WIP Wednesday – Hexes, Socks & Lima Beans

I’ve been busy with crafting over the last couple weeks.  I’ve been plugging away at the twin size Spring Flowers hexagon blanket.  I realized that my original calculation were slightly off.  The blanket is now the proper width (12 rows), but I’m going to need many more hexes than I figured to bring it to the proper length.  I’m currently at 130 hexes completed and crocheted together.  I figure that I need a total of 205 hexes to bring it to bedspread length.  I finished 15 hexes in the past couple days and have completed through the 2nd round on 10 more.  I haven’t been given a deadline to finish by, but I’m hoping to get it done before the end of the month.  I’ve only been working on it for 2 months now, which isn’t too bad considering the size of the project.

Here is an updated picture of it.  I’ve also been granted permission from the pattern creator to make blankets and sell them in my Etsy shop.  So, a big shout out and thank you to Jessie from Jessie at Home for creating a beautiful pattern!

Since I finished 3 bibs for Sarandipity Handmade and I like to have a little traveling project with me, especially when I am sitting down at the school waiting for Bug to be released, (those bibs were great for that) I started on another pair of socks for myself for Mother’s Day.  I’m following the same vanilla pattern that I used for the other 2 pairs I made, but I’m doing my heel and toe a bit differently, following a pattern in a book I borrowed from the library.

And, I’ve realized that my diet is still a work in progress, too.  I’ve been doing so well, nearly another month soy free without an issue until Monday night when I ate lima beans with dinner.  According to some research  lima beans (as well as other legumes) can trigger the same effect if you have an issue with soy.  So, until then I’m avoiding lima beans.  I’m thankful I don’t have issue with green beans, kidney beans or peas, cause we eat those all the time.

I’ve got so many ideas floating around in my head, but I’m hoping to finish one of the 2 projects I’ve got going before starting more…though I’m sure I’ll probably pick up another small project before all is said and done…that’s just how I am!  lol

I Love Knitting Socks

I have a new knitting love!  I love knitting socks!  I love that they are easily transportable.  I love that I can work on them standing up while just waiting in line to pass the time or at the park while my son plays.  I love that (once you get the hang of it) they are a quick, almost instant gratification, project.

Ok, I’ll admit that I’ve only completed one pair of socks, but I’m already hooked!  They are so comfy and better than those mass produced, machine made, store bought socks.  Yes, they are a bit more expensive (the yarn alone for my first pair cost me probably around 7 bucks and I could probably get 3 pairs of machine made socks from the store for that price), but they are handmade and well worth it!  I wore mine all afternoon yesterday!  I went out Saturday and picked up some more sock yarn (some of the good stuff like Heritage Paints and Berroco Sox) and I picked up some more of the Deborah Norville Collection’s Serenity Sock yarn in red to work on a second pair that I’ll, if they come out well, give to my mom for Christmas or maybe even Mother’s Day.  I started them during the last half hour of The Walking Dead last night.  lol

So, here’s a picture of my first sock.  Pretty, isn’t it?

I made them out of Deborah Norville’s Serenity Sock yarn in a colorway called Chili that I initially bought with plans to attempt to crochet socks, but I just wasn’t feeling it.  Socks, in my opinion have to be knit. Oh, and everyone was so surprised that my first pair of socks had stripes.  They thought I was changing colors!  I had to admit I was using “cheater yarn” that makes the stripes for you.  lol

I started with a cuff down sock rather than toe up since I wasn’t comfortable with the magic loop method of knitting, using circular needles.  I just can’t get the hang of it.  I probably just need more practice.  I do have the book Two at a Time Toes Up Socks, so now that I know how the whole sock process works I may have to give it another go.

Since I did cuff down, I had to learn, what I thought of initially as a daunting task, the kitchener stitch.  After looking on You Tube, I found a great video (Kelly’s Sock Class – Kitchener Stitch) that walked me through the whole process and it was amazing just how stupidly simple it is.  There’s nothing scary about it at all!  I made a couple mistakes my first time doing it, but it’s not noticeable unless you are looking directly at the toe of my first sock and lets face it, who’s going to see it when I have my foot in a shoe?

I’m gonna admit that they aren’t perfect and I made a few mistakes that I had to fix, like tinking 10 rows at the gusset where I misread the pattern and forgot to knit every other row (I did my decrease rows one after the other – oops!)  The second sock is a smidgen longer than the first and has a slight pink tip, where the first doesn’t – oh well.  I made sure I measured multiple times to make sure they’d be the same length, but apparently my measuring skills need some work.  lol  I slid the first sock on my foot and measured, but didn’t do that for the 2nd…Guess that will probably be my go to technique when making socks for myself.   The first sock has a couple stitches on the toe where I purled off when I should have knitted off for the kitchener stitch…but, what are you gonna do?

So, there you have it, my new knitting love!  I hope to keep making more socks as they are fun to make…I just hope I don’t start having “second sock syndrome!”  That would be the pits!

WIP Wednesday – Sweaters!

