FO Friday - Miss Lulu Limon

Happy FO and Creative Friday peeps!

Wow...my Christmas break has flown by! I can't believe it's Friday already and 2012 is almost here! I didn't knit as much as I thought I would, but did get some knitting time in. Enough to finish....

Miss Lulu Limon

I wasn't sure who I was knitting her for, but my sister has claimed her. So I guess I will give it to her. Lulu is one of Rebecca Danger's monster. I actually combined two monsters. It started out being Iris but I love Harold's little feet, so did them. Rebecca Danger monsters are so much fun to make. I always seem to have one on the needles.



For more FO Fridays go here.

For Creative Friday, go here.

WIP Wednesday - Babydoll

Hi my knitting and crafty peeps!

I hope you all had a great Christmas. Ours was pretty quiet this year. Just hubby, me and our boys. Normally we have family over, but everybody else has other plans. Felt kinda weird not having a house full on Christmas.

I can't believe it's Wednesday already! My break is flying by! It will be back to our regular crazy schedule next week Tuesday. Until then, I plan on doing lots more knitting.

My current WIP is a babydoll for my grandbaby Carmen. She will be 2 in March. I searched Ravelry for all kinds of doll patterns and I found myself going back to this one. The pattern seems pretty easy. The only thing I don't like is it's knit flat and then seamed. I've become so use to using Magic Loop that it seems strange to be knitting and purling and I'm not experienced enough to convert to knitting in the round. So knitting and purling I will go!

For more WIP Wednesday, go here.

For Yarn Along, go here.

Don't eat me!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas surrounded by the ones you love!

FO Friday - Rockin' a Mohawk

Happy FO Friday!

Only 2 more days until Christmas! Aren't you excited! Hopefully you all have your Christmas knitting done, or close to it. If not, I'm sending knitting mojo your way!

My FO this week is hubby's mohawk hat. Since he hates taking pictures, I modeled for him. I really like these hats. They are quick, easy and boys love them. I'm still working on the Cowboy one for my cousin and then need to make another one for my nephew. I think I need one too - in pink, white and grey. By the time I make all these mohawk hats, I will have the pattern memorized! I'm close to it now!

OK....I'm off to finish my Lemon/Lime monster and some other projects. Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season with the people you love, and have some time to knit/crochet.

Merry Christmas & Happy Knitting!

For more FO Fridays go here.

For Creative Friday go here.

Christmas Break

Sorry looking gingerbread house, huh?

This was our first year doing a gingerbread house. They always look so pretty on the box, but not so easy once you get it home. And really, what is the purpose of a gingerbread house anyways? You make a huge mess, snap a picture, than eat it. Is there anything else?

Luckily we took a picture - because this was our first and last time making a gingerbread house!

So today is our first day of Christmas break. We slept in, ate a late breakfast and now just lounging around the house. My kinda break!

WIP Wednesday - Monsters & Cowboys

HaPpY Wednesday Everyone!

I am so glad it's Wednesday! At 3pm today, our (hubby, boys and I) Christmas break begins! We aren't traveling to Texas this year, so we will have a quiet Christmas holiday at home, in which there will be plenty of knitting, knitting, and oh yea....did I say KNITTING! Can't wait!

I have 2 WIP to share this week. First is my Lemon/Lime monster, which happens to be my favorite candy flavors! I'm almost done with him. Just need to knit his legs and put him all together. These monsters are so addicting! You can't just make one! Try and I guarantee another one will jump right on your needles when you're finished!

My second WIP is another mohawk hat. This one is a Dallas Cowboysgirls hat for my cousin. He's lucky he's family, because I can't stand the Cowgirls! I'm hoping to show off both mohawk hats on FO Friday. I wasn't able to show off Hubby's last Friday, since he insisted on wearing it before I got a good picture. I know! How dare he!

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!


For more WIP Wednesdays go here.

For Yarn Along go here.

Ummm...you want to knit/crochet that why?

This is for all my knitting and crocheting peeps!

Have you ever seen a project and wanted to knit/crochet it for no reason at all? You know that crazy project that people are kinda like....ummm...why do you want to knit/crochet that?

I have 2 of those projects right here!

First - I've been searching for doll patterns to make my grandbaby a doll and came across Babes in Wool. Really not appropriate for an almost 2 year old, but I love them! So I've decided I'm going to make a Mini Me. Yes...I am! Why you ask? Because I want to! That's why!

