Petey

I haven't posted any pictures of Pete a while, and the Internet has been a sad, sad place without him.

Cheer up, y'all! Here's Pete!

He's so cute. I know he's my dog and I'm biased, but this snuggle bug really is a wonderful part of my life. 

Diamond Candles-A Prize Inside!

Have you heard of Diamond Candles?

Well, you have now. (Hehe)

Diamond Candles are soy-based candles made in America. Why are they "diamond"? Each candle has a ring in it, and the ring is worth anywhere from $10-$5000! 

Prize candles are so fun. I resisted buying some for a couple of months, but since we decided one might make a good present for people on our list (who don't know this blog exists as far as I know, so I can talk about it), I decided to get one, too.

The candles:

My candle and ring (!!):

Better shot of the ring:

There are no markings on it, so I'm assuming it is only a $10 ring, but it is very pretty! 

I've seen some tacky rings that were real gold and had real gemstones, so I'm exited about this one. Also, it fits! Yay! 

I hope the people who receive a Diamond Candle from us for Christmas take a picture of the ring so I can share it here. I really want to see if anyone gets a real ring! 

You can visit www.diamondcandles.com to see their selection. I would recommend any of the scents picture above, although the honeysuckle smells a little strong for my taste. 

The lavender lemon candle has a very strong scent before you burn it, but it mellows out to a very gentle scent after it is lit. I wish it was a little stronger, but my nose is also stopped up, so I will let you know in a week or so if it is the candle or my nose that needs adjusting!

The Craft Room is FINISHED!!

It's only been over a year since it started. And when I say "finished," I mean everything but the crown molding and the wall decorations. 

So I fibbed a little. 

But it is finished for now! 

We painted the old dining room table's legs white (they were hunter green).

(Haha, Pete butt!)

Here's the layout:

There's another chair that sits in front of the sewing machine usually.

Window side and yarn storage:

(Sorry about the lighting in the photo)

Aaannnnd a close-up of the bookshelf yarn storage.

The house cookie jar holds my embroidery floss. Neat, huh?

Sparkling Fruit Water

Sometimes regular water is boring.

It's just there being plain. 

Danielle came over during one of my lemon-crazed days, and we decided to make water interesting. (Danielle does this at her place, so I figured I would try it here.)

Mason jars are always cute! ( I need more....)

So! We sliced up a lemon that was used for its zest but left out of the lemon projects of the day (lemon meringue cookies and lemon curd), and we added the slices and some frozen strawberries to our jars.

I carbonated some water with the Soda Stream my parents gave Chris for Christmas (seriously, this thing is cool).

(Please ignore the dirty oven mitts.)

We poured the sparkling water over the fruit and enjoyed some bubbles!

Lemons and strawberries go very well together. 

Danielle took this close-up.

I love the bubbles! 

I think next time I will use blueberries. 

Now this is some bubbly you can enjoy in the daytime without feeling guilty! 

Oops! It's been a while!

Wow. I did not realize how long it has been since I posted here!

Well, to bring you up to speed, I'm not working at the church anymore. I've been spending my time studying for my teaching certification and taking care of the house. 

I even have a schedule! (I don't stick to it, but I have one!)

I'm very close to taking my first exam. I'm pretty nervous about it. I don't remember taking computer tests in college. I did take my college algebra tests online, but that class was a concurrent enrollment class in high school that I barely remember. 

We are running with the No Boundaries Fleet Feet training program again, too! I missed it during our summer break. (They didn't stop training, but we didn't run in the stifling heat.)

I have been knitting a lot! And I can crochet now. Really!

I haven't done any "big" projects like beanies or afghans, but I have made some potholders and mug cozies along with the cutest baby bootie you'll ever see! I might even crochet the other one eventually! 

I made a new friend, too. It's crazy how difficult it is to make friends in this town.

Danielle and her husband visited the church, and I put a note in their standard visitor letter when I noticed they moved here from the same college town where we went to school. She stopped by work a few days later and we went to lunch with the pastor. It was fun! 

We're so similar it is scary sometimes. And both of our husbands are big Star Wars fans. We are all pretty much nerds, so it's great! 

