Crochet for everyone!!

Now that festivities have subsided...

No matter what you call it, Easter, Resurrection Sunday... It's a BIG deal here at our house.


I managed, by God's grace, to get something handmade done for everyone except the Hubster, because I really had no idea what to crochet for him for a springtime event - I suppose I could have made a sweater vest that no one would have seen because he was wearing a suit coat.  I thought about making him a tie, but I've seen crocheted ties and they are hideous.  Bow ties just look ridiculous too.  So unless he starts wearing

ascots, which, let's be honest, just looks like a cleverly disguised man-bib ----->

I'll need to find something more acceptable.  I thought about a thread crocheted handkerchief briefly, but anything less than feminine just seemed to look like a washcloth.  If anyone has some ideas for spring/summer man-crochet, let me know!!





Here's a picture of the completed vests and a hat for one of the girls.

I'll try to update later with the fingerless gloves and the hat I made for myself ;).

Busy, busy still.

Craft Corner: Posters - Crayon Trick

One caution: do NOT try this with Crayola brand - it will NOT work!


The boys are going to see Monster Jam with Dear Hubs (aka their Dad) in the very near future.  So what does EVERY fan of Monster Trucks do for that kind of ear splitting event?  Make posters of their favorite trucks, of course.

This really means that I make posters, of course.  I could say that it's because the boys aren't focused enough to work on them until they're finished (because we waited till the last minute to get them done), but honestly, it's because I'm OCD and the thought of my 3 year wielding a permanent marker makes me edgy.  My 9 yr old could probably handle it, but then we're back to me and being OCD.

So postering (<------new word)commences and things are going well, I even let the kids help!  Kinda...

We have two types of crayons, Crayola (aka the good kind) and the art set crayons (aka the crappy kind).  The art set kind are crappy because they do this:

<-------------  Grey crappy crayon + lumpy, waxy mess = my head exploding








Right away I attempt to smooth out the mess with a napkin.  No go.  All it did was clear away most of the pigment from the stuff that WAS smooth.  
Then I think, maybe if I melt it a bit!  I ask my older daughter to go grab the hair dryer, but then call her back before she gets too far because I remembered I have a Heat Gun!!!!  It's supposed to be used for embossing, but I figured no one would be upset if I use it for crappy crayon mess.
To work I go -- Dear Hubs was kind enough to get action shots...

So, on the top you can see that heat gun and a q-tip worked really well in smoothing out the grey lumpy mess, turned out beautifully smooth.  The black, which was Crayola, didn't really budge when I ended up scorching the paper a bit.  This is why you pay more for Crayola.  However, for something where you want freedom to try this technique, crappy crayons it will have to be.  Here's the other poster, just because I like it so much =D  I free-hand copied it from this guy's art.  (Max-D was free-hand from my 3 yr old's Hot Wheels)

Craft Corner: Fingerless gloves and Hand Anotomy

I made a pair of these fingerless gloves for a friend.  It's a really great pattern and I LOVE that there are only two ends to weave in, the tail for the starting chain and the finish end!!!

The patterns allows for the final product to be nice and stretchy and I love the frilly picot edging.  I have another friend, Miss Europe, for whom I thought these would be perfect.  She mentioned that she uses something similar at the gym to grip bars and things because they hurt the inner side of her proximal interphalangeal.
Just so you know, we weren't calling them that yesterday.  Yesterday we made a mess of hand anatomy all together, with lovely descriptions such as knuckles, punch knuckles, joints, the 1st joint under the fingernail bed.  Which led to some pretty funny diagrams in an effort to get measurements.




<-------- my scribbles, plus some design ideas


Miss Europe's hand tracing and VERY clear measurements -------->




So after some discussion about yarn fiber - I decided at least on two models - one with cotton and a soft superwash wool panel that's folded under for extra padding and moisture absorbancy and one made entirely of wool. I fully expect for there to be wear in the palm, but I'm wondering which will wear smooth without getting torn up - the cotton or the wool - and which will hold up better to the washing.  With no dryer, I'm expecting that the cotton may not spring back as well, but it may preserve the fiber longer.  So as soon as these testers are complete they will be on their way.  Unfortunately, it'll still be 2 wks before I begin as my sons would be very hurt if I didn't complete their vests first.
Look for updates after Easter =D

Intentional Reduction of Stuff

Travailing through my FB newsfeed, I came across someone's post about minimizing.  This is not the first one I've seen.  This one is actually one of my favorites and was posted by a friend a little over a month ago.

