Sky Scarf

I finally spent the time to learn to knit last year, and over the last 6 months, I have been knitting and crocheting more than I have been sewing.  I’ve been missing my sewing machine though, so I’m sure I will be making some things soon.  I have some home decorating projects in my short-term action plan.  Kimara over at Wee Folk Art posted about this Sky Scarf in December as she had given her granddaughter a knitting Christmas gift of all the yarn to make this sky scarf and they were going to work on it together.  I think it’s a lovely idea to give a gift that is not just “something” but the gift of dedicated time spent together.

The idea behind the Sky Scarf is that you choose a selection of sky colors of yarn (blues, grays, whites, etc.), and you note the color of the sky every day.  You knit two rows of your scarf in the colors of the sky per day.  Theoretically, after a year of knitting, you would have 730 rows of knitting (732 in Leap Year!).  I had also seen the sky scarf making the rounds on Pinterest, but hadn’t really thought about making one for myself.

Then I came across the Conceptual Knitters forum on Ravelry, which was started by Lea Redmond who designed the idea behind the scarf (see also pattern page on Ravelry).  Seeing the works in progress, I got inspired and decided to start one of my own!  Looking through the projects that people had in progress on Ravelry helped me decide on the type of yarn to use, size of needles, design of the scarf, etc.  I love Ravelry!  Not everyone has decided to do the color of the sky every day.  Some people decided to make a weight loss scarf with different colors representing losses/gains/etc.  Others are doing temperature changes because their sky color doesn’t change very often.  Some are adding beads to represent different things like snow or rain.  It is fun to read about all of the different interpretations.

I chose to use Knit Picks Palette in Sky, Blue, White, Silver, Mist and Ash.  Palette is 100% wool in a fingering weight.  I am using two strands of colors per day, so for example, if it’s a light blue sky day with puffy white clouds, I will use Sky and White.  For a snowy, overcast day, I am using Silver and White.  Dark stormy clouds?  Perhaps Silver and Ash, or Blue and Ash, depending on how the sky has changed throughout the day.  It’s been a lot of fun to remember to note down the sky each day.  I’m trying to keep to around the noon-time hour, but I’m not going to stress about it.  Here is my Ravelry project page which I’m keeping updated with my progress.  For Blue, Sky and Silver, I divided the yarn in half, so that I could do two strands of the same color if the day’s weather warranted it.

I started out using size 4 needles which is what the pattern called for.  However, the pattern is for lace weight, and I’m using fingering weight.  It wasn’t turning out too well (I’m a new knitter, so have to learn these things through trial and error!), so I took it out, and am now using a size 7 needle.  It’s working much better!  Lots of people are doing standard garter stitch scarves, but I decided I wanted to try a pattern.  I saw someone was using the Favorite Scarf Ever pattern by Lisa Bruce (SunshineWalks), and as that pattern (Ravelry link) had been in my queue for quite some time, I decided this was a perfect opportunity to try it out.  I had to watch several You Tube videos to figure out all the stitches (there aren’t really very many, I’m just new to them).  The 3-4 times that I started over were good practice for figuring out the pattern.  But now I’m moving along, and I’m so happy with it!  I probably won’t go for a whole year.  That would make a pretty long scarf.  I’ll probably just keep going until it’s a length that I like.  The scarf pattern actually calls for doing it in two halves, and then seaming them in the middle so that the chevron pattern is symmetrical when it’s draped over your neck.  I’m not sure I will do that with this daily weather concept, but we’ll see how it goes as I get further along.  I absolutely love the Favorite Scarf Ever pattern though and am already starting another one in a variegated yarn.

Now I just need to figure out how to keep all my yarn from tangling as I knit the daily rows.  You keep the yarn going and carry it up along the edge in a twist pattern.  So, my scarf has 9 strands coming off of it at all times, even though I’m only knitting with two at a time.  It’s already getting a little out of control.  I’m thinking I need a cloth basket with little partitions for each ball of yarn.  So perhaps my sewing machine WILL get some use this week!

Bread Baking

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season.  We had family visiting for about three weeks, which was wonderful, but kept us pretty busy.  Things have finally settled down with the New Year, and we have been enjoying settling into a winter routine (sans the feet of snow that we usually have).  We only have about 6 inches (or less) of snow down on the ground which is making enjoying our normal winter outdoor activities a bit difficult!  I haven’t even pulled out my snow shoes yet this year.

