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I know that I get crazy and really shouldn't take on anything in addition to the usual craziness, but I'm sorely tempted by the swaps and exchanges I've been seeing:
Holiday Traditions Exchange at Sew Liberated -- decoration, recipe & tradition!
Stocking Full 'o Cheer Swap at Going Sew Crazy -- a filled stocking!
Ornament Swap -- happening again this year, but not much info yet.
Any other holiday swaps out there?
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Granny Square Blanket
Inspiration:
(Many more, but I forget to bookmark these things and then I can't find them again.)
Pumpkin Something
Inspiration:
Advent Calendar
Inspiration:
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So a while back -- maybe 6 months or more -- I became obsessed with flower looms. I hunt for them at yard sales and estate sales and watch them on eBay. And I finally did find that little loom on the left -- a Studio Twelve Flower Loom -- at a yard sale for $1. Then I discovered the Hanaami Flower loom from that most awesome of crafting gadget makers -- Clover. I finally broke down and purchased one through eBay and I have to say it's a fun little toy.
It's like all the old 70's flower looms rolled into one. There are 6 different shapes that you can snap in and use together or separately -- nifty!
You can use yarn, ribbon or whatever (wire? pipe cleaners? hmmm. . .) but it's awfully fun to use vintage ribbon straw and I scored a bag full of tons of colors from Cathy of California's etsy shop. Speaking of her shop -- here are some links to get you started with making flowers of your own!
Tutorials & Info on flower looms:
Have other flower loom sources? Please leave them in the comments -- I'd love to check them out!
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Without realizing it, I matched my current reading list to the Halloween season. In fact, right now I'm reading The Historian
And when I was at the library the other day, I picked up the second Wicked book -- Son of a Witch
What spooky books are you reading this Halloween season?
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So at the end of August, the backyard project was finished and I finally had my raised bed. Unfortunately I couldn't find any seed that late in the year (despite several trips to garden centers around town). Then one Saturday Pete and Maddie stopped at the local Ace Hardware and while looking through the clearance bins found a lonely packet of peas. Hmmmm. . .
I rushed to plant them so that they would have a good chance of growing before the first frost hit. When they began to flower a couple of weeks ago, I had high hopes. In fact, we do have some pea pods:
The weather is supposed to take a turn later this week, but today is sunny and warmer than the forecast predicted. Grow peas, grow!
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I've never been one to run out and buy a $50 (or more -- the prices shock me!) costume for Maddie each Halloween, but I'll settle for the $14.99 specials at Target since Maddie likes to wear the costumes over and over for fun. This year she didn't really see anything she liked at Target, and she loves all things Pokemon, so we decided she would be her favorite Pokemon trainer -- Dawn:
A quick search of the internet revealed that pre-made Dawn costumes were going for $100 on eBay -- HA! There was no way I saw that happening. So I decided to put it together myself. She already had pink snow boots from last year -- one item down -- but we didn't have anything else, so it was off to the thrift shops. We found a pink skirt for a couple bucks -- check! Then we found a black shirt at Old Navy for $4 (something she could wear again too) -- check! She already had a long sleeve white t-shirt she could wear underneath -- almost done! But where would we get a hat like that? And I certainly didn't have time to knit a scarf.
Thank goodness for fleece and felt! For something like $2.50 I bought the white fleece and pink felt. Then I whipped up the logo in Adobe Illustrator, pinned it to the felt, cut it out and sewed it onto the fleece with a zigzag stitch. Then I cut out and stitched up the hat and I was done in minutes. The scarf is just a scrap of red fleece from the remnant table -- it cost less than a dollar. Yeah for cheap costumes -- and even better than that -- Maddie loves it!
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I found this cute little BonHop (or Bon Hop) loom at a very strange estate sale last Friday. The house had caught fire and there were literally no interior walls -- only studs. In addition, the windows were all broken out, so it was quite chilly. Luckily most items had been stored elsewhere and this little loom was not smokey at all.
I'd been looking for one of these on eBay, but they don't come up often and I missed the last one I saw, so I was delighted to find this one complete with instructions -- and for only $5. I'll have to play with it later this week and report back.
I'm becoming quite a collector of old (and new) small looms and I would love to hear from anyone else out there who is doing the same! It seems there isn't all that much info out there on some of these looms and I'm thinking of putting together a small website or something. Leave me a comment with your thoughts and ideas!
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Last night while watching the final presidential debate, I finished up the first Socks that Rock Crazy Lace Agate Mediumweight sock. I used my usual sock pattern and this time I went with the eye of partridge heel.
I really like how the eye of partridge looks with stripey yarns and the STR is no exception. So pretty:
I'm really on a roll -- having finished the Keepsake Shawl that I posted about recently, and now a sock! What will be next?
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To answer your question -- no, I am not sick of apples yet despite having made apple sauce and apple crisp and having eaten many apples in the past few weeks. In fact, we went to the farmers' market and bought even more apples on Sunday. I needed to get them so I could make this cake.
I first saw this cake on Smitten Kitchen a couple weeks ago and became, well, smitten. Then Scout tells me she made the cake and it was awesome, so how could I resist any longer? So make it I did and it is awesome. The recipe is right here (and it doesn't take any fancy ingredients -- which I love!)
