~Misc.~

I have a basket of acorn squash sitting in my kitchen, left over from fall. Since they're still good, I hopped onto Pinterest and found a few recipes to try out.

First up, acorn squash and carrot soup:

It really should be called carrot and acorn squash soup, because there are more carrots than squash. But it was good. I had all the ingredients, so I did something I rarely do, and made myself lunch from scratch. (I always eat lunch, just leftovers or something quick and easy.)

I ate it for lunch, then breakfast the next morning, then lunch the next two days after that. It was good but now I'm not so sure. :-/

It is snowing. A lot. I'm tired of snow. Mostly, we've just stayed home. I did get out today and it was nerve-wracking for me to drive on the roads. Spring is around the corner, right? I hope so, but right now we're buried in snow! Last year I took Vitamin D3 for the first winter since we've lived in Michigan, and I had a marvelous outlook on winter, which I attributed to the Vitamin D. I think maybe this year the placebo effect has worn off? ;-) Or maybe I should up my Vitamin D. I don't know...but I do wish it weren't so cold and snowy! Oh, and I have been wondering why I am so, so cold this winter and then it dawned on me that I'm missing 30 pounds of insulation. LOL I guess that's a fair trade, but...brrrrrrr.

I've finished my shawl - just need to block it. My sister emailed me and said a gray Staple dress would be perfect and I think so too! Now to find time to make it! I haven't started a new project yet; I'm making myself block my shawl before casting on a new project!

This deserves a whole new post, but something I'm excited about lately: fermenting vegetables! I love them! So far: kimchi (2 batches so far! it's so addicting, and Kevin likes it so much he packs it for lunch), a carrot, daikon radish, ginger mix (that also found its way into Kevin's lunchbox), and sauerkraut. There is something so satisfying in spending time on food that needs to just sit for a while.

Well....that's it for now. Soup, snow, a shawl, and fermented veggies! :D

Take care, and stay warm!

~Sending a Smile~

Going out in the mail today (or possibly tomorrow, if the weather is not cooperative for going out to the post office today):

Postcards cut from a cereal box!

Want to make your own? The Post Office has a required minimum of 5" by 3 1/2" and a maximum of 6" by 4 1/4" for postcards. Cut, write, stamp, and send some happy mail!

~Shopping~

I feel like a 12 year old announcing some sort of discovery that everyone else probably already knows about, but here goes: I've been grocery shopping in the mornings these last few weeks, and guess what? empty stores! I mean, who knew? (hint: not me!). I've always gone shopping in the afternoon. I'm not really sure why, except that it always seems to take me forever to get my shopping list together and since shopping isn't my favorite activity (far from it!) I procrastinate until I absolutely have to go out.

But I've been pulling my shopping list together sooner, getting us out the door to go shopping or run errands earlier in the day, and it's really exhilarating to get first dibs at parking, not have to weave in and out of a lot of fellow shoppers, and not have to wait excessively to be checked out. Though, on the last point, I will say that there are fewer checkers so sometimes I do have to wait a bit. And another bonus? My daughter is more of a morning person so her attitude and behavior in the store is more pleasing to everyone in our general vicinity. ;-)

So do tell me, what time of day do you shop???

~WIP~

My shawl is progressing very nicely. I got up to the lace and decided not to go with the purple I had purchased. I got a lime green. My sister told me I should, and that was what I wanted in the first place, so I did.

It's a different yarn than the main part of the shawl - it has mohair in it, as well as SEQUINS! Tiny little sequins that add a little sparkle. This is fun! I really can't wait to finish it. The lace part is taking so long, because: the needles. I hate these needles! And also, I am working the pattern purposefully so I won't make mistakes - I really don't want to do any ripping back.

I don't have anything to wear with this shawl, so I kind of need to work on that while I finish knitting - don't you know I'll want to wear this right away! I'm thinking the shawl is busy enough, the outfit should be pretty neutral. I'm not sure what though. Maybe my sister can email me with wardrobe choices too. ;-)

As obsessed as I am with shawls right now, I'm actually thinking of making a sweater next. This sweater, to be exact. I have the yarn so all I'll have to do is buy a decent set of needles! I will not work another project on my current needles!

