Merry Christmas 2015!

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with family, friends, food and all the best this season has to offer.

Happy Christmas!

Lori

I Joined the Pampered Chef Family

I know I haven't posted in awhile. I should probably explain why. I've been busier than normal at this time of year. Back in November, I made a decision to join the Pampered Chef as a consultant. It was sort of a fluke that I made this decision. A friend was hosting a Pampered Chef party on Facebook.

Starting a Baby Blanket

I mentioned in this post, about making a baby blanket. We recently learned my nephew and his wife (the ones I made this afghan for) are pregnant. Well, actually, SHE'S pregnant. He'll be there for moral support. Immediately after learning the news, I started looking for ideas for baby things. I felt like that's what a crafty Grauntie (since we're not sure if I'll be a great or grand aunt.....) should be doing.

It's Wearing me Down.....

You see what I've done here, gathered yarn. Stash yarn to be exact. Why? you ask. Because I want to start this Spice of Life Blanket. It's not that I NEED another project. I especially don't NEED another project at this time of year. I don't NEED another project cutting into my pre-Christmas crafting time.

But. Someone shared their blanket on Ravelry. Which lead me to this thread and after seeing all the BEAUTIFUL blankets. AND. Thinking this would be a great stash busting project. Which is something that needs to be done with a lot of the acrylic yarn I've gathered over the years......well......I'm pretty sure I'm going to be starting a new afghan soon.

Even though I will be starting this CAL a little late. Quite late, actually. I really, REALLY think I should get started soon!

So, I'll be dividing up what precious little crafting time I have between my Woodsmoke (which I'm over halfway through the yoke) and a baby blanket I recently started (I'll give you a sneak peak soon) and NOW this afghan. As well as a few other projects along the way......Crafting is like some sort of an addiction I tell you....But a good addiction. Wouldn't you agree?

Happy crocheting!

Lori

Pattern Instructions.....

Over a week ago, I reported in this post, that I was going to make a bit of a change in the pattern instructions. Well, I've FINALLY gotten back to sewing on this project so, I thought I would explain what I meant.

Easy to Grow Perennials

If you've been wanting to do a little fall planting and add a few perennials to your landscape. I think this list will be helpful.

Easy to Grow Perennials - Lavender

 

 

If you've been thinking of doing some fall planting. Might I suggest Lavender (lavendula angustifolia). This has to be my favorite perennial. I have an entire Pinterest board devoted to my lavender obsession!

Happy Fall Y'All!

I'm officially ready for fall. Yesterday, I made a triple batch of Pumpkin Pie Spice! I'm now ready for Pumpkin Spiced ANYTHING! And. If you check out my Pinterest Fall Board, you will see that I'm not kidding!

Make Your Own Custom Piping

Yesterday, I mentioned all the gardening projects I worked on in the morning. But. In the afternoon, when it got to hot to be working outside (unfortunately, lately it doesn't take much heat to be too hot for me). I turned on the air conditioner and went inside to work on my current sewing project.

The Last Weekend of Summer.....

Warmer than normal for this time of year. So, this morning (before it got too hot) I wanted to take advantage of the sunshine. I harvested a few of the root crops. Potatoes, beets and some carrots. I also harvested some more herbs to preserve.

Woodsmoke

I started a new sweater. It's called Woodsmoke. It's a pattern I received from the Simply Notable Group (Thanks again ladies!).

End of Summer Sewing

This past weekend, I finished up the last of my summer 2015 sewing. I can now add three new tees to my wardrobe. All three tees were made from a simple dolman-type tee similar to The Dreamer Tee.

Spiced Cranapple Butter

The flavors of fall. Apples and cranberries. I was recently thumbing through my Ball Canning recipe book and found a recipe for Cranapple Butter. Immediately, I was in heaven! Cranberries and Apples combined to make a spreadable butter. M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m! After a quick trip to town, I was peeling apples and cooking down my yummy butter.

Crazy Magic Cowl

I finally finished the Crazy Magic Cowl I had started and mentioned in this post.

Feels Like Fall

It FEELS like fall is here! YAY! My absolute FAVORITE time of the year! This cooler weather is not supposed to last long though. Back up to the 90's by the end of the week. I really want to take advantage of this weather, so what am I doing today?

Maybe I'll Be An Artist Yet....

Okay. Don't laugh.....I recently drew this. Maybe I've been doing too much pickling. BUT. That was my "inspiration". Maybe I need to back up a little with the "rest of the story".....

I'm Not Getting Much Knitting Done....

I haven't mentioned any knitting projects for quite awhile now. I have been doing some knitting. Although, it is pretty limited. Right now, I'm working on this Crazy Magic Cowl by Susan Ashcroft. I've been knitting it in Lionbrand's  self-striping yarn - Amazing.