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I don't talk about it very much on the blog, but I have an online rubber stamp store. In fact, I've been running it for over 7 years now. It seems like I never have any time to do any stamping now that I have a stamping business, but recently I saw a project I had to make time for -- candle decorating. Well, not much of a name, but it is fun in a magical sort of way.
You don't need much to do this -- in fact, you might have most of the stuff already. First you stamp on white tissue paper -- just cheap tissue paper, nothing fancy. I stamped with black ink because I wanted to keep it simple and it seemed like the right choice for a Halloween theme. You can color in the stamped images with colored pencils if you like. Then cut each motif out.
Then, one at a time, you place the images on the candle and melt them into the surface with a heat gun. Oh -- a heat gun is what you use to melt embossing powder when you stamp. I'm sure you use it for other things too. Here's what mine looks like:
Is it just me or does that heat gun look like it's happy to see me :) Okay, sorry about that. . .
You just move the heat gun around the image quickly so it doesn't melt too much in one place and after only a second or two it looks like the image is part of the candle -- you can't even see the tissue! After this you can continue to embellish with gems (like I did in the top photo) or ribbons or whatever.
I first learned about this technique on the Hero Arts Blog. Hero Arts stamps are the ones I sell through my shop -- Stamping Online.
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Is this not the coolest thing ever? You can donate to Barack Obama's campaign and you will be entered into a drawing for this quilt designed by Denyse Schmidt. Just go here.
Yes We Can!
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A meme from Booking Through Thursday. I am notoriously bad at remembering what I have read (even going so far as to start books and think -- gee, this seems familiar -- only to discover that I had read it previously). So this should be fun or at least funny. . .
What was the last book you bought?
No idea. I usually check out books from the library. Hmmmm. . . maybe Printing by Hand
Name a book you have read MORE than once
Well, I usually read series more than once. There is the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Heck yeah! So many books change the way I see life. In fact, that's one of the reasons I love to read so much. I like good historical fiction (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
Never by cover design -- some are so bad, or just plain wrong. I usually ask Pete what I should read -- I have a most excellent husband who knows what I like and makes great suggestions. I also like to read literary prize winners.
Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I'd have to say it depends on my mood. I read more fiction than non-fiction, but I like to mix it up. The past year has been filled with some awesome food reading -- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
I would have to say that you need at least one. I gripping plot will keep me reading, but beautiful writing will allow me to linger. I can't think of illustrations of these two types off the top of my head.
Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Wow. Not sure on this one. I love strong female characters -- Lyra from the His Dark Materials Trilogy
Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Well, I'm on a Neil Gaiman binge right now -- just finished Coraline
What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
See above :)
Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Sure all the time! I just gave up on Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence
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Yes, there were more apples purchased on Saturday. These are some lovely Zestar apples which I made into a crumble. I used the recipe in The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
I used less butter in the "crumble" part of the recipe -- the recipe called for a whole stick, but I used 5Tbsp and it is was just fine. In fact, I think I could lighten up the sugar in the recipe next time -- the apples I used are quite sweet on their own. I suppose if you used a tart apple the recommended amount of sugar would be a good idea.
I didn't even show off the Honeycrisp apples we got for eating out of hand. So sweet and crisp! I want to go back and get more before the season ends!
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Over the weekend we drove out to a local orchard to pick up some apples. I was absolutely amazed by the multitude of varieties they had available and had fun picking out this selection for applesauce. I read that applesauce is best when a variety of different sweet apples are used, so I just randomly picked up some that were marked as "good sauce apples".
As I peeled, cored and sliced the apples, I cut off little bits to nibble. As you can see, the flesh of each of the different varieties is remarkably unique -- some were shockingly white, others green and yet others a creamy yellow. Likewise they each had a different aroma and taste. While some were very sweet, others were floral and even a touch spicy.
My yield was quite pathetic. Out of that bowl of apples I got only 2 1/2 pints, so it was more of an exercise in canning than an actual "putting up" of apples. I think we'll have these jars finished off in a couple weeks. Making the sauce was remarkably easy and next time I'll definitely go for a bigger batch.
Easy Applesauce
Peel, core and slice apples. As you slice them, throw them in a big pot that has about 1 in. of water in the bottom and the juice of a lemon (maybe two lemons for a bigger batch). The lemon will keep your apples -- and sauce -- from turning brown.
Cook apples until soft -- maybe 15-20 minutes. Drain off much of the water reserving some in case your sauce is too thick.
Put the cooked apples through a sieve or food mill, or alternately throw them in a food processor or blender and process.
Place in jars and eat within a couple of weeks. To can, place in sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for about 20 minutes.
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Really I have. It seems like I got off track with the Olympics and then the DNC & RNC. They seriously cut into my reading time as I usually read in bed before I go to sleep. After that I had a bit of a hard time settling into a book. I started and then put aside Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence
I think there may have been another book or two in there somewhere since my last book post, but I am notoriously bad at remembering what I have read. I do remember reading Markus Zusak's I Am the Messenger
Right now I'm working on a book off the Man Booker shortlist -- Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole
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