In other news, we went from 1 degree weather to above freezing. Instead of snow and ice it is raining cats and dogs. When we first moved to Michigan, we were told, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." Pretty much.

~Home-making~

This last week or so I've been settled at home, working around the house. Trying to make my house more homey by keeping up better with things like: dishes, laundry, sweeping. That kind of thing.

Yesterday I tackled some of the ironing. I've been behind since before Christmas, so all my napkins had cycled through the wash and ended up in the laundry basket. They're all ironed and in the drawer now, the Christmas napkins tucked away to wait for next Christmas.

Oh, the weather we've had. I say, "Baby, it's cold outside" and my daughter argues that the song is "Maybe it's cold outside." Maybe, nothing. It's cold out there! Kevin took our car to work Monday through Wednesday so that he could drive safer. The roads are still not lovely, but they are improving.

Today was the first day this week that I had the chance to run errands. So run them, I did. Now it's time to get back to my homemaking. And another cup of tea.

~New Project~

So. I'm slightly obsessed with shawls these days. I've been pouring over designs, choosing which ones I'll be knitting next. While I had Pendulum still on the needles, I saw Zaria, and fell head over heels in love with it. It's not your average granny shawl, that's for certain!

I bought a dark purple for the lace insert, but I'm not all that sure about the color choice. I think a lime green would look nice with this yarn, but the store didn't have any so I chose the purple for now.

I need to get some decent circulars. I've been hesitant to spend more money on needles, but I do think it is necessary. Tools of the trade, and all.

Next up for consideration? Citron, Wingspan (Ravelry link), Betsey (Ravelry link), and Color Affection (sorry...another Ravelry link). And more being added all the time....

I haven't really set any resolutions for the New Year but one of my strong desires is to spend more time on the things that bring me enjoyment. I feel like I've pushed a lot of my creative endeavors to the side, or maybe not challenged myself enough. Knitting is one of those things that I feel like I have let languish over the last few years, only pulling my needles out every once in a while. It feels good to be knitting again!

~Reflections on 2013~

The year 2013 was a good year. God showed Himself to me in a very real way, when He answered a prayer in His timing - not mine. It was something I had prayed over for several years. The answer didn't come when I desired, but God in His wisdom answered it on His timetable. After the answer came, I realized that during the wait, through my pain and troubles, God stretched me and taught me so much, changing me for the better in the process. So while I didn't desire the trial, I learned much through it! (Sorry to be so vague, but it isn't something I can really share about in such a public place!)

Toward the end of this year, God blessed us with yet another answered prayer - my husband gained full-time employment - with benefits! Again, this isn't something I've even mentioned here before - but the past three and a half years have been years of learning to trust! God is so good! Through it all we have seen God's hand and provision so much more than we would have otherwise!

This year brought some challenges in mothering. Some people talk about the "terrible twos" but Katy bar the door! four has beaten two by a long shot! We've gotten through it all though, and I'm so thankful for the fun and joy our daughter brings to our household!

Looking over this past year there are two things that I have been 100% consistent with, and it has bolstered my confidence in other areas of my life. Thing #1: I wrote in my One Line a Day journal every day. Let me amend that: every day has an entry. ;-) Every day to every few days I would open it and write. It's a habit that I hope to continue for at least the next four years (since it is a five-year journal).

Thing #2: I worked on my weight. Every day I consistently counted calories and watched my intake, and slowly but surely I saw that scale number creep down. I loaded an app called Lose it! to my Kindle in mid-July, and since that point I have lost 27 pounds! It has truly been an exciting journey!  I still have some more I'd like to lose in this coming year and because of my success so far I have no doubt that I have the ability to make that happen!

Christmas Eve 2013 - a lighter, healthier me! :-)

2013 was a good year, and I look forward to what the Lord has in store for the year to come!

Happy New Year!

~Finished Pendulum~

This was a knit that I finished quickly! Cast on: December 2, Bind off: December 22.

