Great Stamping Tips

This site covers everything from paper qualities to embossing techniques to markers for coloring. A great resource!

Gotta share this great stamp idea! The empty glass jar stamp has endless possibilities. Fill it with stickers, drawings, buttons, or whatever! But the funnest idea I've seen is to stamp it onto printed paper- all of a sudden it looks like your jar has a beautiful design all over it! Thanks to Jordan and Rachel for the stamp-inspiration!

Blueberry Muffins and Vegan Mac (n' Cheese)

RECIPE SHARE!

I haven't shared anything in a while, so I thought I'd post the link to (and my thoughts on) the recipe for the blueberry muffins which were such a hit with the girls last night.

These were really very good, although I think we all agreed they seemed a little more like biscuits or scones- at least on the muffin-tops. I made only a couple of modifications:
1) I didn't have any fresh lemons for zest, so I added a little lemon juice to the yogurt instead. I think the zest would have been much more flavorful.

2) I used salted butter, so I cut the salt content down slightly. I also used sea-salt, which is a bit saltier than regular table salt, so I cut down to account for that, too. I cut the salt down to about half the amount in total.

3) This recipe says it yields 12 regular sized muffins, but this is probably for jumbo muffin tins. Several people commented that they had to put this recipe into two regular 12-count muffin tins. I made half of this recipe in two mini-muffin tins (24 mini-muffins), so I assume that the full recipe would indeed take TWO of the standard size 12-count muffin tins, as suggested by other reviews. For mini-muffins I baked for 22-25 minutes.



While I'm posting recipes, I'd like to share one that a friend shared with me. She made it for a potluck and it was gone within minutes. Even the real-cheese eaters couldn't resist the creamy, savory Vegan Mac (n' cheese) (-great for the lactose intolerant, too!). Now you should know, this recipe makes a family-sized (or potluck sized) dish of the stuff, so cut the recipe for fewer people- even if you want to have some leftover.

You'll need a blender to make the "cheese". Also, stirring and letting stand for at least ten minutes after baking is part of the key to the creamy consistency. Enjoy!

Knitting In Front of the Fire

It's been a while! The cloak pattern is going great - I need more yarn! I'm so happy I chose a difficult pattern to start with because I've learned so much! I learned three different increases. I used the M1 for this pattern. I learned to wrap and turn- cool stuff! And I learned the Kitchener stitch! I can't believe I am making it! :)

Stitch n' Bitch Thursday's continue as usual, and tonight a new friend, Lisa, joined us. She learned to knit and took home a cute little hot pad that she'd made by the end of the night- good girl! It was a small group tonight- just Mom, Melanie, Lisa and myself. The weather had turned very cold, so I got a fire going before everyone showed up. We all sat in front of the fireplace with our wool Swedish house-socks on our feet, eating snacks and talking- and stitching, of course. Very cozy!

This week Melanie taught me the basics of crochet! I'm excited to learn a new craft, especially one that two of the stitch n' bitchers have been doing during the Thursday night gatherings. I'm still kind of clumsy at it and my hands feel cramped when I put down my work, but I'm hoping I'll start relaxing as I get the hang of it. There are some crochet-alongs on the web, which I've suggested we do together. A new project would be fun!

And lastly, I cheated a little and opened my birthday present from Sweden a little early- what! I've had a tough week and I needed some cheering up! Boy, was it overwhelmingly fantastic. I was speechless. Two more pairs of wool house-socks (one of which is a tiny one for our friends kids who come over-- or are they??!!), five beautiful skeins of wool yarn and two sets of double pointed needles to make the socks (project time!!), a gorgeous Scandinavian design needle and hook holder, and lastly... Per's mother's collection of knitting needles and crochet hooks- which are extra special because she died when Per was just ten years old. I cried. I felt undeserving and not a little spoiled... but now I just feel happy and incredibly grateful. I am very lucky to have such wonderful in-laws. When we go visit, I can't wait to knit with Per's step-mom (who makes us the socks) and her mom!

Knitting is truly bond-creating craft for women, and I'm so happy to have finally taken it up in earnest!

Little Red Riding Hood

[Image Cred: Artist: Kneil Melicano. This design was the winner of a most prestigious award for the year's best on Threadless.com. If you don't know about Threadless tee-shirts, check it out!]

This year I have reason to start thinking about my Halloween costume early. One of my oldest friends is getting married on Halloween and I am her maid of honor. The entire wedding is Halloween themed, and everyone including the bridal party will be in costume. As of right now, I think Per and I will be dressing as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.

I found the most amazing pattern for a knitted and felted red hooded cloak from CRAFT magazine. It's out of my league for now, but I'm pushing myself to learn all of the techniques required in the pattern. I may opt out of the felting part, as I really like the way the knit looks on it's own, but that will require some resizing of the pattern.

THREE girls have learned to knit since I started the Stitch n' Bitch three weeks ago! Congratulations: Sarah, Mandi, and Casey! Hope to see you all at the future hen-house knit nights!

I HEART VOGUE.

It tends to surprise people that one of my most prized little indulgences in this life is my subscription to Vogue magazine. Every time my new Vogue arrives, I have to run to get a cup of tea, and maybe some chocolate, so that I can curl up for the next hour or so turning page by page through the magical world of high fashion and world renowned artistic visionaries. How could this possibly be a surprise? I love fashion. I love art. Vogue is the absolute world class Queen of Fashion Art.

Sacrebleu! What is this? How on earth could I miss such a sweet little succulent.. er.. Vogue?!

I just bought my first issue of Vogue Knitting, and I'm absolutely transported by the incredible knits inside. I want all of them. Page after page of heart-skipping, voluminous, chunky-soft yarn made Fashion Art. I'm in heaven.

The best part about Vogue Knitting is that, unlike it's predecessor, after drooling over piece after piece that you'd like to walk down the street in-- you can actually turn to the back to find the patterns to MAKE THEM YOURSELF!