I love the one about little houses because it resonates the most with me.  We don't have a LOT of stuff, I don't look around and think, "geez, I have a lot of stuff I need to get rid of."  I am still going to be getting rid of the unused exercise equipment and the dressers that we don't use.  We all have closets and when you hang things up, the dresser becomes rather obsolete.  We use one of these for things like underwear and socks. The girls use the open spaces for stuffed animal storage.

After all this clearing out of furniture we're not using though, we have, and I'm not joking; a mounted TV, a tv stand, a couch, and a chair in the FROG.  All of which, I could easily relocate to some other spot in the house, effectively eliminating the need for the FROG at ALL.  This is maddening to me because I realized that I am paying for quite a bit of square footage that I don't need.

So what?  What should we do about it?  I would truly love to move to a teeny tiny house, just big enough for us to have a place to sleep, cook, and gather.  Well, and bathe and wash clothes, but that's it.  With such a large family you'd think that'd be impossible, but really it's the American idea of what we should have that seems impossible these days.  For me, practicality and reality often win out.

I like the idea of living with less house and less stuff, so I can send my kids on missions trips or on summer Europe tours, so we can give and serve together to those in need, so I can send them to ballet and soccer, and piano lessons, and violin lessons, and sword fighting lessons(Star Wars anyone?  <----- ok, not to get too side-tracked here, but trying to explain to a 9 yr old that there aren't really real light sabers is nearly impossible).  Ok, you get the idea.  We really do want more of life and less of the stuff. We're ready for it!!! Maybe we can make that happen before the year is out.

Adventures in Homemade: Nutella??

I tried to make Nutella today.  TRIED is definitely the operative word.  What I ended up with is more of a hazelnut chocolate fudge, sort of. 

(Note: names changed.... a LOT)

I love Nutella, smooth, creamy, chocolaty, nutty Nutella.  I do NOT love the sugar and palm oil.  I have some lovely friends that make their own nut spreads - they are awesome and the friends are pretty cool too ;) I had seen one such friend, take some nuts, put them in the food processor, walk away for a few minutes and return to an amazing nut butter.  Easy! ....heehee......hahahaha....BWAHAHAHHAA!!!!

Before I move on, I have further motivation for loving Nutella. Hazelnuts (in theory) are the only tree nut to which, my one son is NOT allergic (it's theoretical, because it's the only one that didn't show up on his allergy panel, but the Allergist thinks it's likely a fluke and I've not been brave or crazy enough to try it just yet).

A trip to Trader Joes and I had my hazelnuts. I already had everything else I needed (also theoretically, but I don't want to get ahead of myself) in the pantry - cocoa powder and honey .  So when I got home, I dumped the hazelnuts in a bowl, covered them completely with water, and set them aside. Why do this, you ask.  Because soaking nuts and seeds have many health benefits. One of which is that it makes them easier to digest.

And now to the best part! Today I drained them and put them on a cookie sheet on a super low temp oven and dried them out and toasted them, I think I turned them every hour and took them out at 2 hr. and 40 min.  YES, I'm ready to make hazelnut butter!!

I put the full pound (mistake #1) into my 30 yr old food processor, turn it on, and after some scary sounds , things start to quiet to a steady whir.... I'm doing a mini-dance in the kitchen, "Nutella -la, la, la  -  Nutella"  I am singing in my head.  About 60 seconds later.  "Ok now I have flour... but....
.... ummmm
.....uhhhhhh"
....it's not doing anything else and I'm getting impatient.  I think to myself, "It needs more moisture, something to grab and pull down the nuts.  I'll add coconut oil (remember, not in my original ingredient list)." (mistake #2 - fatal error)
I turn it off, add the coconut oil, scrape down the sides, turn it back on.
Scary, gurgley, garbage disposal sounds, and YEAY it's grabbing, it's pulling... it's climbing... ...it's sticking...

"Uh oh. Ok, no worries, I'll scrape it down, it's a little dry still, so I'll add the honey, that'll help it come together and get nice and creamy smooth (mistake #3 - just making it worse)."