I’ve been busy knitting lately.  I’ve got 2 projects currently on the needles and finished a 3rd (a hat) this past weekend for one of the ladies at my library knitting group.  I’ll try to remember to post about that on Friday (FO Friday.)
The first project I’ve been working on is my 2nd Hooded Cardigan in charcoal grey.  I’m approximately 95% done with it and just have to get through the sewing part…which is the part I hate the most!  Last night, at my weekly craft night, I finished seaming up the front button area and the corresponding pocket area and started stitching together the button holes.  I still have to finish the last 2 button holes, sew on the buttons and knit the pocket tops.  After that I’ve just got to weave in the loose ends and wash it and I can wear it.    Hopefully I’ll have it finished by this weekend.Here’s a picture of the almost finished product.

Charcoal Grey Hoodie (aka the Twilight hoodie!)

I also cast on another project on Monday since I was in the sewing stages of the cardigan and missed the knitting.  I decided that Fidget needed a wearable (aside from the hats that I’ve made him).  I was going through some of my friends projects on Ravelry and stumbled across the Coastal Stripes Pullover pattern.  It looked like a simple little sweater that I could use some of my leftover yarn from previous projects for.  I pulled out a couple skeins of black wool-ease leftover from my Tubey sweater and some half skeins of red and blue Plymouth Encore Worsted I had leftover from Bug’s Super Shirt.

Coastal Stripes Pullover

So far this little sweater has been super easy.  The first day I finished the back panel and the first 9 inches of the front.  I finished up the remainder of the front while Fidget napped and Bug and I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that we borrowed from the library.  We’ve been reading the Harry Potter series at bedtime and are now about halfway through the 3rd books.  Later, I finished one sleeve and cast on the 2nd one at Craft Night last night.  I’ve only got a couple more inches to go on the 2nd sleeve then I get to start sewing it together and finish the neckline.  I’ve done the sleeve edges in blue, but I think I’m going to do the neckline in the red.  I’m hoping that it turns out as cute as I’m picturing and I hope that Fidget will wear it and that it fits!

Hats Off!

At the beginning of the month one of my Craft Night friends and her sister-in-law planned a trip to a LYS called Common Thread Saratoga.  Carole (the sis-in-law) found this yarn shop in Saratoga, NY and thought it was different and knowing my friends yarn crafting habits, thought bringing her up there to buy her birthday and Christmas presents would be fun.  I tagged along in the hopes of finding some yummy yarn.  I can count the time I’ve used the really expensive and awesome yarns on well one finger!…pretty much all of the yarn in my stash is acrylic or wool/acrylic combined.  Not that there’s anything wrong with acrylic.  It’s great for items that need frequent washing  or things that are difficult to wash like baby blankets, large blankets and sweaters.  It’s just not yummy yarn!

While we were in the shop I fell in love with this Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky (100% baby alpaca) yarn.  Oh. My. God!  This yarn is so soft and squishy and, like the clerk said, it’s like knitting with a cloud!  I didn’t have a particular pattern in mind when I set foot in the shop, but one of their display hats caught my eye and I was in love.  It was a bulky snowboarder earflap hat with braids.  It was exactly what I was looking for!  I ended up purchasing the pattern (at around $5.50) and 2 skeins of the alpaca yarn (at $22 a skein!) in a variegated green called Midsummer’s Night (CP25) that matches the bright green of my winter coat.  I’ve never bought yarn that cost that much…much less 2 skeins of it!  Thank goodness for credit cards! lol

I had to wait about a week before I could start on the hat for myself…I had to finish the project on my circulars before I could start anything new.  I have a set of Boye interchangeable circulars and I was using the smallest length for a scarf that is a Christmas presents for one of Bug’s teachers.  I also had to pick up a set of size 15 dpns and I ended up going up to the other LYS called Trumpet Hill because Joann’s (despite me having a 50% off coupon) just doesn’t carry needles that big.

I finished the scarf on Thursday the 8th (I’ll post about those Christmas presents later) and started the Snowboarder Hat (for Everyone) on Friday.  I was worried that I wasn’t going to have enough yarn since the pattern calls for 130 yards of super bulky yarn and together the 2 skeins of Misit Alpaca were only 110 yards and only bulky, so I would have to hold them together to get gauge.   I figured worse case scenario I’d go back up to Trumpet Hill to get a contrasting color in the baby alpaca they carry for the border and braids.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  The hat is such a quick knit and the alpaca was like knitting with a warm fuzzy cloud.  The only downside is that it shed quite a bit, but I didn’t mind!   I ended up making the braids holding the yarn single stranded rather than doubled and I’m sure that saved me a bit of yardage at the end.  I actually love how it came out!  I wish I had more of the yarn leftover so I could make a matching scarf or some mittens.  It’s the most expensive (and luxurious) hat I’ve ever owned.  Seriously, I’d never buy a hat that cost nearly $44 bucks in a store!  It cost as much as (if not more than) the 2 new pairs of jeans I bought last month!  I’m looking forward to wearing it every chance I get this winter!