If you crochet, I'm sure you've heard of  Twinkie Chan. She has the cutest foodie scarves. Yes, they are a little crazy, but oh so cute! I saw this popcorn scarf in her book and instantly wanted to make it. Why you ask? Just because! We are movie loving people in our house. Friday nights are normally movie night. Wouldn't this scarf be cute to wrap around while watching a good movie? This would be my movie watching scarf.

I know, I know....I'm crazy. But that's ok. I'm ME!

Quirky, crazy, ME!

So tell me my other crafty friends. Is there a project you want to make that make people wonder....hmmmm......I don't know about her!

Melted Snowmen Cookies

Today was my sister and I Annual Christmas Cookie Bake with our boys. This event normally consists of a huge mess, lots of yelling and a headache by the time we are done. Today was no different.

This year, we cheated a little though. Instead of making the batter from scratch we used Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix. Let me just tell you, the Betty Crocker cookie mixes are awesome! They taste just like scratch-made cookies! For real! I kid you not. If you haven't tried them, you really should! I've tried the sugar, pumpkin, molasses, and oatmeal cookies and they have all been good.

My favorite cookie from today were our melted snowmen. They turned out so cute, I hate to eat them!

CrockPot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I've mentioned this several times before.

I love looking for recipes and checking out food blogs. I have a subscription to Rachel Ray magazine, I'm always getting cook books from the library. I can sit and watch Food Network for hours! Paula Deen is my hero! Love her ya'll!

The hate part of this is I hate cooking the same thing over and over again! In between working all day, then home real quick for homework and dinner, then off again to whatever sports event the boys are playing, there's not alot of time for a gourmet meal. I swear we are going to turn into chickens we eat so much of it!

So searching for something different I found this recipe, Crockpot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili. You're probably thinking that's a weird combination. I thought so too, but the board I got it from gave rave reviews. I'm not the biggest fan of turkey, and have never had white beans, but it's was something different and NOT CHICKEN!

So at 5am this morning - ok, ok...it wasn't exactly 5am. The alarm went off at 5am, I got out of bed about 5:15am, but that's still 30mins earlier than I normally get up! Geesh! Half asleep, I went downstairs to prepare the chili. Let me tell you, it smelled so GOOD! I wish I could be home to smell it while it's cooking! Let's just hope it taste good too! I will come back later and let you know.

If you'd like to try the recipe, go here. Or just look below.

sidenote: you can tell I'm not a professional food photographer. I should have wiped off the top of the crockpot before taking the picture, but it was 5-something in morning! That was the last thing on my mind!

Edited for results: chili was yummy! I really liked it. The boys ate it, but said they liked the "regular" chili better. Fonzy(hubby) liked it too. Next time I make it, I will add more chili powder - wasn't spicey enough.

Crock Pot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

Servings: 9 •
Serving Size:1 cup •
Calories:182.6 •
Fat:2.3 g •
Protein: 23.3 g •
Carb:10.9 g •
Fiber:8.8 g • Sugar: 2.1
Sodium:429.8 (without salt)

Ingredients:
cooking spray (I use my misto)

2 lb 99% lean ground turkey

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp chili powder, to taste

2 bay leaves

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

2 (15 oz cans) of white northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained

15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

4.5 oz canned chopped green chile

2 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth

fat free sour cream for topping (optional)

chopped cilantro and chives for topping (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat a large heavy saute pan over high heat and lightly
spray with oil.Add meat and cook, breaking it up until white, about 5 minutes
Add to crock pot.
Add oil to the saute pan, then onions, garlic, sauté about 3 - 4 minutes;
Add cumin and sauté another minute.
Add to crock pot.
Add beans, pumpkin puree, green chilis, broth, chili powder, oregano, and bay leaves.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Remove bay leaves and adjust seasoning to taste before serving.
Enjoy!

WIP Wednesday - For the boys

I'm a mom to boys - 4 to be exact. And being a Mom to boys and the only female in the house means I'm surrounded by sports!

My husband and 2 younger boys play football, softball and basketball. So I spend ALOT of time at practices and games for all 3 of them. I'm the football, basketball, baseball, cheerleading mom. Not just a soccer mom here! Knitting keeps me sane and I take it with me to practices and games.

My WIP this week is a mohawk hat for my husband in the school colors where he teaches/coaches. Right now he is in the midst of basketball season, he's the head coach. The picture behind my WIP is the first year he coached. I made a photo book from the gazillion pictures I took. The front cover is of them praying in the locker room before the game.