I let it run, scrape it down, let it run, scrape it down - meanwhile, I'm becoming a bit agitated and my foot starts tapping.  My 8 yr old comes in, takes one look at my face and turns right back around - good choice.

"Well, it did take a little while when my super awesome nut-maker friend made hers, maybe I'm just being impatient and I should let it run.  A watched pot and all that." I take a deep breath and step back.

 "I am not going to get upset over this, I'm just going to leave it run and walk away." I announce aloud.

"... you do that hun!" the response from Hubster (my new hip name for him) from somewhere in the other room.

 I feebly rationalize some more and go and sit down to look at Facebook for a minute.  When the whirring gets quieter, I get up to check.  The blades are spinning, but there is nothing below them.  I speak some French under my breathe, stamp my foot childishly, and I text my nut-master friend, she is not available at the moment and I call another equally cool, but more expert in fermenting food friend, no answer.

O.      K.

Ok, I'll let the machine cool down (at this point it had been running on off for between 20 and 30 min) while I wait for a call back.
Fermenty friend calls back and we chalk the problem up to my ancient food processor (soooo not the food processor's fault, but it makes me feel better) I have, at this point, scraped down the sides again and started pulsing by hand.
Finally super awesome nut-spread maker friend calls me back.

"Having trouble with your nuts, har, har...." she quips, "So what did you do?" I explained soaking, drying them out, toasting, putting them in processor.
"Did you add anything to them?"

I begin squirming... "Well, not at first, but then it looked dry, so I added some coconut oil" (Meanwhile I begin pulsing the food processor again - rather pointlessly)

"that can really mess things up.... oh wait, how much did you put in to begin with?"

I groan, "a full pound"

I can practically see her nodding, "Yup, well that's probably a problem too, I find that when I've tried to do that much it never quite makes a butter so I do 1/2 lb at a time...."            

"     great    " I'm thinking to myself whilst pursing my lips and sighing heavily

I finally admit, "I also added the honey, I was trying to make Nutella"

"Oh man, honey?!  Yeah I tried doing that once, NOT a good idea, it messes up everything if you add it before the nuts make a butter"   NOW she tells me, though it immediately occurs to me that maybe I SHOULD have called her before beginning in the first place.

Hubster yells out in the background, why not just add the cocoa and some milk and see what happens -- Nut friend hears this and agrees, "Yeah you may be able to rescue it and make a spread still, you could try heating it too, that may help"

I'm still aggravated, but off the phone and begin adding the milk and cocoa and start getting a spread-like texture!!!  Yes, something other than mealy, oily, sweet mush!!!

Even after heating, what I ended up with is a lot closer to a fig paste or fudge consistency -it tastes just fine, but is NOT nutella-like in texture at all.  So Hubster makes one last suggestion, add some chocolate protein powder and make them in to breakfast/snack bars -- and so it was, that I ended the Nutella fiasco today, Nutella-less (MAJOR sad face), but with uber-chocolate, healthy (if not highly caloric) nutty protein bars....

ONE DAY I will have you creamy chocolatey, nutty goodness... ONE DAY!!!

Update: Concession - the resulting fudge IS pretty amazing ;)

De-Stuffing: Attic Spaces - EEEEK!!

As I had mentioned in a previous post  we are in the process of de-'stuffing'.  The process can and does seem a bit overwhelming at times.  I've decided to try a new tactic.  Room by room.  Each week I'm going to commit to working on a room till it's done (however many days it may take).  So far, I'm lumping together the closet/attic spaces as one room and then I will be moving on to the FROG (This one, not this one).

Oh attic spaces, how you remind me of all my previous good intentions and New Year's resolutions.

I've taken out the exercise equipment .. you remember the ab-lounge right?? Crunches that were so luxurious you'd want to do them everyday.  By the time I got to the lounge, that's all I wanted to do...  

And the Chuck Norris endorsed (but not Chuck Norris recreating) Total Gym XL 

^^^
There he is.            *sigh*              I guess part of me imagined that he would always be there, at least in my head, round-house kicking my butt into shape. 

