Da..da...da...done

I finished my washcloth earlier. It is super cute...now all I have to do is find my camera, charge it, wait until I get good light, take a picture, load it, upload it, and admire it. Yeah!

Hiatus

So...as you see. I am rather bad at updating my blog. Although, I do feel this is the best effort yet.

A little update...My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a house. Between that, being the tech director of my school's drama department, teaching / grading, and taking car of two cats, I have been out straight busy lately. This isn't to describe my absence. That really had no excuse except for sheer laziness.

Since my last post I have also taught myself to use a bead loom (easy, but slightly tedious), a nail gun, a table saw, a circular saw, and a sabre saw. So...I'm getting out of the realm of crafting and more into all diy. I guess that goes with looking at houses. I know that I will want to install things (built in cabinetry, tile floor, granite counter tops, hardwood floors) that will have increased the price of the house to something we aren't willing to pay. We do not want to sacrifice our lifestyle. I also want to be able to do the routine upkeep.

Sometime this weekend, I will hopefully post pictures and some necessary tweaks / recommendations. The pattern is from Designer One Skein Wonders. I recommend the book for its fun patterns (be prepared to print out a long list of errata though). I would recommend it for someone who has a little knitting under their belt. For the newbie...go with something more user friendly. It doesn't have all of the basics in it (which I adore at this point) like many knitting books.

So...hopefully I'll get the washcloth done and posted by Sunday (if not before). Happy Friday!

Spring

I think I am finally feeling like it is spring today. I have a bad case of spring fever. I don't want to go to work. I am watching the snow recede on my lawn and looking at all the yard work that needs doing. We lost a lot of trees this winter and they need picking up. I've got gardening plans that I am ready to start enacting. Work is interfering with all of this. At least I have a vacation coming up in just under three weeks and then the Red Sox (20 days counting today). Yippee!!!

I didn't get any crafting done last night because I had my Weight Watchers meeting. I lost 2.6 lbs bringing my grand total up to 45 lbs. I think when I get down to my goal weight (whenever I finally figure out what that will be), I will try to be a group leader and run a meeting of my own.

I have to finish making things for my craft swap. I am starting to run out of time. I think I will be making a bowl tonight. I might throw together some magnets....I don't know if I feel like doing all of that cutting though. I think I might include some of my own photography. I wonder if that would be a nice piece. You only had to craft 4 or 5 items, but I think most of my stuff will be crafted. I can't wait to put all of the stuff I crafted up here for you to see. It'll be just about another week.

I think I should go for today. I have a sunny window calling my name right now.

Happy crafting.

Monday Monday

I officially started the countdown today until the Boston Marathon and the Patriot's Day Red Sox Game. I won't be running in the marathon (my goal is a more modest 4 miles at a faster clip than I go), but I will be cheering on 3 people I know running in it and then I will be cheering on the Red Sox at my first ever Red Sox game. I'm a huge fan and I've never been to Fenway. How sad is that?

On the crafting front, I have been working like mad on stuff for a craft swap I am currently in. Here are all the gorey details:

This swap is through Craftster (you can check it out here, but sign ups are over so no trying to join - oh...and the gallery is up so once things start coming in you can check out the goodies). It is the magic yarn ball swap. Basically, you either pick out a pattern or trust that your partner will pick out a good one for you (that's what I am doing) and list what colors and yarns you like. Your partner gets the pattern and the yarn. They also get a bunch of trinkets and make some stuff and wrap your yarn for your project around it. You'll get a package in the mail with a ball of yarn full of goodies and a one-skein pattern to knit up. I am so excited.

So far I have made some pins. I'll put a mini-tute or something up once I have sent them to my partner. I don't think she'll see my blog, but she might. I also learned a new craft, which I will also blog about after I send stuff out. It'll probably be another week. I will be picking up her pattern today and her yarn sometime this week. Then I have to finish crafting and start winding it all up into a ball.

One last thing...I am doing Weight Watchers. To be honest, I love it. I have lost 42 pounds so far. Hopefully that number will be bigger after tonight's weigh in. I wanted to share the easiest muffin recipes ever. The recipe makes 12 muffins at 3 points each.

Chocolate Muffins

1 box devil's food cake mix (I just used the store brand)
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (not pie filling just plain unsweetened pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 400. Stir the ingredients together. The mixture will be really thick. I recommend using your hands to mush it all together. Do not add anything to thin it out. You could probably add nuts or chocolate chips or something at this point if you really wanted to. It would add points so keep that in mind. Put the batter in a muffin pan that has either been prepared with non-stick cooking spray (works great) or with cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy.

These muffins are so yummy and so easy. They came out moist and there is no weird pumpkin-y flavor. I pushed a couple of chocolate chips into the center of each one for an added chocolatey surprise. These definately taste more like cupcakes than muffins, but they don't have frosting. It doesn't really matter. Since they are called muffins, I feel like I am entitled to eat them for breakfast. What a way to start your day...especially since it is really dreary in Maine today and I didn't really want to get up. Try it yourself. I promise they really are yummy.

Until later.

It's All About Me

I wanted to start a blog for a long time and I did...a long time ago. Keeping up on it, I'm not so good at. This is my second major attempt at having a blog.

I want a place to talk about my crafting adventures (because my boyfriend sure doesn't want to hear about it as much as I want to talk about it). This will include the often bumpy road I travel between the idea and the finally finished object. I might even have some patterns to include periodically.

I guess I should tell you a little more about me (even though I know I am only talking to myself right now). I am a 20 something in Maine who works only to support her craft habit. Okay...that's not entirely true. I am a teacher and I love teaching. I sometimes wish I had a little more time to craft and could survive on my crafting alone. Anyway, I knit, I crochet, I sew, I embroider, I cross stitch, I needlepoint...I think that's it for major crafts. I make magnets, stencils (I am a t-shirt stenciling goddess after the last one I did), I make simple jewelry, I make pins, I make hair accessories...Are you starting to see the problem. If there is a craft, I want to know how to do it. That was only the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

I think that's all for now (especially since I am in a workshop right now). Hopefully, I will be adding more (and more and more) later.