So far the hat looks great! Hubby wants W's on the side of the hat for his team - Wendell Wolves. I tried to duplicate stitch it, (my first time) and it wasn't so great. So I will probably use felt W's. I hope it looks ok. I guess we shall see on FO Friday!

For more WIP Wednesday go here.

For Yarn Along go here.

Monday *Maunder - little bit of this and that

Monday already!? Where does the weekend go! I swear Friday - Sunday is nothing but a blur. I'm ready for our Christmas break, which starts next week Dec 22. Let the countdown begin!

We were planning on going to Texas this Christmas, but unfortunately our trip has been put on the back burner. I really wanted to go because it's been over a year since I saw Manuel and my Grandbabies. I have 2 now! I haven't even seen little Jonah yet! It's hard when you have older kids and have to let them go to live their own lives. Your mind knows he's 21 and has babies of his own, but your heart still sees the little boy you raised.

Been thinking alot about Samuel too. I wanted to do an updated photo book with new pictures family members have given me, but I haven't been able to scan the pictures. You would think by now I could look at his pictures, remember the happy times and the life he had. But I can't! 19yrs is too short! He shouldn't be dead! The pictures break my heart whenever I look at them, so I put them away and say to myself that one day I will be able to do this....just not sure when that one day will be.

Wow.....I thought this was going to be a happy post, but I guess I had some things on my heart and mind that needed to get out. Let's see if we can turn this around.

Knitting - that always cheers me up! I really need to stay off Ravelry! Really! I have SO many projects I want to knit right now! I don't even know where to begin. The list keeps growing and growing. I think I'm going to post a list of what I want to knit/learn in this new year, and not just everything I see because, "ohhhh....that's pretty, I shall knit it" knowing I probably will never knit it. If I make a list, maybe that will keep me on track and I won't get distracted with the pretties. Yeah..we shall see how that goes.

One of the projects on my list to knit is a baby doll for my granddaughter Carmen. Right now I'm on the naughty Grandma list. I knit her a R. Danger monster and I have yet to send it to her. It's sitting nice and pretty in our study! Bad Grandma! I'm embarassed to even write that! Ugh! I'm finding a box and sending it to her this week!

Anyways...back to the doll. Anyone have a doll pattern they have tried and like. I have queued a couple patterns from Ravelry, but just want to see if anything else is out there. I would like a good sized doll, something big and huggable. Any suggestions?

OK...I'm done with my Monday Maunder. Do you know what maunder means. I didn't until today, but I needed an M word to go with Monday and meant ramblings and found maunder! Perfect!

*Maunder - means to talk incoherently or to speak in a rambling manner

What I'm Lovin' Right Now

I'm lovin'

~ twinkle lights

~ holiday music

~ fresh smell of the Christmas tree

~ Charlie Brown Christmas, Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph

~ old comfy sweaters

~ hot cocoa

~ snuggling in the evening in front of the fire

~ warm wooly socks

What are you lovin' during this holiday season?

Weekending

Been spending the weekend in pj's and an old cozy sweater.

Knitting and looking up crochet patterns for when I learn to crochet. So many cute things I want to make!

Weekend is good.

FO Friday - Gingerbread Men and 50's Housewife Wanna Be

HaPpY Friday!

I'm so glad it's the weekend! Friday's are my favorite day of the week and FO Friday has made it all the better. I love sharing finished objects!

Today's FO is the last of my Christmas ornaments - I promise. And my favorite one - the Gingerbread couple. I think they turned out adorable.

This weekend my sister and I are making our Christmas cookies. We do this every year with our boys, just like our Mom did with us. We make a huge mess, a variety of cookies, and it normally ends up being just my sister and I doing it. Our boys lose interest real quick!

Did you notice the cute apron I found! I'm so wearing it when we make cookies! I've asked Santa for a sewing machine so I can make my own aprons and other crafty things. Hopefully I'm on the nice list!

You know, I've never wanted to be a housewife, but I would do it now! I think I would make a good 50's housewife. Keeping house, crafting, cooking delicious meals, then waiting for my Hubby in a dress, heels and cute aprons. Yep - I could see it!

Stepford wives here I come!



My Gingerbread couple are part of RetroLemon's Christmas Favorites.

For more FO Fridays go here. There are so many awesome projects! Check 'em out!

For Creative Friday go here. I just love all this craftiness!