I seriously loved the pattern so much that before I was done making mine, I bought yarn to make more and I’ve made it twice since!  Once for Bug and again for Fidget.  I picked up some Lion Brand Home Town USA yarn in Cinncinati Red and Oakland Black at Wal*Mart for less than $3 a skein when I had to buy a replacement Christmas tree stand for out 8 year old one that cracked.  Two Skeins of Red and one black was enough for me to make 2 hats and have enough left over to probably make one more child size one.  Bug’s hat is red with a black edging and red and black braids (that’s the one that’s pictured).  Fidget’s took some modification to make it sized down for an 18 month old, but I did it (the mods are written on my Rav project page) and it’s also red with black edging and has black braids (mostly so I can quickly tell which hat is which.)  Now if I can just get Fidget to keep it on his head when we go outside!  lol

Since pretty much everyone in my family has new hats, (except Darling Hubby who has a perfectly good earflap hat (not made by me!  GASP!)) I think it’s time to go through all the hats in storage and wash and donate the ones we really don’t need.  I know I have at least 2-3 hats and a couple scarves that I haven’t worn in forever…Guess it’s in with the new and out with the old.

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

My husband loves Reeses Peanut Butter cups and this pie comes close to recreating that in a pudding pie.  It’s so delicious and easy to throw together. I’m not sure of where I found the original recipe for this (it’s possible it was on a cream cheese or cool whip package.)  I apologize in advance for the less than stellar photographs of a quarter of a pie…it’s seriously so good that it disappears so fast!

Ingredients
8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter + 1 Tbsp, divided
1 package (3.4 oz) of vanilla pudding mix
1 cup cold milk
2.5 cups (8oz) cool whip, thawed & divided
3 squares semis-sweet bakers chocolate
1 Oreo, chocolate or graham cracker crust

Directions
Mix the cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter together until smooth.  Add the pudding mix and the cold milk and blend until well mixed.  Whisk in 1 cup of the cool whip.  Pour filling mix into the crust and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the remaining 1.5 cups of cool whip and the bakers chocolate.  Microwave on high 1.5-2 mins, stirring after each minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Cool completely (placing in the freezer for a few minutes speeds up this process.)

When the chocolate mixture is cool, spread over the pudding mixture in the pie crust.  In a small microwaveable container, warm the last Tbsp of peanut butter for approximately 30 seconds and drizzle over the chocolate topping.

Recommended chill time is 4 hours…it usually doesn’t sit that long in our house!  Enjoy!

 

I’m Thankful For…

This week was spent mostly with my little family of 4.  Darling Hubby had the week off from work and Bug had Wednesday through Friday off from school.  Darling Hubby, Fidget and I did a little Christmas and clothes shopping on Tuesday and on Wednesday I went to Bug’s Parent Teacher Conference.  I’m thankful for my sweet, sensitive, and super smart six year old.

Thursday we made the 2.5 hour drive to visit with our parents and Darling Hubby’s Grandpa and various Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.  It was actually a relatively quiet (compared to past meals with 30+ people) and was enjoyable.  I even tried a new food – orange jello with carrots and pineapple.  It was interesting and good.  Fidget was eating it by the handful!  There was some drama brewing, things not meant for the public, but everyone managed to get through the day without saying something they’d regret.  Despite all the ups and downs and the drama, I’m thankful for my family.

Grandma M, Bug and Fidget

Great Grandpa, Bug and Fidget

We also visited my parents.  By the end of the day Fidget was tired and cranky from not having a decent nap, so he was pretty cranky.  I tried to get pictures of him with his brother and grandma, but he wouldn’t cooperate.  I did snap this picture of Bug with my mom.

We came home late Thursday night.  Fidget was exhausted despite sleeping for at least an hour in the car.  He went right to sleep.  Bug insisted on a chapter from Harry Potter and ended up not going to bed til 9.  I was thankful for some quiet time with Darling Hubby.

We stayed home Friday and Darling Hubby and Bug hung the Christmas lights up outside.  Darling Hubby followed Bug’s orders for light placement and it actually came out looking pretty good.   Saturday, we decided, was going to be our own Thanksgiving.    Early afternoon we ran out to get some more outdoor Christmas lights and the fixin’s for dessert.  Around 3, Darling Hubby and I cooked a 13lb turkey (using Alton Brown’s recipe – you must do this with your next turkey!  It’s so darn good!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce and french cut green beans.  I also made a peanut butter cup pie for dessert.

Sunday we decorated inside for Christmas with a Christmas candle burning and some Christmas music playing on the tv.  The tree is up, the stockings are hung, the wreath is up and the garland is on the stairs…the only thing I need to get out is my winter Eeyore collection to go on the stairs.

Fidget Helping Decorate

My only task between now and Christmas is to keep an 18 month old Fidget from destroying or breaking any ornaments!  At least I don’t have to contend with the cat in the tree…she prefers to sleep under it or on the radiator behind it.  And yes, we did decorate while still wearing out PJ’s!  I just wish I could put some presents under the tree…we just know they’ve never survive til Christmas.

Bug putting the Santa on the tree

The Two Best Presents!