Learn How to Knit: Check!







Two weeks ago, I finally learned how to knit. I have been saying that I need to learn how for quite a while, but never managed to schedule it in. I have picked up a couple of knitting books, but I knew that I needed a live human to teach me. I would look at those books and at online magazines like Knitty--K2, p2, BO--and I would go sort of cross-eyed. Certain things you just need to be shown how to do.





My friend Marcy signed me, Monica, and Christina up for a knitting class, and then informed us later. That's the type of gal she is. She is also the type of gal to interrupt you while you're talking and comment on your eyelashes!! We love her! Anyway, she signed us up for a class at Passion Knit, which is located in Snider Plaza here in Dallas. We arrived at Passion Knit after eating lunch and gossiping for a while. First we had to pick out our yarns. I chose the Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran in Ruby. After we chose our yarns, we got to see how those yarn winder twirly things worked--I need one of those!

We had a lovely teacher who showed us how to do the garter stitch, or basic knitting stitch. I wasn't sure if my knowledge of crochet was going to help or hinder me in this knitting process. I think it helped in the end. It was very strange to use 2 needles, but I already had a concept of how to hold yarn and work with my hands. I kept exclaiming "This is weird to use 2 needles!" or "Oh my god, this is so weird!" I'm sure they were sick of it by the end of the class. We all had our quirks though: Marcy was planning increasingly elaborate knitting projects, Monica got angry when things weren't ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, Christina somehow kept tangling her yarn, and I kept repeating, "This is weird!" and my inner know-it-all kept rearing its ugly head. We had a great time though!! We will definitely be taking another class together.

Now that I know how to knit, I want to make these slippers, and this bear, and this Harry Potter Dark Mark bag, and basically everything from Knitty, and .... uh-oh. I probably need practice and need to learn some more stitches first!

Our teacher did show us how to purl too. For some reason, purling was a great big enigma to me--"what on earth could a purl be?" It was really bothering me! I come to find out that it's just the mirror image of knitting (Instead of putting your needle in one side of the stitch, you put it in the other side. It's the same motions though). The mystery of purling is finally solved!

In case you are wondering, the scarf I started in this class measures only 4 inches. I haven't had any time to work on it due to the long list of Christmas presents that I'm making. I will be picking it up again January 1st!

Decorating for Christmas

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I pulled out all of the the Christmas decorations, turned on some Christmas music, poured a glass of wine, and got in the holiday spirit. Here is a picture of my tree:


It is a four-foot artificial tree that we bought a couple of years ago. It is in two pieces, each with a colored light strand on it. This year (and last year too), the top section's lights were out. Mike went through each light patiently, (patient is the same as annoyed, right?), changing out the bulb to see which one was broken. Well, he went through all of them and it still wasn't working. So we had to replace the whole thing! By the way, all of that stuff in the background to the left is a chair filled with items I am using to make Christmas presents with. Can't wait to show you pictures of those, but I have to wait until they are all given away! Here's a hint though: I made 20 of one something, and I am in the process of making 9 of something else!


Here is one of the crochet ornaments that my mom and my Granny made when I was in middle school or so. They both made zillions of them that year, and I can remember watching my mom sitting on the couch crocheting by lamp light with her glasses on. I credit these two women for all of the creative and crafty talent that I have!


Here is an ornament that I had since I was very young, less than five years old. It is piece of wood with Kermit painted on it, who was my all-time favorite Muppet.

And here is one of my newer ornaments. It is plush Santa that I got at Target (I think) the same year I got the tree. It is perfect for putting on the very top, since I'm not partial to angels.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A Cold Day in November

Last Thursday, which was also the last day in November, was a cold one here in Texas. It actually snowed all day long. When the temperatures drop and it snows, people start getting anxious and freaking out here. It usually only snows once or twice a year here, although this year seems to be much colder than usual, so we may have more. When it does snow, it will melt, freeze and become ice. The roads and traffic are horrendous when this happens. I remember a few years ago when I was still in college, it took me 4 hours to get from school to home when this happened--a drive that took 20 minutes normally.