She knits, too! I roped Chris into taking us to see alpacas at a local yarn store's alpaca yarn line launch event.

Chris is probably happy I'm not in his hair all te time, anyway, haha!

Well, I'm posting using the mobile app, so we will see how well pictures work with this.

Here are some of my crocheted goodies! Find me on ravelry as emsenshi to see more pictures of my projects. (I'll come back later to post links to the patterns.)

Arm warmers

From the Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet book

Potholders

Mug Coaster Cozies

(One of the best ideas I have ever seen!)

I'm actually enjoying crochet now. I think I was a little intimidated by it. 

Oh, and here's that bootie

Cute, right? I can't remember which book it is in... I'll update soon with info. 

Well, I have lots more to write about. I hope I remember to come back and post it! I have been busy studying and knitting, and I tend to forget about my blog. (Bad blogger!)

Eventually I will post the pattern for the newsboy beanies I made for my cousin Julie's son Jackson. I need to actually write it and knit another beanie so I have pictures. Can you believe I forgot to take pictures of the finished hats? I was so frustrated when I remembered I needed to after I got home from the post office.

I've been on a huge lemon kick, so I'll share some recipes for lemon goodies. 

I haven't taken my sewing machine to be serviced yet... I can't get it out of the table alone and I keep forgetting to ask Chris to help me!

Well, at least I picked up a few skills while I was away. I will try to post more often!

Metal Parts

My grandma gave me her old Singer sewing machine. I'm pretty excited about it!

My sewing skills are basic because I was in the "I'm a huge pain in the *** and I don't want to learn anything you do!" stage whenever my mom could have taught me to sew.

Now we're hours apart with really different schedules! Add that to the list of "things I'd like to smack my teenage self for doing/not doing."


Front view

Back view

It's in a table, but no table pictures for you! The craft room is a bit messy...

I'm going to take it to a local sewing shop and have it serviced before I do anything, but I already have projects lined up!

The summer before Chris and I got married, I cut out everything for a t-shirt quilt to use as a picnic blanket. Then after we bought our house (a year and a half later or so), I borrowed my mom's sewing machine to finish the quilt. After she and my dad moved again, I took her sewing machine back... and I still haven't touched those t-shirt squares. I really need to get on that!

I also want to make some valances for the dining area in my house. The windows have nice faux-wood blinds, but they still seem very bare to me.

*****

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while! I'm studying during the hours of the day that I used to use messing around on the Internet. It's definitely a more productive activity than Internetting, though. 

My last day at work is next Thursday. Chris and I decided I should try to "power through" what's left of my course. The goal is to be certified to teach by 2014. I am finished with the first half except for Exam 1. I am going to spend a couple of weeks learning to write what the graders consider "good writing" to ensure I do well on the test. I am going to try to substitute teach a couple of days a week to gain classroom experience and to offset the loss of income from leaving my job. 

I think I will miss the routine of things, but I have created a schedule for myself so I can study and organize/clean house at the same time. (Can you believe we still have boxes? We moved LAST July! Given, they are boxes of camping equipment that we haven't had the opportunity to use yet, but still... It's been over a year!)

Yesterday a group of people and I went to McAlister's Deli as a little goodbye lunch. It was really sweet. Even though I was only there a year and a half, I was able to get to know a handful of people pretty well at the church. I'm going to try to go to the knitting group (it only meets twice a month). It will be one of my get-out-of-the-house-so-I-don't-go-insane breaks. 

I'm nervous but excited about teaching next year, whether I manage to pick something up at the beginning of the second semester or in August.

But right now, I really want to sew...

Classroom Participation: Popsicle Sticks

I'm working on my 6-12 English Language Arts certification.

I've worried quite a bit about ensuring every student has a chance to participate. 

This idea comes from a combination of two pins: this date night idea pin and this metallic mason jar decor pin. 

Each popsicle stick will have two colors-one on each end. Let's say, yellow and green...

I'll write each student's name on a popsicle stick and fill a mason jar with the sticks. (It'll be a cute, metallic mason jar!) 

