I learned to Knit (and other yarn fun)

Here is the beginning of my second knitting project ever.  My friend Holly taught me how to knit a dishcloth a long time ago, but I had forgotten everything she taught me.  After reading the instructions in 2 books, I finally had to go to youtube.com to watch this video!  This yarn was just left over in my stash, so I decided to make a scarf.  Although, after knitting several rows, I realized that it will be too wide for a scarf, and I will run out of yarn way before I hit that point anyway.  So, it will become a hat, unless my yarn runs out too early, then it may become a very small doll blanket, or a doll hat.  Speaking of baby hats, here is a white one I crocheted.  It was supposed to be for Rebekah, but seeing as the yarn also was a left over in my stash, it became a baby hat!  It needs a pom pom, but I'm all out of white. 

Here is a purple shawl I am still crocheting for Rebekah.  I bought purple flower buttons so it will stay on her.  I think it will be adorable with a white long sleeve shirt under it, and her teal and purple skirt that I made for her!

Lastly, with all this crocheting and knitting going on, my son was feeling left out.  He begged me to teach him to do some "sewing", so I bought some plastic canvas today and helped him make a bookmark.  (All I did was tie the knots so he could sew)  Here it is:

Birthday and Wedding Cards

We're headed to a birthday party today, followed by a wedding.  You can't get anymore joyful than that!  Here are the cards I made for the occasions.  The paper and embellishments came from a scrapbook calender.

Crocheted Children's Hat

Here is my first crocheted hat!  I made a rectangle 39 chains wide and 36 double crochet rows.  Then I stitched the two shorter ends closed.  On one end of the tube I created, I wove yarn around the edge and then pulled it tight to make the top.  I finished it with a pom pom on top.  This is for my son Caleb.  I'm working on a pair of mittens for him also.  My husband would also like a hat (without the pom pom), and I'd like to make my daughter a hat and mittens.

Rebekah's Birthday Quilt is Finished

After exactly 3 weeks, Rebekah's quilt is ready for her bed.  I attempted to machine quilt it, but the layers bunched up and my lines weren't straight.  I knew I would be mad at myself if I continued to machine quilt it and it looked terrible.  After all, I want it to be a treasured keepsake.  So, even though I was pressed for time, I decided to hand quilt it, which took a little longer (and hurt the fingers!).  The brown patch you can see on the back has her name, birthday, and Love Mom on it.  It was my first attempt at embroidering in a long time, and a little more difficult than hoped for.  I used a white crayon to draw straight lines and then her name.  A lot of the crayon rubbed off as I was stitching, but the rest came off when I ironed the patch, which pleasantly surprised me!  My stitches on the embroidered patch, and the entire quilt, are definitely not uniform, but I think it gives it more of a handmade feel, and I hope it will be more treasured because of it.

Now, can anyone offer any tips on machine quilting?  I want to make a full size quilt for my son, but I'd prefer to use the machine, not my hands.

Baby Gift Set for Auction Completed!

Here is the finished baby gift, headed to a silent auction for the Clara Bear Fund.  I hope the auction is a huge success for Clara and her family! 

I loved this under the sea fabric (found at JoAnn Fabric).  My son also loved it, stay tuned for a boys wallet coming in the next couple weeks!  Does anyone else have any ideas for a homemade boys gift?  It seems like everything is always for girls, and my son is feeling left out of my craftiness!

Long Jean and Black Skirt

Meet my friend Jennifer.  She wanted to learn how to make a skirt out of her old jeans, so she came over today for a lesson.  I think she did a great job!  It's very long, but she loved it that way, and can always be hemmed later if she changes her mind.  The black fabric used to be a too tight skirt, very stretchy material, which allows plenty of room for walking.

Currently, I have 3 batches of spaghetti sauce simmering on my stove!  Yum!  I will post the recipe soon.

Carrot Cake Muffins

How does my picture look?  I tried to make it look more professional.  Any tips from my photography inclined readers?  I brewed the coffee just to take this picture!

These are carrot cake muffins.  I've had the recipe for about a year, it came from the side of a bag of sugar.  It caught my eye because it is dairy free and includes a vegetable!  I'm going to give you the original recipe, which is fabulous, but I made a few substitutions to make it healthier.  I used half white, half 100% whole wheat flour, half the oil, added 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (to replace the oil), used 1 tbsp of ground walnuts instead of chopped (didn't have chopped in the pantry), added 1 tbsp of ground flax seed, and added a little bit of chopped pineapple.  I also decreased the sugar to slightly more than a 1/2 cup.  The result was very good, perhaps a little too heavy on the nutmeg.  I used the same amount, but maybe decreasing the sugar brought the spices out a little more.  My kids still ate several (and so did I).  I have added raisins in the past with success.  I hope you enjoy them!

Carrot Cake
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
2 tbsp pineapple juice
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 9 inch square baking pan.  (I made 42 mini muffins instead)
2.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until creamy.
3.  Stir in vegetable oil until well combined.
4.  Add grated carrots, pineapple juice and walnuts.  Mix well.
5.  In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix well.
6.  Add flour mixture to carrot mixture; stir until just combined.
7.  Pour into greased and floured baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Baby Gift Set for Auction

Under the Sea baby gift set to be auctioned off at the Clara Bear Fund Benefit to be held Oct. 17th.  I still plan on making 3 burp cloths, a taggy blanket, and a bib to complete this set.  I'd really like to make a pacifier case, but I haven't found reasonably priced iron on vinyl.  I added an inside pocket to this tote, it turned out cute.

This weeks project list

My Project List for this Week
1.  Finish Rebekah's quilt (didn't make it for her birthday)
2.  Finish baby present for a silent auction for the Clara Bear Fund
3.  Go through a years worth of pictures and order prints so I can scrapbook them!
4.  Teach a friend how to make skirts out of jeans
5.  Make something yummy, maybe chocolate chip cookies or mint brownies (thanks Carrie for the recipe)

For all of my faithful readers, I think I have fixed the problem with comments, so please try again!
Have a great week everyone!

Teddy Bear Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday to my precious baby girl!  Today we're celebrating with both sets of grandparents, a great grandma, and an aunt and uncle.  Here's her teddy bear birthday cake, pink and brown. 

Today's Joys:
A healthy, happy little girl
Family
Cake and Ice Cream
A Clean House