We finally got some snow (about 6in) last Thursday!

I bought Hubby a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour for Christmas.  He has been having a great time experimenting with all the things that you can do with it!  And I have been enjoying the taste-testing.  We really enjoyed the Classic Sourdough Waffle recipe from KAF (made with no modifications except for using powdered buttermilk).  The kids even loved them!  And they froze well.  (Re-heat on a light setting in your toaster.)

What Hubby has most been working on however is his perfect sourdough bread.  He wanted a crunchy exterior, a nice interior with a good crumb/texture.  He tried the Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe from KAF, and while the kids and I really liked it, he didn’t like the crumb.  It was too “sandwich bread-y”, if you know what I mean.  So, he thinks he finally settled on a favorite recipe.  (Although I’m sure he will keep tweaking it.)  He’s going to share it on his blog in the next few days, but here’s a little teaser….

He had me make it by myself yesterday so he could test the recipe and make sure the instructions were clear.  It is so yummy!!

Handmade Christmas Gift #1: Peg People Chinese Checkers

My boys really enjoy Chinese Checkers, so the hubby and I had an idea to make a board, and instead of using traditional pegs or marbles, I would paint little peg people in different colors.  The rules for Chinese Checkers are pretty simple, and it’s easy for even a 4-5 year old to begin playing with minimal assistance.  We made our first one, and brought it out to Michigan as a gift for my brother-in-law’s family.  I hope they love it!  I have a feeling that the little people may end up being used for many more things than just a Chinese Checkers game.

Hubby made the board with plywood, and used a drill press for the holes.  He made a very nice, elaborate template to line up all the holes accurately.  I think he is going to do a full story on the board/box on his blog.  (UPDATE:  Here’s his post on the nitty-gritty box making!)

Used the template to pre-mark holes with a small nail, then used that hole to line up the drill press

I was in charge of painting little peg people and I did the painting on the board triangles.  We decided on the following color scheme:

Black – Ninjas
White – Snowmen
Red – Pirates
Blue – Princesses
Green – Elves/Archer-types
Brown – Indians

I did about two coats of paint, and two coats of mod podge to seal them.  They are the “little boy” people that you can get at Caseys and they have a 5/8″ bottom diameter.  I used little pots or clothespin doll stands to help stand them upside-down when the bottoms needed to dry. It worked well.  I put the year and family initial on the bottom.

Painting tip for the eyes — don’t use a paint pen.  The eyes bled a bit when I used a paint pen.  When I just used a small tip paintbrush, they turned out much better.

The board is on top of a box that the hubby made, and I sewed up a little felt bag to hold the people inside the box for storage.

This was so fun to make!  Now we need to make one for our boys.  I have asked hubby to use a bit thicker of a piece of plywood, so the holes can be deeper.  It was too easy to knock over the pieces when playing with the depth that he drilled the holes on this version.  Hubby sealed the entire game/box with shellac.

Here are some close-ups of the little people:

Ready for a game!

Advent Calendar – Day 1

We have been on vacation for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I’m still trying to get things cleaned up and organized after arriving home from the 10 day, 19-hour drive trip (through dense fog for the last 3.5 hours, fun!).  However, today is the first day of December, and J would not let me forget to put up the Advent Calendar.  He *ran* off the bus this afternoon to see what was in the pocket.  Makes a crafty mama proud to see such enthusiasm for the hours I put into that calendar!

You can never go wrong with Lego mini-figures!  I gave it a nice press with my steam iron and it looks great.  I need to make some adjustments to the floppy star though.  I should have done it last year, but never found the time.  Needs some sort of reinforcement.  If I were making it again, I’d probably reinforce it with some heavy interfacing.

Secret Christmas Crafting

I have some special plans for these little guys.  I can’t wait to share, but for now, it’s hush hush.  Aren’t the snowmen cute, though??  These are the tiny “boy” peg dolls that are 1-11/16″ tall.  Hubby and I are collaborating on something.  Fun, fun!

Turkey Buttoning Activity

Thanksgiving is a little less than 2 weeks away!  There’s still time to make this adorable turkey buttoning activity!  It’s a great activity for 2-4 year olds, and helps practice those fine motor skills in a fun way.

