought to you by….
Leftover cake I found in the freezer from PB’s 1st birthday in May, vanilla ice cream, my Progression Shawl, my worsted boxy as a back up knitting project, and knitting podcasts on the TV.
I mean, whats the worst that can happen? I drip a little cake or melted ice cream on my shawl. I think I’ll risk it. Fall shall be here soon!!
Happy knitting!!
Today is the first day of my last year of my 20s. I’m officially 29….
I have the day off work so I slept in. I have had a wonderful fall inspired latte with homemade waffles. I’m going to knit on something totally selfish today. I’m going to eat birthday cake before my dinner. And I’m going to make the husband drive me to the yarn store 45 minutes away because it’s my birthday (yay!) and because it’s going out of business (boo!).
I hope they some stock left and it’s still discounted, fingers crossed!
Happy Knitting!!!
This past weekend I celebrated both the birthday of special princess and that of my very own husband. The hubby turned 30….shhhhhh. There was a great deal of planning leading up to this as he requested a LAN party with his friends. For those of you not in the nerdy know….that’s where a bunch of people show up at your house with their xbox and television, hook up on the household network, and play video games and drink till dawn.
Of course I purchased the obligatory cake, made homemade taco soup, and cream cheese and jalapeno spread for our guests. Not to mention scrubbing the house top to bottom. Boy, does my house collect clutter (and dog hair). I have a deep and profound hatred of clutter. It literally makes me grumpy at the sight of it. So let’s just say that preparing for the party did nothing for my mood on Saturday. I also didn’t get any of my normal workouts in due to Halloween on Thursday and party preparation on Saturday.
(Side Note: I would also like to mention that one of the party goers, after about 4 drinks, thought he knew how to “unlock” our alarm system. He succeed in sending not one but THREE silent alarms to the police. Who subsequently showed up at my door along with my neighbor across the street how works for the department as well….whoops! I was not NOT a happy camper. But now I can honestly say I’ve had a party where the cops show up. But all kidding aside, the officer was kind and polite and had a pretty decent response time…..)
Then there was the junk. Between the birthday lunch for a 1 year old where pizza and cupcakes were served and then the big kid party at my house where the above mentioned was served, I consumed copious amounts of refined sugar, carbohydrates, and alcohol. And it was all DARN TASTY! But it left me feeling lethargic and in a funk on Sunday. In my general life I do not abstain from those things, but I do consume them in moderation. And like it or not, they have an impact on my general well being.
Literally on Sunday I was agitated and listless all day. I HATE feeling that way. And here’s the kicker……I DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO KNIT! I’ll pause for your gasps of shock and horror………………………………………..
So I picked myself up by the shoelaces and set out on a long walk with the dogs. I took a lot of deep breaths, took in the beautiful fall landscape, and just spent a quiet 45 minutes with the dogs. And after our walk, I fixed a light romaine salad with diced chicken and lots of veggies and a side of Greek yogurt with a splash flax seed on top. Not to mention about five glasses of water. Not to mention a lovely cup of caffeine free herbal tea at bedtime to soothe my fragile nerves.
I guess this has been a long way around of saying…I don’t really have anything knitting related to show today and I have my grumpy/tired pants on. I will however attempt to put my big girl pants on and improve my mood. Though I have plans to pick up the needles on my Nutmeg Sweater and my Toe-Up sock this week.
I wish all you out there a week of happiness and healthfulness!
I got the urge to bake this past weekend but I didn’t want to invest a lot of time. A Pinterest idea popped into my head, Lemon Bars
All I needed was an angel food cake mix and lemon pie filling. Easy, quick, and low maintenance!
I combined the two together in my mixer. Was a bit of a strange texture but I may not have mixed well enough in fear of over mixing.
Slipped in a 350 degree oven for 30-32 minutes. It was only slightly brown on top.
Then after cooled I cut and served with powdered sugar.
It is a very spongy cake. I wouldn’t categorize it as a bar so much. It was very lemony and not overly sweet. Tasty none the less. But next go around I think a lemon icing or glaze would punch up the sweetness to cut the tartness.
This recipe is so easy and quick it’d be great for last minute baking needs. And it’s very pretty on a plate. For a Pinterest recipe this wasn’t too bad. Not the finest I’ve ever had but I’m not one to turn down desert!
In an effort to cull my stash and destash in 2013 I have been going through my finished projects as well. I had a few baby snuggle/kick sacks that weren’t selling on etsy. (My shop is here)
I frogged three whole items because I felt the three skeins of Knit Picks Biggo were destined for more worthy projects. Stay tuned later this week to see what I decided to use this yarn for!
I got to use my new hand crafted yarn swift I received at Christmas! It’s butter soft and smooth = no yarn snags. But it is heavy enough that my yarn wonder can pull it itself. So you have to work (in my case) the yarn winder with right hand and the swift with my left. Takes a few tries to get coordinated but I managed to get the hang of it! Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, lol
I think my swift will be getting A LOT of use!! Now….just where to store it?
Happy Knitting
Michele plays with yarn, food, and music in Portland
Musings from a teacher, runner, knitter, baker and reader
Journeying thru the fiber world, learning new skills, being challenged and making connections.
A Blog exploring yarn, glass and leather crafts, and other things too.
Finding happiness one skein at a time
Adventures in life and knitting in a warm weather climate
my life without spoons in Canberra
Pictures every day of the year!
Do one creative thing a day, and stay positive.
My adventures in the world of crafting
I chronicle my life as an aging homeschooling mother of seven--in nauseating detail.
aging - kicking and screaming
knitting : coffee : tea : life
Encouraging Thoughts About Knitting And Life
with Cia & Pip
Raising two children on 1/2 acre of land
Celebrating life, literature, and the persuit of fiber-y goodness.
Yarning about yarn
the illusion of progress
Farm-->Fleece-->Fiber
Crochet, knitting, spinning, felting, drawing, painting → ∞
A place for fellow yarn addicts.
by Tanja Chester ~ This is my little corner of this big world.
About my life in wool and yarn, and my explorations into the world of machine knitting.
A blog about running and knitting. Not at the same time.
Just a little crunchy.
A knitter's humorous adventures with one hubby and three cats.
yarn hoarder...accessories fanatic...lover of all things creative
A Norwegian knitting enthusiast with a monthly theme for projects
From Crocheting long chains to knitting sock monkeys and beyond
Chronicles of an Adventurous Beginner
Repeat as required to achieve results
Crafting in the West Country
Just another blog
handsewn bespoke and heirloom quality textiles
Making, Baking and Blogging for the first time...
I knit, therefore I rock.
Affordable accessories from the North of England
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 