Spicy Garlic Dills

 

I'm still doing a bunch of pickling. I did another batch of Pickled Peppers the other day. I also did a couple batches of pickled cucumbers. The first batch is based on a Baby Kosher Dill recipe from Summer in a Jar by Andrea Chesman.

 

Foraging for Blackberries

I've spent several days this month foraging for blackberries. I enjoy the whole blackberry process. But. Not everyone does. Maybe, they don't know the tips that can make picking enjoyable. I'm going to share a few of my favorite tips.

Block of the Month Prize Package for JCCF

I have to admit, I had a hard time coming up with a prize package for JCCF's August Block/Color of the Month. Then. I decided to make a couple of packages,  that might benefit JCCF's future projects.

Dehydrating Cherry Tomatoes

It seems like I've been pinning a LOT of dehydrating posts lately. Enough posts that I "dug out" the dehydrator and started drying "stuff". And. by "stuff", I mean just about anything....canned pineapple slices, apricots, cherries, fruit leather....basically, whatever I can find in the cupboards or fridge!

Pickled Peppers

It's that time of year.....canning season! Okay, okay....if you've read some of my posts, you probably know I do some canning all year long. I guess I should re-phrase that by saying NOW is the perfect time to take advantage of the abundance of fresh produce available (either from your garden or local growers).

Scrappy ZickZack Scarf Finished!

 

YAY! The Scrappy ZickZack Scarf is done! Just a little over 7 months to complete. Which sounds like a LO-O-O-O-O-O-NG time. But. Keep in mind, my busy gardening season at work was in those 7 months and not a lot of knitting gets done during that time.

 

Waves of Grain Hat (update)

 

 

It's come to my attention that one of my free patterns is no longer available on Dropbox (the site I used to store my PDF's). AND. Actually after checking, NONE of my free patterns are available on Dropbox. Why? No one knows. Actually, to be accurate, someone probably knows, but it isn't me.....

 

Happy July 4th, 2015

I wanted to pop in and wish everyone a fun and SAFE 4th of July! And. Because it's the 4th, once again, sharing my red, white and blue project bag. A prize for someone who crochets a 12-inch block for JCCF. For more details, see this post.

Preserving the Herb Harvest

If you grow your own herbs (and if you don't......you NEED to start!), here's a list of some fabulous ways I've found to preserve your herb harvest. They're easy. The aroma of working with fresh herbs is amazing. And. When you're done you will have some fabulous products to use in your own cooking or to give away as gifts. What's better than that?!?!?

Preserving the Herb Harvest - Freezing Herbs

Another easy way to preserve your fresh-grown herbs is to freeze them. This is a great method to keep your herbs like fresh (rather than dried) herbs. There are three methods I'm going to show you.

Knitting or Crocheting with Red, White and Blue

It's the first day of July and it's time to get started knitting or crocheting 12-inch blocks for JCCF. The blocks are used to create blankets to comfort injured rodeo athletes through the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. This month's color of the month is red, white and blue. I'm not going to lie, these are probably my favorite colors to knit or crochet blocks for JCCF with.

Preserving the Herb Harvest - Drying Herbs

Another easy way to preserve herbs is to dry them. There are several methods you can use to dry herbs. Choose your favorite and get those herbs drying. You won't regret it this winter when you have home-grown herbs to cook with (or use in tea)!

Preserving the Herb Harvest - Herbed Vinegar

Another super easy way to preserve your herb harvest is by making Herbed vinegars. I've been making herbed vinegars off and on for years now. They're simple to make and fun to use.

Preserving the Herb Harvest - Herbed Salt

 I enjoy growing herbs. Due to their strong fragrance, most are deer/critter resistant (well, except basil....deer LOVE it). The best part about herbs is the MANY ways you can use them.

Garden Magic

 

Just wanted to share a little "Garden Magic" with you. Above is a photo of one of my flower beds. Lots of things in bloom now.

Easy to Grow Perennials - Spring Blooming Bulbs

 

It won't be long now (it is almost July!), and the fall bulbs will start showing up in your local garden centers. I feel like this is kind of confusing for some people (I can't tell you how many customers I have to explain this to). Fall bulbs are planted in the fall. But. They come up and bloom in the Spring. You would think they would be called Spring bulbs. But, they're not. They're called Fall bulbs, because you buy and plant them in the fall.

 

Easy to Grow Perennials- Dianthus

I spent yesterday morning working in my flower garden. I got some photos of what might be one of my new favorite perennials....Dianthus Deltoides. Dianthus is a large family that includes Carnations and Sweet William. The Deltoides (also known as Maiden Pinks) form a mat similar to a ground cover. Above that mat, the stems shoot up with a small bloom.