And then: I blocked it! Hurrah for me! No waiting 2 years to wear this fun knit. :-)

When I finished knitting the shawl, I was kind of "meh" about it. I thought, "Wow, that was a lot of knitting for that." And then, I moved on to the blocking a few days later. If you look on Ravelry, knitters block this shawl with it either being knit from the neck edge down, or as if it were knit from the bottom edge up. It is designed as being knit from the neck edge down, but from looking at other projects, I decided to block it in the opposite direction. As I was blocking it that way I was again feeling as if I had taken way too much time knitting something I didn't like very well. So I took the pins out and blocked it according to the pattern and I instantly started liking it very much!

Project notes found here (Ravelry link).

~Hair Cut~

My daughter's hair is very thick, and while she really wants it to be long (like a princess!) for this season we are keeping it shorter, so that we have fewer tears and complaints about drying it, brushing it, and caring for it. Trust me, we still have tears and complaints! But this just works out so much better.

Anyhow, when we first got her hair cut (early last summer) I watched carefully and cut her hair on my own the last two haircuts. This time around I decided to see if there was something online to walk me through it. Well, there was!

So with the help of Little Bear (television show), and this video:

I got this result:

It's not perfect (there's a little spot on the left side that bugs me!), but I'm super happy with the results! So far, it's the best I've done. I didn't want the layers stacked too much, so I kept the layers short rather than angled as much as the video shows. I'll watch this video again next time I cut her hair.

~Thoughts on Canning~

I previously blogged about my remaining apples to make into sauce, but alas and alack, those apples ended up in the compost. Thankfully it was a waste of only $6 or so. Kevin dumped them for me and I guess the apples on top looked semi-usable but the bottom apples were becoming vinegar.

So! I cleaned up my jars and moved everything back down to the basement to await for next summer's madness. My jar count for this year ended up being 227. That's my all-time record--so far! I will probably try to outdo myself next year, if I know myself very well at all. ;-) If you'd like to look at my list, it's up on the "pages" section under my blog header.

If this doesn't look like 227 jars, we've already gone through quite a bit. *smiles*

I am trying to think of a better way to approach canning. I love canning. I love having my shelves in the basement loaded with home-canned delicious foods. I love the fact that I don't have to buy tomato products, or canned green beans, or applesauce. I opened a jar of sauce the other night as I prepared dinner and inhaled deeply. Mmmm....

But, there's always a downside to something so wonderful, it seems. My downside is the kitchen in a terrible upheaval. Dishes that multiply by the second as I can.  My daughter who is not quite able to help but seemingly unable to entertain herself the second I get my canner out.

So next year, as I prepare to can, I want to go about it more purposefully. One can't choose the timetable for when vegetables and fruits are ripe and ready to process, but I can choose the time of day. I can choose to not buy as much so I am not forced to spend quite as much time in the kitchen. Having a smaller amount of something is not so horrible. It makes it more of a treat! I can choose to skip some of the more time-consuming recipes.

This next year we're planning on growing just as big of a garden. I'm planning to can just as much, if not more. But somehow I am hoping it will be just a little less crazy feeling! One can hope, anyhow. ;-)

~Knitting Happily Along~

My shawl has been such a fun knit! I can't stop knitting! I find myself picking it up and working on it throughout the day.

Since it is on circular needles, which want to curl and twist, it is not very photogenic at the moment. ;-) I love the pattern, and (depending, of course, on how this one turns out in the end!), very much want to knit another one!

~New Project~

I have birthday money burning holes in my pockets. Yes, holes. ;-) I've been fretting over the perfect way to spend my money, and for a small portion of it, settled on this project:

Pendulum, by Amy Miller (Ravelry link, picture from the author's Ravelry pictures).

In August, I walked into a yarn shop, and this pattern was worked up and on display right inside the door. I was fascinated by it immediately, and even took it off the mannequin bust and tried it on!

I chose Lion Brand Sock Ease for this project. I bought the yarn today, and the check out lady at Michaels was kind enough to let me do two transactions so I could get both skeins at 50% off.

I've already cast on, and have the first section finished! I'm looking forward to this project!

~Blocked, II~

I'm home from church with my little girl who is still sick. I'm telling you, this sickness just hangs on! I got it first, a week ago Saturday, and I am still feeling some lingering effects!