WIP Wednesday - Cute Sweetness

Hello fellow knitters and crafty peeps! It's Wednesday and you know what that means!

WIP Wednesdays!

Can you tell how excited I am! Wednesday's have taken on new meaning since I found WIPW. I look forward to seeing every one's WIP and sharing my own.

This week's WIP is all about sweets and cuteness. I don't know what it is, but I'm really lovin' Gingerbread men this holiday season. Hence the new mug, stitch marker and project I'm working on....even the marshmallows for hot cocoa are gingerbread! They are taking over! But I can't resist! They are just too cute! Spot some gingerbread men and see if you can resist. I dare you! If anything, they will at least make you smile.

My WIP is another of Retro Lemon's Christmas Favorites found here. I'm sure you can guess which one it is. This is the last of my ornaments. I have a LONG list of other items I need to knit!

For more WIPW go here. For Yarn Along go here.

Oh Christmas Tree

Our tree is finally up!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Weekending - Christmas Tree Shopping

The plan this afternoon was to get a few new ornaments, pick out our tree and home to decorate. We sorta stuck to the plan....sorta.

It seems everyone was out and about shopping today. Christmas music was playing in the stores, and everyone had a smile on their faces. The holiday's are officially here.

I leave the tree decorating to Fonzy. He has his Momma's genes with decorating, picking out colors and coordinating everything. This year I'm into snowmen and gingerbread men. Fonzy....not so much.

I have to admit I really like the colors he choose this year. Our tree should be so pretty.....when we actually get it. Yeah we came home without one. By the time we shopped around for decorations we were tired and ready to go home. We will get our tree tomorrow after church.

On our way home we drove around the neighborhood, listening to Christmas music and looking at all the decorated houses - one of my favorite things to do this time of year.

Now we are home for movies, hot chocolate and cookies - the easy kind of cookies.

Hope ya'll are having a great weekend too!

FO Friday - Ornament Edition

My first FO Friday!

I finished the ornaments I was working on. These were a quick and easy knit. I have one more to go. Well, actually it's a couple and they are turning out cute. Can't wait to share!

I'm so happy it's the weekend! We are decorating our tree tomorrow and I can put these where they belong - amongst the twinkle lights.

Oh...I almost forgot! I finished the coffee monster for my son's teacher. Here's Mocha! She's a Rebecca Danger Monster.

For more FO Fridays - go here.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy December 1st! 

This picture is one of my favorites of the boys. Makes me smile every time I see it. I was trying so hard to get a cute Christmas picture of the boys. I had those big old school colored lights and tried to drap them around the boys, but after a few seconds they started yelling the lights were burning them. I tried the white twinkle lights, but just couldn't get a good picture. I was getting frustrated and so were the boys. Finally we had enough!

Disappointed, I downloaded the pictures and started looking through all the outakes and found this one. I instantly fell in love! It wasn't what I had imagined, not what I planned, but it captured a priceless moment and will always be one of my favorites.

Cartwheels!

A big grassy open field makes you want to run and do cartwheels!

Unfortunately this 40yr old body can no longer do cartwheels! Now that I think about it...not sure I ever was able to do cartwheels!

Oh well....it was fun to try!

WIP Wednesday - Ornament edition

Brrrrr.....it's cold this morning. A chilly 36 degrees. Driving into work I was thinking I really need to make me some mittens. It's on my long, ever growing list of projects I want to knit. I've never knit mittens, so it's going to be a learning experience for me.

As for my current works in progress(WIP) I'm making a few ornaments from Jenna Krupas aka Retro Lemon Christmas Favorites. Pictured here are the snowman and Christmas trees. We usually put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but with family staying with us we decided to do it this weekend. Along with our little town's tree lighting Friday night and Christmas parade on Saturday we are going to have a festive weekend! I love this time of year!

For more WIP Wednesday go here.

A Lil' Bit Country - Part 3

OK...this is the last installment of A Lil' Bit County. And it's all about the llamas! Being a knitter, llamas was the highlight of my day. The wool from llamas are spun into yarn. Beautiful, silky yarn.

To get to the llamas, I had to ride with Vicky(SIL)in a thing called a mule. I held on for dear life while we speed over pastures! Once we got to the area the llamas were, they came a running! Guess they knew it was time to eat.

The llamas looked so soft - especially the baby. I wanted to pet them, but they weren't having it! I was happy just being in their presence. Such amazing creatures and yarn providers too! Doesn't get better than that!