Merry making!

Just a few pics of our holiday season so far! Lots of crafting, trips to museums and zoos, Santa Lucia Day celebrations, toy making, and edible ornament making. We are having a blast and I can't believe it's almost Christmas. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Knitty happenings!

 

Trying to use up these last chilly days to get some knitting in as I will hopefully be outside gardening more in the near future!!! Found these sweet little balls o' yarn for half price. No clue what I can use them for but they are decorating my work table right now and that seems to be working just fine!

I made these little birdies with the free "Bluebird of Happiness" pattern on Ravelry. It was from the same author as "Henry's Bunny" and I loved it just as much.

 

 

They are happily perched in the nature table area right now.

 

I also whipped up this little guy whilst binging on some Doctor Who. I kind of winged it but a similar pattern can be found here. I did mine in the round with twenty stitches down to the legs where I divided onto 2 sets of 3 needles (10 stitches each) and knit down. I closed the feet up with some yarn. I weaved yarn in and out of every other stitch at the neck and tied in the back. The head was tied up the same way. Arms were knit flat with 8 rows colored and two flesh color, sewn up, stuffed and attached. Hat was knit in the round with twenty stitches and I knit for about 5 rows and reduced stitches by eyeballing it!

Garden update!

Well the weather finally broke so we have been doing lots in the garden the past few days.

Here is out new baby!  Took us awhile to find a composter we wanted. This one seems good so far. We got it At Menard's  for $70. Not too bad. The compost inside is mostly composted already but we are going to need lots more for the other raised beds we made. I made a deal with a local vegetarian cafe to pick up their scraps two days a week so hopefully it will accumulate quickish!

I also started another potato tower. This year I  doing mostly straw and just a bit of compost. The middle got too compacted last year and the potatoes did not grow well. Hoping the straw will keep it airier.

I even planted a little lettuce seed on top. It worked pretty well last year and we got a few salads!

I put these strawberry plants we were getting rid of in the cinder blocks of our raised bed. One week later they look great and I actually think it will work! We are replacing these ever bearing with June bearing since they produce better. 

One last pic of my only successful container garden experiment. Green onions! Wish you could get bulbs all year. I love fresh green onions!

Spring time crafting

Holy bajeez this winter needs to let go already! I would like to be outside getting my garden ready but here we are, stuck inside. I've been getting things ready for Easter to keep me busy until the nice weather this weekend. Here is a sweet little bunny I knitted for my daughter's Easter basket.

 

This pattern turned out to be a challenge but in a good way! It was the perfect next step for me with knitting. I had never done a WT before to build shape so that was fun. The pattern is really neat and well written. It's called "Henry's Bunny" on Ravelry.

 

 

Lots of baking going on too. I should take advantage of it as much as possible since I avoid lighting the stove in the summer like the plague!! This is a half whole wheat half white loaf of Mother Earth News's crusty no knead bread. It's da bomb and the closest to good bakery bread I can make at home. You need a Dutch oven but it's one of my favorite cooking and baking tools so you should get one!

 

 

And lots of woodworking going on as well. I have been making puzzles to sell at a local café but whipped up this sweet little house for my daughters new teeny tiny dolly she got a the flea market last weekend. What do you think?

 

 

Simple Pasta Dough

Have you ever made your own pasta dough? I know, it sounds like a lot of work and why make something you can buy for like $1 in a box. I'm not saying the boxed stuff isn't good, but homemade pasta dough is like a totally different animal. I don't do it all the time because it is obviously a bit more effort, but not as much as you would think!

 

This recipe is for a small batch. Enough to make pasta for 2. Just double it if you want more! Pretty simple ingredients. Since eggs vary so much in size just start with 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cup of flour. You can always increase if the dough seems too wet.

 

 

Mix the eggs and put them in the center of the flour. Use a fork to mix it up until it's completely incorporated. You should be able to pick it up and form it into a ball. If not...add more flour!

 

 

Knead on a floured surface for like ever. The dough should be springy and smooth. This took me like 15 minutes and I broke a sweat...but I don't have to work out today so it's all good. Chill in the fridge for at least a 1/2 hour.

 

 

Now roll out in a pasta maker or use a rolling pin. The key is to get it as thin as possible without tearing it. I filled these with artichoke hearts, sautéed spinach and garlic, and feta. They were amazeballs.

 

 

Topped em with garlic butter. Nom nom.

Getting all techy and stuff

Oh I know it's been awhile but I have a good excuse. You see I was just sick and tired of my crappy old point and shoot and it was becoming impossible to enjoy blogging whilst working with such a piece of crap. SO yesterday I went out and bought an ipod which was a big deal for my because as of now I have a Tracfone so yeah...big upgrade.

 

So far I am having lots of fun taking pictures of my meals like "normal" people. These are John's Sexy Swedish Buns (a Jamie O recipe).

 

I have also been spending a lot of time making wooden toys. This one is just for C. A sweet sleeping dragon with a nice cozy knitted cave.

 

And some are destined for a new little coffee shop. There is actually a complete set with rooster, tree, and pig all painted up. The shop is opening Monday and I am excited to see how they do!

 

I have also been enjoying some thrifting. Not as much as I have been since I am running out of room in the old house.

 

And some sewing. This little burlap banner is destined for our farmers' market booth this summer. From left to right we have garlic, tomato, turnip, French breakfast radish, and a carrot. They were made from little fabric scraps and zig-zag stitched onto some burlap. I also did a zig-zag stitch around the edge of the burlap to keep it from unraveling and I zig-zag stitched the twine onto the squares. It was a quick and easy project and I think it looks great. What crafting have you been up to?

 

P.S. you can find me on Instagram now under bigcraftyblog!

Thrifty Tuesday

You know I actually DO have certain items in mind when I go to the thrift store on Tuesdays. In fact I don't go unless there is something specific that I am looking for and this Tuesday I was looking for a shelf. I didn't find the shelf but I did control myself a little. There is a glass case and the stuff in the case is 1/2 off on Tuesdays and there was a whole box of jewelry I wanted to dig through but I controlled myself...a bit. I could not however pass up the following items...

 

These...these most awesome vintage (1934 according to the interwebs) teacups and plate. The cups have some small cracks and the plate is scuffed but they were .25 each so I paid like nothing for them. I should have got more, there were more but seriously...what am I going to do with these let alone MORE of these? I do have some upcycling ideas that may or may not get done in the future. We will see!

 

 

This groovy 60's Christmas candle! My grandma has one like it that is the Little Drummer Boy and I just really liked the church on this one. It reminds me of my Putz houses and I plan to put them together next year...well not too close (the Putz houses being made out of 50 year old cardboard and all).

 

 

And these last two little items. The peg thingy will be spray painted and hung in either the kitchen or the back porch I think. The gold frame I want to spray paint white and hang in our room. Part of me is tempted to chalkboard it but we will see.

 

 

And for those of you thinking "Dude, isn't this a craft blog? What's with the all the pictures of old junk?!" (ok don't know if anyone is actually thinking that), here is a picture of my latest project. The beginnings of a Lego quilt that needs to be finished by Sunday. I need more fabric for the top but the roads were outrageous today so I will venture out tomorrow. The colors were my sons choice and man, I don't know what it is about these colors but they make me queasy. I can't decide if it's because I had a clown lamp in my childhood room in the 80's this color or if it reminds me of elementary gym class (you know, the parachute, and dodge balls, and my gym teachers hideous Jamz). Blech. But my little man wants these colors so that's what he gets!