In my previous post I showed my scarf which I blocked. Well, once I got that one unpinned, I moved on to my Lace Wrap (Ravelry link). Now that it is truly finished I am looking forward to wearing it! I think I'll most likely wear it as a scarf more than a wrap/shawl.

You can see that the edge is a little wobbly, but wrapped around my neck it isn't obvious at all

I'd still like to get a set of blocking wires, I think it would make blocking easier! But until then I know I can get reasonable results with pins!

Now I'm thinking about what to knit next. I am kind of lost though. Knitters, any ideas for me?

~Blocked~

I finally, finally took the time to block my Rivulet scarf. (Ravelry link). I only finished knitting this last January of 2012...

What took me so long? Perfectionism and a lot of excuses. I didn't have blocking wires, I knew it would take a long time to pin out, I knew the edge wouldn't be "perfect". So I never took the time.

But yesterday, with a sick little girl nestled on the couch watching football with my husband, and a long afternoon in sight, I decided to tackle blocking this scarf. Um, yeah. Totally should have done this ages ago!

I am looking forward to wearing this now! Yay me! :)

Next up? Another blocked scarf!!!

~Mixed Media Art~

Inspired by Amy's recent post show-casing her girls' art, I decided to something similar with my daughter.

This is what she came up with:

Snow White and Cinderella

I cut out the faces and we glued them to the paper. My daughter decided that they should be princesses. Snow White has some hefty arms there. I don't think she's ever been depicted with such large arms. ;-) My daughter did all the drawing. The "grass" is part of a chair which I cut in strips for her, the tree was a houseplant which she had me cut without the stem. She decided clouds were necessary, so we used cotton balls.

This was a lot of fun, and I can see that we'll do it again sometime!

~Ugly Shoes~

I was thinking about this poem recently, which I posted on my blog a few months after I experienced my loss. I bolded the way I feel right now.

"An Ugly Pair of Shoes"

I am wearing a pair of shoes.
They are ugly shoes.
Uncomfortable Shoes.
I hate my shoes.
Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair.
Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step.
Yet, I continue to wear them.
I get funny looks wearing these shoes.
They are looks of sympathy.
I can tell in others eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not theirs.
They never talk about my shoes.
To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable.
To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them.
But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.
I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes.
There are many pairs in the world.
Some women are like me and ache daily as they try and walk in them.
Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much.
Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think of how much they hurt.
No woman deserves to wear these shoes.
Yet, because of the shoes I am a stronger woman.
These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.
They have made me who I am.
I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author Unknown

The reason I was thinking of this poem actually had something to do with a physical pair of shoes. A pair of shoes I bought to wear on Easter Sunday, just two short Sundays after my loss had been confirmed. A pair of shoes I have rarely worn. They are ugly to me. They hurt my feet when I wear them. And they hurt my heart. I threw them away. They had lots of wear left in them but I realized I just didn't want those shoes hanging out in my closet any longer.

Today, my baby I lost would have been 3 years old. It's a bittersweet day for me. Knowing my baby is with the Lord is very sweet to me. But not having my baby here with me is very bitter. Till heaven, sweet little one. Mommy loves you. XO

~Monday Musings~

Ah, Mondays!

This morning it is raining steadily.

I'm coming down with a cold.

Coffee is all I've had yet this morning, so I'm thinking about what is for breakfast.

Thinking about the work I need to put into tomorrow's class for CC.

To do list: dishes, laundry, straighten the house.

Going: nowhere! Staying put today.

Ink and stamps going on to my right, I should be putting a stop to it but I'm kind of out of it this morning, so self-entertainment is a good thing. Mostly. ;-)

So as it is raining, it is of course not good lighting for pictures, but here's a little something I whipped up on Saturday:

A coffee cup sleeve! I came across this fabric which I'd purchased quite a while ago, and sat down and made a little stack of coffee sleeves. I plan on using the extras for gifts and possibly selling a few as well. We'll see. 

