Quiet Disaster

It's been quiet around blogland the past few weeks. I haven't had too much to share. I don't have any big project that I'm working on. I've been enjoying working in the kitchen and baking like crazy. I had a Valentines day post for you but then disaster struck! More about that in a minute. First I wanted to share with you a few more gifts for baby. We had another baby shower at church last Sunday. I made 5 more receiving blankets and another hat. I can't show you all of it because I forgot to take pictures before the gift was wrapped. Mind you I finished with the blanket embroidery at 9:00am Sunday morning. I had a whopping 30 minutes to spare before we dashed off to church. Nothing like waiting to the very last minute. Why do I do that? Is it just me? I find myself in this predicament far too often. The hat I knitted is so easy peasy yet still kept my interest. The pattern is here.




The blankets were well received by the new mother. I have enough flannel serged to make 12 more blankets. I will try and finish as many as possible for the future. Anyway it was great getting to know my sewing machine again. I even had to dig out my instruction book. giggle



Back to baking.....I have been baking valentine cookies for all of my sweeties. I found this recipe from Ina Garten. It is a wonderfully yummy cookie.

Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Copyright 2001 Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Ingredients
1/2 pound unsalted butte,r at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds good white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the chocolate with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chopped white chocolate.

Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.




You can use white chocolate or any kind of chocolate chip. For my first batch all I had an hand were the Christmas red and green chips. I followed a friends advice and separated the green and red and only used the red ones. They turned out beautifully.



The dough is delicious and very chocolaty.



Anyone want a spoon?!!!




The smell from the oven is pure heaven!



They taste so good. It's a cross between a brownie and a cookie. Yum! I got so many compliments. While I was writing up my blog post last week for Valentines day I had a computer disaster. Early last week I had an alert pop up on the screen that warned about a Trojan horse. My antivirus program noted the file name and alerted me that it couldn't remove the vicious file. I tried to do it myself but it seems as though the file was hidden. I am not an expert or computer whiz. Three days later the virus took over. It started doing strange things like re-directing me to different sites. Locking out other sites I was trying to get to. All that being said we were dead in the water until Monday. My son was able to remove suspicious files and we needed to download another program to remove the nasty virus. Here is my question. I have purchased the original protection for 49.99 each year, Now I have to purchase a totally different blocker for another 39.99. My computer should be as safe as Fort Knox right? I'm still having issues. Even as I write today's post I am unable to load pictures like I was able to do before the attack. I also can't post comments on blogs like Tracy's. I'm reading, I can't seem to leave a comment. The system is so slow. I think I may need an expert. Has anyone else ever had these issues? Just curious. Anyway, I will not give up!
Thank you for stopping by. So, what's new in your life?

Gifts for Baby

My hands have been busy working on gifts for babies this past few weeks. In a perfect world I would make baby quilts for each newborn. I have come to the realization that I can't make a quilt for each new baby. Now I make receiving blankets for each new child. Here's my process:

All blankets are made from 1 yard of pretty flannel fabric. I serge the edges and then fold under the edge and press with an iron. After searching all of the stitches that came with my sewing machine I pick up a complementary stitch pattern. I get comfortable and start sewing. The stitch patterns take a bit of time so be patient. After the pattern is complete I finish off the hem with a simple straight stitch.





Since my machine can embroider I stitch on the last name initial monogram. I have been making these blankets for several years. They are always well received.




It's been bitter cold in my area for the last two weeks. In this kind of weather you must wear a hat. I wanted to make a few hats to keep the new babies toasty warm. I did a ravelry search and found this simple pattern from Major Knitter. It's a great easy pattern. I knitted almost the entire hat while watching the super bowl. The yarn is from the Bernat cotton tot line. The colorway is wonder dreams. Size US7 needles. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I am planning to make another solid blue hat too. Thank you Jennifer for the great pattern!




I also cast on for these cute booties. Christine's stay on booties have been knit by many a knitter. Click here for the pattern. By the way it's a great story too. Since I have never knit socks I am having some trouble with this project. Size 1 needles are my first issue. How do you use toothpicks to knit?!!! I don't know, maybe this will get better as I go. For now the going is slow.

Want to do a little stash busting?