Now the Treadmill does get some use, but sadly not much by me. No usually the kids are swinging off the hand-hold bars and doing somersaults off the end -- yes, while the machine is off and no, there is no possibility it can be turned on as I am the only one that knows where the only magnet strong enough to power it is.  Buuuuuuuut............      At least it's not being used for a clothing rack.

Craft Corner: UPDATED :Tapestry crochet stitch

I am making this gorgeous springtime vest for my boys for Easter.  Ambitious, I know, as there are 3 of them and one of me and less than 3 weeks till Easter. o.O  I really enjoy the pattern.  What do I mean by enjoy?  It's easy to read, very clear, and VERY FEW ends to weave in after the project is done.  The body is done in the round without turning and since it's single crocheted, I went with a spiral instead of the typical, join w/ sl st, ch 1, sc, etc, it's easier and seamless and I'm lazy.

When I got to the back part, the instructions are to go to rows, I did one row this way and I was annoyed that the pretty fabric I made was now going to be ruined halfway up because of the silly turns necessary to working in the row... then I remembered a video I had watched about tapestry crochet, AHA!

General instructions are (at the end of the row) ch 1, turn, hold working yarn toward your body, not away from you, insert hook from back to front (inserting your hook through the right side of the fabric to the wrong side) yarn over turning your hook to catch the yarn and pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through to complete the stitch.  <----- a lot easier to watch the video!!

Tapestry crochet is now my new best friend for making fabrics, because although the stitches slant left or right on alternating rows there is no more of the flubbed up look like in here.

You can see the slightly raised row -- that is the one with a regular turn and crochet.  The rows on top of that one are all tapestry crochet and you can tell there is a left slant and then right slant as you move up.  And below is my WIP, hopefully it'll be finished in the next day or two, I've got two more to go!

Notes for this pattern:  for the gauge, I needed to go down two hook sizes for the Bernat Softee Baby yarn I am using. I am making the smallest size and will probably best fit 12-24 mos NOT 2-4 yrs specified in the pattern. I will likely go up to the hook size recommended for the pattern (not to obtain the gauge)  to get the size I need for my 3 yr old.

The variance in the fabric you see is my solution to getting bored with SC so I did one row of sc, dc around; one row of dc around; one row of sc, dc around about 3/4 of the way up.




UPDATE 3/18/13:

It's finished, I'm pretty happy with the final results.
A couple of notes:  The ribbing used in the pattern is NOT the typical ribbing I've seen taught by most videos or pattern instructions and I really love it because it is super stretching like a knitted ribbing in all the right places - so USE IT ;)

I did a narrow ribbing on the v-neck the same version used on the bottom and then did a row of dc around the arms to get a nice finished look.

The sc make a pretty rigid fabric with very little give so I think future products made from this pattern will be using the sc, dc repeat to allow a bit more give and texture.

Final note:  When meeting the gauge the yield for this pattern definitely gave me a narrow 12-18 mos size, so I would encourage you to find the gauge and then go UP a hook size or two to get the size you need.  Please note that this is also dependent on yarn used so plan accordingly.

You can see that the reverse stitch or tapestry stitch used here gives a smoother fabric transition.

Stuff

I entirely neglected to make any resolutions this year.  In years past, it has been weight loss, getting fit, getting out of debt and the result has been, staying the same weight or gaining more, the same old same old for exercise and in as much if not more debt.  So, what's the point?  This year I've set my mind to seeking the will of God for me in this time in my life and to do it wholeheartedly <---- yes I just borrowed that from Sound of Music.  I'm praying for a positive way to do diffuse my anxiety and replace it with peace.  But I didn't set it as a resolution, because in my mind goals are for falling short and resolutions are for breaking.  So without so much as a blink, New Year's came and went without resolution or goal setting.

In Nov. I had mostly cleared the garage, selling things we didn't need and/or hadn't used in years, bringing in a tidy sum that we intended to use for Christmas, but ended up using on unexpected house repairs.  One item not in disuse that I sold was our second TV.  Now, I had been asking Dear Hubby for months if we could sell it because it was getting far too MUCH use and suddenly, finally, he relented!  I really could not believe it and I really could not be more happy it is gone.  There are no more or less disagreements about TV domination then there was.