After I ask the class a question, I'll give them a few seconds to contemplate answers and then draw a stick. That student answers then answers the question. 

The stick goes back into the mason jar with the opposite color at the top. Now I can tell which students have answered a question without losing the popsicle sticks. 

I hope to give this a try when I begin teaching. I'm sure this will need some tweaks, and it won't be the only way I ask questions. I'm sure there will be days when students are eager to participate, but the popsicle stick method will ensure everyone participates, whether they like it or not!

Newsboy Beanie - Take 1

My cousin Julie just had a baby boy, and she wanted to know if I could make a newsboy hat for her son's newborn photos.

The inspiration was, of course, crocheted!

I'm still having trouble crocheting evenly, let alone well enough to make something that is going to be photographed!

So, here is the crocheted inspiration: clicky clicky 

and here is the first draft of my newsboy beanie:

I need to make the brim a bit bigger, and I need to fix the left edge past the button hole, but overall, I'm quite pleased with this first draft.

I whipped it up in less than an hour, so it should look better when I take a bit more time on it. 

I will post the pattern soon once it has been finalized!

The Cutest Thing I've Made to Date

...is this little jumper for one of Chris's co-worker's kids.

(Can you tell I don't have kids? We don't have small hangers, so it looks a bit odd... It's also night, and I am an awful photographer.)

It's size 10-12 months, so her daughter (due November) won't be able to wear it for a while, but I really wanted to make this "Smocked Dress" from 60 Quick Baby Knits for someone. I'm going to give her a beanie, too, since she's a fall baby. (Fall babies are the best.)

I love the dress, but I did have some problems with the button holes. They are too big for the 1 inch buttons the pattern calls for. I ended up using 2" buttons, which are definitely not as cute. When I make this again (and I will make it again. It was just so easy and fun!), I will make smaller button holes. 

Some pictures beforethe button change:

These buttons are much cuter...

The button problem:

The button and the strap moved around a lot when I moved the hanger, so I can only imagine what it would do with a kid running around in it. Also, this larger button seems to be less of a choking hazard.

The other option (I didn't have two larger buttons in the same tan color, only a darker brown):

Comparing the two:

The finished dress again:

I'm still very satisfied with this knit! It is just too cute. 

Update: We are back with the cute 1" buttons on this dress. I was so tired when I finished it that I didn't think to sew the buttonhole up some to make it fit! I just had to make things harder. 

Silly me!

At least I am learning as I go along!

A New Name

Upon learning that many bloggers bestow new names upon their significant others, Chris was appalled to find out that I call him, well, Chris.

He has insisted that he should be "Sir Elbert Farnsworth," not to be confused with "Sir Albert Farnsworth" the "arrogant British colonel" from a random episode of Wagon Train, a TV series I didn't even realize existed until Chris started hating his name.

Take that up with your parental units, hun.

I could always call you dunder buns or muffin face or something equally ridiculous, you know!

Blanket: Complete!

It is complete!

I bought the yarn fall-ish last year, cast-on in December, started actually knitting in April, took a bit of a break in June, and as of July 2nd at about 10:15PM, it is finished!

I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. 

Now, in a couple of years when we decide to have a kid, I don't have to worry about it lacking something handmade from its mom. 

I've completed a lot of projects recently. I guess that means it is time to start a few new ones!

Cowly Cowly Cowwwwl

I've been busy lately!

I'm working on my grades 6-12 English Language Arts teaching certification.

So far, so good. :)

I still have a little bit of time to knit, and, of course, I have too many projects going on at once. I started the Elizabeth Cowl (search on Ravelry or look in the Blue Sky Alpacas catalog).

I have to say, I love Blue Sky Alpaca yarns.

They have a beautiful multicolored cotton that I saw online and immediately needed. It's the Blue Sky Alpaca Multi Cotton in the Marmalade colorway.

Just look at those colors!

They're even prettier (and a bit lighter) in person, I promise. (If there is one thing I have trouble getting the hang of, it is photography. Not a good thing if I am trying to blog, is it?)


