Special Project

This week I am working on a very special project that was a request from a friend. So I'll probably be scarce.

With that said, I'll leave some shots of recent finished projects for you all to admire!





That's my sister wearing this prayer shawl. It was my graduation gift to her. She left for college a few weeks ago. I hope she took it with and I hope that she uses it to cuddle up with whenever she may need it!



Knitted socks (not for me though!). My mom asked me to knit them for another relative. So I did! My aunt called and thanked me. I just hope they fit her and they keep her toes nice and warm!

And now for some non-craft items ... last week we made pasta. Yes, made pasta!

Me cutting it - which I wasn't so great at honestly.


Hanging on the hanger. A lot of the pieces actually ended up breaking and falling off.


But, it still tasted yummy!! (also, I'd like to add I made the sauce from tomatoes I canned and zucchini fresh from the garden and that the beans were also fresh from the garden - and my little garden doesn't produce much, but what we do pick from it makes my heart soar!!)

The best compliment I got was from my 6 year old M. She said, and I quote "Wow mom. It tastes like real pasta! Good job!" So cute and I guess they must have been nervous about how it was going to taste ;-)

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back at the end of the week with som fun stuff to show you! =)

A bit of sewing!

Friday I was supposed to be doing laundry, cleaning, packing, etc as we were going away for the weekend.
Instead I did some sewing. Because, well, I wanted to LOL!

But, tell me, wasn't it worth it:


The kids picked out the fabric and each decorated the white fabric on their bag.

I followed the Treasure Bag directions in the book Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule (who I so want to be like when I grow up and also I'd so move into her house if she ever invited me and my family!).

And you know, when I saw this grin:


It was so worth blowing off the housework!

Ramblings

Not much to say, so I'll ramble for a bit tonight (I promise to keep it short though!)

A lot of people have been coming here after searching bread bags. Which reminds me I have one embroidered that needs to be stitched together. Hmmm ... maybe I can do that tomorrow! I also had someone e-mail me if I'd sell any bags. Not sure I'm ready to do that, but I guess that means the one I did finish must have looked good!

Speaking of bags, I'm going to try my hand at making some produce bags. But I want to sew them out of organic cotton, and I can't find it locally (yet) so I'll probably have to order it on-line.

I had my first Sonic this weekend. I've never eaten it, never been to one. I was completely flustered when I paid and had NO idea if I was supposed to tip or not (I didn't. I felt guilty the whole way home). We went back today for half-off drinks, I thought the kids would get a kick out of someone roller blading to bring us our food. Except the manager delivered our drinks and she walked. They still enjoyed it and I asked her if tipping was standard (her response - it's completely optional. Half do and half don't BUT their staff is paid minimum wage and not waitressing minimum wage, so it's not necessary. I admit, I feel better about not tipping now).

In what I consider craziness, I started two new knitting projects this weekend. I might finish them this year ... but don't hold your breath! LOL!

I've been doing lots of reading - mostly light, easy, quick fun reads. Perfect for the end of summer I think and for a mom who doesn't have many brain cells left at the end of the day!

That is all for now. Hopefully soon I'll have some fun pictures of finished projects to show?

Exciting news ...

Well, we have some pretty exciting news over here. Tonight, the number of knitters in our house hit three! The knitters now outnumber the non-knitters. (and yes, someday I dream about how we will all be knitters LOL!)



If you can't tell from her smile, she is beyond thrilled to be learning. It is so fun to help her learn this because she is just SO amazingly excited. She's been wanting to learn for a long time. I gave her yarn and needles for Christmas and somehow we just never sat down and worked on it.

But tonight, we put 3 year old to bed and 9 year old was out of the house, so it seemed like a good time to learn. And she took to it like a fish takes to water! (Although I did the cast-on. She just learned the knit stitch which I think is enough for now). She kept saying "stick it in. wrap around. pull it through. slide it off."



And yes, I am one happy knitting mom tonight. I love sharing this (and other things I enjoy) with my kids. And I hope in about 4 years, we will be getting a fourth knitter in this house!

Craziness!

Well, my goals last week were way more than I could handle!