Easy to Grow Perennials- Salvia

What can I say about Salvia (Salvia patens)? It's AMAZING! A deep, intense blue bloom. This variety is called May Knight. AND. It's stunning!

First Day of Summer

This evening, on the first day of summer, I decided I should plant some annuals. I've really been enjoying the perennials in my flower beds (which reminds me....I need to do some more Easy to Grow Perennial posts......), but, they just need the punch of summer color annuals provide.

Gift #1 is Finished!

Well, if you remember (or if you never knew), I've been participating in a "Gift-a-long" over at the Simply Notable Group.

Easy to Grow Perennials - Bearded Iris

Continuing on with my list of Easy to Grow Perennials.......Let me introduce you to the Bearded Iris. They come in a range of beautiful colors. The most prolific of my Bearded Irises is this lavender-y blue color. It was given to me when a friend had divided  her Irises.

Let the Gift Knitting Begin.....

June is here (seriously, how did THAT happen?) and over at the Simply Notable Group, we're going to start our Christmas gift knitting. EVERY year I swear I'm going to start the gift knitting in January. And, about October, I get motivated to get started on it......Yeah, that's right, I start a bunch of projects and I STILL have to buy presents!

Did a Little Planting on Memorial Day

All around town, there are beautiful Oriental poppies blooming (wouldn't it have been smart of me to get a photo for you?). And. They are BEAUTIFUL! Since (red) poppies are a symbol of rememberance, I thought that was the perfect thing to plant for Memorial Day.

 

Easy to Grow Perennials - Lamium

My garden is really starting to bloom. While I'm enjoying the blooms something occurred to me.....I have been neglectful about sharing my "Easy to Grow Perennials" list. I had actually started this list a few years back. Then, I must have gotten busy (or gotten involved in something else, who knows.....) But, I got to thinking, since it's planting season (at least it's planting season here in eastern Oregon), maybe someone would be interested in the plants I find SUPER easy to grow.

Just Checkin' In

I thought I should check in and let you all know what I've been up to. Mostly, the entire month of May, I've been up to my eyeballs in plants (at work , that is). May is SUPER busy with buying plants, unloading plants, selling plants AND figuring out ways to keep the (thousands of) plants from freezing when we have cold nights. It's EXHAUSTING! Needless to say, there hasn't been much knitting or crocheting (or sewing, or, well, basically anything creative......) going on.

Sometimes, Indecision is a Good Thing.....

Remember the dress dilemma I wrote about a few days ago? I pretty much had myself convinced I would wear the floral dress for the wedding. But, still not COMPLETELY convinced. I mean, I didn't want to be too casual. So, I took BOTH dresses. I figured I'd make a decision the night of the wedding.

A Dress Dilemma.....

As I mentioned (in this post), I was going to look for a cardigan or jacket to go with this dress (for a wedding). And. Shoes, which I found. Even though I was thinking beige, I went with black.....

The shoe store did have beige. They were very shiny. Sort of like patent leather shiny. Black seemed more sensible. If you're going to own a pair of pumps, shouldn't they be black?

A Dress for a Wedding

My nephew and his fiancé's wedding is getting closer (the ones I made this afghan for). Now comes the part where I tell you......I don't even OWN a dress. I looked for a dress. I couldn't find ANYTHING. Don't get me wrong, I didn't try very hard (shopping for clothing has never been easy for me) Then, I looked for some fabric. I was thinking maybe a floral? Or maybe a solid color. NOTHING appealed to me. Everything was so shiny. It must be too close to prom season. SO.....I started digging through my fabric stash and found this beige linen. I'm sure I purchased it for a project, but, I couldn't tell you what it was.

The Wedding Afghan is Done!

Well, actually it's been done since the 23rd of March. I've been trying to get a REALLY good photo of it. This is the best I could do. Here's what I know about taking photos of off-white afghans.....they're HARD to photograph!

April Block of the Month at JCCF

 

 

I spent this past weekend sewing up the prize for the JCCF April Block/Color of the month. It's a crochet hook roll. The pattern I (loosely) used was this one  from Today We Made. I wanted something "Springy", so, I rummaged through my quilting fabrics and found these cute blue check and floral fabrics.

 

A Little Spring Planting

We've been having very nice temperatures here in eastern Oregon (and by saying that, I apologize to the rest of the country that's been bombarded with snow). I couldn't stand it anymore. I NEEDED to get something planted outside. Before I could plant anything, I had to do a little clean-up.

It's Finally Finished!

Hubby's wool vest, that is. Okay, actually, it was done over a week ago. It just took me this long to get photos. That's only going to get worse as the gardening season gets closer.....