darning in action

Quite a while ago, I wrote a little tutorial on how to fix knit garments that get holes in them. I showed you a mitten and a glove, and said that you could use the same process to fix most any kind of knit article you care to keep.

Today, I pulled out one of Joshua's hand-me-down shirts, only to find that there was a small hole in the back. It's a really cute polo shirt, so it made perfect sense for me to just darn it!

Here's the finished project:

I believe that you can click on the picture to see it larger.


Let me know if you try fixing any of your holey clothes or accessories, and show me how they turn out!

Incidentally, this is my 300th post on this blog. I didn't realize I had so much to say! It has meant a lot to me to be able to put my "pen to paper" and to process my thoughts this way. Thank you for your encouragement, kind words, and thoughts as I share my life with you like this! I hope that you are also encouraged and inspired as you read.

a little "knit" music

The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to music - "A Little Night Music" is the translation of the title of one of Mozart's pieces. Knit music? That's what kept me busy on Sunday night. :o) Leave it to a music nerd...

I raided my mom's stash of yarn and found three beautiful, soft, baby yarns in white, light blue, and light green. It was begging to become something, anything.

There were the size 10.5 straight needles. There was the yarn. And then 1x1 ribbing, stockinette stitches, stripes of knit for contrast, and an impromptu I-cord and pom-pom.

It's a hat!

Mom didn't mind. :o)

a sewing adventure

Yesterday I started a sewing project that I finished today. This is an accomplishment in itself!

I was inspired by this tutorial, and had to create my own! I followed her directions (mostly), adding a cute hand-sewn bird applique. I added some interfacing to the birdie before I sewed it on.

Without further ado, here is my pieced pillow!

I used some fabric scraps from my mom's stash - a couple of fabrics used for skirts, an old light blue sheet, and a worn white sheet with a pretty, raised, white-on-white pattern.

For the birdie applique, I printed a free photo of a bluebird, which I first desaturated and bumped up the contrast so it would be easier to work with. I then cut out that "pattern" and pinned it to the blue fabric. Tweet!

Never mind the blue ticking stripe that shows up behind the pillowcase. I'll be putting this on a white pillow when I have the opportunity.

For the back, I made an overlapping pocket - no buttons (or button holes!) required.

What do you think? I'm pleased with it!

a culinary success day

It's pretty fabulous what a Crock Pot can do...

This morning's festivities began at 8:31am and included cutting up russet potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion. These were layered in the bottom of my trusty Crock Pot, followed by a quickly de-giblet-ed and rinsed whole chicken. (Thanks my dear husband who got groceries last night!) I sprinkled on salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence...mmm.... and added 3 cups of water and a can of cream of mushroom soup. The soup was probably unnecessary, but I wasn't really thinking about it at that point, since I had to be out the door at 8:50, firm. I set the cooker for eight hours on low, tossed some salad greens into a tupperware, grabbed salad dressing, and took off for school.

The day at school was rather stressful - we've added another destination to our choir tour, and I'm responsible for contacting people and helping to make all the necessary arrangements. There are a lot of details to figure out! I'm working on a very detailed itinerary, getting hotel quotes, and finding activities for our free day in Florida (celebrate! warm weather sounds amazing right now). I also realized that I had done the wrong reading assignment for my Theory class - it's nice to work ahead, but I certainly didn't mean to, and now I'm scrambling to finish for tomorrow's class. My final task of the day was to finish the entrance counseling for the school loan we're planning to take. The loan process is rather detailed and scary. It's frustrating to have to go into an experience where the "helpers" are only interested in making money off of me. I really hope we get to take the education tax credit again this year...

The hubby has been working extra long hours, too. It's a special challenge to be able to relate well when we're both stressed and tired. I hope tonight is a beautiful, relaxing ten minutes together before we fall asleep.

Anyway, I came home to a house that smelled absolutely delicious. Mmm! Good thing I had a granola bar at school, or I would have been ravenous. I love the way that slow-cooked chicken just falls right off the bone! I separated the chicken, veggies, and broth into separate containers so that I could make sure there were no bone pieces in anything. It sure is an oily job, but I'm glad I did it. I'm hoping to make soup with the broth sometime later this week, and there's enough chicken for all sorts of fabulous meals. Ideas, anyone?