Incidentally, I went to the coffee shop yesterday afternoon and totally forgot to take mine with me. I had a free drink at the coffee shop, because of my birthday. It was enjoyable until it made my stomach sick because of the high sugar content. Since this last summer I've not been eating (or drinking! LOL) much sugar at all so I've found that sugar in any amount over a teaspoon or so really bothers my stomach. But...that's ok! I've lost just over 20 pounds as a result of better diet and fewer calories, so I guess I can't really complain. ;-)

And there you have it! Random thoughts for Monday! :-)

~Pick a Pin: Craft Project~

One of the things that my daughter has really enjoyed from Classical Conversations is the art that we've done. She has continued, on her own, to draw the things we learned to draw in the first six weeks. I've been trying to come up with more craft projects for her to do, since she enjoys it so much.

Today I looked through my pins on Pinterest and found this simple craft. The blog is written in Italian, but there are pictures, and in fact I didn't even look at the link before we started.

This morning we painted fall trees, using a paint brush for the trunk and branches, and Q-tips for the leaves:

Right now my daughter is busy with scissors and glue. Pretty soon we'll be cleaning confetti out of the living room but for now she's entertained. :-)

~November!~

On this first day of November:

Rain. It is raining, a drizzly type of rain that picks up and lets off every once in a while.

Presents. I'm sewing for Christmas! I'm so excited about my project(s), but I will have to refrain from actually saying what they are or showing pictures until after Christmas, because some of the recipients read my blog.

Apples. I'm so over the apples I dragged home a few weeks back. I was so proud of myself being proverbial and all ("she bringeth her food from afar", don't you know) but now I still have 3/4 of a bushel of apples still in my kitchen. That'll teach me to start thinking of myself as a Proverbs 31 woman. ;-) I shouldn't be so down on myself because I've actually worked through a lot of them, including a batch yesterday. But I just see those apples and....le sigh...it's so much work still!



Apples! 5 half bushels, plus a half bushel of squashes thrown in for good measure.

But: blue jars! I bought some blue jars on clearance and I had the brilliant idea (yesterday, while I was standing at the stove stirring my sauce) to can white beans in them. Oh my, I can hardly wait. They will look so pretty! So I need to get the apples done so I can work on the beans. And then I'm going to haul all my canning equipment downstairs and be done with canning!

My birthday: tomorrow. How is it that I'm getting so close to 40? I feel like I just turned 30, and here I am, turning 30-something-rhymes-with-Kevin. Hmmm. Kevin and our daughter went out shopping and got my presents several weeks ago, so that has been dangling over my head. My daughter is a good little surprise keeper, so I have no clue as to what I'm getting.

Happy November!

~Staple Dress~

A friend's church has a hobby night about once a month, and I try to go when I can. There are several reasons: not only do I Get to Talk to Grownups and Get Things Done, but I get to Eat Yummy Treats. And also? I get to Skip Bedtime (my daughter's bedtime, that is!). So it's a great chance to get out of the house!

This weekend I lugged my machine, iron, fabric, pattern, pins, etc. and made a dress! When I came home all I had left was the hem and the shirring. I finished it Saturday and wore it Sunday.

If you look closely, the belt is not quite covering the shirring.
I had trouble getting the shirring in the right spot,
but I think that if I had a wider belt it would cover this issue.

This pattern, the Staple Dress, is a fun sew. No buttons and buttonholes, or zippers; no darts or sleeves. Honestly it only took me four hours to make because I was talking. Oh, and eating. :-P

I mentioned before, that I won the pattern in a blog giveaway, and that the fabric was some I had on hand. The fabric is a cotton, but it has something stretchy in it as well. It isn't stretchy like a knit, maybe just a little spandex? I'm not sure. I happened to have matching thread, and the elastic thread for shirring. It's always nice when I have everything I need on hand!

Because my serger is still at the machine shop, I followed the directions and did French seams. With regular seams finished with overlocking (and no talking, just sewing!) this dress could go together very, very quickly.

 

I came home high on caffeine and giddy that I'd made myself a dress. :-) I'm pretty sure this is the first dress that I've made for myself since the 90's! I've made clothing items since then, of course, but not a dress. I'm looking forward to getting some more sewing projects done in the coming weeks! I've been so busy canning I haven't spent time sewing, and I truly miss it!