learning to knit

January 25, 2012 – 3:27 pm

Knitting is a skill I have been wanting to hone for quite some time. I actually tried to knit long before I started to crochet, but for whatever reason, crochet stuck and knitting didn’t. A couple Christmas’s ago, I got the Knitting Answer Book and it has sat on the shelf with a couple other crafty books I own. That is, until the end of last year. I picked up that book and with it’s help (and a bit of help from you tube), I mastered a couple different cast-ons, knitting and purling. A friend of mine that was also coming from knowing how to crochet before she learned to knit recommended using the continental method of knitting because it seems to translate from crochet to knitting better using that method.

Alright so there’s the backstory. I very much wanted to make some leg warmers, especially these that I found on pinterest. The pattern rated them as easy so surely I could make them. I bought the necessary tools and set to work.  And set to work again. And again. And once more.

Sigh. Here is my latest effort. Looks a little wonky to me. Such tiny needles! And tiny yarn! Looks like I’ll be starting over again.

trying to knit: leg warmers

Since I didn’t want to give up, (I am DETERMINED to become a knitter) I decided to try another pattern, the honey cowl, which I saw on a friend’s blog (the same friend that has been advising me on knitting this whole time). I’ve only knit a couple of rows but it is going so much smoother and I can SEE my progress! Could be the bigger needles, or the thicker yarn. . . But I feel like this is something I may actually be able to complete! Of course, I can already see some of the weird spots, but that’s part of the charm of the first thing you knit yourself – the mistakes.

trying to knit: honey cowl

I really want to learn how to knit socks (I know, totally ridiculous) but I have a feeling that’s a ways off.

If you knit, what was your first completed knitting project? And any recommendations for me?

By Elizabeth | Posted in Crafts, Yarn | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Pie. Lots of pie.

January 24, 2012 – 3:30 pm

Yesterday was national pie day, so we had to celebrate. First course, mini pot pies. I used a combo of recipes. . . This one for the crust and this one for the filling. They were ridiculous. I am reminded of all the pot pies I used to eat in college (freshmen 15 anyone?) and these are just so much better.

Mini Pot Pies

And then we had to have pie for dessert too. Mini lemon meringue pies. These were my first experience making lemon meringue pie. They’re so cute in all their littleness. . .

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

Jude liked them.

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

And so did we.

Anyone else do something fun for nation pie day? Apparently, it’s one of two pie days. . . the next pie day? 3/14 (or 3.14… or pi for all you non-math folks).

By Elizabeth | Posted in Chicken, Dessert, Recipes | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

granny hex

January 11, 2012 – 8:00 am

Sounds like a spell a granny would cast, doesn’t it?

Anyways. I fell in love with this little pin and couldn’t get the idea of having a beautiful crocheted granny hex blanket in my house. Something about the hex shape just pulled me in. Nothing against the squares or anything. . . Now that pin talks about joining as you crochet but I wasn’t dead set on only doing coral, cream and grey so I decided against that. I think I’ll join with a flat crochet seam, when the time comes.

I love these.

Hex crochet

They are a quick little things to crochet up if you don’t have time to invest in a huge project. The pattern is easily memorized so you can do it anywhere without having to reference a pattern. And they are small! You could use up little bits of leftover yarn making these guys. I used Vickie Howell’s Sheep(ish) line in coral(ish) and white(ish) and Caron’s simply soft in grey heather. It’s going to be so soft when it’s all done!

Hex crochet

Now, as you can see, I’ve only made six of these, but I’m thinking this is an ongoing project that I can happily live with!

By Elizabeth | Posted in Crafts, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

gallery wall

January 10, 2012 – 8:00 am

Sometimes it’s the simplest things. We recently repainted our bedroom (although this photo is a poor representation of the color that it actually is) a light grey and dark grey accent wall. We ended up having to take down all of our photos and reassemble. Turns out we came up with a better configuration the second time around! I love having a gallery wall in our bedroom that shows different points in our life (I mean, there’s even a picture of us from my high school PROM up there!).

Gallery wall

This picture’s not the best (uh, yeah, that shadow is from our canopy bed), but I wanted to show you how we used one continuous horizontal line to anchor the configuration. Once we decided that was what we wanted to determine the layout, the photos seemed to organize themselves! I also love that we decided to mix the brown frames we had with the black. It doesn’t seem to make sense out of context, but our bedding has grey and brown stripes (along with several other colors) and the gallery reflects the same color sentiment.

I love small little house projects that make you feel like you accomplished a lot!

By Elizabeth | Posted in Around the House | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Munchkin Hat and Baby Loafers

January 9, 2012 – 8:00 am

Sometimes, I see baby things and I just have to make them. I saw this little munchkin hat on ravelry and I had to make it for a friend of mine that is having a little boy. It’s so impractical but I love it so much. It would be a perfect newborn picture hat! I’m thinking I should have made the pom pom a bit bigger, but oh well. It’s still ridiculous cute.

And to go with the little hat, I had to make some easy on baby loafers from Two Girls Patterns. It’s not often I see crochet items and think – wow, those are boyish! So this were a definite win. There was a bit of a learning curve for me in crocheting these up – it’s a much tighter weave than I typically do so there were some bumps along the way (and maybe a few bumps in the stitching), but I learned a lot and I think they turned out pretty cute. Who knew you could crochet to look like knitting!

I used Vicki Howell’s new yarn – Sheep(ish) in gun metal(ish) and robin egg(ish). So very soft. Cute little set for a cute little man.