I also took out some frozen pumpkin and made a pie (surprise!). I guess I thought the crust I had made would be big enough, but I ended up having to dump some of the filling into my smallest French White dish. Oh, well. No one minds a bit of pumpkin custard, right? It's a souffle! (a yummy souffle...I couldn't resist.)
Both turned out well...

And here's my cute Oscar-cat to finish the post. Have a good night!

chocolate chip cookies!

Warm, cozy comfort food for a way-below-freezing Saturday night? Sounds amazing.

So I pulled out the Ghirardelli chips. 80% cacao. Mmmmmmmm.

I first compared the G recipe to the Nestle version (my personal favorite), and found that there are very slight differences. I proceeded to use the G recipe, measuring the flour and baking powder - no, soda - into the small mixing bowl. Check. Find salt. Added salt. Done.

Sugars - 3/4 cup of each. I pulled out the white sugar, measured, and dumped....

...into the small bowl of dry ingredients. Problem! For those of you who don't know this cookie recipe by heart: it says to put the flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and sift together, and then to cream the sugars in butter in a separate, larger bowl. Once those are mixed, you add the eggs, vanilla, and very last, the flour mixture.

A mini panic session ensued for this type-A wifey. What do I do? I haven't ever screwed up the chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I've been doing this since I was 10. I can't unmix these, since I'm no chemist. I don't have a sifter. I think I'm gonna cry.

But I have a solution.

The flour/salt/powder/sugar mixture went straight into the big bowl. Added vanilla, eggs, shortening and water (in place of butter). Turned on the mixer. Poof! Dough.

Things were going well. I scraped down the sides of the bowl. And then all of a sudden, the evil dough climbed all the way up the beaters and almost reached the top of the mixer! Darn.

I ended up having to mix the rest of the dough by hand, but that's alright. It's good exercise.

I added the chocolate chips (the ENTIRE bag, thank you) and a handful of walnuts. It doesn't look half bad!

In fact, they look pretty normal. What were the recipe writers thinking? This is actually easier in some ways.

So I figured I would go ahead and bake them. No problems, just a slight cookie casualty as I was putting it on the cooling rack. That's a taste test cookie. :o) Alright! It tastes alright!

Success.

So I took a stack of these over to my hubby, who was waiting in great anticipation of these fail-cookies (which were rather successful, I think). I set the cookies down for him, and reached up to touch my hair.

It was then that I realized that I have melted chocolate on my fingers. And in my hair. Seriously?

But the cookies are delicious. Am I overtired? Has it been a draining week? Perhaps, yes.

Definitely yes. But I'm still laughing!

here i am!

it's very lonely here, so i'm blogging. lately, the days have been melding together into one continuous wakefulness, and i'm not always sure what day it is. tonight was my husband's first band concert in grad school, which broke up the monotony nicely.
you know the crisp, clear smell of autumn air? i'm enjoying that right now! i love how as the seasons begin, they each have their own unique smell.
even though it's really and truly finally fall, i found some beautiful wildflowers on this morning's run - a summer daisy and a handful of purple clover. nature makes me feel closer to God - His fingerprints are everywhere.
i'm working on knitting a sweater right now, and it's nearing completion! i'm done making the body of the sweater, and i'm finishing my second sleeve. soon i'll add the hood, the edging, and then i'll sew it all together. it's my first really big project - i've made hats, mittens, socks, scarves, baby booties, and baby sweaters before, but this is the first adult-size sweater i've tried. i haven't had trouble yet! i'm also going to be using a circular needle for the first time, and i'm excited. it's nice to have something to try to complete.
i'm a musician, and i've been letting my skills rest for too long. i need to practice piano more often. i played a little bit tonight, but my wrists were so sore that i had to stop. it will take time to build up to where i was when i graduated with my degree. a year of teaching will do that to you, i guess.
i'm maybe almost adjusted now to being a new wife. it has been very hard for me to stay at home alone all day and to try to find little tasks to do, manage the money, pay the bills, and find insurance policies that work for us. i had no idea this would be so hard, and i feel really alone in it all. have you been there? i've been "on my own" for a few years, but this is just so very different.

that's all for now.