So, last Thursday, a bunch of school districts closed for the day, and many people went home early. My work and my husband's work both closed early, so I got to go home at 2:00 pm. We decided to make mulled wine, using Jennifer's recipe, and it was delicious!



Do you see that ball with rubberbands around it in that picture? That was Mike's rather ingenious idea for the mulled wine. He wrapped the mulling spices in two coffee filters, and used the rubber bands to hold it together. Before that, being a little bit of a germ-ophobe, he put the rubberbands in a glass of water, and microwaved it for a minute or two. I laughed at him for that!


My brother-in-law came over, and we cooked a winter vegetable feast for dinner. The menu was:



















Winter Vegetable Stew (Rachael Ray's recipe)
Roasted Winter Vegetables (purple potatoes, fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, fennel, and parsnips mixed with rosemary and olive oil)
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Roasted Eggplant with a chipotle-honey marinade
Tofu Stir-fry with a Roasted Chile Pepper sauce
It was a veritable winter vegetable feast! It got us all in the mood for the holidays and colder weather.

Best Cheese Ball Recipe Ever!

8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Worcestershire sauce
Cholula, Tabasco or other hot sauce
chopped pecans
paprika

Mix the cream cheese, garlic, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce together. (Use the sauces to taste, as hot as you like it!). Scoop out the mixture onto Saran wrap, and roll into a ball. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or longer--the flavors will develop and mix, and the garlic will mellow a little bit. When you are ready to serve, roll the ball in the chopped pecans and paprika. Serve with crackers.

I made this cheese ball at the Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, and we devoured it! We were hovering by the table, barely pausing between bites to breathe and talk to each other. It's really that good. I served it with two types of crackers: Wheat Thins, which were crunchy and salty, and some new Honey Wheat Ritz cracker stick things, which were sweeter and softer. They were both delicious! This is the sort of recipe that I like--quick, easy, and made up of mostly cheese. Yum!

Thanks to Joel and his family for this recipe!

Crochet Cozies




Inspired by Simple Sparrow, I made these two cozies in less than an hour. I used single crochet to make them nice and sturdy, and used a row of (double crochet, chain 2) to make space for the ribbon. Both ribbons are from Superbuzzy, one with apples, and one with hedgehogs and acorns. (They are out of these two trims now, but they have lots of other cute ones). The ribbons are fairly thick, made out of a linen/cotton blend, I think. The yarns are both from Shabby Sheep in Uptown Dallas--the black one is Rowan Cotton Rope, and the green is Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran. I am currently using the apple one for my digital camera, and the green for my cell phone.

Speaking of Kathmandu Aran, I finally learned how to knit this past weekend! (I used the Aran yarn in a cranberry color to make the scarf for my class.) I will have a post and pictures soon. I will not, however, have my knitted scarf done soon--I am not quite as fast with the knitting as I am with crochet, which I have over 10 years of practice!!

Stitch Austin Report

I am playing catch up on my blog recently (I realized I only posted once in November!). A group of friends and I went to Stitch Austin on Saturday, November 11th. Three of us got there right at 5:00, and were able to snag the goodie bags! We got some nice sturdy tote bags, that were navy blue with rainbow trim. Inside the goodie bags were all sorts of items, including a couple of free magazines, some fabric paint, 1 inch buttons, patches, candy, etc, and the usual flyers and coupons.




With our goodie bags taken care of, we did a lap around the Austin Music Hall, looking at all of the booths. There were lots of vendors there, and my favorites were Anne Marie, Supermaggie, and My Imaginary Boyfriend. It was also fun to see Coco Couture and Handmade Julz, who are from my part of Texas.