By Elizabeth | Posted in Crafts, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (5)

word of the year 2012

January 6, 2012 – 8:00 am

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll know that each year I try and pick a word that I can reflect on throughout the year. In 2010, my word was trust. It ended up being a difficult year for me in that area but nonetheless, I appreciated getting to reflect on what trust looked like in my life and how much I lacked. And the quilt block tradition was started. Here’s the empire star block.

Word of the Year Quilt Block

And then last year my word was belief. I know I didn’t talk much about it on the blog, but I did reflect on it quite a bit. And I must say that it was quite an appropriate word for me. My belief was challenged and restored in so many areas of life – marriage, friendships, parenting, faith. It’s been a hard year but it’s also been incredibly healing in so many ways. It closed with clarity in so many areas that I had been scrambling to find. Here’s last year’s dresden plate quilt block.

'Belief 2011'

This year I have been thinking and praying about what my word should be for the year. It hasn’t been as clear as it has been in past years. One of my resolutions for this year (if you can call it that), is to be kinder to myself. My internal voice is quite vicious to me while giving much grace to others – not healthy, I know. 2 Corinthians 10:5 talks about taking every thought captive and obedient for Christ and I strive to exercise this in many areas of my life but not in my view of myself. So that lead me to the word gratitude – thankfulness, appreciation, gratefulness.

Word of the year block 2012 - gratitude

Gratitude destroys those voices in my head. It creates a happier heart, better relationships, relinquishes control. There are a lot of changes coming up for our family in this next year and they will need to be navigated with a grateful heart. We have so much more than we deserve even through the difficult times because of our faith in God.

Word of the year block 2012

My quilt block this year is the modular cathedral block. I love the clean modern look of this and it reminds me so much of cathedral window quilt blocks that I just adore. The fabrics are Sandi Henderson’s Meadowsweet Meadowdot, Amy Butler’s Love Sunspots in Mint, Patricia Bravo’s Oval Elements in Green Apple, and Joel Dewberry’s Modern Meadow Herringbone in Maple and of course Kona cotton in white.

What about you? Any words that you are going to meditate on as you go through 2010?

By Elizabeth | Posted in Crafts, Faith, Life, Quilts, Sewing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)

Taos, NM

January 5, 2012 – 8:00 am

We had the pleasure of a vacation the week between Christmas and New Year where my parents took care of Jude and we got to visit Taos, NM. We went with my awesome brother-in-law and lovely sister-in-law and it was so much fun. Let me tell you, they know how to do road trips well!

On the way to Taos, we stopped outside of Amarillo at Cadillac Ranch – a landscape art installation that I studied while in school but never had the chance to see in person.

Cadillac Ranch

Turns out it’s really fun to vandalize cars. Ok, ok, I didn’t really vandalize anything (my rule-loving nature would not have that) – it’s encouraged to stop and paint on these cars. It’s an interactive art installation.

caught in the act

It was a fun, snowy, muddy mess out in the field but it was so worth it. Even if I did get some mud on my rear.

cadillac ranch

And just across the street we found a viable establishment to stay the night if we ever needed to stop outside of Amarillo.

bates motel and taxidermy

And forgive me, but I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures of the house that we rented. It was called the Enchanted Hobbit House and oh my, it certainly was! There were so many details about this house that were just amazing: all of the walls curved, the plaster had mica mixed in with it to make the walls sparkle, an iridescent green powder was added to the stain for the cabinets and beams in the ceiling, almost everything in the house was custom made – doors, cabinets, mirrors . . . so quirky and amazing!

Here’s the outside:

Hobbit House

And from another angle:

Hobbit House

And the view from the backyard was just stupendous (yes, those are teepees):

outside of the Hobbit House

The kitchen (so fun to cook in, let me tell you!):

Hobbit House: Kitchen

The living room:

Hobbit House: Living

Master bedroom:

Hobbit House: Master Bed

Master bath:

Hobbit House: Master Bath

And oooo the sunsets. Gorgeous:

Hobbit House: Sunset

Now, one of the reasons we went on the trip was to visit Sipapu to do some winter sports. A few years ago I gave snowboarding a try and cried the whole time – I have never felt so inept at something in my life! But I owed it to myself to give skiing a try and I did. Turns out I’m more suited to the lodge and a good book. But thankfully that didn’t stop everyone else from enjoying the slopes and the snow! Jason had a great time getting reacquainted with his love of snowboarding. What a hottie. Glad he’s mine!

snowboarder hubs

We did a bit of site seeing – this is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge – fifth highest bridge in America. The Rio Grande flows through it and it just appears out of a otherwise flat bit of landscape. It’s terrifyingly high but amazingly beautiful at the same time.

royal gorge

We did a scary little trip into less deep part of the gorge and saw some beautiful scenery, but for some reason, this bridge is just amazing to me.

bridge in Taos, NM

And if you know me at all, you know I sought out the best food and Taos delivered! They have a focus on local and organic foods which just thrilled me. The Dragonfly Cafe had some delectable bites that we got to sample. Here, the salted dulce de leche tart and an ancho infused raspberry baked chocolate mouse tart. Mouthfuls to say but better mouthfuls to eat! We also enjoyed dinner there one evening and it was delish. Other noteworthy stops on the trip? Michael’s Kitchen, Mante’s Chow Cart, Tune-Up Cafe (in Santa Fe), La Cueva Cafe (ooo the guacamole!), and Five Star Burgers (happy hour burgers!).

salted dulche de leche and chipotle infused raspberry jam chocolate mousse cake

And can you believe every single one of those photos was taken and edited on our iPhones? Technology these days. Ridiculous!

What about you guys? Did you go anywhere fun over the holidays?

By Elizabeth | Posted in Random, Travel | Comments (5)