Once I finish the baby blanket I'm working on now (only about three more inches to go! I will finish soon), I might make a simple one from another colorway of the multi cotton. Maybe a green colorway. I'd either use all garter stitch or stockinette stitch with a garter or seed stitch border.

I'll let you know if I get around to doing it. I have a few other projects to start, and I need to start thinking about what Christmas knitting I'll be doing this year.

Spindling

Well, I finally started trying my hand at drop-spindling.

Behold!

Not too bad for my very first attempt. (I probably should have taken a class so I could have some feedback on things. YouTube isn't the best for that, you know.)

My spindle is pretty light, and I remember reading that lighter spindles make for bulkier yarn, but I can't remember where I read that or if I just made it up...

Anyway, I did an ounce of blue wool and an ounce of orange. The part where they joined looked kind of neat, so I may try spinning (or plying!) two colors together soon.

I'm not sure how much yarn I actually made. I washed it and thwacked it to set the twist, so it is drying now. I'll inspect it after it dries and see what I can learn from it. 

Also, I think I need to pre-draft the fibers a little better. I have thick spots where the roving came apart and I joined it back together. But it's a learning process!

I should probably go check out the nearby spinning guild, but they meet every third Saturday, and this month's third Saturday happens to be Chris's birthday, so that's out for a while. 

Garden Picture Spam

Our garden is growing!

We had our first produce this Sunday.

A cherry tomato!

This guy

still likes to dig in the garden if he gets a chance, but we have a fence around his favorite spot, so he hasn't messed with anything recently.

That stupid tom cat however...

I think I may have figured out how to beat him.

We planted flowers in the square foot sections the cat destroyed, and I sprinkled cayenne pepper powder all over both beds. I also sprayed them with cat repellent. And we have that fence around the one bed...

I hope it keeps him out. That stupid cat has cost us enough money and time in the plants he has destroyed...

OK. Garden pictures. Right.

Nasturtiums!

There's also a sweet potato vine in there with the red nasturtiums. Chris's old neighbor Jan gave it to us. It has so many flowers now!

And here are our beds

We have quite a few green tomatoes, and we have about 5 cherry tomatoes that should be ripe by this weekend.

I can't wait to make bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches (lettuce wraps in my case) with our own, home-grown tomatoes!

Chris's Office Goodies

Fridays at Chris's office are Treat days, and tomorrow is Chris's turn to bring the goodies.

In the past I've made chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting and red sprinkles, harvest spice cupcakes with maple buttercream frosting and walnuts (remind me to share this recipe, it's amazing!), lemon-glazed blueberry scones (with freshly picked blueberries!), and spicy sausage and cheese muffins.

Tonight I made chocolate cupcakes with Nutella buttercream frosting, chocolate drizzle, and Toffifay garnish.

Apparently Toffifay is a hazelnut covered in chocolate and dipped in caramel. I never knew about them before yesterday when I opted for them over Hershey's Kisses because I couldn't find any of the Ferrero Rocher truffle things.

Behold! Toffifay! (and Nutella. Amazing stuff, Nutella...)

You can find the recipe I used for the Nutella buttercream frosting here.

Here is my chocolate cupcake recipe. I have drawn from a few different recipes to get to this one. I hope you like it!

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes ~2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup Ghirardelli dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.

Combine the cocoa and the boiling water in a small bowl until smooth and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract in an electric mixer.

Add in flour mixture and cocoa alternately, beating on low speed between each addition. Careful not to over-beat the batter. I tend to space out a bit and do that... it will make your cupcakes uneven and a little bubbly looking.

Bake cupcakes 20 minutes or until they spring back when touched.

Allow to cool completely and frost with Nutella frosting.

For chocolate drizzle, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream in a ziploc bag. Melt and mix together until smooth. Cut a tiny piece off of the tip of the bag and drizzle the cupcakes with chocolate.

Top with Toffifay and present to hungry co-workers or family!

I know I'm not supposed to eat gluten because of my gluten intolerance, but I tried one of these, and they are really, really good! 

I had to try them, you know. It's not like I could just send them to work with Chris without tasting them! It was my duty as a cook... 

What can I say? I can't resist chocolate. Or Nutella. So chocolate and Nutella? I was doomed from the start...

