Friday Moments: In the kitchen yesterday

Here is what was going on yesterday in the kitchen some were successful and some not.
:: Tried a new fennel & potato soup.  Tasted yummy but after processing it was green and thick like 
    baby food but still good.  Really.
::  Made tons of bread and rolls and one wheat that is sort of ok.
::  Finally some granola we have been missing that.
::  A late Christmas gift in the mail.
::  Composte overload. in the kitchen it was too rainy to go outside.
::  Later on went back to the soup recipe and thought I should have followed the directions instead of
    adding my own twist.
::  Finally some knitting time at the end of the night with Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice.
:: Hoping for better luck this weekend on my next soup.

Yarn Along Wednesday

A week already gone by since my last post? Well I guess time for another yarn along post. There hasn't been much yarn activity mostly just reading.  I have really been enjoying The Sisters.  I love books that go through 2 or 3 generations and decades of history.

Found this vintage book from 1937 yesterday at Goodwill.  Stefania started reading it and so far it's been good.
Hope you are staying warm with a good read.

Yarn Along: More Books and The Hundred Year Throw

More books for the yarn along this week :))  Last Wednesday after I posted we went to the library and one of my favorite things now is too look in the "free" box.  You never know what treasures can be found.  Welll I found all these.

 A mish mash of books for me and the kids and for homeschooling.  The blue book is my favorite to look at.

 I know my pictures aren't great but the illustrations intrigued me.  But that's not what I'm reading. I started this book in between everything going on.  So far good.

 Lastly "The Hundred Year Throw" is this crochetted grey soft throw that has made an appearance in previous yarn alongs. I'm having trouble finishing and now I'm going to unravel half of this.  Why?  Because it's boring.  Ever have those type of projects that feel like they go on forever and you never want to finish (like this one)? 

My solution for this  is "The Afghan Making Rule".  It's a rule I made up for myself when I need to make really big afghans or throws to break it up into pieces so I can try different stitches and designs then seam it at the end and I won't get bored doing the same thing. Done.

Friday Moment -Pre-dinner games

Yarn Along Wednesday:Still Christmas Gifts

The after Christmas week around here has been nice and quiet as I still work on late Christmas gifts that are turning into New Year's gifts. I swear after New Year's I'm making a Christmas oath to start working on Christmas 2012 handmade gifts while the ideas are still fresh in my head. Does anyone else want to join in on the Christmas oath?


So for this week's yarn along I don't have the pictures of the completed cowls (maybe tomorrow) but I have these 2 great Christmas gifts. One is an older knitting reference book and the latest issue of Crochet Today.  Love all the projects in this issue I actually gave myself a headache from all the ideas

Hope your enjoying some good reads or yarn project?

Friday Moment-Ten year old takes over the kitchen

Dollar Tree Pom Pom Garlands

We have been loving making pom pom garlands to decorate the doorways.  I had seen these last year on the blogs and forgot about them till a friend mentioned them and brought over some pom poms from the dollar tree.  Fun activity we worked on for 2 days. Some garlands were bunched up poms which are fun and happy.  I suggested using some of the craft beads to space out the poms and give it a different look.  Either way it was fun for everyone age 3 and up.
What you will need:

Poms from the Dollar Tree

Needles

Dental floss (holds up better than thread)

Beads any kind you like

Pizzazz and holiday cheer!

Yarn Along: Elving with yarn

Quickly dropping in for the yarn along.

 The bodies of the 5 headless bears.  This is the worst kept Chrismas secret present. I'm pretty sure I can get it done by Christmas.

Making cowls.  I'm on my third and 1 more to go we'll see how they look. 
Happy yarning!

:: Elving in the works

There has been loads and loads of elving in the making that I have been enjoying.

:: Endless drawings.
::  Using artwork to write our advent making for the calendar.
::  Pom pom making (I'll share soon in another post.)
:: Using lots and lots more tape everywhere.
:: Buying more tape.
:: Stefaina turning the tape boxes into gift boxes for her jewelry.
:: And the baking not by me at all.  Sunday turned into Gianfranco's day of baking with a couple of helpers.  Yes he did everything cookies, muffins more cookies and cinnamon rolls.  Even tried a new recipe.  I just stood by for stove duty.

Hope you're enjoying some elving as well. 
Happy Solstice!

Monday Links

Ok a day late on the Monday links but there has been quite a bit of elving and decorating and loads of tape dispensed around here that I forgot to post this yesterday.

Been collecting stain glass cookie recipes to make another year.
A neat claydough recipe.
Love roasting brussel sprouts (that's what's in the picture).
I like the design of this crochet bag with granny squares it just needs some color changes don't you think?
Gift tags in pinch these week.
I shouldn't even look at this post for a tote it's too tempting.
Don't think I'll make my own nutella  here is a recipe if anyone is feeling adventurous.
Simply awesome brown paper bag  and book pages gift wrapping.
Felt flowers for pins, ponytail holders maybe.

Hopefully I'll be back later with an elving post :)