We left Stitch for awhile to get some drinks and snacks at the Cork & Co. Wine Bar, and came back in time to buy some goodies and watch the fashion show. The fashion show was really long, and my feet and back were killing me by the end of an hour and a half, but the show was very fun. They did a clever parody of corporate America and buying handmade at the beginning, which was hilarious. Click here to see the list of all of the designers in the fashion show and vendors at Stitch.

Thanks again to Andy, whose guest bed is warm and cozy, whose coffee and biscuits were delicious, and whose patience with me about getting those damn goodie bags was neverending!!

Hiking in Pennsylvania














During October, Mike and I went to Pennsylvania to visit his family and friends for a long weekend. He did some research on the internet, and found out the best weekend for us to go for the fall foliage. So, we were able to go in the peak season for all of the beautiful fall colors.















Our friends Craig and Allison took us for a hike at the Cowan's Gap State Park. We hiked to the top of one of the hiking trails, and saw this beautiful vista:



It was awe-inspiring in person. You could see for miles and miles, throughout the whole valley. It took us about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to hike to this spot, and it was well worth it.


Here are some of the gigantic leaves we found on the ground:















Here is another look-out point that we went to:











Here is Mike standing in front of a place where there was a huge landslide:



















And here are some apples at a roadside stand. This is where we bought delicious homemade apple butter from a local farm. Yum! Happy Fall everyone!

Mulled Wine Recipe

I know it's been forever since I posted, but November has been a very busy month for me!! Huge work projects, 4 family/friend birthdays, a sinus infection lasting over a week....you get the idea.

I wanted to share this recipe for mulled wine, which is from my friend Jennifer. It looks delicious, and we will definitely be making some this Thanksgiving weekend.

1 bottle cheap red wine

1 cup sugar (I use the raw brown kind, but any sugar is OK)

1 cup orange juice (or 1 cup orange flavored liquor, if you are feeling frisky)

2 tbsps whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

4 chai tea bags

***Optional***1 cup brandy (some people add brandy to the mix, but I find that I get really way toooooo happy, so I leave it out)

In a large pot, heat orange juice to a rolling boil. Add the sugar, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn. Mix until sugar is melted, then reduce heat to low. Add the wine, whole spices and tea bags. Stir and then let it gradually heat up until you can see steam rising from the pot. Take off burner and taste. Add more sugar or orange juice if needed. Taste again...and again...and again...until it tastes right, or you get dizzy.

Drink up and party down!

It actually tastes better after it has sat over night in the fridge. You can leave the spices in all night, but I would take the tea bags out because they might add a bitter taste. You could also add sliced oranges with the rind on for extra yumminess.

Thanks Jennifer!

Happy Halloween!

Here is a picture of the costumes that I made for me and Mike. I am the Greek goddess Artemis, and Mike is a Jedi Knight! I used McCall's pattern M3514 for mine, and Simplicity's pattern 5840 for his. My Granny and I worked on them for 6 hours straight to finish them the weekend before my birthday. Thanks Granny--I couldn't have done it without you!




Speaking of my birthday, here is a picture of the fabulous poached pear tarts that my brother-in-law made for me! He also made a large one, but I think these small ones are too cute.














Trick or Treat!!

Give and Take









Sometimes you are the giver and sometimes you are the receiver! Here is another baby hat (follow links to free pattern) that I made for our friends' baby Grant. His dad Craig is a baseball fanatic, so I thought he would appreciate this baseball motif.

We visited them in Pennsylvania the weekend before last during the peak time for fall foliage. It was absolutely gorgeous! I have some wonderful pictures to share, and I will try to post some this weekend.

Below is a picture of the beautiful coasters that my friend Christy sent me for my birthday. They are made out of an unfinished stone, and she handpainted them herself. Just in time too, because the cheap coasters I had from Wal-mart just weren't cutting it anymore. I love how the card she made me matches the coasters too! Thanks so much Christy!

















I will post some pictures of my Halloween costume tomorrow--stay tuned!

