Archive for February, 2009
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Wordy Wednesday..Remember these?
Remember when I gave you a peek at these?
Well, look where they ended up!
Yep, that is the cover of the new Knit Picks Catalog that arrived in my mailbox a few days ago!
And here:
The new online catalog at Knit Picks is very nice!
You can’t tell I’m pleased are you.. it’s the first time I got on the catalog cover! They make them look so pretty! (ok.. they are) The pattern is great too! The cables taught me a bunch! I think my brain expanded two sizes knitting these socks! The pattern is from More Big Girl Knits
by Jillian Moreno and Amy Singer. It is the Twisty Stitch Sock Pattern. The thing I love most about it, is how the calf part is cleverly enlarged as you go by increases hidden in the back! It makes the leg of the sock fit very nicely!
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How About a Foodie Friday? Desperate Lunches..
I have figured that with a family of 6 I have about 33% more laundry/cooking/cleaning etc than the average family in my circle of friends.
This means the cupboard gets bare faster, and so on occasion meal time is an exercise in creative desperation!
Today was one of those days.. and it turned out pretty well!
What I did:
I took the 3/4 pound of ground beef I had in the freezer and browned it.
While doing that I threw in a bunch of frozen broccoli, in my 9×11 glass pan and cooked it up in the microwave.
I sliced in some Hillshire Farms summer sausage into the ground beef to heat along with it.
Diced half a tomato.
When the broccoli was cooked, I pulled it out, tossed on some shredded cheddar, and the diced tomato.
Cooked that in the microwave for another minute.
Pulled that out, topped it with the meat, and more cheese and popped it under the broiler till it was nice and gooey and melty..
YUM!
The thing that would take it over the top would be a couple slices of bacon fried up crisply and crumbled over the top!
Azia also suggested mushrooms might have been good in it as well. Jaxom an Brian suggested that more of it would have been good too…
Hey, it’s good, it’s fast, its yummy and Gluten FREE!!
MMMMM MMMM!
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CPSIA: Are Your Thrift Shops Shelves Empty of Kids Items?
I still say I have NEVER felt less represented that ever before! I know many of you wrote to your Representatives and Senators as did I about the effects of the CPSIA and while yes, there is a stay for manufacturers, which is good, the part for sales and resellers stuck and now the effects are just horrendous!
As I predicted, and told my representatives, thrift shops are just not going to be willing to risk carrying children’s items with the threat of hefty fines over their heads. Case in point watch this video:
I will try to hit my local thrift shops.. there are 3 in town, and see what effect it has here locally.
Just so you know what won’t be showing up on your local thrift shop’s shelves anymore:
Straight from the CPSA guidelines for
Generally speaking, resale shops will pull all the items labeled “Best to Test” So clothing items with “metal or vinyl snaps, zippers, closures”… Would you agree with me that that includes about.. 90% of the staple clothing you need for your children? Jeans, shirts, pants, coats? I don’t know about you, but that covers pretty much 100% of the clothing I go to resale shops to buy! Jeans are expensive and with 4 kids who are growing rapidly, I can’t afford to buy new items! Thankfully I have a stash of boys clothes that I can pass down to my little ones, but it isn’t going to cover it all!
And what about Craig’s List and Ebay surely you can still buy items there?
Listen carefully to the end of this report:
Big Brother CPSC is watching! What’s next? Yard sales? A black market in used children’s clothing? I wouldn’t be surprised!
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Look! Yarn Company E-Newsletters! It Must Be Friday!
Most of my e-newsletters that I get from the yarn companies arrive in my email on Fridays! So I thought I would tell you about my favorites..
Let’s start out with the Berroco Newsletter. Theirs is definitely a favorite and among all the newsletters it is quite unique!
They, of course, have the usual things: new yarn information, new booklets and other news. Free patterns, and what sets them aside from the others is their audio slide shows.
Most weeks they take the reader on a little tour of one of their latest booklets. Showing the designs and talking about the stories that go along with them. Sometimes they give a little inside peek into the design process and what goes into making this all happen! It’s quite interesting and fun! I enjoy it at least!
I especially enjoy the reports they give when they come back from the big fashion trend show every year in Italy!
If you haven’t signed up for their newsletter you can do it here. And hey.. they give away a sweater kit every month to a newsletter reader so why not sign up!
Another must read for me is the Lion Brand Newsletter. Actually they have two.. I’ll get to the other one in a moment..
The main newsletter is again your typical newsletter, telling about new yarns and products that are available. They always have a kit of the week on sale in their online store, and a knit or crochet stitch of the week. Right now they are going through borders. Many weeks they have a new Lola Cartoon and on occasion they have some printables or online cards that you can send to friends.
There is also an update letting you know what will be on Lion Brand’s weekly podcast, Yarn Craft. All in all not a bad little newsletter for keeping up with the goings on at Lion Brand. You can sign up here, to receive it.
The other newsletter Lion Brand puts out is a Kids for Kids style newsletter. With great yarn crafts information and simple projects for kids! If you have a crafty child, grandchild, niece or nephew you will want to sign up for that one!
The next newsletter I receive is the Coates and Clark newsletter.
Now their newsletter covers alot! As they carry items for knitting crochet, sewing, and quilting etc. So it’s nice to see the trends in other areas of craft as well!
And I like their newsletter title.. Keep In The Loop.. it’s fitting. Another item they offer is a little update on upcoming shows, the when and where of what is happening. it’s good to know! You can sign up for their newsletter here.
I’ll come back again with some of the other newsletters I receive.. you know.. just to keep you all in the know! I don’t want to overwhelm you after all! There are at least.. 5? more!
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Bookish Thursday: Knitting for Your Teddy Bear!
I love today’s book, for a very specific reason: It teaches you something! Yep.. and darn it all, it involves MATH! Yikes.. yep who knew I would like a book that teaches math! Hey as a former teacher, home schooling mom, and sometimes knitting instructor yes this book appeals to me for that reason!
Knits for Bears to Wear: More than 20 Fun, Knit-to-Fit Fashions for All Teddies and Toys Including 18-Inch Dolls
by Amy O’Neill Houck, is a great little book! For anyone with a teddy bear collection, or with 18 inch dolls this book is a great find. Or, if you are like me and have a little guy who has a favourite stuffed dog who could use a sweater, this book is for you!
Like I said above this book teaches you something. Each pattern is customized for the size of your stuffed friend or doll by you! Yes. You! Amy provides a little “customizing sidebar’ for each of the projects. You knit up a swatch, pop in the measurements of your toy, and the gauge of your swatch and off you go to a custom fit item for your toy! So rather than blindly following a pattern you learn a bit about customizing! Done in a small way, you can then apply these nice skills to bigger projects down the road! Nothing wrong with that!
Over all the designs are adorable, so if you do choose to simply follow the patterns as written you can’t go wrong.
I might just get ambitious and try to make a matching hoodie for my little guy and his little stuffed doggie. We shall see.. I have a few projects in the works so it’ll have to wait till at least May..
And coming soon (out May 5th) is also The Best-Dressed Knitted Bear: Dozens of Patterns for Teddy Bears, Bear Costumes, and Accessories
by Emma King, It looks good too, I’ll let ya know!
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Wordless Wednesday: Nutty Buddy
Paying the bills…
Coming April 13th
