Finished!

I finished the Horcrux socks this weekend! I am so excited too as I am in a group on Ravelry where a whole bunch of people decided to try and knit down their sock stash for 2011. While I haven't got a ton of sock yarn I do have enough where I don't need to buy any--probably for the whole year! Plus it helps me to NOT buy any more sock yarn until I use up a few of the skeins I've already had for a few years!

So I was very pleased with myself that I finished this PAIR of socks in less then a month! All the snow we've been getting has at least been good for my knitting time! :-)

Project 64::Robin's Egg Blue!

Any form of blue is my favorite color! I was so excited to read that this week's Project 64 color was Robin's Egg Blue. I figured I'd have no problems finding lots of it around here.

Then I got a few migraines and didn't take many pictures! There are tons of this shade around here. From my kitchen to my knitting even to my daughter's clothes!

It was yesterday morning when I realized I hadn't taken one picture though! So I picked up the camera and took this one. It's a little bread dish that my mom gave me a few years ago filled with a few candles and some fake snow. I put it on the windowsill in my kitchen as a bit of bright color as I look out the window at all the snow.

So here's my contribution for this week! Head on over to see what everyone else found!

Please forgive me!

If you've commented on a post and I haven't acknowledged it please forgive me! I didn't realize I had gotten ANY comments until I thought to go check out some back posts. And there have been quite a few! I didn't realize anyone was even reading here!

I checked it out and blogger had the wrong e-mail to notify me of comments. I've fixed that and will now be able to acknowledge when you all chat back to me! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

This Moment {At the library}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Join Amanda over at SouleMama!

Yarn Along!

My very first Yarn Along with Ginny!

I've just started reading "A perfectly kept house is the sign of a misspent life" which I am living out these days....my house is just being "maintained": dishes cleaned, laundry washed (although not always put away as fast as it should be) and living room picked up at the end of the day. Don't mind the dust bunnies in the corner please! :-)

But the time that would have been spent cleaning and organizing is instead spent playing with the baby; baking, drinking tea, keeping warm and knitting. Hence the almost finished sock up in that picture! I think I may actually get a pair of socks finished in a month rather then the year it usually takes! (Of course that's only the first sock so we'll see how long the second sock takes; especially as I have about three other projects also going!)

The pattern is the Horcrux pattern (Ravelry link) and it knits up quite fast and is easy!

Slice of Life Tuesday::Beauty

This week (for the week of Tuesday Jan. 18-Tuesday Jan. 25) the "theme" was beauty for the Slice of Life Tuesday photography group.

This is a shot of the Christmas Cactus at my mom's house. We keep getting snow (at least one if not two major storms A WEEK) and outside is always gray and white. These bright flowers lifted my mood when I visited last week! Right now any color brings beauty into my world!

The Recipe Box Swap::Broccoli & Three-Cheese Soup

It's my first time participating in the Recipe Box Swap!!

The theme is "Soups and Stews". As soon as Randi mentioned it last week I knew what I wanted to try. We got a slow cooker for Christmas and I checked out Make it Fast, Cook it Slow from the library. I love it and now need to buy it.

With temperatures in the single digits or lower I knew we needed some warm, hearty soup to warm us up. So tonight I made the Broccoli and Three-Cheese Soup from it and it was DELICIOUS!

1/2 white onion diced

2 cups milk (the recipe called for 2% or lower fat content but the only milk I had was whole milk for the baby....so I used that)

1 quart chicken broth (I used College Inn)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 bags of frozen broccoli florets (the recipe called for 2 10 ounce bags but we LOVE broccoli so I used 2 12 ounce bags)

1 cup each of three different shredded cheeses

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Dice the onion into really small pieces & put into the cooker. Pour in the milk & broth and add the pepper, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the frozen broccoli. Cook on low for 7-9 hours or on high for 4-6. The broth is done when the onions are soft and translucent. Stir in the shredded cheese 20 minutes before service. The cheese will be stringy & stick to the broccoli florets. Many people decide to use an immersion blender to make the soup look pretty.

I cooked up a package of pillsbury Grands to go along with it. It was DELICIOUS! Next time I make it I'll cook it for just a little less time although the broccoli was extremely tender which is good. Also our blender died just a few days ago so no blending it up. PLUS I only had 2 different cheeses (cheddar and mozzarella) so I used 1 1/2 cups of each of those so it was "Broccoli and Three Cheese Soup". It was still great! I'd highly recommend it!

Thank you to Randi at i have to say for hosting! I can't wait to check out and see what everyone else posts! I'm always looking for new recipes!

Project 64

Yet another photo project I've joined! I'm hoping that all these groups on flickr I'm in help my photography skills this year!

I've joined the Project 64: out of the box. Each week a different color from the crayon box is announced for us to go out and find and photograph. I've already missed the first three weeks so I'm going to be playing a bit of catch up.

Last week was "chestnut". I found the blog yesterday so quickly snapped these few (very poor!) shots:

A lone little duck toy abandoned on the floor when her friend went to bed last night!

And my hot cup of chai tea. It's negative temperatures out and the house is chilly so the tea is to warm my hands!

This week's color is Robin's Egg blue which I am very excited about! Hopefully there will be more interesting pictures to show at the end of the week!