Each January I take stock of my household and try to organize to bring some order to my chaos. I go from room to room and try and put everything in it's place. I had an urge to knit some gifts for my sister and sister in law. After going through my quilting room I couldn't justify buying any new yarn. I have some yarn in a plastic bin that I have not touched in a few years. Most of the yarn is stuff I bought when I first started knitting. Several pretty acrylics and other novelty yarns. As I sorted through the large pile I was reminded of an old saying that I love. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. I love that saying. Because I am knitting gifts for non knitters I had to use washing machine friendly yarn. I searched through Ravelry and found a great pattern. Fourteen is the name designed by a guy knitter. I thought his design was very clever but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to knit the brioche rib stitch.




I am the kind of person that has to see something before I can learn how to do it. I found a great video on you tube that really helped me master the stitch. Click here to watch the video. It's ever so easy. For this neck warmer I used Lion brand wool-ease thick and quick color claret.




You need to find some bulky or super bulky yarn. For the blue version I used 2 strands of Lion Brand Jiffy yarn held together to use it up! The colorway is midnight blue.





I really like this brioche stitch. Look at the definition. Notice the prop?
After knitting my first neck warmer I made a few changes in the original pattern. Here are the details:

Yarn- any bulky weight yarn or use two strands held together for extra stash busting

Needle size- 13US

Cast on 15 stitches. You must use multiples of 3.

Knit 4 rows.

knit brioche stitch each row until neck warmer measures 24".
*With yarn in front slip one as if to purl, with yarn in front k2tog, rep. from *

Knit 1 row.

K3, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, k3.

Knit 2 more rows.

Bind off in garter stitch.

Go find some large funky buttons to add some flair to your neck warmer. That's it! I made 2 of these neck warmers in 4 hours.





For this one it's Lion Brand wool-easethick and quick color raspberry.




I hope you decide to do a little stash busting. Let me know if you decide to make a few of these quick projects. I would love to see yours!
Now back to chores!

Rebel With a Cause

Have you ever done something that seems so wrong yet felt so good? I feel a little like a rebel. I was taught from a very young age to never put a wool item in the wash. I was also told that if you made the mistake of washing wool in the machine don't think about drying the wool clothing in the dryer. I have been guilty of shrinking beautiful sweaters down to toddler size by accident. Hmm, that was a long time ago. How things have changed. I have found that I adore shrinking old wool sweaters in the washing machine and then burning them in the dryer to felt the fabric even more. Here are a few of my creations. I had a pincushion swap last month and my mind went crazy with ideas. I was only suppose to make one pincushion. I can never seem to make just one of anything. If I'm going to go through the process I going play and let the creative juices flow.



You start out with some thrift store wool sweaters. Most of the sweaters I purchased were way out dated and already felted.




I found a few really nice wool sweaters from Ireland that I'm not sure I can cut up.






After the washing machine does it's job and felts the wool like magic start cutting.






To make the handle for your tea cup you need to make lots of i-cord. I found this cool tool that makes I-cording at Joannes. Remember to read the directions for the cording tool. You can only use a skinny 100% wool yarn.




You just use the colors that you like and create a cool tea cup or coffee mug. Here is a great video of the pattern here. I love the way this one turned out. I'm sure that if I hit some other thrift stores I could find better patterned sweaters.






I couldn't stop with the teacup. I had to create a sweater pincushion.




This one is made out of a cashmere sweater. I made sure to cut the sweater so I could put the cable to good use. Cashmere is a little harder to felt.
It's cute!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my little pincushion parade!

Happy 2009!

Happy 2009 to you! Wow, I can't believe the year is 2009. I feels like we just rang in the year 2000. Time sure marches on. I hope everyone reading had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Our family had an awesome time together enjoying each others company. As much as I delighted in all of the festivities it's good to get back to daily stuff like knitting, quilting and fun sewing. I worked on only one project during Christmas. I decided at the very last minute to knit a scarf for my DS's girlfriend Bree. I know I shouldn't have started a Christmas knitting project 4 days before the great day. You could call me a glutton for punishment. Even my DH looked at me and said,"You can't get that scarf done on time." How right he was. I finished January 1, 2009 at 11:50p.m. Ha! So, here are the details of my very first FO (finished object) of the new year......




Scrunchable scarf is the pattern. It's very simple to knit and the stitch definition is great. I modified the original pattern. Here are the details:
Cast on 26 stitches.
Slip the first stitch as to purl with yarn in front.
K2, P1 until the last stitch K1.