- organizing basement <--- a="" bit="" br="" did="" little="" of="" this="">- make a few jammies <--- -="" 2="" bad="" br="" make="" managed="" nightgowns="" not="" to="">- try pickling for the first time ever! <---- 6="" are="" br="" jars.="" they="" yummy="">- finish one sock <--- better="" br="" finished="" it="" last="" late="" never="" night.="" right="" than="">- maybe do some more shirts with the kids <-- br="" close="" even="" hahaha="" not="">- try making a skirt for myself <--- all.="" at="" br="" but="" did="" dresses="" i="" not="" purchase="" two="" umm="">- sew up some aprons <---- br="" finished="" none.="" started="" two.="">- make some soap <---- added="" br="" don="" even="" first="" i="" in="" know="" list="" made="" needless="" none="" place="" say="" t="" the="" this="" to="" was="" why="">

So, you know, things could have been better, but I did get a lot done. I also hung out with a friend I haven't seen in a while. I went to the mall twice last week - which is sort of amazing because I don't even like to go to the mall and only go if I absolutely have to (we went to a wedding Saturday. Unless I wanted to show up in way too casual of clothes, I had to go buy something!) I also worked on a blanket and almost finished it, but I need special thread for the edges and I don't have what I need.

This week has been busy so far. Okay, not really. But Monday we went swimming (it was finally warm enough. We have now been to the pool 3 whole times, which means each visit was approximately 70 dollars since we bought a pass and the weather here has not been swimming weather. Blech) Yesterday I was in a mood and should have never gotten out of bed. Today we went to a nature center near to us that was wonderful and beautiful and we had such a great great time! I can not believe we haven't been before but I have a feeling we will be there many more times (photos are coming soon and I can't wait to show them to you!)

This week I will be trying to finish all that I didn't last week. And just trying to have a lot of fun and hang out. Swimming, playing, sleep overs, etc. And then work over the weekend. Actually, who am I kidding? This will be a highly unprodcutive week and hopefully next week I'll get a lot more done! =)

One pair done!

One pajama is done. Well, I guess it's not a pair, it's a nightgown for my 6 year old.





And can I just say, that fabric was so soft that I sort of wanted to make it longer so I could wear it! LOL! There wasn't enough left for me to get a nightgown out of though. We might have to go shopping to get some fabric for me to have my own nightgown too =)

My 9 year old wants a nightgown too, which I have to say is cute because she's not a nightgown kind of girl in general, but she saw this one and wanted one for herself (but not that fabric. Because that fabric is not her. So I told her she could pick from the stash - just as her sister's fabric came from the stash too!)

And also, I need to point out, I made this without a pattern. And I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Because in general sewing without a pattern sort of freaks me out, but we don't have nightgown pattern that will work (or if I do, it's hiding!)

Raw Food

So there is this whole raw food movement.
I've heard twitters about here and there, but never thought much of it. The kids aren't too picky, but you know, they are still somewhat picky.
But today, I read about this

over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess and had to eat it. And also, it's hot. And I didn't want to cook LOL!

Thankfully we had everything I needed to make it. Except sun-dried tomatoes. So I searched and I searched on-line. And since 99% of recipes for the marinara sauce needed sun-dried tomatoes, I started to give up hope. But I found one.

I know now why there is only one. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good either. My family was pretty freaked out that we could eat zucchini as pasta - which was awesome! But the kids didn't eat much. Dh had double helpings (small ones though) and said the sauce kind of killed it for him.

I do, however, have my family's permission to try it again if I can find a better sauce recipe. Amy assures me if I try the same recipe she tried (and is the one that 99% of other people use!) that it will be a much bigger hit.


Last night I made some quinoa tabbouleh that didn't go over so well either. (Way too spicy, even for me!). One child at dinner noted tonight that "I'm so glad we get to go grandma's house tomorrow for dinner. She won't make us try new stuff." Yeah, I laughed at it! But hey, at least we tried.

I will try the zucchini pasta again, and I will try the tabbouleh again too - a less spicy version I hope. Because that we ate in warmed pita pockets, and seriously, if it were toned down a bit, it would have been pure joy to eat!

What I'd like to do ...

This week, I'd like to do many things. This includes:

- organizing basement
- make a few jammies
- try pickling for the first time ever!
- finish one sock
- maybe do some more shirts with the kids
- try making a skirt for myself
- sew up some aprons
- make some soap

That should keep my busy!