8/52

The 52 Project
The 52 Project
A portrait a week for a year.

Daddy bought Corrine some new skis for what was to be our ski weekend.  However, mama got the flu  so Corrine and I stayed home while daddy skied.  Another weekend soon though and she'll be on skis.  


Log Cabin Blanket

knitting
Finally.  The Log Cabin Blanket is finished.  I started this blanket in May 2012 as part of my stash busting challenge.  I worked on it sporadically.  It was the mindless knitting that I needed in between harder projects.  
It's made entirely of acrylic yarn that has been in my stash for years.  Many years ago I made a baby blanket for a friend, but by the time I finished I had already purchased a gift for the baby so I donated the blanket to Project Linus.  A couple of weeks later I got a call from the local chapter coordinator.  She asked if I wanted some yarn.  She had a bag of donated scrap yarn.  I said yes.  I like the randomness of scrappy projects.  When we met, she brought me a huge trash bag full of yarn.  

Fast forward to 2012 and the stash busting challenge.  Did I clean up the stash?  Kind of.  I put a small dent in it.  The rubbermaid container the stash is in is a little bit lighter to pick up now.  OK.  The blanket.  Each stripe is a different color.  I know it's hard to tell in the picture, but while there are similar colors, they are all different.  

I found the pattern on the Garn Studio website.  My Ravelry notes.   It was a fun blanket to work on and I would certainly make another one.  

Yarn Along

Yarn Along
Woo.  Hoo.  It's Wednesday.  And that means it is time for the weekly Yarn Along.  I'm joining again this week with Ginny to share yarn and books.  Two of my favorite things.  This week I got quite a bit of my Citron finished.  We went on a ski trip and I knit while Bryan drove.  I decided I needed easier to knit projects while driving, so I worked on the February Square Swap square on the way back (it's the blue knit under the book).  

I'm not sure where I first heard about this book but as soon as I saw it I put it on hold at the library. (Sezza mentioned the book in last weeks yarn along but I had just picked it up from the library the day before so maybe we saw it on the same blog?).   I had read a book a couple of months back called Bringing up Bebe (written by an American mom married to an Englishman living in Paris.  Her kids were born in Paris).  This book is written by a Canadian married to a Frenchman.  She got a wild hair and decided they should live in France for a year so they moved to the village where he grew up.  I'm only about a third of the way into the book.  The one thing I've concluded so far is that she has been a very indulgent mom to her girls in regards to their eating habits.  The girls are very picky eaters and she is having a hard time getting them to eat a variety of food.  She comes up with food rules for her family.  For example- eat family meals together; Parents schedule meals and menus- kids eat what adults eat- no short order cooking; & eat real food.  And that's about where I am in the book, the rules.  I'm really enjoying this book.  I feel like we are doing a lot of what she writes about.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

On Time? Or Mommy Time?

random

I was raised that being on time is very important. In fact if you're on time, you're late. My husband also subscribes to this theory. (In fact when his dad comes to events at our house I've resorted to telling him at least 30 minutes after the start of said event so he doesn't show up so early- although sometimes the extra set up help is appreciated).  
That being said, I'm finding that trying to get out of the house on time with a two year old is impossible. Yesterday for example.  I had to drop the kid off at The G's at 8am on my way to the airport. I was up at 6am  and got myself mostly ready. Corrine woke about 7:15 so I got her milk and set her in her chair for a bit of Caillou on PBS while I finished packing. I got her dressed, packed my lunch, made my tea and breakfast for the road then started loading the car with my bags and her diaper bag. The time is now 7:55. The G's live a mile away so we're good.  NOT.   I come back into the house to get her and she has taken off her shoes and coat and changed out of her pants into green velour Christmas pants that she is struggling to pull up. I felt my mornings organization go right out the window. I got super frustrated and frazzled and I think I yelled a little.  

She was so proud of the fact she had changed her pants all by herself and I completely lost it. Of course I am feeling more than a little guilty. But I don't think it matters what time I get up to get ready. I am going to be running at the last minute. Hopefully as she gets older our timeliness improves!