3/52

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My project 52 picture! The canister set my husband gave me for my birthday. I was so excited since these match our dishes of which the pattern has been discontinued

Late week Daybook

FOR TODAY: January 21, 2011

Outside my window... Dark again! And it is FREEZING. Although not as cold as it's supposed to be at the beginning of the week.

I am thinking... That I am tired! And that I really want to make writing here a habit!

I am thankful for... again my family. They made my birthday such a joy!

From the kitchen... we had take out tonight. And not much has been going on in there this week. It's been my "birthday week"!

I am wearing... sweatpants and pink sweater

I am creating... Horcrux socks for my sister

I am going... to put the baby to bed in a few minutes

I am reading... nothing at the moment. I've been wanting to knit lately and am afraid that if I pick up a book the knitting will go by the wayside. That's always the way it is. I become so engrossed in one or the other that the other doesn't get done!

I am hoping... that we have an income again SOON.

I am hearing... Jeopardy!

Around the house... everything is falling apart. From leaky faucets to curtain rods coming off the wall. I want a house of our own!

One of my favorite things... Cuddling with the baby as she falls asleep!

Picture thought... My Christmas Tree is still up! I love the lights so much I can't take it down! I'm also trying to figure out how to take better pictures. This is one of my attempts at macro this week.

Cold Winter's Daybook

FOR TODAY: January 10, 2011

Outside my window... bright sunshine that is teasing us into thinking it's warm out. It is not! It's freezing!

I am thinking... of the people in Arizona who were involved in the shooting this weekend. I don't know any of them nor have I ever heard of Gabby Giffords until Saturday. And yet I can't stop thinking of them all.

I am thankful for... my family. As proven in the west this weekend we never know what each day will bring.

From the kitchen... left overs. We have quite a bit and I want to clean out the fridge! I also have all the ingredients to make spinach puffs. Now I need to find a moment to make them!

I am wearing... jeans and long sleeved gray shirt

I am creating... an organized house. Although this seems to be on-going and I never seem to hit the state of organization that I hope for

I am going... to my parents house for dinner tonight

I am reading... Empire. It's different and has some parts that I feel could be left out. But all in all I'm enjoying reading about the history of the early Roman Empire.

I am hoping... that M-T falls asleep soon for her nap! She is exhausted but putting up a pretty good fight of not falling asleep

I am hearing... the complaints of the 1 year old up in her crib

Around the house... a mess. I'm in the midst of taking down the Christmas decorations and putting up the winter ones. Why does a bigger mess come from trying to clean?

One of my favorite things... the Christmas lights. I will miss them! As will the little one. Each morning she comes down and points at the tree until I turn it on.

Picture thought... up at the top. Still trying to figure out blogger. It's the sunset from this past weekend.

Project 52

Thanks to Randi at i have to say (I LOVE her blog!) I came across a flickr group that I think I can actually participate in! It's a P52 group. A group where you share your favorite photo from the week. I've always wanted to take part in the project 365 but that has never worked. I either forget to take a picture or else don't get a chance to upload them for a week.

So I think this will work for me! Especially since one of my New Year's goals is to learn to take better photographs.

A few people have posted links to different themes for each week. This week's was cold (or new depending on the different charts....I decided to do both for the first full week of January).

I took a shot of our Christmas tree lights reflecting in our living room window on the freshly fallen snow. New, cold snow!

I can't figure out how to upload my flickr image here so here's a link to it!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

2011 knitting goals

Over at Ravelry I've joined a group (well a thread within a group) that is working on knitting down their sock yarn for 2011.

I thought I had more sock yarn then this but nope. It'll be a big feat anyways if I manage to knit all this yarn into socks!!

I have plans to make a few pairs of toddler socks for M-T and plans to make at least a pair of socks for my sister and my dad. Other then that we'll see where I go!

I also would like to knit up a bunch of baby hats for charity. That should go smoothly.

I try to not put too many goals on myself when it comes to knitting....or any craft for that matter...because I tend to then do the opposite of what I've decided!

New Year Daybook

FOR TODAY: January 3, 2011

Outside my window... dark. It had been warm this weekend....now we're back to freezing nights and cold days!

I am thinking... how very much I want to be over this sinus infection!

I am thankful for... my husband who has done the majority of child caring and housework for the past week!

From the kitchen... we got a slow cooker for Christmas so we've been looking for new recipes to try. The 1st (and only so far) thing we've tried came out GREAT!

I am wearing... jeans, black cardigan and rose turtleneck

I am creating... mittens. My baby girl doesn't have a pair of mittens that fit her so I'm knitting a pair. Except I think they may be a little too big

I am going... to go curl up with a cup of tea and my knitting

I am reading... Due to being sick nothing at the moment. I need to get to the library this week!

I am hoping... to feel all better within the next day or two and whip this house into an organized state!

I am hearing... the tv on and my husband laughing

Around the house... a mess. It needs a good cleaning and the Christmas decorations taken down

One of my favorite things... curling up with tea and knitting on a cold winter's night!!

2010 Knits

It's my first post. I decided to start out easy with a mosaic of last year's knits. This coming year I hope to focus more on socks (I have the very big idea of knitting a pair of socks for quite a lot of people on next year's Christmas list) and also focus more on charity knitting.

I'm not 100% sure where this blog will go or take me. We'll see how often I post and what path it takes me upon. I'm hoping to document some of the joys I find throughout my day. The little, simple joys that make my life a happy one. The one's the come from the little 1 year old girl who runs through the house gracing us all with her beautiful smile.