Gifty

Soooo.... Chris made it into grad school, which means we can't spend any money for the next two years... then we'll be paying back loans, so umm, maybe more than two. Anyway, peeps will be receiving handmade goods for awhile:

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Tammi's Birthday Cupcake:

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Kathryn & Doug's Housewarming Present:

The pattern for Lambkins is here.

I'm working on something...

This is the first garment I've ever sewed... not counting the shorts and apron I made in my 8th grade Home Ec class (mostly because I can't remember a thing about them or the class other than they existed). It's a secret until I finish...

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And a Happy Mama's day to all the mama's out there... We had ours over for brunch yesterday:

I can post this Strata recipe if anyone's interested...

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UPDATE!

Ham & Asparagus Breakfast or Brunch Strata

1 1/2 lbs. Ham (ham steak, not lunchmeat ham, eeew), cubed (you could place this with more veggies for a vegetarian version)

olive oil

1 cup asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup onion, chopped

6 large eggs, beaten

2 cup 2% milk

2 loaves ciabatta bread, sliced (about 1/2" thick) & crusts removed

2 cups gruyere and/or swiss cheese, shredded

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Saute the asparagus, mushooms & onions in olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) until tender. Mix in the ham.

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Combine the milk and eggs together, mix well.

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Oil a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and place a layer of bread in it. Top with half the veggie/ham mixture and a layer of cheese. Repeat with another layer of bread, mixture & cheese. Cover with a third layer of bread. Pour the egg & milk mixture slowly over the top, making sure to moisten all of the dish. Sprinkle generously with cheese. Refrigerate for at least an hour- I let mine sit overnight (up to 24 hours).

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Preheat your oven to 350F and bake one hour (until browned and bubbly). Tip: I like to put a baking sheet underneath the rack in the oven to catch any drips.

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Enjoy!

Maggie!

There's a new pup-pup in town! Chris's parents picked up Maggie (AKA Maggie Magnolia, Maggie May, Maggie Mags, Magpie, Auntie Maggie [because she's Laika's aunt now]) last weekend in Grass Valley...

She's a chocolate lab, 7 weeks old now.

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Here she is plotting something sinister:

There are plenty more pics here.

Private Benjamin

A new design:

Private Benjamin

Knit in Artful Yarns Fable: Color #95

The pattern is available here.

Nessie!

Another Hansigurumi masterpiece!

Loch Ness Monster

Knit in Lion Wool-Ease.

Sea Creatures!

All patterns by the genius Hansi Singh (Hansigurumi)!

Jellyfish (or Sea Jelly, as my Marine

Bio professor would have corrected)

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Dumbo Octopus

The color choices took waaaaay longer than the actual knitting.

I must have re-knit parts of this 50 times…
The Dumbo is a rare deep sea octopus. See "Grimpoteuthis” for more info.

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Blue Ringed Octopus

The Blue Ringed Octopus is the most venomous animal in the world!

It carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within minutes! Yaaaay!
See Blue-ringed Octopus: Hapalochlaena.

I just added embroidered rings to the plain octopus pattern.

I also hand dyed the top of his head to get some peachy color to it…

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They all live in my bathroom. More will follow... I will probably get around to all of her patterns.

Nesting Instinct

A pretty little nest for decoration or use as a pincushion, if your pretty objects must have uses...

My own pattern... available here. I used Lion Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Barley for the nest & Nature’s Palette Fingering in Lilacs for the eggs.

Treats!

So, I'm doing Weight-Watchers, so this is what I start knitting...

Cupcake

Pattern Here (I made it taller to allow for cake color to peek through.)

I like when they come with the gold paper.

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Blueberry Muffin

Same pattern, but with some increasing added to make it puffier.

I knit the berries & leaves on top with embroidery floss.

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Doughnut

Pattern Here

I used worsted weight for a full sized doughnut…

I think the original would give you a mini doughnut.

Oddly enough, I haven't actually eaten a doughnut in maybe a year...

but now I want one. Real bad.

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Ummm... I really like sugar.

Happy Birthday Kitties!

White Kitty and Black Kitty are now both 10 years old!

