Theme Thursday – More neat tools

It makes me happy that almost every craft related tool out there seems to be available in so many shapes and styles – making things with more personal tools just adds to the experience, in my opinion. No more boring generic scissors, or ugly thimbles. Want scissors shaped like a ladybug? Prefer skulls? Both are possible! The only problem is to choose a favourite.

 

Which one would you pick? I can’t decide. I’m leaning towards ladybug and skulls (nope, couldn’t cut it down to just one – besides, they have different uses!)

     

 

Encase your fingertip in candy a pretty thimble to avoid stabbing it. Or get one of each and wear as crazylady finger jewelry…

 

I don’t really need to say how much I love these, right? Especially the black and yellow one, since I have a special place in my heart for the old vintage Singer machines.

 

 

Gotta catch them all! Well, collect. Because they’re colourful and stuff.

     

Recipe for meatballs

A couple of people requested the recipe I use for meatballs, so here it is. I found it in a Norwegian newspaper a few years ago, the only thing changed is the meat used (not a fan of veal), and the occasional Worchestershire sauce.

 

4 servings

500g (1 pound) each of ground pork and lean ground beef. Or just beef. I like mixing it up a bit because pork is cheaper.

1-2 onions, minced (really, you want this as tiny as possible – tossing it in a food processor would be the easiest way, if you’re lucky enough to have one)

2-3 eggs, depending on how large they are

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1/4-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp salt

 

Optional: a splash or three of Worchestershire sauce

 

Margarine or butter for frying. Or just use Pam, whichever, it all works.

 

Grind coriander and fennel. Put eggs, spices and onion in a bowl, mix it all together. Add meat, mix well so everything is nicely blended.

 

Shape smallish meatballs and fry them – smaller meatballs taste better than large ones, although it takes forever to make that many. I usually go for about a handful of meatball mix, which makes a medium sized ball.

 

Serve with brown gravy (I cheat and use either powdered or canned meatball gravy from St. Hubert, if you happen to be in Quebec it should be easy to find), boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam for ultimate nommage :)

 

These are perfect for making in huge batches to freeze for later. I just defrost some in the gravy for a quick dinner.

Crazy hat and pretty cat

…or should that be the other way around?

 

Anyway:

 

   

 

 

A brand spanking new water bottle

… but this post is not about that. It’s about the crocheted holder I made for it!

 

To give you an idea of the size, the bottle is a 1L/33oz SIGG stainless steel water bottle – in other words, quite large.

 

I didn’t want my pretty new bottle to get scratched up, and I also wanted to be able to carry it around easily – but did not want a shoulder strap. This is what I came up with.

 

It’s very simple, just a tube with a flat bottom. The strap is buttoned on, so I can either carry it in my hand or fasten it to my bag. There’s also a removable strap to keep the top in place, since I have a bad habit of dropping those on the ground.

Both the buttons are sewed on with quilting thread, they won’t fall off anytime soon.

 

The tubey thing is very thick and sturdy. I used a smaller hook than recommended, to avoid any stretching in the future. It should also help with keeping my water cold for longer.

 

   

What’s next?

Last night I finished this sleep sack thingie for baby – figured it would be easier to deal with than blankets, but time will show!

 

I had completely different plans for the embroidery, and it would have been so pretty, but I had no way of getting the design drawn on the knitted fabric – I don’t have one of those nifty disappearing pens. Will need one though, because I’ve found a lot of pretty designs lately.

The lazy daisies are my first attempts at embroidering (aside from cross stitch) since I was 12. I’m still not sure if they’ll get to stay.

 

 

Unblocked, of course. I’m not cleaning or blocking anything until I get a nice wool wash. (No, it has nothing to do with laziness. Really. Nothing.)

 

 

 

Notes from Ravelry (because I’m lazy and don’t feel like typing it again):

Using two strands of lace weight yarn. Neither of the yarns felt quite soft enough in the skein, but once knitted up, the improvement is noticeable. I’m not afraid of irritating sensitive baby skin after all. (in retrospect it’s not as soft as I thought, but meh, it’s not like it will be against the skin anyway)

I’m knitting it from the bottom up, because
1: I suck at grafting.
2: Turkish cast on is way more fun.
3: I’m better at binding off loosely than casting on.

The pattern is very easy and straight forward, this is brainless tv-knitting :)

 

 

Sooo, what do I knit next? I want to start something new, despite having two blankets, a pair of socks and a hat on the needles already. Most likely the Kimono baby sweater. I just hope I have enough yarn!

One very annoyed kitty up ahead

(but he deserved it!)

 

 

 

 

A good reason to sleep behind closed doors

Yaarr, what do you mean, witch hat? It be a pirate hat!

 

 

If I pretend not to see you, will you go away?

 

 

DO.NOT.WANT!

 

 

Stay away from me, crazy human! Get that thing off of me!

The pattern is the available here, thanks to another person who enjoys some light kitty torture as much as I do. Next I will knit Sebbie a sweater. Oh yes, I’m very thankful for locking doors.

It’s a hat, a hat

a very purple one, at that!

 

 

Used some scrap yarn to knit the Aviatrix hat (must be Ravelry member to access).

I didn’t have enough of the main colour (Knitpicks Merino Style, don’t remember the colourway – a pretty purple, anyway), which is why I had to dig out an itty bitty ball of leftover Knitpicks Shine Worsted in Crocus – I love that colour so much! If I had a ton of it, I’d knit myself the softest cardigan ever.

 

This is such a quick and easy pattern too, I never get used to how fast some baby things are to make.

 

…remind me to get a big bottle of wool wash sometime before December – I’m going to need it!

Colourful!

