Chica Doll

Whoo, she's/he's done - plenty of time for Easter!  I was worried about how to make and attach that beak and wasn't too sure of the feet. But it all worked out.  I'd do a couple things different if I were to do it again - I had planned to put the squeaker in the feet and forgot to do it before I sewed them up, so it's in the beak.  And then I'd form the beak a little more Chica-like from the cartoon. Id make the lower beak smaller than the top too. It's probably larger than the doll that is going for ridiculous prices these days - $300-399 on Amazon and $102-$180 as of last night on Ebay.  And I think the materials probably total $6-10 to make it, if that.

I just wish you could see the little happy dance little Scarlett's going to make when she sees this.

Cinnabons? Gluten Free????

These are incredible.  I don't say that lightly.  Here is the link:  http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnabon-ish-cinnamon-rolls-gluten-free-376575   I promise I'm not going to make these very often.  

I'm beginning to think you can make anything gluten-free.  

Straight out of oven:

What's left:

I think I'm getting a son

or Kelli's getting a husband.

The four generations

I'm amazed how many shots it took before all four of us could look in the same direction.  It's the best of the lot.  Scarlett was a little hyped up on sugar.

Machine Embroidery

Not that I'm encouraging another hobby on anyone, but machine embroidery is neat to make personalized gifts fast.  These are some examples I happened to have taken photos of.  But quick Christmas stockings are fun to put names on for little gift cards.  And one other great thing embroidery can be used for is if you're a bit of a slob and get stains on a favorite item of clothing - just pick a design or several and embellish it to cover - can even be in the same color thread as the fabric so that it doesn't stand up and grab you too much.  Aprons, towels, and napkins can be embroidered quickly as hostess gifts. And if you sew, it's just almost a necessity.  Okay.  I'll stop.  I'm just justifying yet another way to spend my money.

I'm feeling all girly

I saw this apron in a foofoo-y store and they wanted way too much for it.  No, it's not for me, but for someone else who actually could carry off wearing it!  One fat quarter, 3/4 yd of lace, 1/2 yard of pompoms, and voila!

Three Bandanas

Three bandanas at $1.79 ea at Michaels.  I used a dress that fits Scarlett as a pattern.  This is about a six to nine month size.

I know my Amiga sweater doesn't hold a candle to that ADORABLE child modeling the clothes and hats that her Mimi made her, but I thought I'd throw it in there.  I love this sweater.  It's so light.  It's perfect.  Even my DAUGHTER said it was cute and she'd like a black one!  My dear friend Abi's pumpkin sweater lives on.  She ripped her first top-down and sent me the yarn.  

I've not been working much lately

So I've been crafting.  Is there a term "craftoholic"?  Now my grandbaby can match Mimi's purse.

Sock Machine Baby Sweater

I cranked this from my sock machine, steamed and "steeked" where I needed to.  Ready to start the hand knitting!

Clothesline

I'm surprised they still make it!  Who hangs out their laundry anymore?  The neighbors would report you.  "They'd" come arrest you and send a cleanup crew out.  Good thing I found something to use it for.  I'm ridiculously pleased with myself.  I even have a fastener on hand for it!

Juicing for health!

Everyone knows we're supposed to eat our five, nine, or whatever number it is of fruit and veggies e v e r y day. Well, some days I do really good, but there's too many of those other days.  Then I read up on eating at least 50% RAW food a day.  Now that's just getting crazy - especially with all my other weird eating habits.  How do you do that on a sustained everyday basis?  Well...I bought this Breville juicer,. It's extremely easy to clean (important when you're using it two to three times a day).  I don't make large quantity of juice to drink throughout the day - only what I'm going to consume immediately. (My neighbor has the Jack Lalanne juicer that they carry at Costco.  From a quick comparison, I decided this Breville was much faster/easier to clean.)

There are tons of sites out there with juicing recipes. These are two of my favorites: http://www.healingdaily.com/juicing-for-health/juicing-recipes.htm
http://www.hps-online.com/foodsjuices2.htm My staple is a couple handfuls of spinach (I buy the 3 lb bag at Costco for less than  6 oz at the grocery store) and a pear.  Another is my version of V8 - tomato, celery, green onion, garlic, cabbage, red pepper, spinach, and some cucumber.  I just wing it on amounts.  I can't really down more than 8 oz of juice at a time.  And the simplest of all is just juicing three carrots.

This was said to be a sinus cure:  one apple, half lemon, one inch of fresh ginger, one orange, some cayenne pepper (and I really dump it on).  I use the Breville for the apple and ginger, but squeeze the citrus by hand.  I could drink this every day.  I LOVE the taste.

When I drink a glass or two of green juice a day (or beet juice or carrot or whatever), I don't stress over a lack of vegetables when my dinner's just some rice pasta with bolognaise sauce and turkey sausage. I count my fruits and veggies like I do how many hours I sleep every night. That's normal, isn't it?

Scarlett Audrey Peterson has arrived

And her mama couldn't be more beautiful or happy! And as for Scarlett's Mimi, I can barely contain myself.

New Sox

CSM socks - for Mr. Hill if the color's ok for him. I love the colors! Can't even remember how I dyed this yarn, but I think it was kettle-dyed with Kool Aid and some food coloring. I'm sure I was aiming for black again... But these sure are purty.

Embroidery

Today was day of rest/relaxation - well, at least the morning was. And here's the results.

First Christmas gift made. And this is quite a green gift - the off white was my neighbor's curtains and the black is a dish towel! Buttons were in the button drawer already.

The Sock Knitting Machine!

Well, here it is if you can pick it out from all the junk around it! And yes, there really is quite a learning curve with these little gadgets. But I have been able to produce my first PAIR of socks on it. These are a hung hemmed 5x1 mock rib. The pink was the first real sock and it is on the 54 cylinder, 2x1 rib. I see lots of socks in my future!

PS It's totally your imagination that the legs are that white.

I haven't attempted a quilt in a long time, but here's a gift I made for a special 1-yr-old boy! Probably won't use regular flannel for a quilt again. Even serging the seams didn't prevent some areas from fraying apart in the first wash! Operator error? Anyway I then used one of the quilting stitches on my machine to go over EVERY STINKIN seam just to make sure it doesn't happen again.

And I KNOW Mickey has NOTHING to do with the jungle, but I didn't have wrapping paper and his party invite had Mickey on it....

So there's no knitting to share still. But I've done some machine embroidery lately. Bob's robe was tattered, so I ripped the terrycloth lining out of it and made a pattern for a new robe from the old one. I stuck in his old labels just because. And here are some napkins I made not too long ago. I love http://www.emblibrary.com/. The prices are great and there's a large selection.

Oh, how I wish I had not been bitten by the CSM bug. I want - I need, I should say - a Legare 400. I'd like to think I'd be happy with an Auto Knitter, but I don't know. And I really want to FIND one in a thrift store in just great condition for a mere pittance. The problem is I'd have to GO to a thrift store to look and do it regularly... Like that's going to happen.

Odds n Ends

Just in case anyone's looking, here's a few new ones. Purse organizers just copied from pictures online - one view from inside the purse - and a gorgeous shawl from Knitted Lace from Estonia, the Lilac Leaf Shawl. Love it. See that little post for hanging your keys - it's a dowel covered in fabric.