...and that's why she calls me Grace.

It was raining this morning when I woke up.

Pete was snuggled up against my side. Of course, I hit the snooze a couple times. I sleepily wished I could stay at home and cuddle with Pete all day.

I readied for work-normal day. Things at work were the same-ol' same-ol'.

Chris was getting new tires put on my rig. And then he brought me breakfast on his way to work!

I dropped a pen and banged my head (read: face! OW!) on the desk.

And broke. my. glasses.

So I called my eye doctor. My prescription has expired. Of course.

Next available appointment? End of next week...

So I called my boss and explained my clumsiness and taped up my rims. They waited to get really wonky/wobbly until I finished my drive home, thankfully!

But then, of course, my old pair (from high school!) were nowhere to be found.

I found a contact.  A contact.

And then I found Chris's old glasses case.

And then I found another contact. Wooo, a pair! But they were old...

But I finally found my old pair from high school.  They were in the basket I keep on the end table in the living room.

They're a little blurry, but I can see well enough to drive and read close things. Small street signs are problems for everyone, right?

I can't believe I broke my glasses.

But, I was being my clumsy self.

Remind me to tell y'all how I gave myself a concussion my first semester of college....

Oops. BIG oops.

Well, I am finally on the third color in my baby blanket! And what a discovery I have made...

Right around the point of discovery...

I bought yarn for this blanket last fall and cast on last December. Then I put it down for Christmas knitting and picked it back up in April.

Somewhere in there I confused a few things.

The original pattern called for seven colors of yarn. I decided on five. I thought I checked the pattern for the total grams of yarn needed, but apparently I forgot somewhere between then and now that I wasn't going to use all of each color.

I just now figured out that I will probably be finished with the blanket on the third color. Not the fifth.

This blanket is my TV knitting, so I tend to space out and not think about it. Ever, apparently.

This is what I get for not double-checking!

You see, those seven balls of yarn were 50g each. My five colors? 100g each.

The pattern calls for the blanket to be around 27" x 35".

My blanket is already ~22" long.

Each stripe is ~10.5" of that amazing fan lace...

I am kicking myself right now! There is NO WAY I am ripping back to adjust the big stripes so I can add in the other colors, and a blanket that is ~27" x ~52" seems crazy to me right now.

The five-color plan was going to make the blanket gender neutral. Pink-Green-Brown-Yellow/Orange-Blue.

It looks like I will be finished at Pink-Green-Brown, which isn't awful, but isn't what I wanted. At. All.

Kick! Kick! Kick!

This is what happens when you buy yarn, forget about it, start a pattern, forget about it, and pick it up months later.

The good thing? No baby in sight to use said blanket. I am still going to have this finished in plenty of time to start a little hope chest for our kids.

I suppose I could always buy one more skein of yarn and make another blanket. It could be Brown/Yellow-Orange/Blue.

I just found another skein of cotton, in a more denim-ish blue.

I suppose I could have a Light Blue/Yellow-Orange/Denim Blue

Then I would have a blanket more "girly" in color and another blanket more "boyish" in color.

Or, I could just keep knitting and have one long and funky baby blanket.

Oops.

Soap Making - Date Night Fun

Chris and I normally do something low-key for our date nights.

Tonight, we made soap!

We didn't go all-out and make the kind with lye that has to cure for weeks, though... we used melt and pour shea butter and glycerin based soap. It's a little easier on the beginner, to say the least!

Remember those soap cozies?

That little ball is all of the yarn I had left. I ended up making 9 of them. 

So, the shea butter melt and pour stuff comes in a big block. We cut it up into cubes and then melted it in the microwave.

Then we added the scent and the dye.

We poured it into the molds...

then waited a while...

and popped them out!

They're a pretty good fit for the soap cozies!

I wrapped them in saran wrap since I figured it would be a less messy way to package them...

Ta-da!!

I saved a soap cozy and a bar for us to use. This type of soap making was no-hassle and lots of fun! Chris mixed a lot of the colors, and he did a really good job. He didn't mind my cheesy date night idea. What a guy. :)