You can find the instructions on my blog, here.  After I made the first one for my son’s Montessori class, the other teachers saw it and wanted one too.  By the third one, I had learned a few things.  1) Use brown thread to go around the turkey body,    and 2) A zig zag stitch going around the body and feathers looked better.

Christmas is fast approaching

At least from a crafty perspective.  I can’t wait to pull out my embroidered advent calendar!  It gives me such pleasure to pull it out every year!

Embroidered felt advent calendar

It was so worth all the work! I need to fix the star on top this year though.  It’s gotten a bit floppy over the last few years of use.

Last year, I started making the “Hood tree skirt” from the 2010 Holiday issue of Fat Quarterly, but never got around to finishing it before Christmas.  Well, this weekend I pulled it out, and did all the quilting (Free-motion).  Whew!  It only took about an hour, but my arms/hands were tired!  Now, all that is left is putting on the elastic or ties, and doing the binding.  I thinking I will get it done this year!  Just need to decide on the binding.  Red or green polka dots?  Maybe.

The other project that I didn’t finish before Christmas last year were my holiday-themed place mats.  I finished those earlier this spring, so I’m looking forward to using them for the first time come December.

I like to make a handmade ornament every year to give to various peeps, family, teachers, etc.  Or just for myself.  So, need to think about what I want to make this year.  Last year I made some felt owls that I loved.  The year before I made Elsie Marley’s gingerbread man (Not my gumdrop buttons!).

I’m going to have to peruse my Winter/Christmas craftiness board on Pinterest and see what I might like to make.

Gobble, Gobble

We had some evening visitors strolling through our yard last night.

Gobble, Gobble

Korean Style Fried Rice

I am addicted to a Korean rice dish called Bibimbap and I wanted to try making it at home.  I got a Korean cookbook called, The Korean Table, and perused the recipe. Bibimbap is a fried rice dish cooked in a stone bowl, served with various toppings and Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), and then a fried egg on top.  All of the little toppings, things like seasoned bean sprouts, seasoned shredded carrots and seasoned daikon radish, would take some time to prepare.  I read in the book that instead of the authentic bowls, you could use a cast iron pan to get that crunchy rice bottom.  But first things first, where in small town Maine was I going to find Gochujang??  The cook book was clear that there was no substitute.  Thankfully, we made a trip down to Portland last month and checked out Sun Oriental Market on Congress St.

Success!

Since finding the Gochujang, I have made a few things from the cookbook.  It’s a great book.  Beautiful photography and a really nice ingredient section in the front to teach you about the various ingredients used in Korean cooking.  There is also a section called “Your starter kit for Korean cooking” which goes through making various base sauces, pastes and stocks.  I was making a beef stir-fry dish a few weeks ago, and needed to make some Sweet Soy Sauce Base and a Seasoned Red Pepper Paste.  Both are good for several months in the refrigerator, so they recommend making a larger batch and saving it.  I have to say that it’s much easier to just have it sitting there and ready.  Makes putting a dish together much quicker!

In any case, while having made several things, I have STILL not made any bibimbap!  Bad Tina!  We have just been so busy that I haven’t had time to prepare all the little vegetable toppings that are included in the dish.  However, I have been experimenting with my Gochujang, and when I saw a recipe for Kimchi Fried Rice on Serious Eats the other day, I decided to adapt it for what we had on hand, including that Seasoned Red Pepper Paste!

I love to make fried rice.  Simple and use up the leftovers in your refrigerator!  I’ll frequently make it for lunch when I have leftover rice in the refrigerator.  I did make a special trip to the grocery store to buy a new jar of Kimchi.  My store only has one brand (I’m happy there’s at least one!) and it’s a mild version.  It works for me.  The seasoned red pepper paste adds plenty of heat.  It’s on my bucket list to try making homemade Kimchi one day.  Kimchi is a fermented vegetable dish (usually napa cabbage), and can vary by region and season.  It can also vary greatly in how spicy it is.

I also had a leftover pork chop in the fridge, and some mixed vegetables that had been leftover from dinner the other night.  And of course, we have plenty of eggs for the topping!  Fried rice is definitely best made with one, or even two/three, day old rice.  Since I hadn’t planned on making this fried rice, I didn’t actually have any rice in my refrigerator.  No problem!  I made up a batch of jasmine rice with just a little bit less water than normal, spread it out onto a baking sheet into a single-ish layer, and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.  Pulled it out and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes and I was good to go.  Not ideal, but works in a pinch.