Happy Birthday, buddies.

Yeah, that's how they roll.

Two pretty and one silly.

A couple pretty, icy, lacy knits:

Shetland Triangle (from Wrap Style)

Knit in Knit Picks Palette: Mist

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Bolero with Lace Pattern from Rebecca 31

Knit in Rowan All Seasons Cotton
(from my Rowan membership yarn)
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And the aformentioned silly:

Good Burger

A knitted burger! I wanted to make a burger for my friend Todd, but I couldn’t find a knitting pattern, only crochet (at which I am NOT adept)… so I wrote one up myself! I used scraps from my ridiculous stash. The pattern is available in my Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10665640

My Black Apple Doll!

Here she is!

Yeah. She's a knitter.

Note the dress fabric & collar are knitting themed! And she's wearing a jaunty beret & shrug! And she's knitting herself a little scarf! Or something! Yaaaaay!
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I wanted to make one ahead of time to make sure I had any problems worked out... I'll be making another one this weekend, though... hopefully with you! See the post below if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Doggies & Dollies...

I have to show off my lovely pup's new name tag:

I picked it up on Etsy, here. You can have any photo or drawing you like etched onto your tag, front and back! They are ridiculously well priced and came with just about the cutest stamps I've ever seen on the package. Oh Taiwan, you really know from cute.

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I also wanted to mention I am arranging a little crafting get together... Emily from the Black Apple was on Martha last week making these cute dolls:

and I want to make them with you! We'޲ll wat޲ch the޲ seg޲men޲t, eat޲ sna޲cks޲, and޲ mak޲e cut޲e dol޲ls.޲.. I thi޲nk I hav޲e at lea޲st one޲ boy޲ int޲ere޲ste޲d! He'޲s goi޲ng to mak޲e a Bus޲h voo޲doo޲ dol޲l ver޲sio޲n! If you޲'re޲ int޲ere޲ste޲d, mes޲sag޲e me for޲ inf޲o (di޲rec޲tio޲ns,޲ etc޲). I'm޲ thi޲nki޲ng nex޲t Saturday (Ap޲ril 5th޲).

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Supply List:

Printout of Directions (here)

Fabric (for skin color, dress color, and leg/tights color)

Felt* (for hair)

Poly-Fil (Stuffing)

Optional: Accessory supplies > Felt* (scarves, shoes, collars), Buttons, Ribbons, etc.

*Preferably wool felt, especially if you want to be able to wash it.

I've seen it available at Beverly's and occasionally JoAnn's.

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I will have paint for the face and sewing machines & thread, plus some extra poly-fil & buttons. Visit the Black Apple for ideas & inspiration for your doll!

A couple kerchiefs...

for summer...

Pattern: Apres-Ski Kerchief from Handknit Holidays (altered for gauge)

Knit in Classic Elite Imagine

Kerchiefimetry Pattern here

Knit in Larkspur Funny Farm Alpaca from Etsy

Playing Catch-up

Here are some projects I've been neglecting to post:
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A cute felted baby bonnet:

Knit in Patons Classic Merino, Winged Pattern

It started out adult size- I made it when I first started knitting (beyond scarves)… and it was not very cute on, so I felted it to make a baby bonnet! I think I'll embroider something decorative on it at some point.

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XXX Scarves!

One for Chris:

Knit in Cascade Magnum, Herringbone Pattern here.

I tried to get a good pic of it on him, but no luck yet...

And one for me:

Knit in Araucania Aysen,

Cross Stitch Pattern from 101 One Skein Wonders

I skipped the garter stitch border for this one… it didn’t look as good in real life as in the book pic… This yarn was in a much similar colorway to the Manos called for, but had more yardage and was much, much softer (there’s silk & alpaca in addition to wool). I wear this thing nearly daily.

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And I got a modeled pic of Tammi's Ogee wrap:

Thanks Tammi!

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That's all for now...

Spring...

Spring is here... and the garden is waking up.

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And it's inspiring me:

Chevron Lace Beret

Pattern from Magknits, knit in Noro Aurora.

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By the bye, please please please let me give you some oranges:

They're falling off the tree...