What has totally amazed me in recent weeks has been my dear Husband's change of heart regarding frugality, letting stuff go, and no longer just sense of urgency about getting debt paid, but a determination to do so.  In the last two weeks, we garaged his dying car and cancelled cable TV. This was quite shocking to me.  See, in the past my husband's alter ego, Mr. Spendy, has often had his way with our money.  Providing the latest in electronic gadgets, the best in toys for our children and for himself, was Mr. Spendy's form of therapy.  And I am not totally in the clear here - my yarn habit and accrual of eBooks had gotten a bit crazy.  Mr. Spendy, it would seem, has been shelved in favor of Mr. Balanced - or at least that's what I like to call him ;)

In case anyone hasn't yet noticed, the economy is NOT getting any better.

Exercising the Pantry: GF Bread

Exercising the Pantry: 1 box of Gluten-Free Pantry Bread Mix - 2 loaves of bread.

1 box of Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix makes 1 loaf of bread. It is a rather generous sized loaf, rises nicely, great texture, neutral flavor, no complaints. Except the cost.... one box = $6 and that has gone up in the last  6 mos when I used to be able to get it for $5.29 a box.  Feeding a family of 7, one loaf does NOT go far, I'm lucky if the heel is leftover after lunch and if we have friends visiting, I inevitably have to make more than one loaf.   I seriously cannot afford to spend that much on bread.  Consequently we only have bread once every 2 weeks.

In case it's not common knowledge, while GFP bread mix is pretty like regular bread, nice brown crust that's not too hard, white center, etc and does have a similar texture, it's kind of devoid of much in the way of nutrition. Necessity being the mother of invention, I started thinking, how can I stretch this out and pack in more nutrition?  What do I have in the pantry?  Coconut flour, Chia seeds, and sunflower seeds.  Now coconut flour is a beautiful thing, it is full of fiber and has a good amount of protein, be aware that it absorbs almost twice the amount of water as regular flour does so plan accordingly if you use it to stretch some of your own pre-mixes. Chia seeds also have a ton of fiber and add protein as well, along with with adding a very slight nutty flavor (that you'd be missing from wheat if you're just switching to Gluten-Free) and are chock full Omega fatty acids.  Sunflower seeds (because my kiddo with allergies also can not do any nuts) add protein, healthy fat, and that nuttiness that I miss in multi-grain breads.  

The bread mix itself calls for the following:

1 3/4 of water or milk (or some combo of the two - the milk can be any type, soy, rice, almond, cow)

4 tbls of oil or melted butter (I have used sunflower oil, butter, and coconut oil - I prefer NOT to use the coconut oil if I can help it because I feel the texture is too dry)

2 whole eggs

This is what I add:

1/4 c. plus 1 tbl (approx) coconut flour

2 tbl Chia seeds ground or whole (I prefer to grind them myself in the coffee grinder - Chia is very volatile do NOT buy them pre-ground unless you just want the fiber)

1/2 C Sunflower seeds coarsely chopped (I do a few spins in the coffee grinder)

1 addl egg

1 addl tbl of oil

3/4 addl liquid (water or milk)

Assembly:

-Put mix, yeast, sunflower seeds, and coconut flour in mixing bowl and set aside.  

-In a separate microwavable mixing bowl, put in water/milk and oil/butter and heat to around 100 degrees - if you use cold eggs, 110 degrees

-In another bowl beat eggs (I specified 3 eggs, but you could use as many as 5 if you like) lightly - carefully add to warm water mixture

-Using egg bowl (or clean one if you prefer) add the Chia seeds (ground or whole) and mix with 1/2 c. of cool water, stir for about 30 sec. and set aside to let it set up

-Use this time to grease your bread pans - we're making 2 loaves - I found that butter works great for this because it won't melt into the bread while it's rising as much as coconut oil will and stays put unlike oil)

Ok, now that everything is ready, turn your mixer on low and rather quickly add the water/egg mixture and the chia seed mixture - turn mixer up to med-high scraping once and run it for about 3 min.  The consistency will be like cake batter.

Divide into two loaf pans and cover, let rise for at least 30 min, (I keep my house pretty cool in the winter so mine tends to take nearly an hour) and pre-heat the oven to 375.

Bake for 30 min. turning halfway through if your oven tends to cook unevenly like mine does.

When it's finished baking turn out onto cooling rack after about 5 min and then allow to cool considerably (we can never wait till they're completely cool) before slicing.