Green Scalloped Scarf

Here I am modeling my newest scarf. I used the pattern from Stitch'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, by Debbie Stoller, and I used brushed baby alpaca yarn that I bought from the Shabby Sheep. I modified the pattern slightly, and took out one of the rows of double crochet in the middle. This made the scarf just a little bit skinnier.













Here is a close-up of the scallop detail:











I highly recommend this book, by the way. If someone only wanted to buy one crochet book, this is probably the one I would tell them to get. The first half of this book is a great how-to section with tons of pictures and diagrams on crochet techniques. Now, I generally think you need some in-person instruction to learn crochet, but you could almost learn how to with this book alone! And of course, there are some wonderful patterns. I think about 40 or so. I have also started making a clutch purse from this book--I just need to sew up the sides and put in the lining. Here is an example of what the clutch looks like. This is an adorable pink version from Craftlog.

Stitch Fashion Show and Guerilla Craft Bazaar!





Ooooh, I am so excited about this event! Stitch is on Saturday, November 11 from 5:00 pm to 2:00 am. It will be at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, TX. According to the website, there will be over 75 booths and over 20 independent designers in the fashion show. Here is a list of all of them! I am taking my friend Christina for her birthday, which is the week before. We will be taking a road trip down to Austin from Dallas, and staying the weekend with some friends. Make Dallas will be trekking down there too. Anyone else interested in coming? Andria? Jessica? Jennifer? Monica?

The tickets just went on sale today, and they are only $10!

Hope to see you there!

Trip to the Shabby Sheep

While visiting the Urban Bazaar a couple weekends ago, my mom, Aunt Debbie, and I decided to stop by the Shabby Sheep. This is a great yarn store in Uptown Dallas that also offers knitting classes and activities. Now the three of us are actually crocheters, but we can definitely appreciate yarn! Whenever I have some more time, I will take the beginner class at the Shabby Sheep and learn how to knit finally.



The Shabby Sheep has every kind of yarn you can think of: cashmere, wool, angora, alpaca, cotton, ribbon, chenille, blends--it's enough to hypnotize me for hours!! The shop also has lots of sample projects for you to see, including the pink scarf above. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but those are tiny little pink beads. My mom in particular loved this scarf, and has commanded that I make her one. Okay, Mom, as soon as I make you the scotty dog.....I'll start on this scarf.














My favorite display item was this hedgehog! It has to be one of the cutest stuffed toys I've ever seen. The Shabby Sheep is going to have a class on how to make it, but in knitting!! Curses! This hedgehog will be my motivation to learn as soon as possible.

We also liked this pumpkin baby hat. Here is a free pattern for a crochet version from Bev's Country Cottage. Enjoy!







PS I will have pictures of me and Mike's Halloween costumes up soon!

Early Birthday Present!

Here is my early birthday present from Mike! I love this camera! It's very small, and will easily fit into my purse. Notice the large LCD screen on the back too. I haven't figured out all of the cool features yet, but it has special settings for taking pictures at night, for fireworks, for underwater, etc. It also makes movies, and you can hook it up to your TV to watch them.

Mike also got a 2 GB memory card to go with it, which will hold over 600 pictures. I took about 450 pictures on my trip to Hawaii, so it will be great for traveling. On that trip, we brought the laptop with us, and had to upload pictures each night. And I had to rotate between 3 different memory cards.


Since last Tuesday, I have already taken 107 pictures on it! Mike wanted to give it to me early so I could have it for my birthday party this Friday. Thanks baby!







Friday the 13th--Spooky!

Vintage Halloween













Craftzine's blog had a great link to a group on Flickr that is sharing vintage Halloween cards, images, and costumes. You can check it out here. This will get you in the mood for October and for Halloween of course! Here are a few of my favorite images. Enjoy!



Craftzine also had links to How to Make Your Own Bat Costume and How to Make Your Own Devil Horns in case you need some inspiration for your Halloween costume!