Birthday Gift and Afghan Progress..

I enjoy making people gifts for their birthday.  I really liked the color of this yarn, but it looked like it would appeal more to men than most women, so I end up making a wash/dish cloth for my dad. I thought perhaps he could use it while he works out, or does some yard work.

I worked more on the granny stripe afghan, even more tonight, but here is an updated version from Sunday. I included a few close ups.

Snow Prediction Results...

ended up being anywhere between half an inch to one inch. I ended up not working on the quilt, but did work on the crocheted granny strip afghan for my cousin's adopted baby. I haven't completed any progress for the past few weeks. We had plenty leftovers of the potato soup.

I probably completed six rows today and as you can tell by the size of the ball of yarn I have quite a ways to go.

Predictions of Snow....

Since we live on the East Coast the past two days the predictions of snow coming have been nonstop. I have heard 8-10 inches, 6-8, 3-6, 3, 6-10, so I am thinking the weather forecasters have not a clue how much we will actually get or not get. Last time a big storm came through we were supposed to have gotten quite a bit, and we received like an inch, other times we received more than predicted. This winter we have only gotten the one inch, so overnight if we get a few inches it is still a very mild winter. I do know it is supposed to be colder though, so I plan on making homemade potato soup for dinner tomorrow. I also plan on doing some quilting, on my nephew's belated birthday gift. So far I have gotten a little progress done.

What Is the Number?

It is number 12! Which just happens to be Larkrise to Candleford by Flora Thompson. Previously, I had watched the tv series and then found out it was based on these books by Flora Thompson (which she wrote semi-autobiography on about her experiences of village life in England during the 1880's). I know from experience that there isn't a whole lot of dialogue in this book, and that is a complaint from some people I have seen. Plus, they think it will be like the tv series with lots of story line. That doesn't bother me as I think being really descriptive of that type of life to me then allows you to vision it better. Last time I read a chapter of it and really enjoyed it. What is your Spin book?

March: King Arthur's BakeALong

I haven't participated in awhile for the BakeALong that King Arthur's flour company has been putting on through their blog. This has mostly been because I haven't wanted to try the recipes or didn't want to go to the hassle of some of them. This month was the Butterflake Herb Loaf, and it is really buttery so be prepared. There were some pros and cons to this, and not all of them was the recipe.

It was time consuming, took about five hours from start to finish, however most of this was because our house was a little chilly. Plus this dough rises not just once, but twice that adds of course quite a bit of extra time. I cut the recipe in half for the dough and ended up with two small loaves.   In regards to the filling though I made the whole amount, and actually doubled the herbs and garlic. First the pros of this loaf, it was moist and crispy on the outside but soft in the middle. The biggest draw back was that it didn't have too much flavor even though I doubled on the herbs and garlic. Now, I will say this that I think perhaps I shouldn't have minced my own garlic as the pieces were probably too big, and in hindsight I will just use the store bought minced garlic. As you can see we did eat one whole loaf at dinner on Sunday, and even tonight ate part of the second loaf, the herbs only still had a hint of flavor. So perhaps next time, I will pay attention to how warm it is in the house to ensure it doesn't take five hours, and either use even more herbs or perhaps different ones altogether. Have you tried one of the BakeALong or been tempted to try a recipe?

Classics Club Blog Spin Book

It is time for another spin list, and according to the Classics Club blog this is number 15. I have not partaken in all of them, and when I have not completed all of the books. You have until Friday to make your list (until May 1st to finish it), and then they will put out the number. So people choose their books in a variety of ways, some all books they want to read, some they are dreading and others a a mixture of those. For myself I am going to go with classic books from my list that I haven't finished (which is the first 13 books), wether they were part of a spin or my reading them on my own (this excludes one or two that I have given up on trying to read).

1. Jane Eyre 
2. The Adventures of Tom Saywer 
3. War and Peace
4. Little Women
5. Sense and Sensibility
6. Walden and Civil Disobedience
7. Germinal
8. The House of the Dead
9. Little Dorritt
10. Poor Folk and other Stories
11. The Idiot
12. Larkrise to Candleford
13. The Secret Garden
14. Barnaby Rudge
15. The Outsiders
16. The Oregon Trail
17. My Antonia
18. Wives and Daughters
19. The Awakening
20. Rights of Man

Trying New Pickling Juice Recipe..

Mr. Crafts4others and I decided to make several different jars of refrigerated veggies with different spices. For the first time we tried to pickle cucumbers, cauliflower, and jalapeños. The jalapeños were all for Mr. Crafts4others and he said they ended up being really spicy, so he had to eat them with cucumbers or a blue cheese dressing. In the cucumber and onion jar we just mainly put in peppercorn and a small amount of cumin.

So far one jar of the jalapeños are gone, the cucumber and onion, as well as the cauliflower, cucumber, carrot and onion. So the only jars left in this photo are the big jars.

We previously ate some of this with leftover meatballs and roasted cauliflower.

Almost caught up on Feb.

For the temperature blanket. This was the progress that I had previously gotten done but didn't do an updated post. Later in the week I will post my progress for March, it has been interesting so far as added more color. Showing the front and back along with a close up picture. Not sure why but in the photos it shows the colors a little dull than they are in reality.

Learning the Purl Stitch....

I only started learning how to knit back in September, mostly getting inspiration from SlowTV and other youtube knitting shows. I have made several washcloths/dishcloths, a scarf, and working on two blankets. I have only worked on the knit and garter stitch. I decided finally to learn how to do the purl stitch, and it does feel a little awkward but I think only because it is new. Here is my first attempt so far.

I love the colors of the mustard and grey, never figured I would though. This is just a practice piece though and isn't anything to use. This yarn though is 100% cotton so it will no doubt be another washcloth/dishcloth. I am making a few to be donated to a Native American reservation, so far I have made 5 or so, this yarn will probably be the last one to be made before sending them. I love to make the washcloth/dishcloth and might end up selling some in the future. Do you have a favorite knitting project you enjoy?