Seasoned Red Pepper Paste, adapted from The Korean Table

The major adaptation with this recipe is that it calls for Korean coarse red pepper flakes.  Although they state in the book that this is a “must-have” and can’t be substituted, I did it anyway because I didn’t think to buy them on my excursion to buy the Gochujang, and there is nowhere around here to buy them.  I substituted normal McCormick’s crushed red pepper, but used less than called for with the Korean flakes.  You can vary the amount you add based on how spicy you want it to be.

1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 Tb. Gochujang
1 Tb. crushed garlic
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger (about half an inch of root)
1 tsp. oyster sauce
1 Tb. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tb. light brown sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix together.  Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.

Korean Style Fried Rice
(serves 4)

3 cups dried jasmine rice
4.5 cups of water
2 Tb. vegetable oil
1-2 leftover pork chops, diced small (or other cooked meat that you have on hand)
Any sort of veggies that you have kicking around the fridge
14-oz jar of mild kimchi (or your heat preference)
1 Tb. butter
2 Tb. seasoned red pepper paste (see above)
1 Tb. sesame oil
2 Tb. low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tb. oyster sauce
1-2 eggs per person

1. Prepare rice ahead of time, preferably 1-2 days.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Dig through refrigerator for leftovers.  I like leftover pork chops that I dice into about 1/2 inch pieces.  Frozen peas or other veggies.  Some shredded carrots.  Maybe you have some green beans or pea pods.  This time I solely used some leftover frozen mixed veggies (peas, corn and beans) from a previous dinner.

3. Heat large skillet (I use my 12-in cast iron pan), add 1 Tb. oil and heat on medium.  When oil begins to shimmer, add the diced meat and heat for 1-2 minutes.  If the veggies that you are adding are raw (not previously cooked leftovers), then add those first and saute until about 75% cooked.  Then add the meat.

4. Add a little bit more oil if necessary and then the Kimchi, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.  If the Kimchi is in big pieces, you might want to chop it up a bit beforehand.

5. Add the butter and seasoned red pepper paste, thoroughly incorporate.

6. Add in the veggies if you haven’t done so already.

7. Toss in the rice.  I don’t usually use all of the rice that I cooked as that overloads my pan.  So, just add in as much as your pan will tolerate, and save the rest to add into the leftovers.

8. Break up any rice clumps, and stir well into the Kimchi mixture.

9. Add in the sesame oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce and mix in well.

10. Let sit in the pan for 2-3 minutes to develop a nice, crusty bottom.

11. Serve into individual dishes.

12. Prepare fried eggs.  I like two eggs on top of mine, but you might rather just have one.  You’re just making fried eggs and you want the yolk to still be runny (like sunny-side up eggs).  So, I just heat some oil/butter in a small non-stick skillet, toss in the eggs, flip very briefly, and then place on top of the bowl of rice.

13. Serve with additional seasoned red pepper paste so people can kick up the heat if they want.

I love to mix in my runny egg yolks into the rice.  Mmm….

The Start of Christmas Crafting

Now, what do we have here!?

I received an order from Casey’s Wood Products yesterday.  Amazing how many little wooden things they can fit into a small priority mail box.  Lots of little wooden peg people.  Most of these little ones are the “little boy” size.  I also got some of the big people size, some blocks, and some mini and small clothespins.  I have Christmas present crafting plans!!

The boys got right to work however with my stash this morning before school crafting together a ninja army.

And a ninja flying army.

I don’t have any plans for the big people.  They are just good to have around and I was placing an order anyway.  Likewise on the clothespins, but I’d like to try painting them for some art wire displays.  Now the little boy people were my main motivation for the order.  That I have to keep a secret for the time being, but no worries, I’ll be sharing if it all works out!

Do you need any creative inspiration for your Christmas crafting projects?  Sometimes I think that I have too much inspiration!  Seriously though, I highly recommend Pinterest if you are a visual person (or even if you think you aren’t!).  I was just scrolling through it to find something that I had pinned on my Crafty Ideas board, and I was once again blown away by all the ideas swirling about my head when I saw all those lovely pictures!

And just for fun….the puppy wants to say Hi.  Is he still a puppy when he’s three?  He still acts like one.  Unlike our “old-man dog” who tore his ACL six weeks ago, poor guy.  Trying to keep up with the puppy!