…is it strange that I want to order about 3 more packs of rainbow buttons so I can fill up the jar? It’d be even better to have a jar of each colour, but I’m going to be a little bit more reasonable. For now.

 

Not everything is purple

I’m slowly replacing all my craft supplies with cute things

 

The brand new measuring tape that arrived in the mail yesterday – I think it’s worth the $4 +shipping :D

 

I have 6 of these little tins in different colours. This one gets to keep the stitch markers a Raveler made for me. Aren’t they pretty? I hate dangly markers, so these are perfect!

Wow, that was fast!

Note to self: Knit baby socks when in need of instant gratification.

 

 

The pattern used is Simply Sweet Socks – you have to be a Ravelry user to access it.

Some random pictures from today

 

This is why I have a blanket in my chair. Well, that and the fact that the blanket is purple.

 

 

Lunch!

 

 

A baby blanket in progress – currently on a stitch holder because I can only knit plain garter stitch for so long without losing my mind. This is the second blanket in mostly plain garter stitch I’m making. The other one is Jared Flood’s Tweed baby blanket. In doubled lace yarn. I’m not sure I’ll ever have it in me to finish these.

 

 

The reason why the blanket is on a stitch holder: I needed the needles for socks. Tiny baby socks. In worsted weight, so I wouldn’t have to go crazy with yet another tiny gauge project.

Theme Thursday – Neat craft stuff

It’s been a while since I did one of these. Blame getting pregnant and obsessing over other things, because that’s pretty much what happened. But I’ve found so many neat things lately, so why not share!

 

A pack of 200 assorted rainbow buttons! The picture tempted me so much, I ended up buying two packs – you know, just to make sure I won’t run out for a while. Can’t wait to receive them!

 

 

A very Halloween inspired project bag. They keep on selling out, it seems to be a popular design. Purple, kitties and Halloween – yes, definitely a winner!

 

 

 

Rubberstamps that are decorative even when not in use. The only problem would be to choose just one…

Hint: If you want to find more things in this style than you could ever afford, go to Etsy and search for “decole”. (I take no responsibility for empty bank accounts after doing this.)

 

 

If you need a measuring tape anyway, why not make it a cute one? The pink bear is on its way to me as we speak… ahem…

 

 

Pattern tamers; something I never knew I needed before I saw them. No turning back now. Skulls or polka dots, the choice is hard!

 

 

Guess what this is! No, really, guess!

No? Ok. It’s a tape cutter, in the shape of a little bird. A WOODEN bird, even. You never have to own anything without a personality ever again! Thank you, Japan!

 

 

Last, but not least, the prettiest yarn bowl I’ve ever seen. I love how simple it is. Sadly, it’s not available anymore, and I’m too afraid of the cost to ask for a custom one.

Guess what we found at the store today?

Lingonberry jam! The timing was perfect, I made meatballs yesterday to have for dinner today.

Yes, the plate looks like a mess :p They’re meatballs, they’re not supposed to look nice, it’s comfort food. Look at that big glob of delicious jam in the corner, nomnom!

 

 

Flowery sunhat

I started this one last night, and it’s already done! Once I got past the beginning, because I had to try both brim versions to see which one I liked, it was a super fast knit!

 

Unblocked, side view:

 

Isn’t that a pretty colour? I used Knitpicks Shine worsted in crocus. Love that yarn so much!

 

My notes from Ravelry (hey, it’s silly to type it out twice!):

 

A very fast, easy knit!

I made the smallest size, because I was not sure one skein of Shine Worsted would be enough for the larger sizes. Seems like I was right, I only have a tiny ball left.

I knit one row before starting the pattern, since doing lifted increases on the very first row just doesn’t look good.
I also omitted row 4 of the pattern repeat, for a slightly shorter brim and to save yarn.

 

As for later tonight, there’s another hat I want to start – for myself, this time. It’s a special treat, I even got a skein of pretty sock yarn specifically for that. I’ve never ever bought yarn that cost $20 before – still haven’t, in fact, since Jeff bought this one for me :)

 

Oh, and I’m going to make soup. I have tomato sauce, V8, lentils, soy beans, peas (not convinced about the peas, they might get to stay in the pantry a while longer), onion, garlic, various veggies, and ancho chili plus a good curry powder. It’s an experiment, I want a spicy, hearty soup. don’t want to look at recipes first, because it’s more fun when I don’t :)

Tiny soaker!

This is from the Curly Purly Soaker pattern – which is very easy and fast to knit, unless you somehow manage to lose the ability to graft along the way. I said screw it and used a 3-needle bind off instead.

 

I really don’t understand what happened in my brain, because I used to be able to graft, but then there was the incident with me trying to learn garter stitch grafting, and ever since, I’ve completely lost the ability to do kitchener the right way. I do not approve of this.

I know the steps, I look at pictures, I follow the instructions… and still I end up with a purl row on the right side! Argh!

 

Anyway. The soaker is cute! :) I used Knitpicks Swish worsted, because I happened to have a skein lying around with no project intended for it. The soaker took care of that, the newborn size required pretty much exactly one skein. I only had a couple of meters left!

 

 

This and the pants from the previous post will most likely be the only pink stuff I make. Well, aside from whatever comes out of that random ball of fingering weight hot pink yarn I have. See, I buy yarn from destashes on Ravelry, so it’s not like I get to pick the colours all the time. Which is probably a good thing, or I’d only have purple or rainbow coloured yarn.

I did buy a skein of fingering weight.. something, I think it was Stroll, in various browns from Knitpicks the last time, but still haven’t been able to make myself knit something with it, because the colours, although pretty, just don’t appeal to me. Maybe a toy would be the best solution. An easy toy, with little to no seaming. Wish me luck.