Baby Booties

I have been so busy with the house renovations! I promise to post pics soon.

I did find a quick and easy baby bootie knitting pattern for a fellow teacher who is having a little girl. It was knit on straight needles and then whip stitched together. I need to make a stock pile of these!!!

I Call This the "Finally Finished Basketweave Scarf"

Several months ago, I started this apple green scarf for my oldest daughter. Impending home ownership and many hours of cleaning, fixing, and more cleaning have put this project on hold for quite some time. But last night during our movie, I finished it! It is nearly as long as its proud new owner is tall. And don't let her expression fool you: she loves this thing!

Cozy Armwarmers

As usual, I have been doing a lot of reading lately. I'll post a three part book review soon, but in the meantime, between books I made these cozy Armwarmers for my sister-in-law. A note on these particular ones: since she provided the yarn, I had no say in what brand. And they are ok, but they would look and feel so much better with quality yarn. Now I have part of a skein of this stuff left and I will probably give it to my daughter to make macaroni necklaces. Quality does matter! I will make another pair with some of my personal yarn and do a side-by-side one day so you can see the difference.

In other news, I made some progress on my book, after a month long dry spell. I know how it ends, it's getting there that's been tough with the plethora of characters to weave into the thread of the story. My good friend and college pal Laura of Laurasewsstuff.com is going to edit for me. A huge relief! That will be a huge help.

Spring Break is next week, and it's already crammed full since we are moving. I see...boxes...in my future....

PS-sorry about the pictures; I'm too lazy to get my big girl camera so cell phone pics it is!

A Lovely Surprise!

When I got home today, a had a package waiting for me in the mailbox. I love presents! Did I mention that? I was so surprised. And then I saw it was from my dear friend and college buddy, Laura. For those of you who don't know, Laura is a sewing genius. Her blog is at http://laurasewsstuff.blogspot.com/?m=1. You need to check out her sorcery with needle and thread!

She also included a nice letter with my goodies. I love letters! She says she doesn't wrap as well. I beg to differ!

I haven't decided if I am going to share with the girls or not. Ok of course i will, or get mugged by them anyway lol. Though its funny how each one Laura sent suits a particular person's personality (say that five times fast). I am enamored with the peacock one, Emily loves the celestial one, and Madyson went mad for the cat one. Thank you so much to my dear friend! Hugs!

Here are photos of my fantastic gifts:

I'm Still Around

I have had a lot going on lately! I finally finished the Pacific Ocean bag, which I will post step by step later; I helped my mom with paperwork stuff; we had some school issues with my youngest, and we switched her school in the almost middle of the year; I had my own school work, and regular work, with the end of classes and semester; and now we have to move to remain in the school district we transferred the wee person (back) to. So all things considered, it's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks. But this weekend the weather was warm and beautiful, a real taste of spring. In between numerous and often odiferous chores, I stole a few moments with the cutest dog....my Sadie girl. We went walkabout in the field, and I snapped these pictures. She is my lil Sadie Wadie mommy's doggie wiggle woggle smoochie poochie :-D

I Love Giving Gifts!

I read this book once (SHOCKING, yes?) called "The 5 Love Languages." It was a very eye-opening book and has helped me with many of my personal relationships. One thing it taught me about myself is that my love language is that of giving and receiving gifts. And that is so true, too. I LOVE giving gifts to family and friends. I take great delight in choosing or making just the right thing, or something that was asked for, and wrapping it in neat different ways. I love reactions! I made a few things for my friend and college buddy, Laura, who has a really awesome blog called Laura Sews Stuff, which is about sewing (right?!), random notions, and Siamese cats (I love cats!). Her reaction is just the reason why I love giving gifts so much! I did not post any of the things I made for her, or the other girls, on my blog because I wanted them to be a surprise. But since she loved them so much, she is now in danger of receiving regular packages of yarny bits.

Currently, I'm working on a felted bag that I will probably sell on Etsy, a baby hat for a friend who just had a little girl, and still (FOREVER) working on the basketweave scarf for my oldest daughter. But I had this great idea to make catnip fish instead of the little trinkets I made for Laura's Siamese Ladies. Here's my three pattern ideas:

 

What is the best one of these options? I worry that the first one has too many strings to chew off! But the second one is kind of plain....

So that's all for now. Stay tuned for more on the felted bag, as I'm taking photos as I go along to chart my progress. And give more gifts!


PS-If you are unfamiliar with the Love Languages book, here's what it looks like; check it out:

Irish Lemon Pie

Pinterest is awesome, isn't it?! Whilst cruising around trolling for dessert recipes, I came across a pin for something called "Irish Lemon Pudding". Since my husband is Irish, I'm always trying to find ways that Irish-ness can become delicious. I adapted the Pinterest recipe into pie and voila! Heaven in Irish lemon-y form. Here's how I did it:

1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
2TBSP melted butter
Combine these in a bowl and press into a 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes, and set aside.

Meanwhile...
2 TBSP softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup flour
2 lemons, zested and juiced (*I used 1/4 cup of lemon juice plus 1tsp lemon extract since lemons are not in season for my location right now)
1 1/4 cups milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks, beat on medium for one minute. Add in the flour, then the lemon juice and zest, incorporating each ingredient. Add the milk and mix well. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk or whisk attachment until they form stiff peaks. Fold into the lemon mixture, gently. Pour the entire mixture into the prepared graham cracker crust and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is very lightly browned and the center is completely set.

Refrigerate for about 1/2 an hour or so, and then top with whipped cream and some fresh nutmeg.

This is heavenly; the whole family loved it. A new dessert in our rotation, for certain!