Christmas recap!

Before we get any further into the new year, I finally recapping the Christmas knitting I squeaked in last minute! Mostly I ended up making things for my family, since they are the hardest to buy things for.


My brother has recently moved into a house with a friend, so as sort of a "housewarming" gift I knitted up a quick dishcloth (Ravelry link)

For my mom I wanted a "cowl" type scarf. I still need to add a button to it so she can wear it wrapped around her neck twice, and then fastened with the button, but I really like the open lacy feel of this pattern! (Ravelry link)

Finally I whipped up some quick simple slippers (almost like house socks) for my dad! I held 2 different yarns together and I think it turned out pretty well! (Ravelry link)

Here's to another great year of knitting!!!! I will leave you all with a picture of my 3 MONTH old baby girl... she's getting so big already :-)

Jess's gift

I realized I can blog about the present I knit for my buddy Jess since I already gave it to her!

I made her a Krtek (rav link) scarf/cowl thing:

I love how the texture is so bumpy and fun :-) Yarn is Cascade Eco + leftover from a vest I made for my SIL.  Hope you like it Jessica!!!!

And the FO's keep coming....

Finished the seed stitch scarf for the hubby!!!!!



Finished the little grey baby vest just in time to go see little 2 week old Jackson! Pattern: Pebble



His mom thinks it may even fit him soon, perhaps a little long though :) I do think she will appreciate how it completely unbuttons for easy addition and removal!



Finished just NOW these teensy baby mittens!!! Don't you love the colors? <3


Pattern: Infant mittens from Knitting to Go

This weekend will be busy but fun! Saturday I am running a 5K race (I havent run one in a couple years, eek lol) and hopefully hitting up both the zoo AND Johnny Appleseed festival! Can't wait for the festival... its always so much fun!!!!

Knitting things....

Finished booties to match the baby hat I did in my last post (I knit these mostly in airports on my AZ trip the other weekend!)


Secret project going well. (no new pics of course! hehe)

Started a cute little baby vest to go with the hat and booties to make a complete set!!!! Ooh la la ;-)


Languishing: baby "cocoon"... I finally got a chance to hold it up to an actual baby and have decided to make it a bit longer :-)


Seed stitch scarf: worked on it some, its getting close to being done. (its my 'tv' project!)


Dish towel: got past the decorative edge and am on the big ol plain middle part. I have to decide whether I want to do the bobbled edge design again on the other end of the towel like the pattern says, or to just do the other end plain? Hmmm.


The other day I got the opportunity to teach another friend how to knit! We met up at Borders and her initial statement was that she's been worried about it all day! Poor thing :-) I told her she would do fine. We got to work and by the end of the night she said "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be"! Hooray! I hope she can get into it and really enjoy knitting. I got ger started on the classic grandma's favorite dishcloth, but we are going to have her start soon on a baby hat project (the reason she wanted to learn to knit, for a friend who is having a baby!). What baby hat you ask? The pumpkin hat from "itty-bitty hats"! Should be super cute!

Hope everyone's having a good week, I get to go to a wedding this weekend so that should be fun!!!!!

Scarf

I was itching for a new project, something simple and fun. I decided to see what I could make with this giant ball of mystery wool that I bought off of Cynthia when she was having her stash sale.



I finally settled upon a 2x2 ribbed scarf. I am happy with the progress so far, I am just worried that it won't be long enough when I run out of yarn.



It is just something mindless to knit on during law & order... haha. Of course I am neglecting a knitted tie I am working on for my dad...



I am making that up as I go, using a storebought tie as a template. So far its OK... just hope I can get the increases right for the "fat" part of the tie.



Anyway, hope everyone had a nice labor day weekend. I was a total bum and didnt do much! Which is too bad because OMG ITS SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 wedding showers, being a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding, meeting with my florist/DJ/caterer, dress fittings, getting the boys to go to their tux fittings, finding shoes, finding a place to get our HAIR DONE ZOMG!!!!!!!!!

OK time to lie down now :-)

Now im a cooking blog!

Just kidding. I do occasionally post about things I have baked on here. I enjoy baking things a lot. Cooking, I haven't gotten into quite as much.... YET! Lately I have been bored with the usual hamburger helper or whatever I make from a box, so I have been venturing out of my shell.

First concoction I'd like to share is a chicken fried rice:


Precooked white rice, precooked chicken, a frozen veggie blend of carrots and peas, soy sauce, water chestnuts, and some scallions. DELISH!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it helps me be more adventurous at just throwing things in a pan and learning what combinations taste good together. This dinner was one of the few times where I didn't have an exact recipe I followed. That might not sound very adventurous, but I sure am one to write down recipes exactly and follow them to a T. (Which is more important in baking)

Second creation happened today. On the way home I stopped at Panera on a whim and picked up some pretty foccacia bread. Then went to the grocery store for actual fresh ingredients. The result?


Beautiful and delicious fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomato sandwiches!!!!! I mean, seriously people, look at this sandwich.


Are you drooling yet?

I didnt have a panini grill, so they don't have the trademark "grill lines", but they crisped up nicely in a regular pan with a little olive oil brushed on them, and I tried to squish them down a bit to compress them.

I'd like to specify how FRESH all the ingredients were. I bought real fresh basil leaves, which I now need to somehow eat a pound of that is leftover in my fridge. Smelling the basil, I thought wow! that is powerful, i might not like it much. Boy was I wrong! Lightly chopped and put on the sandwich, MMMM awesome flavor!

The mozzarella was fresh too. As in, little disks of soft mozzarella that came floating in a water or brine or something. They were so pretty!

Here's a shot of the delicious innards:


Woot! This is also a success in my plan to try and incorporate vegetarian meals into my diet. Not that I would ever EVER give up meat (ummmm bacon!) but it is quite healthy and Lord knows I don't eat enough vegetables anyway!

And just so that this doesn't stray too far away from knitting...

I cast off my scarf today at lunch. :-)


Hooray!

Catchup!

So time to catch up on my projects... since I keep updating my ravelry but forgetting to post here!

I finished a hat for greg, one that matches the scarf I made him:


Just a simple hat with a ribbed brim, but he loves it!!! :-D


Also making a scarf for a friend, using the pattern Rainy Day Scarf and some Patons classic wool merino. It is a nice yarn!


I am liking it a lot, but the 32 row repeat is a bit tricky to keep track of (I might have messed up a few parts but heck if I am ripping back LOL)

Also I am making a pillow for my couch! I have always wanted to make a pillow, and finally decided to dig through the stash and knit something up. I am very happy with how it is turning out:


One side is plain grey and the other is whatever yarns i liked together from my stash :-)

I am knitting it in one long strip and sewing up the three sides, and I also did a turning row at the switching point:


Nifty eh??

Also yesterday I got to go to IKEA for the 2nd time this year (Wow... what a year!) and Greg and I picked up this really awesome shelving unit/sofa table:


Woot!!! Storage rocks.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Almost forgot....

Here is the mini penguin scarf that I made the other week, on a whim.

You see, I had this 3 foot tall plastic penguin that looked chilly... and some extra red heart lying around, and well....


penguin scarf. LoL. (foot shown for scale)


It was fun to make, just garter stitch :) Now "Tux" is ready for winter!