I chose a gorgeous merino wool from Malabrigo. The colorway is velvet grapes. The variegation is stunning.
Needle size: 10 1/2
I love how the color makes a zig zag pattern. I may add some fringe to the edge.



Slipping the first stitch and knitting the last makes a fine edge. It was a nice project to knit. It's been almost a year since I knitted my last scarf. Now I remember why. It seems to take forever to finish.





One of the best gifts I received this Christmas was an Ott light. Boy, what a difference a little more light can be. Here is a shot of my favorite chair with normal lighting. You can see the Ott light but I have it turned off.



Same shot with the Ott light on. What a difference.



Here is a hat I'm working on for my son. Just the floor lamp is turned on.




My project illuminated by the great Ott light! The Ott light makes all of my close up work including reading more vibrant. It's a great tool. Not real pretty but who cares when you can see good! I have lots of fun felting projects to share with you this week. Please drop by again. Happy 2009!

Trim A Tree Thursday Part 3

Trim a Tree Thursday continues this week courtesy of The Southern Hostess. I have really had a lot of fun participating in this home Christmas tour. Thank you Brett!





Last Christmas we purchased a skinny tree for the living room. It fits the room very well. The ornaments on this tree have been bought over the years of my married life. I noticed that the skinny tree needs more help. Something to add a bit of sparkle. After Christmas I will shop the sales to find the right bead garland for 50 perfect off.




This ornament is one of the very first ones I bought as a young wife in the 1980's.



The angel graces the top of my skinny tree. It's hard to find the right top for your tree. I have gone through several. They all seem to break or the lights go out and there is no way to fix it. I bought this angel from Pier One.



I always put my manger scene on the entertainment center. Everyone can see the beauty and true meaning of Christmas. Jim Shore is the artist.







This fold up ornament tree sits on top of our corn burning stove in the dining room. I can adjust the limbs so we can still pour the corn into the hopper.




The ornaments are all hand blown and hand painted from the inside of the piece! This is one of my favorites.





More Jim Shore. The detail is amazing. Santa makes a statement placed on the dining room table.



This is the view from here this morning. It's my day off and I have to finish up the Christmas shopping. I better get moving. We are expecting another snow storm this evening. I hope I can get everything finished and be home before the snow flies!

Trim A Tree Thursday Part 2

Today is Trim A Tree Thursday hosted by Brett at the Southern Hostess. Come on in and have a peek at a few of my decorations. The dining room is my Christmas of old. I decorate the entire room with colored lights. Old World ornaments hang on the garland. Also a few mercury glass ornaments decorate the pine boughs. The tree could be called a Charlie Brown tree. I remember my Great Grandmothers tree looking like this one. Lots of tinsel hanging on the branches to hide the large gaps. A vintage 1950's Santa sits on top of the charlie brown tree.




The tree skirt is an old grandmothers flower garden quilt. The quilt is tattered and torn and has a lot of holes in it. It has new life underneath the Christmas tree. I used to play with this wooden manger music box when I was a kid. Each Christmas at Grandma's I would wind up the box and listen to silent night. Great memories!




Just before I got married my Grandmother gave me all of her old Christmas ornaments. She questioned why I would want all of "that old junk". I felt very lucky to get all of that old junk and other "junky" treasures too! I was 21 and didn't know anything about antiques, decorating or anything else for that part.




As she handed me a box of Shiny Brite ornaments I was hooked. I loved the cool old ornaments. Silly me even admired the box they came it. I package them away very carefully each year. They are so fragile. Some of the ornaments have broken over time. Every year when I take the boxes out I think of my Grandma and smile. I'm so grateful that she saved her "junk" just for me.




I was a small child in the 1960's. During that time several of our family members had silver tinsel trees with big red ornaments. This tree pays homage to that era. My foofy girly green and pink tinsel tree has the added glitz of pink boa's! You would never catch me dead wearing a boa. It works on this tree. I got the idea of adding feather boa's from Kathleen. Great idea Kathleen!




I purchased these vintage 1960's pink and green polka dot ornaments from an E-bay auction 5 years ago. The original price tag on the box read 97 cents.




This is the view from here this morning. My peach trees are twinkling with ice. It's so pretty. Make sure to drop by next week. I have a few more things to share. Merry Christmas!!!!