06 November 2010

My Very First Cookie Jar

I believe in full disclosure, so let's just get this out in the open. I'm 23 years old, and I've never had a cookie jar. *GASP* Now that we've established my deprived childhood, I can tell you that I now have a cookie jar! It was a great garage sale find one sunny Saturday morning. It even has an awesome clasp-latch closure (there's probably a technical name for that.) Since, we had a new cookie jar, the obvious next step was to make cookies to put inside.



This was my first time using the Kitchen-Aid mixer too. I made a big mess with the flour. Oops. My skills have been honed since that incident. I now keep most of ingredients inside the mixing bowl.





We even took a plate over to our neighbor who had just moved in next door. (I strongly believe in friendships with a foundation built on food bribes.)

05 November 2010

Ramblings

I can't wait to have my own garden. This summer was too hectic with graduating, starting my new job, moving, and the wedding. Hopefully next summer! I wonder if my landlord would mind me digging up the backyard? When I start a garden I hope to get into home canning. My mom really enjoys canning. She has always done tomatoes, salsa, and spaghetti sauce, but this year she has been much more adventurous. She's branching out into new territories and canning pickles, squash, pumpkin, beans, potatoes and whatever leftovers she scavenges from her friends' gardens. I'm excited to get to try some of her new creations.

I LOVE MASON JARS. They embody all of the traits I appreciate most in anything. They are simple, cheap, multi-functional, re-usable, and recyclable. What a perfect creation! Not only are the essential for home canning, but they also make great drinking glasses, storage containers, and decorations. I have a jar hidden among my plants that holds sea glass I collected from the Mediterranean beaches in Barcelona. Recently I found a new use for a mason jar, soap dispenser! (Picture is number 4 of 37)



A friend of mine from college just got married about a month ago. Sadly we were unable to go to Illinois for the wedding, but I enjoyed making the gift! It was fun to get to use the dremel we got as a wedding gift. I actually finished this a while back, but I'm terrible about shipping things, so it just finally made it to the post office. For the happy couple, I made a mason jar soap/lotion dispenser, three knit dish/washcloths, and some melt-and-pour soaps.



The dishcloth patters used were: tan , blue , and multi-colored . They were all knit from cotton yarn in my stash. Several years ago, I bought a big bag of cotton yarn at a garage sale, and I've slowly been working my way through it. I really enjoy working with cotton yarn, and I like to make dishcloths because I get to sample new patterns and techniques without too much commitment. A dishcloth can be finished in one evening, so if it turns out that I don't like the pattern, I haven't lost too much time. Also, I lose interest with a pattern after I've finished it once (this is problematic with socks and mittens). I usually avoid repeating patterns or projects, but since there are TONS of dishcloth patterns out there, I never have to worry about running out of options.

04 November 2010

I've been knitting a zoo!



Recently, I've had six requests from family and friends to knit them animals to give as baby gifts. So, I've been knitting like mad to finish them. For one, I even pulled an all-nighter in order to finish it just in time for my neighbor to wrap and take to the baby shower! It was kind of invigorating to stay up that late. I felt like I was in solidarity with my friends still in school. However, they are probably cramming for exams, and I was just knitting like a maniac. So far, my zoo count came up to two monkeys, two dragons, a penguin, and a floppy dog.



The penguin was my favorite. He was just so round and huggable! It was are very simple and quick pattern too!



The dragon was cute, but not as cute as I was hoping. I thought the tail was too short and back legs turned out strange. I guess this dragon just has thunder thighs!



Oliver love his new puppy friend! Actually, he probably was just excited that I stayed up all night with him instead of putting him in his kennel and going to bed. On a side note, I know how to fix red-eye in photos, but how does one easily fix green-eye? I think this must be a problem that is unique to animal eyes.