Yarn Along

Yarn Along
It's Wednesday again, (how did that happen?), and I'm joining Ginny for the weekly Yarn Along.  Wednesdays are for sharing books and knitting.  Last week I went for my first ever knit night.  I ended up going by myself because my friend couldn't make it and I had already arranged with Bryan that I was going out.  I was a little nervous because I didn't know anyone there, but everyone was very friendly.  How can crafters not be friendly?  They all knew each other so I really just sat and listened to their conversations while I worked on my Citron.  There is always one loud talker, know it all in every group, isn't there?

Anyhoo.  The Citron.  I started it three times.   I have never worked with lace weight yarn before.  I thought it very difficult.  That being said, the third time was the charm, I got the pattern going and am on my way.
In the book department, I started reading this Emily Giffin book, Heart of the Matter.  It follows two families and how their lives intersect.  So far so good.  It's an easy read, but I really just started it.  

I just finished listening to The Line of Fire by Stephen White.  I got the audio CD's from the library.  It's the second to last book in the series.  The author is planning on ending the series.  The books take place in Boulder and I love that I know exactly where everything is.  It's kind of fun.  If you haven't read any of his book, they are suspense thrillers.  The main character is a clinical psychologist and his best friend is a Boulder detective.  

So.  What are you reading and working on?

The Weekend

Weekends
On Friday I was able to sit outside and knit for an hour while Corrine was napping.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  
By Saturday mid-day it was cold and windy and snowing.  Did the snow amount to anything.  NOPE.  Bryan was out of town this weekend, so Corrine and I had ourselves a girls weekend.  Coloring, crafting, cooking and playing.  We made it out of the house once...mama had to go to the package store for some vodka.  I'm making Limoncello (which I'll let you know how it turns out in about a month or so) and I didn't want to use my good vodka.

I stayed up way too late both Friday and Saturday nights.  I recently re-joined Netflix.  We bought a new TV a few months ago and can stream movies right off the TV (although it isn't set up yet).  But I can also stream them on my ipad.  Friday night I added a gazillion shows and movies to my instant queue and then both nights stayed up watching.  I love shows from the BBC and added several of them.  One I started watching was The Vicar of Dibley.  Absolutely hilarious.

I do love hanging out at home.  How was your weekend?

Making Yogurt

In the Kitchen
 I got a yogurt maker for Christmas so I have been making homemade yogurt for the last couple of weeks.  Each time it comes out a little different.  The first batch was super tart. Each batch since then is a little less tart.  It's a work in progress.

I knew nothing about making yogurt before Christmas.  In fact I didn't realize how easy it was.  I've always bought yogurt at the market.  Not the super sweet kind, but just regular yogurt.   Like Brown Cow or Stonyfield Farm.  Those are my faves.  (But if we're talking about the best yogurt EVER- in my opinion- try Noosa- it's like dessert.  OMG it's good.)

Anyhoo, back to my yogurt...I googled "homemade yogurt maker recipe" and found this wonderful website, 101 Cookbooks, that gives step by step directions.  I've not strayed from these directions yet, but I feel some experimenting coming on.

Here is 4 cups whole milk with 1/3 powdered milk wisked in.  Heated to 180 degrees, but not boiled.

After the milk has cooled down to about 110 degrees, I added this yogurt culture.

Then I poured the milk into these handy cups and put them into the yogurt maker WITHOUT the lids.  The condensation on the lids will drip into the yogurt (ok I forgot to take a picture before it was finished).  Then turn on the maker and wait.  One batch was done in two hours, another took almost 4.  I just keep my eye on it.

Here is the end product!   That's it.  Easy Peazy.  Who knew it would be that easy to make  yogurt?  And I like knowing what is in my food!
I'm looking forward to trying to make different flavors of yogurt.  

And because I've been making yogurt, I had to make granola!  I just can't eat yogurt without some granola and fruit mixed in.  Mmmm.  Dee-lish. 


The Weekend

Weekends
On Saturday, I went to a food swap.  We had originally agreed it would be a soup swap.  I wasn't home enough last week to make soup and have it fresh, so I opted to take Chocolate Pear Jam.  I came home with lots of good soups.  We have red chili posole, green chili, Lebanese lentil and smoky corn chowder.  YUM!  

It was a beautiful afternoon, so as a family (dogs included) we walked down to the park, where a certain little person spent her time on the slide.  I think that is part of the reason she slept so well last night.  

The girls got some lap time while I knit after Corrine went to bed.  They were comfy, I was toasty warm.  It was all good.  

Back to work on Sunday though.

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